🆙 Deep Links Boost Amazon Sales up to 500%

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🔔 ON ALERT → The FTC is expected to formally file its long-awaited antitrust case against Amazon as soon as tomorrow. 

Amazon is expected to be accused of buying competitors to thwart competition and abusing third-party sellers on its platform, among other allegations. 

💰 BILLION DOLLAR STRATEGIES
→ what you need to know to make moolah

Have you ever wanted to get your products featured on Good Morning America, in TIME Magazine, the NY Times, Reuters or Mashable? It could happen for free just by answering Help A Reporter Out (HARO) requests.

A lot of TV shows and publications publish Gift Guides during the holidays that can explode your sales. They are looking for product ideas and are too lazy to go hunt them down themselves. So they use shortcuts like HARO.

HARO gets exposure for your brand and journalists get content, a win-win for everyone. I have used HARO to great success with several of my products.

TOP GIFT GIVING HOLIDAYS IN USA

1. Christmas $602 billion

2. Mother’s Day $20 billion

3. Valentine’s Day $18 billion

4. Easter $17 billion

5. Father’s Day $12 billion

Other big gifting occasions:
birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, retirement, graduation and house warming

HARO is a tool that connects journalists with expert sources. It enables you to connect with blogs and written and broadcast press you may not normally have access to by providing product solutions, tips, stories and expertise.

Best of all, for most sellers, all you need is the free version.

HARO sends out journalist requests three times per day by email: in the am, at noon and in the pm (you choose the categories most relevant to your products).

It can be time consuming to go through all the requests and respond to them. Most queries aren’t relevant to you, but the ones that are can be gold.

Once a query is distributed, the HARO reporters are flooded with emails from experts interested in contributing to the story. Answering quickly to a request is key for getting the attention from the journalists and getting published.

You can have a VA weed though the emails. Or better yet, train your own machine learning text analyzer tool with AI software or a tool like Monkey Learn. It can read all the requests and determine what is relevant and not relevant for you then tie it into Zapier automations to send you notifications when new opportunities come up.

Here is a step-by-step walkthrough for non-technical folks on how to do this.

BONUS: Two more tools for connecting with journalists:

JustReachOut.io - reach out to journalists directly
Spy.org - find professional journalists to create articles

🛠️ FEATURED TOOLS and RESOURCES
 → all the kool kids use these

DEEP LINKING CAN BOOST REVENUE 200% to 500%

Make the process smoother and get much better attribution by deep linking across apps in your social media marketing.

Deep linking refers to the practice of directing a user to a specific, generally searchable or indexed, location within a website or app, rather than its homepage or main entry page.

When a user clicks a link to your product it doesn’t always open the marketplace app, but instead opens a browser requiring them to log in. Attribution is often lost too.

Deep linking removes friction in the customer journey when linking app-to-app. Shoppers can click out of social media apps smoothly into marketplace apps like Amazon and Walmart to instantly purchase.

If the user doesn’t have the necessary app installed, you can set up a fallback tracking url with UTM parameters.

To do this, you need a tool like URL Genius, which is the only patented solution for solving app-to-app friction without a SDK.

 🔥 PRIME PICKS
→ Amazon’s sandbox

GREAT RESULTS with BRAND TAILORED PROMOTIONS

How would you like $1,400 a day in incremental revenue at a 10% ACOS by retargeting your abandoned carts on Amazon?

Keith O-Brien, the CEO of Page.One outlined how to do this in a recent Linkedin post.

He used Amazon’s Brand Tailored Promotions, a nifty new tool that allows you to show targeted discounts to a variety of shoppers in nine different audience types, categorized by potential or current customers.

The discount shows in the search results as well as on the detail pages. It’s fairly predominant, getting plenty of attention.

You can find it under the Advertising → Brand Tailored Promotions tab, then click on "Create A Tailored Promotion" and choose a brand.

Check out Keith’s post for more details on the testing he did.

AMAZON CAN READ YOUR HAND FOR PAYMENTS

No need for a wallet anymore.

Amazon has introduced a payment method that reads your palm for transactions, venue access, age verification, and more.

Called Amazon One, the technology blends AI, advanced biometrics, and optical mechanisms. Amazon says its accuracy surpasses dual-iris eye scans.

After scanning, it registers your palm signature and links it to either your credit card or Amazon profile.

Amazon One is launching in over 500 Whole Foods Markets and numerous other retailers, stadiums, grocery shops, and entertainment locales.

💰 SPARE CHANGE
→ immediate impact tips

INFLUENCER MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR BLACK FRIDAY & CYBER MONDAY 2023

The rise of influencer marketing, valued at $21.1 billion in 2023, up from $16.4 billion in 2022, will play a significant role in driving sales this coming Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM).

The 2022 Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) sales records were astonishing, with Black Friday online sales hitting $9.12 billion and Cyber Monday reaching $11.3 billion. Prime Day this past July did $12.9 billion.

Your key strategies to capitalize on BFCM should involve partnerships with influencers across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.

Action Items to Get BFCM Ready:

• Partner with influencers to enhance brand awareness before BFCM.

• Collaborate with influencers outside your brand's direct category.

• Use micro-influencers for potentially higher engagement at lower costs.

• Utilize influencers for product review campaigns to provide social proof.

• Organize unboxing campaigns with influencers.

• Generate informative, non-promotional content alongside influencers.

• Introduce new TikTok challenges associated with your brand.

• Repurpose influencer content across various marketing channels.

• Address negative reviews promptly and empathetically.

• Start planning and launching BFCM influencer campaigns early.

LIVE STREAM 24/7 WITH AI INFLUENCERS

Deepfakes of Chinese influencers are live streaming 24/7 and generating billions of dollars in sales. With just a few minutes of sample video and $1,000 in production costs, brands never have to stop selling their products.

• Background: In the early hours on Taobao, China's leading e-commerce platform, there are many livestreamers showcasing products. However, upon closer inspection, many of these appear slightly robotic. These are AI-generated clones of real streamers, which have grown increasingly popular across China's e-commerce streaming platforms.
  

• Growth of Livestreaming: Livestreaming has become the primary e-commerce marketing channel in China. Top influencers on platforms like Taobao and Douyin (Chinese TikTok) can generate billions in sales in a single night. For smaller brands, the expenses associated with training, maintaining, and technical details of livestreaming are significant, making automation an attractive option.
  

• Rise of Deepfakes in E-commerce: Numerous Chinese startups and tech giants have provided deepfake avatars for e-commerce live streaming since 2022. Brands can now clone a human streamer for continuous streaming with just a brief sample video and around $1,000.
  

• Evolution of the Technology: Silicon Intelligence, a startup founded in 2017, has rapidly advanced the deepfake technology. Initially requiring 30 minutes of video to create a clone, they now only need one minute. The cost has also reduced, with a basic AI clone costing about 8,000 RMB ($1,100). The fee includes a year's maintenance.
  

• Capabilities of the AI Streamers: These AI clones can move their mouths and bodies synchronously with scripted audio. Large language models can now generate these scripts, requiring minimal human intervention. Advanced versions can also interact with live comments, and adjust marketing strategies based on viewership.

• Market Response: These AI-generated streamers might not replace top influencers but can substitute for mid-tier ones. The average salary for livestream hosts in China has decreased by 20% from 2022. Brands are exploring this technology to improve efficiency, especially during non-peak hours.
  

• Drawbacks and Concerns: While AI streamers can interact verbally and gesture-wise, they can't physically demonstrate products, like sitting on furniture.
  

• Future of Silicon Intelligence: The company aims to infuse "emotional intelligence" into its AI streamers, allowing them to react to comments and sales metrics. They also plan to enable AI streamers to learn from one another. Their ambitious goal is to produce "100 million silicon-based laborers" by 2025, with 400,000 already generated.

🗣️ COMMUNITY SHOUT-OUTS
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🎉 THIS FRIDAY: IMPRESSIVE LIST OF FREE PRIZES

Billion Dollar Dream 100 member Norm Farrar is hosting a huge online party for the 500th episode of the Lunch with Norm podcast this Friday, September 29 from 12pm to 4pm EST.

Norm has a ton of guests coming on. He and his son Kelsey will be giving away over $25,000.00 of cool prizes in Wheel of Kelsey spins throughout the event, including free VIP tickets to BDSS Hawaii, Titan’s San Diego Mastermind and the Ecom Summit in Orlando.

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🏖️ FREE TICKET to SAN DIEGO AMAZON MASTERMIND

You’re invited to join me for FREE at the Titan San Diego Mastermind October 6th & 7th.

A panel of experts are leading an action-focused 2-day event in San Diego. You’ll have your laptop open implementing training in real time to move the needle in your business while you learn.

As a loyal BDSN newsletter reader, I convinced the good folks at Titan to give you a free general admission ticket if you’re able to join us.

I’ll be hanging out and presenting 21 immediately implementable hacks you can use to level up your e-commerce business. Norm Farrar, Athena Severi and Andrew Erickson and others are also speaking.

At night, you can join Norm & I for cigars, fascinating stories and shop talk.

>>> Get the details and your FREE ticket here 
Use the code “KING” for a free general admission ticket!

Want to be featured in this section? Use your referral link in this email to refer at least 10 active subscribers, then email me to get your event, course, webinar or tool “Shouted-Out” free.

✌🏼 Got a minute - hit reply to tell me what you liked most today.

Don’t forget to refer a couple friends to get the 186 hacks PDF!

See you on Thursday …

The answer to today’s STUMP BEZOS is $20.2 billion