Ready to launch a new product on Amazon and want to get sales rolling quickly? A successful launch will increase your sales rank, moving you up the search rankings, getting you more reviews and boosting your sales into the future.

A study of over 700,000 products has shown that sales rank is the number one Amazon search ranking factor. In order to drive that sales rank on a new product we have created a list of the top ways we recommend to drive your initial sales rank on a product launch.

Here are our top 5 tips to successfully launch a new product on Amazon…

Tip #1: Perfect Your Amazon Product Listing

Before driving traffic to your product listing be sure your listing is ready to convert and is setup to rise in the Amazon search ranks. We’ve put together a full guide on how to maximize your listing for Amazon’s search engine, and below are a few tips on how to make your product listing stand out and turn shoppers into buyers.

Product Title – Include the products model number, brief description, and your top 2-3 keyword sequences.

Product Features/Bullets – Go in-depth and really describe your product. Give your shoppers the information they need and expand on your information, being sure to include any relevant keywords.

Product Description – Provide additional features and specifications, again including keywords.

Product Photos – Include 5-6 hi-res product images formatted to meet Amazon’s image requirements. Make sure your images are relevant to the customer.

Product Features Video – A video explaining the benefits of your product can raise your conversion rate significantly. Check out our previous post for why adding a video to your Amazon product is a good investment.

Tip #2: Setup Amazon Marketing Services PPC Marketing Campaigns

If we could only provide one tip, setting up Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) pay-per-click marketing campaigns would be the one. In our experience no other method of driving traffic to your product page compares closely to the return on your investment in AMS advertising.

Here are a few ad ideas to get you going…

Competitor Ads – Place ads directly on your top competitors product pages. Be sure in your ad copy to point out the competitive advantage of your product.

Headline Ads – Setup campaigns to show on the top of Amazon’s search pages when shoppers search for keywords relevant to your product.

Product Display Search Campaigns – Your newly listed product will most likely not be on the first search page and be buried deep where consumers are unlikely to find you. By using search campaigns you can put your product on top immediately.

Tip #3: Setup Your Product to Dropship

One frustration all of our clients have struggled through is the lack of initial inventory that Amazon typically orders when you launch a new product. This issue has become increasingly a problem over the last few years, but Amazon has also given us ways to solve this dilemma.

Using Amazon’s dropship program your product can immediately have inventory. You do not have to wait on Amazon to slowly order your product over the first few months and you can begin selling right away. Simply setup your dropshipping warehouse with Amazon, add your product and set inventory levels. Then when an order comes through just process the shipping label, mark it as shipped and you are done.

As your product gains a sales history Amazon will begin to purchase directly from you, and you can remove the product from your dropship program.

Tip #4: Drive External Traffic to Your Product

Yes, Amazon has a ton of traffic, but driving that traffic to your new product listing is a challenge. By driving traffic from external sources to your page you will show Amazon’s search engine that you are relevant, and hopefully increase sales which will also move you up the rankings.

Below are a few ways we recommend driving traffic from places outside of Amazon…

Add links to your Amazon listing on your own website

Create social media posts for each product listing on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit and others

E-mail existing customers and include a link to check out your new listing on Amazon

Post videos on YouTube with product information and links to your Amazon listing

Contact Amazon affiliate sites and send them a free product to review

Tip #5: Respond to Your Customers

Now that you have a great product listing and you are driving shoppers to your page, show shoppers that you are engaged and care about their questions and opinions.

We recommend interacting with your customers in any way possible. Here are a few ways you can interact with shoppers on your Amazon product listing…