❌ Don't make this Amazon ranking mistake

February 29, 2024

Today’s newsletter sponsored by

CONFERENCE SEASON is in full swing in the AMAZON WORLD

  • ❌  Don’t make this ranking mistake with PPC

  • 🐶 How to feed Amazon’s Rufus

  • 📱 $220,000 in sales in 2 hours as TikTok affiliate

  • 🚀 Generate AI images then search to buy similar

  • 🏆 The latest Dream 100 inductee

STUMP BEZOS

Today is February 29, which occurs only once every 4 years. If we didn’t have leap year, how many years would it take for our seasons to completely flip?

[ Answer at bottom of email ]

Welcome Ritu Java to the Billion Dollar Dream 100

Twice a month, I announce a new member of the Billion Dollar Dream 100. These are the people you should follow and get to know in our industry. They are announced in no particular order.

Ritu Java is today’s inductee into the Billion Dollar Dream 100.

A native of Delhi, India, Ritu now calls Vancouver, Canada home. Out of engineering school she worked in the Indian IT industry for over a decade, which eventually led her to a job in Japan.

Although she thought it was only going to be for a short "year or two," she ended up spending 17 years in Tokyo. It was here that she started a side hustle selling handmade jewelry, and ended up launching her own eCommerce store on Etsy in 2010.

In 2015, Ritu decided to go back to school to formalize her knowledge of data. She completed a degree in Data Science in the United States and discovered the fascinating world of Amazon Advertising. She has never looked back.

In 2019 she co-founded PPC Ninja (a SaaS and Managed Services company) to help Amazon sellers grow profitably with advertising. She is the CEO of a growing global team expanding their footprint in the eCommerce world.

Ritu is fluent in several languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Japanese and English.

As a Level 1 Japanese language expert who spent years working with Japanese tech companies, she is also adept at helping sellers expand to Japan, an often overlooked and underserved market for Amazon sellers (it’s bigger than TikTok Shop in GMV and easier to sell on).

Ritu is constantly delivering value to sellers. She won best speaker at the BDSS 7 Virtual event in 2023, and most recently won the best tool contest at BDSS 9 Virtual.

She loves geeking out on data. She is always finding innovative ways and methods sellers can use to sell more and spend less on advertising and publicly sharing with nothing expected in return.

Congratulations Ritu, on being the latest to join the Dream 100.

💰 BILLION DOLLAR STRATEGIES

🐶 HOW to FEED RUFUS

For years, Rufus was a fixture at Amazon’s headquarters, dating back to the early days in the company's history. He belonged to Amazon's former editor-in-chief and principal engineer, and he accompanied the couple to the office daily.

Amazon’s new AI search bot, currently in beta, is named in his honor.

Dream 100 member Vanessa Hung is on the bleeding edge when it comes to what Amazon is doing in regards to AI and selling on Amazon. She was kind enough to share with BDSN her thoughts on how to prepare for changes that are expected:

Meet Rufus, your AI personal shopper at Amazon, revolutionizing how customers discover products through simple prompts rather than traditional keyword searches.

In this new era of conversational conversion, optimizing your listings for Rufus’ intuitive understanding becomes paramount. But fear not, for I bring you not only insights into this transformative shift but actionable steps to ensure your products stand out amidst the digital aisles.

Soon the days will be gone of rigid keyword reliance; Rufus speaks human, and to keep pace, we must feed him rich data about our products.

Here's the game plan:

  1. Research Your Customer Journey: Dive deep into your customers' interactions with your products based on essential keywords.

  2. Reverse Engineer Queries: Utilize AI tools to anticipate potential customer queries before they reach your product page.

  3. Reduce Returns, Increase Relevance: Explore the "Reduce Customer Returns" filter in the Product Recommendations dashboard to glean insights into customer preferences within your category.

  4. Harness the Power of Flat Files: Download your Category Listing Report and identify areas for enhancement, focusing on under-optimized attributes.

  5. Complete Attribute Optimization: Fill out every attribute diligently, enriching Rufus' knowledge base with comprehensive product information.

  6. Prioritize Context over Keywords: Understand that optimizing for context now reigns supreme, ensuring your listings resonate deeply with both Rufus and your customers.

  7. The Listing Backend Enhancement (LBE) emerges as our secret weapon in this endeavor, bridging the gap between Rufus' insights and customer expectations. It's no longer just a "should"; it's a resounding "MUST" to maintain relevance in this evolving landscape.

The prospect of navigating these changes might seem overwhelming, but consider it an opportunity to embrace the future of e-commerce.

Feed Rufus the data he craves, enrich your listings with context, and embark on this exciting journey of conversational conversion with confidence.

Here's to embracing Rufus and unlocking limitless possibilities.

At last week’s BDSS Virtual Event, Matt Altman won first place in the speaker voting for is in-depth analysis of how to use Amazon Comprehend to fix your listing to rank better and sell more.

He showed how to use it, what scores you need to strive for, and all the details that are working for the brands he manages.

If you missed it, you are literally potentially leaving millions of dollars on the table. It is game changing and pairs perfectly with what Vanessa talks about above.

Replays are available for two more days if you missed it.

📱 $220,000 in 2 HOURS as a TIKTOK AFFILIATE

Click photo to watch

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❌ DON’T MAKE THIS RANKING MISTAKE with PPC

Elizabeth Greene (speaker at last week’s BDSS Virtual event) and Dream 100 member and BDSS 10 Hawaii speaker Destaney Wishon are two of the smartest Amazon PPC experts in the world.

Elizabeth recently shared some insights, seconded by Destaney in the BDSS Whatsapp Group (open only to BDSS attendees and speakers).

It was about a PPC strategy that has been around for a while in which you set lower bids on exact match targets and then set a high Top of Search multiplier.

The theory is that you'll be able to hit the main placement but not waste a lot of money on the rest of search and product pages.

It’s often a really good strategy!!! 

So what’s the problem?

Elizabeth and Destaney both agree it’s not good for ranking campaigns.

Check out the specifics of what Elizabeth figured out in this document she created explaining why.

🚀 GENERATE IMAGES with AI, then SHOP SIMILAR

Google is testing a new shopping method called “Shop with Google AI” in which you can generate images of the item you're looking for, then shop for similar-looking products to buy.

The feature enables shoppers to generate AI images of products they’re searching – for example “red dress.” They can then pick the image they like best, and Google will serve them similar-looking products to buy.

This could change a lot of ranking strategies if Amazon adopts a similar strategy.

🔥 MORE HOT PICKS 🔥

🥃 PARTING SHOT

“Pay attention to how readily people talk themselves out of things — and be wary of adopting the same narrative.

People will often try to convince you their limiting beliefs should become your own. They should not. Find your own ceiling.”

✌🏼 Have an awesome weekend. Maybe I’ll run in to you at MDS Inspire in Las Vegas Sunday or Monday!

See you again on Monday.

The answer to today’s STUMP BEZOS is
750 years