Performance PR for Amazon Brands: Getting Your Products Discovered Beyond Amazon

For years, the standard playbook for emerging consumer brands was pretty straightforward: build a DTC website, drive customers there and make direct-to-consumer sales the center of your growth strategy.

That playbook has changed.

Customer acquisition costs, shipping expenses, fulfillment, technology costs and an increasingly competitive digital advertising landscape have made DTC economics more complicated for many brands. At the same time, consumers continue to rely heavily on Amazon and other marketplaces to discover, compare and purchase products.

For many brands, Amazon isn't just another sales channel anymore. It's a major part of the business.

So if Amazon is an important part of your sales strategy, shouldn't it also be part of your PR strategy?

Welcome to Performance PR for Amazon brands.

What Is Performance PR for Amazon Brands?

Performance PR combines elements of traditional public relations, commerce editorial and affiliate marketing to help brands earn product coverage that can also contribute to measurable business results.

For an Amazon-focused brand, that means identifying opportunities for publishers, commerce editors and content partners to feature products while giving consumers an easy path to purchase through Amazon.

Think:

• Product reviews
• Gift guides
• Best-of lists
• Product roundups
• Seasonal shopping coverage
• Lifestyle stories
• New product coverage
• Commerce editorial

The goal isn't simply to generate a press hit and move on.

It's to build awareness and credibility while creating opportunities for consumers to actually discover and shop the product.

Amazon Changed How Consumers Shop

A consumer might first learn about a product in an article, see it again on social media and then search for it on Amazon.

Or they might Google “best walking shoes for travel,” read a commerce article comparing several products and purchase the recommended pair through Amazon five minutes later.

The journey isn't always: Ad → DTC Website → Purchase.

And marketing strategies shouldn't assume that it is.

For many consumers, Amazon is simply where the transaction happens.

That doesn't make the awareness that happened before the Amazon visit any less valuable. In fact, it makes generating that awareness even more important.

Why PR Matters for Amazon Sellers

Amazon is incredibly good at helping consumers buy products. The challenge is getting them interested in your product in the first place.

Advertising within Amazon can be an important part of that strategy, but brands don't have to rely entirely on paid placements inside a marketplace to generate demand.

Editorial coverage can help build something advertising alone can't always create: third-party credibility.

A recommendation from a trusted publication can introduce a product to an entirely new audience while giving consumers a reason to choose it over dozens of similar options.

That's particularly valuable in crowded Amazon categories where consumers may be staring at page after page of products that, at first glance, look relatively similar.

Commerce Publishers Already Understand Amazon

Many major publishers operate sophisticated commerce businesses.

Their editors regularly create shopping guides, product recommendations, reviews and roundups designed to help readers make purchasing decisions. Affiliate marketing can allow publishers to earn commissions when readers purchase products through links in that content.

Amazon is already deeply embedded within that ecosystem.

That creates an opportunity for Amazon brands to approach PR with an understanding of both editorial relevance and commerce.

A strong pitch still needs a strong story. Affiliate economics don't make an uninteresting product suddenly interesting.

But when the right product meets the right editor, the resulting coverage can potentially create awareness, credibility, traffic and sales. That's a lot more interesting than simply counting impressions.

Getting press is great. Getting press that can help grow the business? Even better.

Joey Asleson, Founder

DTC Isn't Dead. Commerce Is Just More Complicated.

We love DTC.

Having a direct relationship with your customers is incredibly valuable, and for many brands, their own website will remain a critical sales channel.

But the economics are always changing.

For some products, driving every customer through a DTC funnel simply doesn't make financial sense. Shipping costs may be too high. Conversion rates may be stronger on Amazon. Customers may prefer Prime. Or a brand may simply have a large existing marketplace business that deserves more attention.

The answer doesn't have to be choosing Amazon or DTC.

It can be understanding where your customers actually want to shop and building a marketing strategy around that reality.

PR Should Follow the Customer

If your customer wants to buy on Amazon, your marketing strategy should account for it.

Performance PR for Amazon brands is about connecting the dots between discovery and commerce.

Get the product in front of the right editors. Tell a story worth covering. Build third-party credibility. And make it easy for consumers to buy wherever they already feel comfortable shopping.

Because getting press is great. Getting press that can help grow the business? Even better.