Amazon SEO, Ads, and LTV — Taught by a $100M+ Strategist

Brands selling consumables or any product with repeat purchase potential need to think differently about Amazon. It’s not a side channel. It’s not a margin killer. It’s the most effective tool for scalable, low-friction purchasing that exists today.

Over 87% of Amazon Prime members reorder directly through their order history. That habit makes Amazon more than a store. It’s where decisions are made, especially after customers see a product on TikTok or Instagram.

Amazon isn't cannibalizing your DTC sales. It's capturing demand that already exists — demand you're paying to generate elsewhere.

Jordan Seefeldt, Vice President of Strategy at Piranha, breaks down how brands are treating Amazon as a primary performance engine and rethinking their entire growth model around it.

Consumables Win Because Amazon Rewards Recurring Behavior

Amazon’s Algorithm Prioritizes Frequency and Fulfillment

The best products for Amazon follow a consistent consumption pattern and land in the right price range. According to Jordan Seefeldt of Piranha, a leading Amazon agency, the ideal product:

• Has a 30–45 day consumption cycle

• Costs $14.99 or $24.99

• Is eligible for Subscribe & Save

• Ships via FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon)

That $24.99 price point is important. Amazon offers free one-day shipping for carts over $25, and customers frequently add items to hit that threshold. Some products convert better at $24.99 than they do at $22.59 because of that shipping advantage.

Amazon incentivizes these behaviors algorithmically. Subscribe & Save purchases get more favorable ranking treatment. Products with consistent delivery, strong fulfillment reliability, and repeat patterns earn visibility others don’t.

Beauty and Skincare Brands Are Scaling Through Regimens

The skincare and beauty category dominates Amazon because of its wide SKU potential. A single customer might need:

• A cleanser

• Toner

• Serum

• Moisturizer

• Eye cream

• Sunscreen

In haircare, the same shift is happening. Brands now offer shampoo, conditioner, and hair serums — and Amazon rewards this full-regimen approach. Each SKU becomes another entry point into a larger routine, which increases LTV and engagement.

Trial Packs and Variety Bundles Drive Acquisition and Upsell

Trial Packs Lower Risk While Introducing Key SKUs

For brands looking to acquire new customers, trial packs and variety bundles are one of the most effective tools.

A trial pack with three best-selling scents of a deodorant performed better than individual SKUs. It gave customers a low-risk way to sample the brand and choose what they liked best — which increased the likelihood of a second purchase.

Even if margins are thinner, bundles often increase the average order value (AOV) and qualify customers for Amazon’s free shipping thresholds. For example:

• A $15 product with 60% margin generates $9 profit.

• A $100 bundle with 30% margin generates $30 profit.

In absolute terms, bundles create more value and stronger retention pathways.

Brands Use Flagship SKUs to Funnel into Higher LTV Products

Some brands use TikTok Shop or Amazon itself to distribute a single “hero” SKU. That product isn’t always profitable — and that’s intentional. It's used as a lead-in.

This strategy works when combined with high-converting PDPs and strong cross-sell logic. Customers are introduced through one low-commitment product, and then nudged toward more frequent or higher-margin SKUs.

Off-Platform Awareness Campaigns Fuel Amazon Search Demand

TikTok, Meta, and Influencer Spend Drives Branded Searches

Amazon is where customers go to validate and buy. Even when the awareness happens on another platform, the search intent often finishes on Amazon.

Jordan shared a real example: a brand based in Hong Kong, with only three weeks of presence on Instagram, saw over 2,000 branded searches on Amazon — before they had listed any products. That search volume was pure spillover from DTC marketing.

• TikTok = awareness

• Amazon = decision

This dynamic is now standard. Many consumers see a product in a UGC video, open Amazon, and search for it — skipping the brand’s site entirely.

Amazon Doesn’t Cannibalize DTC — It Captures Dormant Value

Cross-Channel Attribution Proves Amazon and DTC Work Together

Piranha ran a case study using ad tokens to trace user paths. The result: Amazon reactivated churned DTC customers. Likewise, 20% of first-time Amazon buyers ended up as high-LTV customers on DTC sites.

The two platforms don’t compete. They loop together.

Brands that fear brand erosion or margin compression on Amazon are often misreading the data. Most customers prefer Amazon for convenience. Denying them that choice doesn’t preserve your brand — it drives them to competitors who are listed.

Subscription Incentives Help Split the Funnel

For brands that want to steer repeat buyers back to DTC, the solution is smart subscription incentives.

• Use Amazon for first purchase and product discovery

• Encourage longer-term subscriptions on DTC with stronger discounts or exclusive bundles

This allows brands to use Amazon to widen the top of the funnel while protecting DTC’s higher-margin retention layer.

Microcredits and Reliability Metrics Decide Organic Ranking

Amazon Tracks Everything — Down to the Minute

Amazon’s search algorithm uses what it calls microcredits — small behavioral signals that add up to determine rank.

Jordan grouped them into 3 buckets:

1. Reliability: Amazon tracks how often your products are in stock, how often they’re out of stock, and whether delivery estimates are met. The platform records your in-stock position down to the minute. A best practice is to maintain at least 75 days of inventory at all times. Falling below that can hurt your ranking even if the listing doesn’t go out of stock entirely.

2. Conversion: A high bounce rate or failure to deliver a purchase-ready page (e.g. due to stock issues) sends negative signals. Amazon penalizes listings that don’t result in a sale — especially when they’ve surfaced it through a search.

3. Engagement: Time on page improves your ranking. One brand encouraged users to screenshot foundation swatches and compare them to their own skin tone. This kind of interaction increased session time and helped the product rank higher — all without changing pricing or bid strategy.

High-Converting Listings Require Creative and Structural Detail

Technical Optimization Makes a Measurable Difference

Amazon isn’t just tracking content — it’s evaluating the format. Brands should:

• Upload 3000x3000 PNG images (not JPEGs)

• Ensure fast load times

• Include educational visuals and videos

• Use Brand Registry to unlock Brand Story and A+ Content

These elements help build trust and extend dwell time, which improves organic rank.

Your product detail page should be built like a landing page — not a brochure.

• Use swatches and comparison charts

• Cross-sell within the page

• Include interactive elements wherever possible

Brand Registry Is Required for Enhanced Features

Without Brand Registry, brands lose access to critical features:

• A+ Content

• Brand Story modules

• Brand Storefronts

• Video on listings

These elements increase conversion and unlock additional placement opportunities. Amazon only makes certain placements eligible for brands using these features.

Ads Work — But Only if Structured to Avoid Waste

Amazon Ads Come in Three Formats

There are 3 core ad types on Amazon:

• Sponsored Products: Appear in search and PDPs (Product Detail Page). Focused on conversion.

• Sponsored Brands: Use static or video creatives. Appear at top-of-search and mid-search.

• Sponsored Display: Appear in sidebars and cross-page placements. More discovery-focused.

Each serves a different part of the funnel.

Sponsored Products are the most common and drive direct response. But relying on them alone misses opportunities to build awareness or expand reach.

Don’t Pay for Traffic You’re Already Winning

Many brands make the mistake of bidding on their own branded search terms. If someone types in your brand name on Amazon, you’re already likely to convert them. Amazon’s internal data shows sellers capture 95%+ of branded queries even without ads.

Bidding on those terms burns budget and inflates your ROAS without adding new customers.

Instead, focus on generic, category-level keywords to acquire net-new users.

Amazon DSP (Demand Side Platform) and AMC (Amazon Marketing Cloud) Unlock Geographic and Demographic Targeting

Brands Can Run Localized Creative Down to the ZIP Code

Amazon DSP allows for geography-based targeting at scale. Brands can:

• Run creative by ZIP code

• Reference local landmarks or influencers

• Filter by household income, gender, or marital status

Jordan noted that several beer brands already do this, tailoring creative with “Hello San Diego” or “Hello Boise” messages, plus visuals from those areas.

Skincare and sunscreen brands can replicate this by pairing product with well-known local settings. For example, showing a sunscreen ad near San Diego’s Ocean Beach increases perceived relevance and word of mouth.

AMC Offers Conversion Path Visibility and New-to-Brand Metrics

As of October 2024, any advertiser running Amazon ads can request access to Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC). It provides:

• New-to-brand tracking

• Conversion pathways (e.g. user saw a Sponsored Brand video, clicked on a Sponsored Product, and purchased)

• Household-level tracking

• Zip-code-level purchase behavior

These insights help brands allocate budget by understanding which ads create net-new customers — not just repeat behavior.

Tactical Search Hacks Reduce CPC Without Losing Volume

Use Modified Search Terms to Lower Cost

Amazon matches broad keywords even when filler words are added. For example, bidding on “pants for” or “the pants” triggers the same search results as “pants” — but with less competition and lower cost.

This long-tail tactic helps brands avoid high-CPC head terms while still building rank and capturing conversions.

Amazon’s Hidden Reports Are Critical for Smart Strategy

Use Search Query Performance to Track Market Share

Amazon’s Search Query Performance report shows:

• Total searches per keyword

• Total clicks

• Add-to-cart rates

• Purchase volume

• Your share of each

This lets you see where you’re winning and where competitors are taking your demand. It’s the closest equivalent to market share tracking inside the platform.

Use Fulfillment Reports to Calculate Repeat Purchase Behavior

Amazon’s standard reports treat any customer who purchases in a different quarter as “new.” This ruins true LTV analysis. Fulfillment exports allow brands to:

• Track order dates per ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number)

• Match customer identifiers

• Measure real reorder timelines

From this, brands can calculate real repeat rates, determine consumption cycles, and predict cash flow more accurately.

Amazon collects all the data. It’s just not surfaced unless you know where to look.

Amazon isn’t a secondary channel. It’s not a dumping ground for discounted inventory. It’s where high-intent shoppers buy — often after discovering the product on another platform.

The brands that win on Amazon don’t just sell products. They manage inventory, optimize data flow, structure their PDPs like DTC landing pages, and run ads with intent — not noise.

Amazon doesn’t reward hope. It rewards structure. And the brands that treat it like their core sales layer will be the ones left standing as acquisition costs rise everywhere else.

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Now imagine doing that for something you sell. That's 3-5 sales per day.

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