Harnessing Influencer Power to Drive Unprecedented Amazon Launch Success
Amazon is the single-largest e-commerce marketplace for third-party sellers. Given its size and reach, Amazon must be part of the equation for any online business seeking to reach its full potential.
At Marknology, we pride ourselves on delivering expert Amazon marketplace management services to a diverse group of clients — including one rapidly scaling, influencer-founded lifestyle brand that operates in the functional beverages space.
This brand recognized the opportunity presented by Amazon. Still, its team members had also heard horror stories about botched Amazon launches burning lots of cash without getting the desired results. This lifestyle brand partnered with Marknology to avoid those first-time mistakes, which proved fruitful. Within 8 months of launch, the lifestyle brand generated $1.1 million in revenue by launching products, driving sales, and sidestepping challenges.
Here's the story of how it happened.
The Challenge: Avoiding First-Time-Seller Pitfalls
The brand had accumulated substantial influence and a significant YouTube following (3.9 million subscribers). But the brand’s team was well aware that venturing onto Amazon's marketplace would present a series of new challenges, including:
1. Capturing market share in a historically competitive category.
Forecasting demand and planning inventory (activities that are difficult pre-launch).
2. Implementing effective advertising strategies and optimizing the store for search.
3. Maintaining the feel of an influencer brand within the Amazon storefront.
4. Establishing operational effectiveness and generating repeat business.
Being aware of the challenges faced by other brands launching on Amazon, our client needed a trusted, experienced partner to avoid potential pitfalls. The primary challenge was navigating the competitive functional beverages category and effectively driving traffic from YouTube to Amazon to bolster sales.
To closely monitor performance, our client outlined a set of robust Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), with particular emphasis on refund rate, sales growth rate, and advertising efficiency, while protecting their profit margins in a high-inflation economy.
The Solution: Capitalizing on Existing Influencer Status
Marknology stepped in as a trusted partner with the expertise and understanding needed to launch the client's products on Amazon successfully. From day one, we undertook a comprehensive range of tasks — acquiring category approvals, launching products, managing content, branding, and more.
To help ensure success, we maintained transparency and consistent communication throughout onboarding, articulating clear strategies and timelines. We also used our software stack to streamline management processes and efficiently track progress. By creating an initial strategic plan developed based on our agency's Amazon experience, we prioritized tasks appropriately and made a clear path to success.
To capitalize on the brand's influencer status and existing following on other channels, we integrated the influencer into the content to create a unified shopping experience. We effectively linked the brand’s 3.9 million YouTube subscribers to the new Amazon storefront, recognizing the power of off-Amazon traffic. This strategy improved sales — and ultimately helped generate a significant profit margin of 30%.
The Results: Accelerating to $1.1M in Revenue
The brand launched on Amazon in October 2022 with Marknology as its Day 1 partner, and the collaboration produced phenomenal quantitative and qualitative results.
The brand's Amazon store reached more than $1.1 million in revenue in just 8 months, averaging more than $10,000 in daily sales. The brand also enjoyed a low Total Advertising Cost of Sale (TACOS) of 6%, highlighting the effectiveness of our targeted advertising strategy. Marknology assisted the brand with a pricing strategy that resulted in an average selling price of $48 per unit — a price point that was key to the brand’s margin and sustained success on Amazon.
Despite the economic downturn and high inflation affecting businesses worldwide, we protected the brand's margin with a remarkable net profit of 30%. The success of this launch and the robust growth it catalyzed have inspired plans to expand the brand's Amazon presence internationally and add to its current line of products.
Accelerate Your Brand's Amazon Growth
At Marknology, we specialize in accelerating a brand's growth on Amazon. We work with established Amazon brands that need to unlock a new level of performance and brands that are 100% new to Amazon.
The differentiator in our success is our experience. We can help brands accelerate their growth because we've accumulated countless wins and losses on the Amazon platform. Those wins and losses help us create winning strategies and techniques for brands looking for success in the world's largest e-commerce marketplace.
Ready to accelerate your growth on Amazon? Get in touch today to speak to an expert.