A Fact of the Online Sales World

Promotions and marketing go hand in hand. They are the “peas and carrots” of the entree that is product sales. Without them, your plate is incomplete, and ultimately, your sales are going to suffer.

For that reason, we’ve put together a starter series on promotions specifically, and we’ll be throwing loads of helpful info at you for the next few week to come. So, without further ado, Take a look at the video below and get your weekly fill of helpful info from the friendly guys and gals at Sixleaf:

First of all, what is a promotion? Simply put, it’s a rise in rank, or the fact of being so raised. Basically, it’s any activity that supports or provides active encouragement for the furtherance of a cause, venture, or aim. Whether that’s a physical business, online business, idea, person, or otherwise, the promotion’s goal is to get you to the top. That applies especially to Amazon listings, where promotions are par for the course, and absolutely necessary.

To do well on Amazon, you have to increase your rank. That’s really the bottom line. Once you’re ranking, you’re selling, and running a proper promotion can be a helpful catalyst to get you where you want to be. We all use keywords to help consumers find our products, and with promotions towards those keywords to get you up on that ranking ladder, you’ll be able to raise your sales velocity, which is absolutely KING when it comes to Amazon.

Promotions: Safe or Not?

Now, the bigger questions here is, “are promotions safe?”.

…promotions are par for the course, and absolutely necessary.

With all the controversy over reviews lately, and Amazon’s own TOS, we understand how that question comes about, but make no mistake, a promotion is 100% SAFE. If you are running a time limited discount to REAL CUSTOMERS (not fake ones, obviously) you are in no way violating any of Amazon’s TOS, and better still, you’re raising your visibility, which will, in turn, increase sales for your business.

Why does this question come about? Well, in an effort to keep the market open and honest, Amazon has been taking measures to clear out false reviews and those that are clearly in violation of TOS, and some sellers have felt that it was because of promotions, as they may be classified as a “misuse of sales rank”.

That’s not the case.

The Heart of the Matter

When Amazon talks about a misuse of sales rank, what they are referring to is fake traffic, fake orders going to “real people”, or an exorbitant amount of orders going to the same person. Anything like THAT, which manipulates the order process, would be a misuse of sales rank, and most definitely against Amazon’s TOS.

Once you’re ranking, you’re selling, and running a proper promotion can be a helpful catalyst to get you where you want to be.

With that said, if you are running a time limited discount on the market to real customers, YOU WILL BE FINE. Promotions are part of the equation. They always have been and they most likely always will be, and that’s a good thing.  There are way too many things to worry about as sellers, but promotions shouldn’t be one of them. Luckily, they don’t have to be.