If there was a store a huge number people in your primary target demographics shopped every day, and if it was possible to put your product, or information about your service, on the shelves of this very busy store for a very nominal price, you would do it, right?
We certainly hope so! If not, perhaps you’re not really interested in marketing and should go read a blog on celebrity gossip or something more entertaining for you. 🙂
Assuming you’re still here, here’s an unusual tip from an aviation marketing consultant – get found on Amazon.com!
Most of us are in the business of providing information to our clients, whether or not we think of “information” as our primary business. If you provide a service (aircraft sales, insurance, legal or tax advice) or if you sell a product (like avionics or boroscopes) you want to be seen as an expert in your field. You want to be the “go to” person people look for when they have questions about your area of expertise.
Sell a Book on Amazon
In spite of all of the focus on video and multimedia, we’re still a community of readers.
For a growing number of people, Amazon is the “go to” place for information on a particular topic that’s important to them. They look for a book on the topic before they look for a consultant. In fact, many would prefer to read a book before they consider hiring a consultant, simply because they invest wisely and work intelligently with someone they hire.
Profits are slim from sales of books on Amazon. There are fairly steep publishing and distribution costs that eat into what few profits we could make from an audience limited to aviation (we’re not trying to be the next New York Times Bestselling novel! )
If you’re the person who “wrote the book” on a particular topic, it provides some indication of credibility about the topic. We’ve had clients call us, or approach us at trade shows who indicate “we found you on Amazon.”
We make our courses available on Amazon for people looking for information on a particular aspect of aviation marketing –
You can also sell consumer guides, compilations of articles, “how to” books, and other topics more easily than you might think. ABCI ghostwrites books for clients and manages all of the publishing details.
Selling Things Other than Books
Amazon is challenging many of the big box stores in sales of items other that books. Retailers report that consumers “shop” their stores to see things in person, ask questions of salespeople, and do the research, and then they simply zap a bar code with their smart phone and search Amazon.com for the lowest price, where they purchase the item.
Aviation products on Amazon.com include everything from headsets to electronics to software to windsocks.
Amazon has an easy shopper interface that people are comfortable with, provides linkage with a reassuring brand that people are comfortable with, provides seller feedback, and collects a small fee.
There are so many web sites right now to buy deals on. And the Wall Street Journal just did a comparison of the big three general merchandise sites: amazon.com, walmart.com and ebay.com.
In their testing, the best overall experience for shoppers – not necessarily always the lowest price – was amazon.com. The second best was eBay. EBay’s pricing was cheaper, especially if you were willing to take used or reconditioned goods. And then way back, trailing the pack according to the Wall Street Journal, was walmart.com. The shopping experience was really a bust, according to the story.
– CNN Money Expert Clark Howard
A listing on Amazon also gives you the opportunity to create an “About Us” page on the popular website, and links to your own company website, which will improve your search engine rankings.
Here’s a report from InvestorPlace.com
It’s only a matter of time before this digital discounter puts Costco (NASDAQ:COST) out of business.
Consider how Costco rose to power, and its positioning in the retail landscape.
- It offers everything you can think of in the world — from ground beef to clothing to basketball hoops — at rock-bottom prices. Minus the perishable foods (and the funeral section — can’t forget Costco caskets), Amazon’s in the same boat.
- It refused to be pigeonholed into the lowbrow corner of retail, adding high-end items like jewelry and electronics and putting the squeeze on traditional competitors like Best Buy (NYSE:BBY). Same for Amazon.
- As cash-strapped consumers become disenchanted with other retailers including Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) that promised low prices, it has become a go-to resource for what little cash Americans are willing to part with. Sounds like Amazon again.
- It uses a nominal annual membership of about $50 in exchange for access. Amazon doesn’t charge you to get in its virtual showroom, but Prime is roughly the same thing since it gives you access to prompt shipping.
Clearly the two businesses are on equal footing when it comes to their retail positioning. The only question, then, is who better serves their customers and who can win the war for the lowest prices under the sun.
For starters, Amazon has a unique advantage when it comes to shopping — the ability to avoid any crowds or driving. And presuming you know what you are looking for and can use the search box properly, there’s no hassle with browsing online as opposed to elbowing through the aisles at a crowded Costco warehouse. Especially for familiar goods like diapers where there’s no need to try something on or eyeball the finish, this is a huge plus. There’s also the advantage of not having to find a physical location, which could involve your time and gas money.
Advantage: Amazon.
And while we’re talking about a lack of physical shopping space, let’s address the competitive advantage Amazon has when it comes to commercial real estate and labor costs. There is a Costco across town from my office in Arlington, Va. Real estate prices there are exorbitant. There’s a Costco in Brooklyn and on116th Street in Manhattan. Amazon’s distribution centers are in rural America where costs are cheap not just for the facilities but for the labor. Read this rather disturbing profile in Mother Jones and its companion, a rather bleak follow-up, about life working in an online shopping warehouse somewhere in Mississippi and you’ll get the gist of the wage advantage, too. This lack of cost will result in a better bottom line — or, undercutting the competition at prices they cannot hope to match.
Advantage: Amazon again.
Then you have the high-tech edge that most investors are obsessed with. The e-book, music and movie delivery AMZN offers are advantages when it comes to future sales. Its Cloud Drive service and streaming through Prime are also a plus on the service front, as is its fledgling Android app store. A physical Costco still might be able to offer a host of services Amazon can’t in the virtual world, such as auto service or custom shoe orthotics … but it’s hard to believe there’s growth in those segments like there is for Amazon’s digital service lineup.
This is not to say Costco will crash tomorrow. The stock is up 19% in the last 12 months, significantly better than the S&P 500’s 3% gains and the 2% gains for AMZN stock in the same period.
Also, COST is tracking fiscal 2012 earnings of $3.86 a share, 17% over last year, and riding 11 year-over-year increases in quarterly revenue. Meanwhile, Amazon has bet the farm on its Kindle, bleeding down 2011 and most of 2012 earnings on subsidizing the gadget.
And if you think Costco is rich at a forward P/E of 21, the measure is over 80 for Amazon. That nosebleed level still gives many investors pause.
But long term, I think it’s hard to imagine Amazon losing the discount war. Costco effectively put the screws to Wal-Mart during the recession, eating its low-priced lunch along with smaller discounters like Dollar General (NYSE:DG) and Family Dollar (NYSE:FDO). It appeared that even the scale and powerful brand of WMT were not unshakeable.
Costco investors should take note. Because if the post-PC world is reshaping the tech industry, the post-brick-and-mortar world is reshaping retail in an equally compelling way.
And Amazon is poised to stand at the top of the heap.
-Source – InvestorPlace.com
We advise many of our clients to consider a presence on Amazon.com.
Of course, a company should never become too dependent on any third party or marketing channel!
Use Amazon as one lead-generation tool of many in your coordinated marketing system, and once someone has made a purchase from you through Amazon, immediately put that person into your regular customer list and send them your catalogs and other offers directly.
