Amazon’s Digital Marketing Strategies: In-Depth Guide

Quick Read

Explore Amazon’s marketing strategy to understand how it dominates the e-commerce sector. This Amazon marketing strategy case study delves into their digital marketing techniques, advertising campaigns, and innovative approaches that make Amazon a global leader.

Introduction

From commencing its business as an online marketplace for books to being the world’s largest online revenue company, Amazon has come a long way.

According to CNBC, about 70 per cent of the Indian population purchases Amazon products during events and festivals. That’s an insane number of people, right?

But what does Amazon do to attract them? If you’ve ever wondered about this question then you’re in for a treat. a. In this Amazon marketing strategy case study, we’ll go through the company’s target audience, marketing strategies, campaigns, and methods to attract new and existing customers.

Without further ado, let’s get started by learning a bit more about Amazon India as well as the Marketing Strategy of Amazon as a whole.

About Amazon

 

Jeff Bezos started Amazon in 1994, in Washington state. Today, it’s the world’s biggest online store, selling more things than any other online retailer. Amazingly, Amazon began by selling just books, but it quickly grew into a giant that sells almost everything in countries around the world. They even offer other services through companies they own, like Audible for audiobooks and Twitch for live streaming, for instance. Amazon became a public company in 1997 and is always looking for new ways to improve how people shop online.

While the company’s success can be attributed to many factors, the bold marketing strategy of Amazon has played a key role.

Relevant Updated Statistics

• As of 2023, Amazon’s revenue reached $469.8 billion【source: Amazon Annual Report 2023】.
• Amazon Prime has over 200 million members worldwide: Amazon Investor Relations】.
• Amazon’s net income for 2022 was $33.4 billion, reflecting its strong market presence and profitability【source: Amazon Annual Report 2023】.

What’s New with Amazon

Business News

Amazon is currently expanding its physical retail presence by opening more Amazon Fresh grocery stores and Amazon Go convenience stores.

Product Launch

In 2023, Amazon introduced a new line of Echo devices with enhanced AI capabilities, aiming to integrate more seamlessly into smart homes.

Marketing News

Amazon launched a sustainability campaign called ‘Climate Pledge Friendly to promote eco-friendly products and practices. Amazon identifies products with sustainable certifications or that meet specific environmental criteria through this programme.

These products display a ‘Climate Pledge Friendly’ badge, making it easier for consumers to make eco-conscious choices. Amazon collaborates with third-party certifications and organisations to verify the sustainability claims of products featured in this program.

The campaign aligns with Amazon’s commitment to achieving net-zero carbon by 2040 and aims to drive awareness and adoption of environmentally friendly products among its global customer base.

Celebrity News

Amazon Studios announced a multi-year deal with actor Michael B. Jordan to produce and star in exclusive content for Amazon Prime Video.

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Amazon	Target Group/Audience
Amazon.com	General Public
Audible and Kindle	Book Readers
Twitch	Gaming Community
IMDb, Prime Video, Music	General Movies, and Entertainment Audience
Amazon Web Services	Corporates and Businesses, Bloggers, Freelancers

As you can see from the table, Amazon India generally targets its audience through its e-commerce platforms. That said, they also target specific groups and interests through other companies owned by the brand.

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Buyer Persona

Here, the marketing strategy of Amazon involves understanding their customers deeply. By creating detailed buyer personas, Amazon has managed to tailor its messaging and offerings in a way that resonates with its target audience. Below is an example of it.

Based on the above buyer persona, a customer who enjoys reading books might see ads for the latest releases on their social media or hear about them through the Audible app.

Marketing Strategies of Amazon

Amazon’s Internet product marketing program employs a variety of marketing strategies to maintain its competitive edge. These include personalised recommendations, extensive use of customer data, and a robust loyalty program with Amazon Prime. This data-driven approach allows them to anticipate customer needs and deliver targeted advertising, ultimately creating a seamless and personalised shopping experience.

In this marketing strategy of Amazon case study, we’ll take you through each of its sections one by one further in the blog.

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Digital Marketing Strategy of Amazon

SEO Strategy of Amazon

Amazon’s online Internet marketing program optimises product listings with relevant keywords, detailed descriptions, and high-quality images to improve search engine rankings and attract more customers.

In simple terms, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a form of digital marketing through which one can improve their website to increase its visibility for relevant searches or keywords (terms that optimize search results like Google). The better visibility your pages have in search results, the more likely you are to garner attention and attract prospective and existing customers to your business.

According to Ubersuggest (Free Keyword Research Tool)

• Amazon has about 7.6 crore organic keywords(which are just insane, in our opinion!)

It gets about 36 crore organic monthly traffic. This highlights just how appealing Amazon’s services are to customers. Besides the above, Amazon has roughly 11 crores of backlinks associated with its site.

Never heard of the term ‘Backlink’? Well, have you ever read a blog that talks about a product with a link directing you to a page on which you can buy it? In a nutshell, those links are called backlinks, and the more backlinks a website has, the more likely it is to get customers from other websites and social media platforms.

Social Media Marketing Strategy of Amazon

All of Amazon’s digital marketing platforms such as its apps, Instagram and meta accounts actively interact with customers by, running targeted ads and interactive content to boost engagement and drive sales.

In today’s times, everyone is on social media. To engage with its audience better it has partnered with several Indian micro and macro-influencers.

In this Amazon marketing strategy case study, you can see how the company uses various social media platforms such as Meta, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest

1. Amazon on Meta

Millions of fans follow Amazon on Meta. The company mainly uses Meta to post company updates and promotions as part of its Amazon marketing strategy. It employs aggressive promotion strategies to promote its sales days and stays relevant by putting out topical posts. Let’s now understand its Facebook marketing campaigns in detail.

i. Sale Day Promotions

Amazon announces various sales such as Freedom Sale around Independence Day and various other sales during a particular year. This year it introduced the BookBazaar Sale, Apni Dukaan Sale, Wardrobe Refresh Sale, and many more.

Amazon’s digital and online marketing strategy includes offering exciting discounts as a key USP to promote sales on these daysAmazon’s Freedom Sale and Amazon’s Wardrobe Refresh Sale promotions were held this year.

ii. Topical Promotions

Another marketing strategy of Amazon includes celebrating festivals and other memorable days such as Doctors Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Raksha Bandhan, Holi, Diwali, and many more.

These minimal creatives with simple messages also help consumers engage with the brands. It’s worth noting here that Amazon’s digital marketing business doesn’t promote any of its products or services. It just presents a simple message.

iii. Highlights of Amazon’s Stories

Amazon motivates and supports those with small businesses. A great example is, Monika Agarwal one of Amazon’s more inspiring sellers of Amazon who owns Swara Creations, in Mumbai, which offers traditional and modern fashion accessories.

This also encourages many small businesses and retailers to sell their products on this platform thus resulting in Amazon onboarding more sellers who offer customers everything they need.

2. Amazon on Instagram

Amazon’s digital and online marketing strategy involves using Instagram to conduct interviews with artists from different backgrounds for primary promotions. It has about 2.8 million followers on Instagram.

Amazon’s online internet marketing strategy on Instagram is very similar to how it uses Meta, except for company news updates, the posts are almost the same on both platforms. Here are a few notable promotions done by Amazon to spread laughs and inspiration.

i. Prime Day Promotion

Source: Google[/caption]

During Amazon’s recent Amazon Prime Day, the company partnered with 14 very popular stand-up comedians in India to promote their Sale Day.

The post was captioned, “Your 10-minute breather is here. Enjoy your #AmazonPrimeDay shopping with 14 comedians keeping your company, every hour. #DiscoverJoy”, This seemed to be interesting and that attracted many customers to shop.

ii. Amazon HandMade

Amazon celebrated women-owned businesses on @AmazonHandmade’s Instagram profile by featuring their stories and products. They highlighted these entrepreneurs’ journeys and creations, inspiring others with the hashtag #BossBabe. This initiative empowered women globally to start businesses and utilize Amazon as a distribution platform.

Recently, Amazon celebrated women-owned businesses on @AmazonHandmade’s Instagram profile. The women with small businesses are the ones who are inspiring other women out there.
They have turned their passion and creativity into handcrafted products for customers around the world with the hashtag #BossBabe. This move encouraged women from all over the globe to start their businesses and use Amazon as its distribution channel.

3. Amazon on Twitter

Amazon’s marketing strategy employs a very different approach when it comes to acquiring new customers on Twitter. It keeps its followers engaged, utilizes a wide variety of content, creates customer-acquiring contests, operates multiple accounts, and participates in trends

It has a fan base of 2 million on Twitter, which is one of the best follower counts in the industry.
The company uses a very conversational tone on Twitter that presents content in such a way that seems to us like personal recommendations rather than an advertisement. In other words, not only does Amazon sell everything, but thanks to its robust internet marketing strategy, it has content for everything too. Here are some of the highlights from Amazon India’s Twitter handle.

4. Amazon on YouTube

The best thing about Amazon’s internet marketing program is its YouTube advertisements which gets people hooked immediately. Amazon always tries to keep its ads engaging and meaningful. For instance- In today’s world, where people are worried that the growth of technology is drawing them apart, Amazon Echo’s new campaign talks about how easy it is to bring Indian families together with their smart speaker technology.

Another very popular campaign released by Amazon with the hashtag – #MomBeAGirlAgain, revolves around a mother-son relationship, where the son gifts his mother a Camera using Amazon’s services.

YouTube offers brands various field formats to showcase their advertisements, like skippable in-stream ads, Non-skippable ads, etc. Amazon uses all these formats from time to time, depending on the purpose.

5. Amazon on Pinterest

Amazon’s digital marketing platforms include a notable presence on Pinterest with over 1 lakh followers. They utilise this platform by promoting their products based on various themes. Here, Amazon creates collages showcasing its most popular products in thematic lifestyle buckets such as for wedding planning, home, office, and kitchen, aiming to attract a wide range of consumer groups back to its e-commerce website

6. Amazon’s Email Marketing Strategy

The next part of Amazon’s marketing strategy involves Email Marketing. Through this, the company sends its customers personalised product recommendation emails, based on various aspects like – purchase history, past order value, location, age, gender, and on-site browsing.

Another email marketing strategy of Amazon is to send very personalised coupons to its customers. This encourages customers to open the mail and could even lead to an increase in sales.

E-commerce Strategy:

Amazon’s e-commerce platform offers a seamless shopping experience, with features like one-click purchasing, personalized recommendations, and easy returns.

Mobile App:

The Amazon mobile app features a user-friendly interface for shopping, tracking orders, and accessing exclusive deals and offers.

Influencer Marketing Strategy:

Amazon’s internet marketing program includes collaborating with influencers and content creators effectively so that it reaches a broader audience and creates buzz around new products and services.

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Top Competitors

Here are the top 5 competitors of Amazon based on the search results:

Alibaba: Alibaba is a Chinese multinational conglomerate specializing in e-commerce, retail, and technology. It is one of Amazon’s biggest competitors in the retail sector.

eBay: eBay is an American multinational e-commerce corporation that provides consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales services via the Internet. It is known for its user-driven economy powered by an auction-based system and is a major competitor to Amazon in the e-commerce space.

Walmart: Walmart is a multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores. It is considered to be one of the top competitors of Amazon, especially in the consumer retail and electronics industry.

JD: JD.com is a Chinese e-commerce company that is one of the largest B2C online retailers in China. It is a major competitor to Amazon in the Chinese market.

Flipkart: Flipkart is an Indian e-commerce company that specializes in online shopping for electronics, books, and fashion. It is one of Amazon’s biggest competitors in the Indian market.

Failed Marketing and Advertising Campaigns

One of Amazon’s most famous campaigns is the ‘Prime Day’ event, an annual sale exclusive to Amazon Prime members. This campaign drives significant sales and new memberships, reinforcing the value of Amazon Prime and boosting customer loyalty.

Issue: Amazon’s ‘Prime Day’ sale in 2018. Amazon’s annual ‘Prime Day’ sale in 2018 was marred by technical glitches and website crashes. Many customers were unable to access the website or complete their purchases, leading to frustration and anger.

Backlash: Customers took to social media to express their frustration and disappointment with the technical issues. Many people criticised Amazon for not being prepared for the high volume of traffic and for not adequately addressing the issues promptly. Some customers even threatened to boycott Amazon and switch to other e-commerce platforms.

Amazon’s Response: Amazon issued an apology to customers and acknowledged the technical issues that occurred during the sale. They offered refunds to customers who were unable to complete their purchases due to the website crashes. Amazon also promised to improve its infrastructure and technical capabilities to prevent similar issues from happening in the future.

Another example of such a failed campaign includes the

Amazon Fire Phone

Issue: The Amazon Fire Phone failed to gain traction in the competitive smartphone market due to its high price and lack of unique features.

Backlash: Customers and critics were unimpressed, leading to poor sales and negative reviews.

Amazon’s Response: Amazon discontinued the Fire Phone and shifted focus to more successful products like the Echo and Fire TV.

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Conclusion

If there’s one company that knows what it takes to be in the top spot of search engine results, it’s Amazon. Why? Because they understand how people look for products and services online.

Honing their digital marketing strategy, Amazon is making master moves to ensure that they are at the forefront of both – digital marketing and giving shoppers what they want. Having established itself as the largest internet storefront globally, Amazon should continue to generate compelling content and implement it effectively to maintain its competitive edge.

 

Additional Information

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