Firstly, what is Amazon Automation?

Amazon Automation is simply the process of automating certain business processes with the goal of easing the burden on your tender shoulders. It helps to free up time and resources that could instead be focused on developing your business and ramping up sales.

What are the benefits of automating your business?

• Gives you the time to manage a business– To someone who’s starting with a business of their own while they’re also working on a full-time job, handling everything on their plate can be quite daunting. Automating your business can help you segregate tasks better and focus on the matters that need your immediate attention. 
• Have a passive source of income– An automated Amazon business can still make money even when you’re not working. This gives you the luxury of spending more time with your family without having to worry about fulfilling orders, speaking to customers, or managing inventory. 
• Makes scaling a business a lot easier– Since automation systems take care of mundane tasks, you can focus on developing new products or making important business decisions. This could be the difference between your company climbing up and dipping down into the dumps.

Are Amazon automation services a scam? 

Firstly, what is Amazon Automation Services? These are companies that offer to do all the dirty work for you. They claim to build a store for you, pick the right products, manage inventory, and set up a functioning consumer redressal system. 

What do they get in return? You can be asked to pay anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000 for the services rendered. They might also insist on picking up a percentage of the revenue which sometimes can be as high as 50%. This can be detrimental to a business still in the stage of infancy like yours. 

While it’s unfair to call that all Amazon automation businesses are a scam, most of them do turn out to be fraudsters. Some of these firms had fake testimonials, while others simply lacked the experience to deliver on the promises of getting you in touch with thousands of wholesale accounts. In addition to that, a lot of these firms do not have a refund policy in place. So, there’s no way to get your money back if you aren’t happy with what they have to offer. 

As many as 1,800 e-commerce companies have invested anywhere from $35,000 to $50,000 of their hard-earned money believing such claims. The stark reality is that a lot of these companies might not be getting that money back. There could be a couple of services that deliver on that promise and set it all up for you in accordance with your demands. But currently, there isn’t a way to sift out the fraudsters from the genuine ones. Either way, giving away a large part of your revenue and paying thousands upfront is not really a smart investment. 

How to do Amazon Automation on your own?

While it would be wise to be wary of such offers, the benefits of automation shouldn’t be ignored. In fact, you could get started automating your business yourself. Here are some tips for you to get started.

• Use Fulfillment by Amazon to outsource your fulfillment process

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a program to automate e-commerce businesses. It allows you to send all your inventory to Amazon who stores it and then fulfills your orders using their existing manpower and delivery systems. So, this way, you don’t have to spend a ton of money on storing inventory. Packaging and mailing orders are also taken care of by Amazon. This not only saves you a lot of time but also the resources on your part. 

What can FBA automate for you? 

• Shipping individual orders from the nearest fulfillment center ensuring that customers get their hands on the product as quickly as possible.
• Handling returns and absorbing negative feedback 
• Keeping customers informed about order status, expected date of delivery, and much more

A guide to how Amazon FBA works:

• Send your inventory over to Amazon: Simply ship your inventory over to Amazon, who will then store it in of their multiple warehouses
• Amazon fulfills your orders: They do the packaging and the shipping part whenever someone buys a certain product from your listings. 
• Handling of returns and refunds- Taken care of by Amazon yet again 

In return for the services, you’ll have to pay a storage and fulfillment fee. These costs may fluctuate depending on the scale of the business. 

How is FBA different from dropshipping?

Yet another popular retail fulfillment method is dropshipping. It’s a type of retail fulfillment method where a store doesn’t maintain an inventory of the products it sells. The store instead sources the item from a third party and then ships it directly to the customer. This type of model allows an e-commerce business to hit the ground and up running without having thousands of dollars in inventory.

Similar to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), you don’t have to worry about managing a warehouse or shipping your orders. But, the major difference is that it is a third party that helms this responsibility instead of Amazon. You’re left placing an awful lot of trust on a supplier. If they fail to supply inventory as and when required, it might dampen your brand and reputation. 

Working with multiple suppliers might also complicate shipping costs. For instance, if you are working with three different suppliers, you’ll be incurring three different shipping charges. Automating these calculations can prove to be a real nightmare.

• Consider using email automation 

Email marketing continues to be one of the most popular strategies adopted by smaller companies to create brand awareness. They still offer the highest return on investment. Email automation cuts down on the time required to draft a reply and helps connect with the audience better. The advantages of using automated software for sending emails are: 

• Helps build a strong and longer-lasting relationship with customers using personalized messages
• The time that would have invested in drafting replies is now available for improving the business
• Data from such campaigns can be complied with to find out the effectiveness of the brand.

If you’re wondering about what kind of automated emails to send out, then here are some pointers:

• Start with a welcome mail when someone newly subscribes to your mailing list 
• Keep their interests in mind and send a curation email based on their previous buying behavior.
• Discount mails to convert paying users to repeat customers. 
• If a customer adds products to their cart but does not check out, consider sending an abandoned cart mail as a subtle reminder. 

• PPC (pay-per-click)  management 

A great way to generate traffic is to use Amazon ads that appear in other Amazon product listings related to your brand. 

Amazon PPC (pay-per-click) is a model of advertising where you only pay for an advertisement when someone clicks on it and is then taken to your listing. There are predominantly four different types of ads: 

• Sponsored products– These are ads that show up at the top and bottom of the Search Results page. They lead to your product listings. You have the option of modifying the duration of the campaign, but it has to at least run for a single day. Make sure to use appropriate keywords. 
• Sponsored brands– These ads include your brand logo, a tagline, and up to three of your products. Customers are directed to your custom landing page when they click on the ad. This type is best suited for ads with companies that already have some established brand awareness or are looking to improve on it.
• Sponsored display–  Display ads that appear on other product listing pages. You’ll be expected to attach product images and pick your target audience. 
• Stores– An effective way to promote your brand is by building an Amazon store. You can make use of custom templates to customize your store. Attach your logo, images and create separate pages for each of your products.

A PPC software aims to automate all these processes so that you don’t have to spend too much time learning the mechanics. They make sure that as many people see your ads as possible. If you still think it all sounds a bit too complicated, then consider hiring an Amazon ads management agency. These companies are vastly experienced and can create an effective ad campaign for you and manage them. 

• Creating optimized listings

A listing is what determines if a customer buys your product or not. There are mainly four key components to a good  Amazon listing. They are: 

• Keywords– They largely dictate what rankings your product gets on Amazon. So, don’t forget to insert the right keywords related to the product you are selling.  Keep in mind to include the keyword in the title in your product description. This will ensure that Amazon SEO picks up your listing over others, and it shows up in all relevant searches.
• Content– Customers would want to know more about your product. This is where good product descriptions come in. They need to convey the benefits of the product and answer some common questions that people might have regarding its use.  Hire copywriters to do this for you. There are plenty of websites to find professionals who specialize within this niche.
• Product images– Online shopping doesn’t offer the opportunity for customers to actually try on your product, unlike in brick and mortar stores. So, customers end up relying on photos instead. This is why having excellent pictures on your listing is so important. Use high-quality images. Fuzzy, out-of-focus pictures can make it harder for someone to see what your product actually looks like. Amazon lets you use up to six different photos, so use that space to show off your product’s features and functionality. If you’re not good with a camera, hiring a photographer is always a smart choice.
• Reviews– Good reviews can make your business seem trustworthy and can also contribute to your overall search rankings. So, focus on providing good customer service and following up with an email to make sure they leave behind a review. You can also consider leaving an insert in the product that reminds customers to write a review if they’re happy with your services. 

• Hire a virtual assistant 

If you’re looking to ease off some load off your back, then think about hiring a virtual assistant. They can help with handling mundane tasks like digital marketing, email management, content creation, etc. This provides you the time you can use to focus on building your business. You can drastically reduce costs by hiring virtual assistants from a different part of the globe where the wages are significantly lower. Here are some things to keep in mind while hiring a virtual assistant:

• Ask for references– This helps you understand your prospective employee’s track record and work ethic
• Look for experience– It’s ideal to hire someone who has some sort of body of work behind them. Hiring someone fresh might be cheaper, but it might mean that you spend more time trying to make them understand the goals of your business. 
• Assign them a paid trial project– This is the best way to put their skill to the test. It helps you evaluate their strengths and clearly define expectations. 
• Has a good hold over handling your social media profiles.

• Managing inventory 

You might run the risk of missing out on potential sales if you don’t effectively manage your inventory. If you’re busy taking care of other parts of the business, keeping track of and ordering more inventory when you run out might seem like an uphill task. Fret not, there’s software to take care of this work for you. Automation software can: 

• Keep track of existing inventory and warn you when you’re running low
• Use data from previous sales to predict how much inventory you might need to buy at a certain time of the year
• Process orders and returns across multiple warehouses
•  Figure out the right price for the product

There are a plethora of such services out there. So, do your research and look for features that best suit your business needs. 

• Repricing tools

It’s no surprise that price is the biggest driving factor when it comes to buying a product. Users are always looking out for the best value for the money they’re paying. This idea applies to a marketplace like Amazon as well. 

A repricing tool can help you gain that all-important edge over your competitors. You are no longer required to manually change product prices. The repricing tool tracks prices automatically and changes them on your listings accordingly. You’re also cutting down on human error, which might have crept in otherwise.

• Bookkeeping 

Keeping track of your finances helps to determine profits and understand your expenses. A meticulous spreadsheet can come in handy while filing taxes. But, it can be tedious and extremely time-consuming. 

Thankfully, there is accounting software to take care of it for you. All you need to do is connect a Google Sheet to keep track of all your invoices. The software keeps track of where the money goes and helps you manage your finances better. 

• Payouts

Managing funds can be a real headache. It can take up to 19 business days to get access to your money. You also might have experienced an unavailable balance on Amazon. Why exactly does this happen? 

If you have an unavailable balance, it basically implies that Amazon is keeping a certain amount of your earnings for longer than the usual 14-day payment cycle. This amount and the length of the hold isn’t always accurately predicted. In some cases, they might roll over onto the next payment cycle, while in others, the cash might be on hold for longer. 

There are several reasons why this could happen. Here are some common causes:

• Delays in delivery– Amazon’s policy states that they can hold payment for seven days post-delivery to give the customer to make a claim or return a product if they are not really satisfied. So, if Amazon does not confirm, they can then hold back payment for longer than the stipulated time period of 7 days. 
• Claims and chargebacks– In case an unhappy customer files a claim, Amazon can hold back payment until the issue is resolved. Once resolved, it can take up to anywhere around 14 days for the payment to be processed. 
• Poor reviews– Bad performance reviews can be detrimental to your blossoming business. It can raise a red flag with Amazon, who could decide to review our account. This once again means unavailable balance until the review process is completed. 

So, as a business owner, if you want to avoid all this, consider getting a financial toolkit to automate the entire payout process. You will have access to more than 80% of the money from your sales on the very next day of the sale. This means that there’s ample cash flow to sustain your growing business. 

While these tools are sure to boost your business, the biggest advantage of using Amazon automation services is gaining a competitive edge over getting that elusive Buy Box. But, what exactly is the Buy Box, and what do you have to do to be eligible for it?

Amazon Buy Box is basically the box on a product detail page where a customer can add an item to their shopping cart. Becoming eligible for the Buy Box means that you’ll have to meet the stringent qualifying criteria set by Amazon. This criterion includes:

• You need to have been selling products for a  more than 2 months
• You need to have a good history of selling- fulfilling a large number of orders consistently 
• You need to have an excellent customer service program in place- this comes down to the turnaround time for an order, the condition in which the packages are delivered, and the total number of canceled orders
• You have the option to use FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) services

Conclusion 

If you’re just getting started as a seller on Amazon, it’s only natural that you’re finding it difficult to stay on top of things. There are also family and other obligations on top of that. This is where Amazon Automation comes in. It helps find the people to take care of the day-to-day tasks so that you can focus on developing your business. Amazon automation businesses offer to do this for you, but it may not be a smart investment considering that you will have to pay money upfront and give them a cut of your sales. You can do automated selling on Amazon all on your own at a fraction of the cost. Remember, nobody cares about your business more than you. 

The post Is Amazon Automation a Scam? If Yes, Can You Just Do It on Your Own? appeared first on Platform to Showcase Innovative Startups and Tech News.

Though this carbonated soft drink contains a generous amount of herbs, a mix of sugar, synthetic caffeine, taurine, and several B vitamins is a secret composition that wakes up the brain and fires up your body. An idea that brought million dollars in. So how exactly Red Bull sold its genius slogan that made this caffeine boosted drink a global phenomenon. In the era when new businesses were struggling to get qualified headships that could convert into sales, Dietrich Mateschitz and his creative team came up with a clever metaphorical tagline in the 1980s that was unique to the hilt. 

It made buyers curious so much so many of them yearned to fly with the “wings”. Red Bull actually caters to the wing giving promise but in a whole different style. Though the company, with the tagline, intended to advertise Red Bull as a vitalized energy drink, many misinterpreted the slogan “Red Bull Gives You Wings” with having actual wings.

The Tuk-Tuk Story Behind the Drink That Gives Wings To the World 

It all started when Dietrich Mateschitz, the co-founder of Red Bull and Austrian toothpaste salesman in early times, during his visit to Thailand, noticed that tuk-tuk drivers kept sipping a rare kind of drink to get them going. In fact, not only truck drivers but many tired travelers and blue-collar workers were gulping syrupy concoction to get them going. He later got to know that drink is a low-priced energy formula introduced by Chaleo Yoovidhya for Thai workers. That’s when a billion-dollar idea set up on with Mateschitz.  

In no time Mateschitz reached out to the Thai company’s founder, Yoovidhya, and proposed the idea of tweaking the formula a bit and putting it up to consume by everyone across the globe. They both agreed on the terms. Mateschitz experimented with the recipe of the Thai drink and now the bizarre energy formula is known as the world’s most-consumed energy drink “Red Bull.”

Red Bull whomped the selling records just within a few days of its launch. The company observed that sales began to multiply every year. In 1994, the partners expanded the distribution of Red Bull into Germany and finally hit the global market in 1997. 

In 1992, Chaleo Yoovidhya died at the age of 89 of natural causes after that the total ten family members of Chaleo share 51% of Red Bull GmbH. The remaining 49% is still owned by the co-founder Mateschitz who now has $26.9 billion net worth, the 40th wealthiest person in the world.

Ever since the Red Bull has made its name among marathon runners or a common tired out humans, its success model has set up a great example for startups ventures and reeling them in to follow their footprints in marketing strategy. Though Red Bull’s rise to fame had been a long time in the making, the company went from startup to international mega-corporation and took the world by storm in just three decades. 

More than 68 billion cans have been consumed by the world since the launch of Red Bull out of which 6.3 billion is from 2017 alone. More than that, Red Bull’s Indian sales figures grew by 30 percent in 2018.

Red Bull Gives You Wings – A Slogan That Sells

Does Red Bull give you wings? How many times we have Googled this and many similar questions? But how does red bull give you wings is actually the question. Is it like you will grow birds like pinions after gulping up the drink? Red Bull’s tagline is the core of their marketing strategy, which immensely focuses on the idea that their product gives “wings” to the people, a metaphor to the energy they need to meet after the prolonged efforts and hardships of everyday affairs.

This one-of-its-kind Red Bull slogan not only fuels their content but their marketing tactics excite people and leave positive spillover effects on them. Red Bull has settled itself in the people to the hilt, they know what they need when they are worn out, they perceive that people would be grabbing the can of two charging bulls representing power for an extra push for the day they require.

Red Bull, in a true manner, proved how content can be your actual king if marketed well. Red Bull has largely been targeting a group of audience who fall between 18 to 34 years. The company singled out these categories of people based on their interests; like people who like sky-diving and having fun. The company promotes its stimulated drink with the slogan “Red Bull Gives You Wings” and sometimes changes it to “No Red Bull, No wings”. Red Bull grabbed global media attention by advertising its slogan to every class by covering almost all trending media segments.

What made them different from other marketers in the industry is that they centered around their trade business at one core phrase “giving wings to people and ideas.” Whatever the Red Bull team conveys and markets revolves around that remarkable slogan they have. It’s the talent of the company team to keep that connection consistent and underway among the customer.

How Red Bull Slogan Became the Anthem for Adventure Sports Across the Globe

Compiling an effective and exciting marketing strategy could be challenging for new businesses. Hence, looking at the marketing powerhouse and drawing inspiration from the industry leaders could be advantageous for new businesses. They can replicate their success and mount up the new heights. It is not easy for new companies to launch themselves into the market and begin cashing success within a year itself, but that’s never been the case with the Austrian beverage giant, Red Bull. The company set the business world on fire within a year of its launch. 

The idea of alluring the young males, who live on the edge or aspire to do so, with raging energy drink was something out of the ordinary and daring. If we have to divide the Red Bull consumers, it can be divided into three major segments: athletes, party-goers, and workers. Each segment absorbs Red Bull energy drinks to meet their personal needs, for instance, to achieve physical and mental edges or just consuming it for pleasure purposes. 

What Red Bull has used ever since it is in the promotional game is commonly known as ‘viral advertisement strategy.” The creative team of the company was using Red Bull slogan as a part of the marketing approach and was promoting the brand directly to the Y generation, emphasizing more on the ‘millennials.’ They whipped up the students and brand managers at university campuses by promoting their brands to throw parties. 

With that said, Red Bull is now the leading energy drink brand in the U.S. with 24.9% of the market share and also the world’s leading energy drink brands, selling more than 7 billion cans worldwide. These stats prove that Red Bull’s initial brand-building strategy which was to target those who are involved in extreme sports and challenging recreational activities not only went great but it won it with flying colors. 

That means Red Bull understood its target market well and positioned itself in the market through a consistent value proposition which includes the valorous slogan that indirectly communicated to its target group saying – “Hey! Have you tried this drink? It can boost your cognitive and physical performance.” They kept their brand approach centered and outgoing. 

If we closely observe the marketing gimmicks Mateschitz specifically followed, we can’t deny the fact that this Austrian businessman is actually a marketing genius. Turning a mere energy drink idea into an imperium is no easy job but Mateschitz made it possible by putting the brand in the firing line at many occasional appearances. 

Red Bull blew a unique market segmentation strategy and drew eyeballs with mega-events like Felix Baumgartner’s record-setting skydive from the edge of space. For the company, the dash of many such events got amplified over digital media and garnered popularity for the brand. These were a few events that behold the audience with its grandeur and left many industry bigwigs bereft of speech. This was a hell of an advertisement Red Bull dared to carry out.

How Red Bull Got Trapped in a Clever Bit of Branding?

After being in business for long and understanding all the marketing tactics, Red Bull fell prey to its own gallant advertisement approach when someone questioned “why not red bull gives me wings”? It was in 2013 when the table for Red Bull turned after Benjamin Carethers, a man from America, filed a lawsuit claiming that the Red Bull’s slogan is misleading and therefore sued the company alleging false advertising. The fallacious bit which Benjamin used in the lawsuit was that the Red Bull does not offer much energy as advertised and stated that 250ml can of Red Bull has less caffeine than a cup of coffee. 

And to everyone’s wonder, the judge who was the hearer of the case seconded Benjamin’s stand and said – “Such deceitful conduct and practices mean that advertising and marketing is not just ‘puffery,’ but is instead deceptive and fraudulent and therefore actionable.”

So when you are in a risky and what else we can call a ‘daring’ advertisement, the chances of falling flat become higher but Red Bull did not let that obstruction overpower the brand. Instead, Red Bull settled the lawsuit to avoid the cost and intrusion of litigation and its marketing and said that the company’s labeling has always been honest and accurate, and thus denies any wrongdoing or malicious branding. So can Red Bull still say it gives you wings? It truly can and it actually does.

Red Bull Has Agreed to Compensate

Due to the false ad lawsuit filed against the large energy drink company Red Bull’s punchline ‘Red Bull Gives You Wings’ has made the company to agree to compensate their customers.  People who have bought Red Bull products for even once between 2002 and 2014 in America can claim this compensation. They do not need to show any proof of buying, they just have to remember if they have purchased any Red Bull product within 1st January 2001 and 3rd October 2014 and the company will pay them $10 or $15 in cash, the worth of Red Bull products. The people who want to claim this compensation will have to submit a form before 2nd March 2015. The whole legal process regarding this settlement is yet to happen and decided to take place in May 2015.

But Red Bull did not accept any charge of deception. The brand stated in Bevnet, the magazine and website the beverage industry of America that they have decided to settle the lawsuit by compensating their consumers to avoid the cost and complicate of litigation. It stated that they have performed no forgery and are always honest during conducting their marketing campaigns and brand promotion. They declared that they are not taking the liability of the wrongdoing which was claimed by the lawsuit.

Reports say that Red Bull has decided to remove their slogan and change their advertisements but in the UK the same old slogan “Red Bull Gives You Wings” are getting spread over the internet. The brand Red Bull has said nothing about this in the UK yet.

What Startups Businesses Can Learn From Red Bull?

Red Bull is one of the brands that immersed itself in content drive marketing instead of following a conventional path. Even today, while many brands have manifested and are trying to make a place in the market as an energy drink seller, Red Bull still remains unsurpassed. Out of everything the strongest marketing strategy of this particular energy drink seller company, apart from minting the slogan, is sponsoring extreme sports events.

Red Bull’s global marketing campaigns target audiences who are interested in watching extreme sporting activities like skateboarding, mountain biking, snowboarding among others. Being the reinforcement power to these teams, players and events, the brand actually endured itself into the heart of the audience for being an advertiser that’s synonymous with strength and energy. 

More than that, the businesses instead of only recognizing its target audience should know how they can offer their products to a large group of people who are likely to be interested in their product. That’s what exactly Red Bull does. The large segment of Red Bull’s marketing approach is based on sponsoring and creating events their target audience is likely to attend as well.

All these marketing gimmicks that Red Bull’s been into created a buzz. Being a powerhouse of marketing, the success case studies of the world’s leading energy drink brand teaches a whole lot of corporate branding and how a real understanding of the target audience can make you win the marketing race with flying colors or sometimes to fly high with our unique “WIIINGS.”

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