How to Choose the Best Amazon Consultants

Amazon dominates the e-commerce sales industry by owning 49.1% of all sales. Whether you are already on Amazon or looking to be on Amazon, it can be easy to get lost and forget the big picture.

To maximize your efforts and guarantee your success on Amazon, you can hire Amazon Consultants to help you develop a long-term strategy resulting in higher sales. These consultants can offer a wide variety of knowledge and guidance to your store and product, but there are services out there that may not be the best option, either. 

In the digital world, there always seems to be a snake oil salesman trying to upsell you on products and services. Without a thorough understanding of what to look for in an Amazon Marketing Agency, you can lose: 

• Money
• Time 
• Opportunity 

To prepare for this, it’ll help to understand these nine critical mistakes others have made while seeking Amazon Consultants. You want a consultant that best fits your company, leading you towards success and prosperity. 

9 Critical Mistakes To Avoid When Choosing an Amazon Marketing Agency 

1. Reputation: Selecting an Agency Without Conducting Due Diligence 

The reality is anyone can put up a website with facts and images stating how they can help you succeed. To find your perfect agency, you will want to dive deep into your research and fully understand the person behind the sleek looking website. 

Differentiate your options with these questions: 

• How many years have they been in business? 
• What is their active client list? 
• How many industries have they worked in? 
• Do they have reviews and case studies? 
• What is their Domain Authority (DA)?
  • Try this Domain Authority Assessor, which shows how much trust they have with Google. 
  • What is a good DA? A score over 35. 

2. Framework: Not Knowing How the Account Management & Strategy Works

Communication is key when working with an agency. If the ball gets dropped within Amazon, you need to know who to turn to. The key to success is having an account manager or Amazon consultant that is reliable, consistent, and onboard to help you succeed. 

Here are a few requirements worth bringing up during your first point of contact:

• Will you have a dedicated account manager?
• How frequently do you meet?
• What is the framework? 
• What happens if there is a crisis?
  • Can they adapt quickly?

3. Moving Too Fast: Jumping Into a Large Engagement Without Working With the Agency First

Similar to toddlers trying to run before they can crawl, make sure you test the waters before committing to the large project. Good agencies will work with your team on a smaller engagement first in order to build a relationship, trust, and see if you are a good fit. The trial engagement should provide value to your company in case you are not happy with their services. More importantly, the trial engagement should give you a sense of how the agency operates. It should show how they treat you as a client, even on smaller engagements like a test project, and how good of a fit it is to work together

The benefits of testing the waters with your agency: 

• • Reduces risks
  • Builds trust 
  • Provides value

4. Services: Selecting a Limited Service Provider

Obviously, the agency needs to know Amazon inside and out. It’s easier to work with one agency that can provide a turnkey solution to growing your Amazon presence than trying to put together a patchwork mix of freelancers and specialists – there’s something to be said about alignment and synergy.  

Requirements of your holistic provider:

• • SEO
  • Optimization
  • Strategy
  • Crisis management
  • Offsite 
  • Good synergy 

5. Success: No Definition of Success or Key Performance Indicators

Amazon is more than just sales. When you work with an agency that really knows what they’re doing, they’ll guide you to focus on what really matters and what it really takes to succeed on Amazon. And please, if you come across an agency that reports on ACoS alone, buyer beware. 

A lot of companies have really lost out by not knowing these key performance indicators: 

• Margins
• Blended ACoS & ACoS 
• ROI

6. Contract: Signing a Long-Term Contract and/or Not Keeping Rights to Your Work

A lot of companies will try to cheat the system and have clients sign contracts forfeiting their proprietary rights or have the client sign a long-term contract. It is important to ensure you will always own the rights to your products and creatives. A huge red flag is an agency trying to lock you down to a year-long contract. Most Amazon consultants will create a 30-day contract to ensure that you are happy with their services before moving forward. 

Ensure your safety by understanding the terms of your contract: 

• Is it 30-day out contract?
• Do you own the creative?
• What do the contract terms look like? 
• Are they insured? What happens if something gets screwed up? 

7. Strategy: Working With an Agency Who Doesn’t Have a Plan 

Every product is different, but every agency will have its methodology. It is important to understand what their process is, and how your Amazon consultants can tailor their methodology to the nuances of your individual business. You should, again, be able to rely on your account manager to communicate the plan to you. You should not have to seek them out. 

Before signing the dotted line, think about:

• What is their process? 
• Can they tailor their methodology to match yours? 
• More importantly, you need to know their plan → COMMUNICATION

8. Marketing: Working with an Agency Who Isn’t Doing Their Marketing Well

Does your Amazon Marketing Agency know how to market themselves? If they can’t market themselves, how are they supposed to understand and market your product or services? Not only does your agency need to understand how to market you on Amazon, but also on all other platforms that work hand in hand with Amazon. 

Assess your potential agency before engaging with them: 

• How’s the agency’s marketing?
• Are you being retargeted after visiting their website? 
• How can they market your Amazon correctly if they can’t do it themselves?

9. Transparency: Not Knowing What Your Agency is Doing

Eventually, you will be able to take over the management of your Amazon account. It’s critical that your agency layout the scope of work and type of engagement beforehand – an engagement to train your team to build an internal capability is different than the one defined as done-for-you marketing. 

To further succeed and learn, you will want an agency that truly wants you to succeed in the future by: 

• Training your staff on Amazon best practices and management 
• Being transparent with what they are doing 
• Communicating the scope of the work 
• Driving your strategy and guiding you toward success 

With all being said, you are now fully aware of how to choose your Amazon marketing agency. These are a few tips to get you started when looking at the vast variety of services and agencies out there. In the end, find the agency and Amazon consultants that best fit your needs with a full strategy to drive your business towards success.