Are you worried that your products aren’t effectively reaching your target audience? Frustrated that you need to continue to find creative ways to market products to consumers? It’s complicated.
At the 2017 Government Affairs Fly-In, we were joined by speakers Bala Iyer, executive VP & chief operating officer, Telebrands, Marc Roth, partner, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, and Jennifer DeMarco, general counsel, All-Star Marketing for a panel entitled, “We’re All in this Together: The Complicated Relationship that Makes up your Direct Response Advertising Campaign.” And the panel was moderated by Ellen T. Burge, partner, Venable LLP.
First and foremost, our panellists discussed how Amazon.com, the world's largest online retailer, is at the forefront of consumers’ minds. DeMarco says Amazon Prime is the “prime” reason, so to speak. Amazon offers free shipping through Amazon Prime and people know people who have it. Word of mouth travels fast!
80 million people fast to be exact. According to Iyer, Amazon Prime’s membership has reached 80 million subscribers. This number is up from 58 million members at the end of Q1 2016. Sounds like they know their audience.
Iyer says Amazon knows that people shop around to find the best price and if they aren’t satisfied, their next step is to look on Amazon. This means you need to make sure you have your products on there and engage your consumer before someone else does, says DeMarco.
But can product reviews on Amazon really be trusted?
Yes and no. There are plenty of real reviews on Amazon, but you have to pay close attention. Fortune Tech says to look out for reviews with a “Verified Purchase” tag for an honest description of the product. And watch out for when reviewers say the words “honest review.” They may not be so honest after all.
If you’re thinking of partnering up with an influencer for your next campaign to review your product, Roth says to make sure you’re doing your homework. Be sure to do thorough research of the influencers you choose to partner with, their values, and the messages they put out. Huffington Post recommends screening influencers as if you were screening them as employees. Do they reflect company values? 
Not only this, but you want to be wary of accidentally reaching out to unofficial influencer pages. If an influencer reaches out to you or you’re starting the screening process, look out for fake authentication sites. There are plenty of pages that claim to be authentic, but aren’t verified or say “unofficial.”
Have any other tricks of the trade for working with social media influencers or using Amazon.com? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!
About the Author
Bill McClellan serves as ERA's Vice President of Government Affairs. Prior to joining the association, Bill worked as a lobbyist at the Georgia Automobile Dealers Association, covering the state legislature and Georgia's congressional delegation. Before working for the GADA, Bill managed political campaigns at both the congressional and state constitutional levels.
