Amazon’s Latest Marketing Tool to Help Third-Party Sellers
Amidst the shifts by companies like Apple and Facebook toward preserving consumer privacy online, Amazon has made a move that has captivated e-commerce companies and marketers alike. In our previous blog, How Will Apple iOS 14 Change Digital Advertising, we discussed Apple’s shift away from default internet cookie monitoring toward engaging online users in giving consent for web-tracking. This major shift has forced big online players like Facebook to rethink how consumers can be identified, analyzed, and marketed. Similarly, these shifts have made marketers have to reconsider how they can reach specific audiences with targeted messaging.
On April 24th, 2021, days before Apple launched the notoriously awaited iOS 14.5 update regulating data tracking consent across its interface, CNBC first reported Amazon’s latest move to grant its third-party sellers the capability of marketing directly to the inboxes of their customers. Welcome Amazon’s “Manage Your Customer Engagement” tool. In this article, we’ll dive into what Amazon’s new tool is, why it’s significant, and how this affects both marketers and brands engaged in the ever-changing e-commerce space.
Amazon’s “Manage Your Customer Engagement” Tool
For quite some time, Amazon has been resolute in its efforts to prohibit third-party merchants from excessive contact with their consumers for solicitation. Aside from matters such as communicating order status and reviews, communication has remained fairly minimal from third-party Amazon sellers. All of that seems to be changing with Amazon’s new “Manage Your Customer Engagement” feature.
In short, this new feature allows third-party sellers that are members of Amazon’s Brand Registry to establish a social-media-like following of consenting customers who will receive email promotions directly from the business. These promotions include anything from new product announcements to the latest deals and offers. Think of it as email marketing via Amazon. This new feature allows a seller to market directly to Amazon customers who “follow” their brand, similar to the consented following of accounts on social media.
Why This Matters
This move by Amazon is said to aim at increasing retention, building relationships, and driving engagement. Key benefits of the “Manage Your Customer Engagement” tool include:
- Allowing direct relationship communication between sellers and customers
- Granting greater ability to announce new promotions and products
- Allowing consumers the ability to follow their favorite stores and establish brand loyalty
As previously mentioned, the post-cookie digital shift has made understanding consumer behavior more transparent for the user but harder to track for the business. In a move away from cookies, companies and marketers are needing to find new ways to gain insights into their audiences. Fostering direct, first-party relationships between consumers and brands lays the foundation for transparent, information-rich, and long-term potential as brands seek new ways to build authentic customer loyalty. Amazon’s latest tool appears to be a move toward facilitating this shift.
According to CNBC’s article, an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC that it is “committed to serving our shoppers by helping them engage with their favorite brands. With Manage Your Customer Engagement, brands will be able to initiate email campaigns about new product announcements and offers that Amazon will send to shoppers who choose to follow the brand.”
What About Consumer Privacy?
We must not forget that consumer trends show a more negative view of data collection by companies. Despite the new ways of contacting customers, Amazon’s new feature will continue to keep shoppers’ contact information private from the seller. According to the CNBC article, “Shoppers’ contact information will continue to remain private. Amazon will give companies aggregate data when they use the tool that shows them how many emails will go out when they decide to share marketing campaigns with their followers.”
For eCommerce Companies
Understanding the changes to the digital landscape is paramount for sellers looking to find the balance between where their audience is and where their brand is best able to communicate effectively and authentically. As the industry moves away from reliance on aggregated detailed data banks, companies will need to internally establish, utilize, and nurture their customer databases since that is where they will find the valuable, rich, and accurate understanding of their buyer. All of this better informs a company of the ways in which it can reach and interact with customers to grow long-term success.
Final Thoughts
Amazon’s move toward providing CRM tools like “Manage Your Customer Engagement” is beneficial in allowing their sellers greater ability to foster long-term consumer relationships. While companies must not forget to maintain transparency in collecting data of their customers, this moment offers companies a creative opportunity to expand their unique in-house customer knowledge. As we are embarking on the newly implemented cookie-consent era on platforms like iOS and Facebook, it will be interesting to see how tools like this will alter the business-consumer relationship.
Want to implement Amazon’s latest tool into your brand’s Amazon account? Contact us to see how River Direct can assist in advertising your brand and scaling your business. To get our latest blogs straight to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter below and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram for more on the latest trends and news around marketing and advertising!