How to Launch the Next Viral Product on Amazon

Launching a new product in the ecommerce space is not an easy feat. Launching a viral product is even more challenging. With more than 2 million active sellers, it takes a one-of-a-kind product to succeed and cultivate a brand that lasts a lifetime.

This blog is a webinar recap featuring Andrew Laird, Senior Account Manager from Mayan, and Steven Blustein, co-founder of Gembah. These Amazon experts discuss what mechanisms you need to launch a product and find success on Amazon. 

This article will cover what products have done well in the past and how you can leverage product data to your advantage. Keep reading to find out more.

What do the best-selling products on Amazon have in common?

It takes time and experience to unlock product success on Amazon. An excellent place to start is with products that have done well on the platform in the past.

All best-selling products have the following things in common:

• Simplicity: The number one clicked ASIN for the keyword Valentine's Day gift was a bottle of mixed-color capsules. The capsules came with a blank paper where you could write your message and give it to your loved one; a relatively simple product that made a lot of sales in a very short period.‍
• Inexpensive: Going back to the colored capsules in a bottle, you can imagine that the product was relatively cheap to manufacture (probably around $3), which also brings down the selling price on Amazon.‍
• Unique: People are likely to spend money on something unique. The capsules in a bottle were a unique idea for a Valentine's Day gift. That's why the seller made so many sales in a very short time. When launching a product, keep that in mind.‍
• Seasonality: This is a crucial factor to consider. You want a product that will sell all year. Rather than stocking Christmas gifts, you can target a bolder category of gifts instead of only Christmas products during Christmas.

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What factors do you need to consider when launching a product on Amazon?

Product launches require you to be retail-ready before making your first few sales. Consider the following when launching a new product:

• Product Demand: Say you launch a product that goes viral. While this is good because it means more sales, it can affect your bottom line. This happens when you don't have enough inventory to cover the increased demand. Prepare for these scenarios because the last thing you want is to turn off your product listing due to inventory stockouts.
• Entry Barrier: Some product categories, like women's dresses, are relatively easy to get into. Keywords can give you an idea of categories you should target. But here's the thing about low entry barrier categories, the competition is stiff. Just because a keyword appears in the top 20 search results doesn't mean that's the product you should sell.

• Inventory management: Some product categories make it hard to manage your inventory. For instance, a product with 45 different options and 10  different sizes means managing about 450 SKUs. That's a lot, especially for a beginner. But if you are good at inventory management and believe you can succeed in that category, go for it.
• Quantity of returns: One of the biggest challenges Amazon sellers face in some categories, like apparel, is a high number of returns. Depending on the season, you might have a 15% to 20% return rate. This happens when a product has multiple options since some people buy a few options, keep one, and return the rest. There is nothing wrong with product returns, but they create many problems for you down the road. That's because most returned items don't reach you in the same quality you sold them in. A customer could rip the packaging or tear tags off items like clothing. These are common occurrences you should consider when choosing a product category.
• Product niche: You can't sell products in all categories, so you must choose a specific niche. Make sure the niche can guarantee consistent sales all year.

Competition: If you pick a product category already dominated by big brands, there's little chance of competing and going viral in that category. Established players in different categories are already selling, most of which can be Chinese companies selling directly from their factories. That's hard to compete with.

What steps do you have to take to launch a successful Amazon product?

Launching a product involves a specific product journey with different stages. For your product to go viral, take a step back and think about your product cycle. Ideally, a product's journey involves six steps that include:

#1 Researching Your Ideal Product

Launch a product that resonates with customers. There must be existing demand. Go through different categories and find gaps that you can fill. Next, review product listings and see what gaps there are to differentiate. Product reviews can give you a great idea of what consumers want. Here are three different product types you might want to consider:

• Generic branded products: This is where you find an already existing product and rebrand it to your brand. The me-too product strategy was fantastic years ago because it meant controlling that listing by launching merely a branded item; things have changed. Customers no longer want items taken off a shelf and branded, which brings us to the following product type.
• Customized products: With customized products, you customize a product and make it your own rather than selling a me-too branded item. Go through customer reviews and find common product pain points. Creating a customized product can be as simple as adding a simple feature to better address customer pain points.
• Unique products: Finally, you can always make a unique product from scratch. It's costly, but it's a strategy that has the potential to grow your brand enough to dominate a specific category. Creating a unique product allows you to cross-sell in the future. You can create many related products when you launch your first product, thus increasing your market reach, which means more sales.

Ideally, if you are trying to launch a viral product, generic branded products aren't the best route to take. You might succeed eventually, but it means competing with similar products in that space and competing for the same keywords. Customized and unique products make for a highly scalable brand and more virality.

#2 Creating a Product Concept

Explore all the possible conceptual options that differentiate your product idea based on different market insights and supplier feedback. Here, you conceptually develop a viable product, so you need to consider whether your concept can be developed, manufactured, and delivered within your resource, time, and financial constraints. Also, think about the people who will buy it and whether there is an actual market.

#3 Designing Your Product

Once you've established a market for your product concept and that it's a product you can manufacture and even improve on, it's time to design the product. This is where your design team develops your feasible concept into a CAD design. You’ll want to demonstrate the specifications of your products and their intent at this stage.

#4 Product Sourcing

At this stage, you’ll take your finished design pack, engage with your sourcing partners for samples, and set up the final details of your design.

#5 Production

Take your product samples to your chosen manufacturer and have them produced in your desired quantity.

#6 Logistics

Once you have your first inventory, it's time to ship to the Amazon fulfillment centers or your chosen pre-fulfillment centers. If you are selling through fulfilled by merchant, the logistics fall on you.

How do you market your product to set yourself up for success?

So, you’ve launched the product you believe will be the next big thing on Amazon; what’s next? Launching a product doesn't mean that it will succeed right off the bat. You have to market it, so it's time to figure out your launch advertising strategy. 

Amazon advertising relies heavily on keywords. It's, therefore, essential to conduct keyword research to know what keywords are most relevant to your product for organic ranking. You will see better results when you target the right keywords.

And speaking of advertising, it's better to do all your launch advertising on Amazon. Why? Amazon is flooded with adverts, and this number continues to increase yearly. So, there is a high chance that your ad will be seen when you advertise on Amazon than on Google. An ad click precedes 40% of all sales on Amazon.

Since Amazon has increased ad placement over the last couple of years, most sales come directly from ad clicks. If you are not advertising, far fewer people will find your products. 

The Amazon honeymoon period is a period when Amazon allows new products to compete with existing ones by showing them more in search results. It happens once a listing goes live for the first time. To take advantage of this period, ensure you have enough inventory, but don’t activate your listing until you’re ready to launch.

When it comes to marketing, you might want to consider using or giving specific individuals your product for free to market to their community. Encouraging your customers to leave reviews is also a form of advertising. Amazon customers rely on reviews to gauge whether a brand is worth investing in. You might not get many reviews at first, but they will come with a great product and offer, they will come.

Summary

Launching a viral product that goes on to make significant sales is something every Amazon seller dreams of. But the reality is that it's not that easy and requires a lot of research to find the perfect product while building a loyal community. Consider going for customized and unique products rather than branding already existing products. Leverage Amazon ads to provide the visibility your brand deserves. 

If you’re interested in seeing what Mayan can do for your Amazon FBA business, sign up today. We’re excited to show you our platform and run an audit to show you the opportunities our platform can provide. Once we’re aligned on your goals, we can get started bringing your business to the next level. Ready to see how Mayan can help?