Good morning,
Last week, an Amazon seller was accidentally charged $300,000 after the automated platform served ads in regions where customers couldn't even buy his product. 😲
This is a reminder to always be checking in on your ad accounts to make sure things are looking as they should be.
These mistakes can be costly so keep scrolling down as we’ll provide tips on how to audit your Amazon account and make your dollar stretch.
Read the full story in the news section below!
Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:
You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Slice Mobile, Manpower Power Tools, and Bodacious Olive. 👋
A service based brand joined Pilothouse’s brand accelerator, Pilot Program, with one goal in mind: scale. 🚀
The team took over their campaigns, revamped their creative approach, and saw results better than anyone could have expected…
💥 Their sales doubled and their AOV increased by over $30!
This isn’t a one-off success story. The team has opened up limited spaces for Pilot Program to help your brand achieve results like these.
If you want to scale to new heights, get in touch with the partnerships team today.
🚨 Kickstart your growth and unlock your brand’s full potential.
*Sponsored
Outdoor experiences company Evo recently integrated an AI shopping assistant across their site to improve user experience, customer satisfaction, and increase conversions.
You can spot this feature on their PDP pages directly below the product’s photo gallery 👇
Visitors can see other questions customers have typed into the AI chatbot or create a question of their own to ask.
The Shopify compatible app is called Alby and provides customers with answers to specific queries about the product related to materials, features, and even sizing.
But can Alby really answer customer questions accurately? 🤔
We put it to the test!
Experiment 1: Size and Colors
When prompted to find an unavailable size for a SKU, it only took a few seconds for the AI shopping assistant to scan inventory and provide a link to a similar offering.
Experiment 2: Create a Look
When prompted to create an outfit, the AI shopping assistant was able to recommend links to complimentary SKUs. This is a great way to upsell customers and increase average order value.
Experiment 3: Find Discounts
When prompted if there was an active discount available or discounts for bulk orders the chatbot replied that the user would need to contact the customer service team for more information.
The takeaway?
While there are some limitations to what AI shopping assistants can do, this is still a powerful tool that customers can use and elevate their shopping experience.
How have you integrated AI into your ecommerce site? Reply back and let us know!
The Pilothouse Amazon team is back with Part 2 of the tactics we use to quickly assess potential client’s Amazon accounts.
(If you missed Part 1, check it out here.)
This time we will talk about placements including a couple of quick spots you can check to see if your team or agency is on top of things.
First up, Amazon Ad Placements.
Did you know your Amazon ads targeting a keyword can show up on product pages that Amazon deems as “related” to that keyword?
You might be thinking ‘And what does “related” mean’?
Your guess is as good as ours, so we typically recommend doing your best to eliminate these mysterious impressions.
Here’s how to audit your Amazon ad placements:
This is a great place to do a quick assessment of if these campaigns are actually working as intended or not, and also provide an opportunity for quick improvements by increasing the Rest of Search and Top of Search Bid Adjustments to push more towards those and away from product pages.
Unless a particularly odd strategy is being implemented - keyword targeting campaigns are primarily meant to land in search, and ASIN targeting campaigns are primarily meant to land on product pages.
If the placement data shows the opposite is happening, then your Amazon Ad Manager should likely be editing these multipliers to correct that scenario.
Check back in Monday for our piece on Amazon bid history!
Did you attend the Shoptalk conference this year? Reply back to the newsletter and let us know what were some of your highlights from the event!
If so, get inspired by marketers at OLIPOP, Jones Road, Graza, Cann, & more. See what's caught their attention lately... *
Join dozens of B2B companies finding demand-gen success through our niche community of 160k brand leaders and founders this year. Talk to our team to learn more.
Have you heard our latest podcasts?
Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.
Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content.
DTC 2023. All Rights Reserved.
DTC is fueled by Pilothouse company registered in Victoria, BC, Canada.