Brand Building Tips: How Singaporean Brand Aerospring Hydroponics Built their Brand on Amazon.com
Chief Operating Officer of Aeropsring Hydroponics, Mark Newton share some brand building tips on how he grew his humble Singapore brand to global success on Amazon.com.
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Having access to such a large customer pool on Amazon.com has really allowed us to grow our business to the US. Through Amazon.com, our products are available to all 50 states, and about 25% of our total sales are with schools which use our system to teach kids about urban farming.
– Mark
Helping people grow gardens hydroponically in their homes
Aerospring Hydroponics was started by husband and wife team Thorben and Nadine Linneberg, because they were looking for solutions to grow their own food at home. Focusing on two key areas – needs and usability – they wanted to create a system that was efficient, simple and as modular as possible, to provide a solution for urban farmers around the world to grow their own produce no matter the season.
“The greatest products in the world start with a customer problem or need. Thorben and Nadine were the customers themselves and created a solution for the problem they had, rather than simply seeing a gap or opportunity in the market,” says Mark Newton, COO of Aerospring Hydroponics.
From running a kickstarter campaign to eventually launching their brand on Amazon.com, they have come a long way, with Amazon accounting for 90-95% of their US sales today, and US accounts accounting for around 70% of their global sales. Selling with Amazon also allowed them to tap into the B2B customer base, with about 25% of their total sales in the US resulting from schools that use their product as a teaching tool.
“The greatest products in the world start with a customer problem or need. Thorben and Nadine were the customers themselves and created a solution for the problem they had, rather than simply seeing a gap or opportunity in the market,” says Mark Newton, COO of Aerospring Hydroponics.
From running a kickstarter campaign to eventually launching their brand on Amazon.com, they have come a long way, with Amazon accounting for 90-95% of their US sales today, and US accounts accounting for around 70% of their global sales. Selling with Amazon also allowed them to tap into the B2B customer base, with about 25% of their total sales in the US resulting from schools that use their product as a teaching tool.
For new sellers, we’d recommend spending a lot of time doing competitive research before launching your brand. Do your keyword research and put a lot of work into your product title, descriptions and product pictures. Research as much as you can before entering a new international store so you can completely understand cross-border operations, from shipping to receiving, including customs clearance, etc.
– Mark
Not sure what to sell? Check out our key tips for researching products to sell on Amazon:
Using Amazon’s branding tools to increase conversions
Tip 1: Listen to customer reviews, and use them in a constructive way to identify product gaps and make improvements for your products
Use the A+ content manager to better convince customers to make purchase decisions by telling your unique brand and product story through enhance images and text placements.
Our products aren’t cheap, which we understand is a big investment to make. Which is why, when listing our products on Amazon.com, we highlight key features, benefits, size and assembly requirements. The goal is to provide as much information as possible before the customer makes a purchase.
– Mark
Applications:
1. Use lifestyle images to help customers visualize the product in their homes/lives
2. Use bullet points to illustrate clear and easy-to-read benefits
3. Use quality images to illustrate one clear selling point per image, to aid understanding of the product to make informed decisions
4. Provide information about how the product works, especially for products that require some level of technical knowledge to set up
1. Use lifestyle images to help customers visualize the product in their homes/lives
2. Use bullet points to illustrate clear and easy-to-read benefits
3. Use quality images to illustrate one clear selling point per image, to aid understanding of the product to make informed decisions
4. Provide information about how the product works, especially for products that require some level of technical knowledge to set up
Image 1: Example of Aerospring Hydroponics A+ Content revamp
Tip 2: Don’t compromise on product quality – it’s vital to ensure product quality standards to build trust with customers in the long-term
Use Stores to build your branding by providing customers with an immersive, branded shopping experience. Use free pre-designed templates and drag-and-drop tiles to create a Store that fits your brand and highlights your best-selling products without writing a line of code.
Applications:
1. Use the “Brand Follow” feature to reward and grow a loyal shopper base on Amazon, as brands that customers follow get elevated placements in the shopping feed
2. Customize menu items to address key customer needs and pain points, such as an FAQ section to address top customer questions
3. Create custom modules and images to showcase key features of your brand and products
Applications:
1. Use the “Brand Follow” feature to reward and grow a loyal shopper base on Amazon, as brands that customers follow get elevated placements in the shopping feed
2. Customize menu items to address key customer needs and pain points, such as an FAQ section to address top customer questions
3. Create custom modules and images to showcase key features of your brand and products
Image 2: Example of Aerospring Hydroponics Amazon Store revamp
Tip 3: Use Virtual Bundles to drive discovery of more products
Use virtual bundles to allow customers to shop for products that go well together, making it easier to discover and buy more from your brand’s catalog.
Applications:
1. Experiment with virtual bundling, to bundle products that naturally go together so that the customer can get everything they need in one purchase
2. Tap on virtual bundling in creative ways to help with stock issues e.g. Aerospring Hydroponics bundled their outdoor hydroponics system with an indoor upgrade kit when their indoor systems were out of stock
Applications:
1. Experiment with virtual bundling, to bundle products that naturally go together so that the customer can get everything they need in one purchase
2. Tap on virtual bundling in creative ways to help with stock issues e.g. Aerospring Hydroponics bundled their outdoor hydroponics system with an indoor upgrade kit when their indoor systems were out of stock
Image 3: Example of virtual bundle for complimentary products
Through these branding tools, Aerospring Hydroponics managed to drive the following results:
• Customer Conversion Rate: +66-73%
• % New-to-brand customers: +5-28%
• Brand searches and detail page views: +7-9%
• Add to cart: +25-32%
Through these branding tools, Aerospring Hydroponics managed to drive the following results:
• Customer Conversion Rate: +66-73%
• % New-to-brand customers: +5-28%
• Brand searches and detail page views: +7-9%
• Add to cart: +25-32%
Using Amazon advertising tools to drive branding and sales targets
On Amazon.com, we use a combination of approximately 70% Sponsored Products, 15% Sponsored Brands and 15% Sponsored Display for the full marketing funnel. We like to go heavy on Sponsored Product ads as this is what drives our sales. And we also bump up our advertising budget during key shopping periods like Prime Day where we can see up to 5x our average daily sales.
– Mark
Tip 1: Tailor ads for different purposes
Amazon offers different types of sponsored ads to help you reach your advertising goals. Depending on your ad strategy, consider splitting your ad budget across different ad types to help you drive your desired goals.
• Sponsored Products are cost-per-click (CPC) ads that promote individual product listings on Amazon, and can help customers find your products quickly by creating ads that appear in related shopping results and product pages.
• Sponsored Brands are cost-per-click (CPC) ads that feature your brand logo, a custom headline and multiple products. They appear in relevant shopping results and can help drive discovery of your brand among customers shopping for similar products.
• Sponsored Display is a self-service display advertising solution that can help you grow your business and brand by engaging shoppers across the purchase journey – beyond those shopping on Amazon.
• Sponsored Brands are cost-per-click (CPC) ads that feature your brand logo, a custom headline and multiple products. They appear in relevant shopping results and can help drive discovery of your brand among customers shopping for similar products.
• Sponsored Display is a self-service display advertising solution that can help you grow your business and brand by engaging shoppers across the purchase journey – beyond those shopping on Amazon.
For example, Aerospring Hydroponics focuses the majority of their ad budget on Sponsored Products as that is what drives revenue for their brand, while the remainder is split between Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display to drive brand awareness and brand presence.
Image 4: Example of Aerospring Hydroponics’ budget allocation for Amazon ads
Tip 2: Use different strategies for broad, phrase and exact keywords
If you are launching a new advertising campaign and are unsure about your keyword bidding strategy, Aerospring Hydroponics recommends using 3 match types for each keyword. Then, monitor and keep the high-performing match types.
Image 5: Example of Aerospring Hydroponics’ keyword bidding strategy
Tip 3: Refine your bidding strategy
A bid is the average amount that you’re willing to pay for a click or view of your ad. When you're creating a campaign, select a bid type that helps you meet your goals.
• Suggested bid uses Amazon's bid recommendations that are calculated from a group of recent winning bids similar to yours. This bid type is recommended for advertisers who are new to advertising on Amazon.
• Custom bid allows you to apply custom bids for each target without overriding your set bid amount.
• Default bid allows you to link multiple keywords to a single bid value. As you change the bid value, it affects all linked keywords. This bid type is available only for Sponsored Products campaigns.
• Custom bid allows you to apply custom bids for each target without overriding your set bid amount.
• Default bid allows you to link multiple keywords to a single bid value. As you change the bid value, it affects all linked keywords. This bid type is available only for Sponsored Products campaigns.
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Note: The information contained in this guide does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice. If you are in doubt as to the action you should take, please consult your legal, financial, tax, or other professional adviser. In addition, the content in this article is for information only and must not be construed as a guarantee of future results. Many factors influence the demand for a seller’s products, including price fluctuations, consumer demand shifts, and sellers remain responsible for determining the products they sell and their prices.
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