Did you know Amazon has its own version of QVC? It’s called Amazon Live, which takes the fun and interactive nature of live video and joins it with online shopping. This week, Tim Lambertson and Kelli Frazier talk about all things Amazon Live: what it is, how to use it, and why it could be valuable for your business.
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What Is Amazon Live?
We’re excited to have you. Kelli, we are back. I have been in Massachusetts, which is always nice to escape, get out to the woods, and get some pressure. I’m excited to be doing another episode. I’m here with Kelli Frazier. We are the executive team at several different businesses, specifically LMS The Agency. We have a venture capital fund, which we call Constellation Capital, and we have a small little incubator business that we also run on the side, which is becoming a much bigger side project than the original intention.
We also have a real estate company. The reason that I tell you all of this is because sometimes it’s interesting to be able to know who we are. I wanted to give you a little bit of background to set the tone. You might be new to the show. That’s us in a nutshell. If you want to get deeper or you want to know a little bit more about who we are, we made an episode about that. It is called How We Got Here. We did one for me. We did one for Kelli. If you want to know how we got here, I highly recommend you check those episodes. If you have any questions that come from any of our episodes, by all means, please reach out, send us a message. Hit us up on Instagram, send us a Facebook message, send a LinkedIn message, email us. We’re always happy to get questions from you. We will be doing a questions episode shortly, and the more questions that we have, the more opportunity we will have to be able to answer you and give you some personal feedback.
For everyone that has already sent Kelli and I some questions, thank you. We’ve received them. We were putting together all of the answers now for that episode. We will do some promo when that’s ready to go. This episode is exciting, Kelli. There’s a small little company that I’m wondering if you’ve ever heard of. It’s super niche. They do no advertising and if you’ve heard of them, I will be very surprised. This company is called Amazon, and jokes aside, they’re a behemoth. What we’re going to talk about is something that Amazon has done specifically called Amazon Live. It is essentially is a hosted live session, much like you would see on HSN or QVC. Why is that important to us? Why are we going to tell you about that? We will dive right into that.
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Kelli, we’re talking about this thing called Amazon Live. Let me give you a little bit of background as to how we found out about it and why we think it will be important for any of the readers. As everybody out there in the audience knows or anybody that’s new, we do a lot of work in influencer marketing. In the intro of this show, we talked about LMS The Agency. We have this agency, we built it on influencer marketing. What happened was one of our close friends, who is a content creator, gave us a little bit of insight. She started moving and working with Amazon who has started this piece or an extension of their website called Amazon Live. It’s a lot like what you would have imagined HSN or QVC to be. That means it is a hosted show. A lot of those hosts are influencers. It’s important to understand a couple of pieces about Amazon Live. If you’re a host or a hostess and you are doing an Amazon Live session, you have to be talking about products that are sold on Amazon. That’s important for us. It was important for our business because influencers, we work with brands and those brands sell a lot of products on Amazon.
Inevitably, if you want to move product, one of the places that you need to do it is on Amazon. Granted, many people have built fantastic direct to consumer businesses. In some cases, if you’re selling ice cream, it’s not going to get delivered from Amazon. Traditionally there are other places like Amazon Fresh or Amazon Grocery Delivery. There’s an Amazon answer for everything. My point being is that we were working with an influencer and have influencer friends who were doing this thing called Amazon Live. She gave me some background about it. She went on to Amazon and she recorded 45 minutes. She’s very much into lifestyle, home, hair, makeup, fashion, those kinds of elements, etc.
She did 45 minutes on the products that she uses, makeup tutorials. What was the brush? What was the blush? What was the eyebrow pencil? All of those products get sold on Amazon. For the influencer, there’s an upside by way of commission. From Amazon’s point of view, Amazon Live is a product. While they were beta testing this, they were working with many influencers. Those influencers had to pass a test in order to be included in this. Ultimately, the ones who did a good job and were able to move product are compensated by way of commission from the kinds of products that they sell. From the consumer’s perspective, you get to go on and see a content creator that you like, that you know, or that you’ve developed a rapport with from your social media interactions with them. They’re somebody that you recognize and trust. They’re going to give you a tutorial on things that they are well versed in and they’ll do it on Amazon Live.
I have questions. If I’m a consumer, how do I watch it? How do I know about it? Am I watching it from Amazon online?
Yes, that’s correct. The way that I always get to the live section is I go onto Google or any web browser and I type Amazon Live. I click the first thing that pops up and it’s a direct link to Amazon Live. It would have been smart of us to be able to provide a URL to Amazon Live. Since we sit here in front of our computers and we have access to the internet, essentially you’re going to Amazon.com and there is a subsection under the search bar, which is called Live Streams and you can click that. There is a live stream and somebody is selling what appears to be a portable Bluetooth speaker from a specific brand, which I’m not going to mention. Do you know why? When thousands of sponsors call us and want to sponsor this show, I don’t want to have dropped any brands.
You can scroll through here and choose the one that you want to watch. Do these stay here for a set amount of time? How long do they live here?
How long do they live on the website under the features? To be honest with you, Kelli, that is a question that I do not know the answer to. I think depending on how they do, they stay under the features in the sections that you’re interested in, so you can watch the videos of the lives. Catching it live is also cool too and super fun.
You can interact directly with the influencer or the host via chat.
[bctt tweet=”In traditional video format, you are watching but you’re not interacting.” username=”lmstheagency”]
The other piece of that from the consumer point of view, as the host or the influencer or whoever it is, is talking about the products, they are listed right below the video. Anybody that’s an Amazon Prime member or an Amazon shopper, you’re one click away. When somebody is talking about this eyebrow pencil that you love, you can go and right underneath when they’re talking about it, you’ll be able to click and buy the product. From a brand perspective, why would you want that? For the exact same reason that a consumer would want it. You have somebody who’s knowledgeable about a subject. Looking at the Amazon Live page, there’s a subsection called Featured Beauty.
While I’m on this eyebrow pencil tip here, let’s say you’re interested in beauty. Let’s say you’re more interested in Princess Peach cosplay and makeup. You can click on this, you can watch it. As you are watching it, this person is going to tell you what products they’re using and all of them are available on Amazon. Let’s pivot this conversation to talk about if I’m a brand, why am I going to be interested in this? Much in the same way that I was describing that consumer experience. If I’m a brand and somebody is live and perhaps they might even be live on my behalf.
If you’re a brand and you’re interested or already have existing relationships with influencers, then consider working with the said influencer to do an Amazon Live on your behalf. That can mean you can maybe co-sponsor in the sense that an influencer might work with your brand and three other friends’ brands. You might work with an influencer who’s experienced in Amazon Live is going to be doing more lives and you might want to get your product in that lineup because in some cases, it’s the influencer talking about whatever they want to talk about. There are different ways to do this. As we visited, you now have the consumer watching this live and they are one click away from buying your product.
It’s interesting too that they have the option to interact and ask questions in real-time. Whereas a lot of times in traditional video format, you are watching, but you’re not interacting. It gives you that chance to say, “Do you think this is good for sensitive skin?” or whatever questions you have. You’re getting that feedback in real-time. Getting answers like that also helps that conversion. It prompts those sales.
It used to be you can call in. I am not a heavy HSN or QVC watcher. It’s not on my to-do list yet.
Even if you catch it for five minutes, whatever is on there, somebody can compel you to buy. It’s like a set of pans and you’re like, “I don’t need that. I already have a set of pans,” but this set of pans does this thing. People call in and ask questions and four minutes in you’re like, “Maybe I do need this.”
I don’t need just one. I want three and for the price of two with some monthly installments.
That interaction piece does make a difference. Similarly, the way that people were feeling about those hosts, they would have their favorite host and they become very trusted resources. The new version of that has become influencers and content creators.
Are we middle-aged? The look of shock on Kelli’s face when I asked a question that I already know the answer to sadly.
Are you trying to ruin my day? I’ve never thought of it like that.
Let’s say we’re middle-aged. We’re getting there. Maybe middle-aged is 50. We’re a little younger than middle-aged. We’re very young, but young people know influencers. We’ve proven that time and time again. We talk all the time about influencers who operate in this gray area. Are you an influencer or are you a celebrity or both, or an influencer who’s made the jump to television, or a brand owner, or in Super Bowl commercials or you got a drink named after you at Dunkin Donuts? The point being is that the younger generations are following these influencers celebrities and strongly respect their opinion. Those people sell products. They go on Amazon and they do Amazon Live. They talk about something that you’re familiar with or you’re interested in listening to this influencer’s opinion already. The products are scrolling along the bottom. You’re making sales.
Let’s talk about a little bit about how it works and how do you use it. If you’re a brand that’s in the US and you are a US professional seller registered in the Amazon brand registry, you can stream through the app and that’s on iOS devices only. You can do that via your smartphone. You can also go to the website as we described on your desktop and laptop, and you can watch it like that. You can partner with influencers who are a part of the Amazon influencer network to feature your products on their streams. That’s a very important point because influencers have to have been vetted by Amazon. It’s not every person can jump on.
How am I going to find influencers who exclusively work on Amazon or maybe non-exclusively work on Amazon, but have been vetted and approved by Amazon? I highly recommend you call Kelli, send her a message and you say, “Kelli, I am a brand and I am looking for influencers who do Amazon Live because this works for me. I want to sell more units through Amazon.” Kelli is going to say, “That is amazing. It’s a great idea. Let me walk you through the process and let me explain to you all of the different influencers that we work with as an agency and how we can help you.” I’m happy to have played out that fantasy. To be honest, we are legit a message away and happy to help you and any brand out there or influencer who are interested in pursuing this.
You are an influencer who’s part of the Amazon influencer network and you’re ready to be able to feature Amazon products in your stream. Something interesting is Amazon has opened Amazon Live up to its Amazon influencer network, allowing any influencer currently or wanting to sign up become an ambassador. What that means is they’re taking on more influencers. They obviously are a tremendously smart brand and know exactly what they’re trying to do here and how they’re going to move the product. Once you open the app, you select the products that you’re planning to feature. What you can do is you can boost your stream. Boosting your stream to increase the chance of users finding it by showcasing your stream in strategic places on the website and on the Amazon shopping app. What that is doing, in a nutshell, you can pay to get better placement just like an end cap in a grocery store here. Now somebody is more likely to watch that stream.
For brands and influencers out there, but specifically for brands, understand that you have the opportunity to work with somebody who’s fantastic at selling your products on Amazon Live. You can put some paid boosts behind there to get better placement digitally and have people continue to watch that live stream. Once you’ve done this, you can preview your stream and check if everything’s working and you can go live at that point. Analytics will always be provided to see how well your stream has performed. We are not selling products here, so we don’t have this Amazon set up. We don’t do this. This is relatively new. For everybody out there in the audience, this came into being the end of July 2020.
It was July 2020 when we started exploring this. It was very new and beta. In August 2020, it started to pick up a little more. This is relatively new. Where am I going with this sidebar here is that I do not know what sales reports you get from the back end in terms of what the Amazon seller will see. I know from the influencer perspective, you get to see how many clicks and products you have sold. I do not think they give the influencer the reporting of how much money that has equated to or generated.
I’m sure it’s like how many people joined, how many people engaged, all those types of things.
All those normal social statistics.
We don’t know that, but we do have some results that are pretty impressive.
Before we go to the results here, which I know everybody’s excited to know about what results people are getting. I want to make the audience, specifically the brand audience, a little bit aware of a potential downside here, which is that Amazon always owns all the data for their people. If I’m watching a live stream and I go and I make a click and I buy ten products off of this live stream, the brand is not going to get my email address and my zip code. You’re not directly email marketing or something like that through your own CRM to these newly found customers. You are getting traffic and you’re moving units through Amazon.
If you’re already on Amazon, this is an option to amplify that.
Kelli, I know you’ve been excited about this part. What have been the results?
[bctt tweet=”Younger generations are following these influencers and celebrities and strongly respect their opinion.” username=”lmstheagency”]
Owlet, which is a baby product company, ran a week of live streams while they were hosting a sale for select products that were featured. The sales for the brand increased by 9% to 16%. Additionally, their bestseller rank increased by 70% for their stock monitor as well as 69% for their camera.
Why is that huge?
This is even outside of live. When people search there, their name comes up faster or more closer to the top.
You’re more likely to buy it. From a consumer standpoint, when I go to Amazon and I’m going to buy something regardless of what it is, I want to know how it’s ranked and I want to know how many positive comments other consumers have left on it so that I know they’ve purchased it and then I want it.
You look for the seller tag. That’s interesting that you’re getting that ongoing benefit after the live is over. That could be even more beneficial than what happens in the live.
Maybe a 15% bump.
Nine percent to sixteen percent is pretty good.
I’ll take it, but I’ll take the 70% rise in the bestseller ranking. That’s impactful.
Another one was that Amazon self-reported that consumer electronic brands have seen an average sales increase by 95%, which is significant.
You’re slaying in electronics.
Home goods, when streamed in conjunction with Prime Day events, increased 131%. Prime Day is expected to run in the fall with insiders reporting that is planned for the first week of October. This is not confirmed, but that’s what we hear. Combining Prime Day opportunities with lives is a 131% increase.
Even if you’re a young brand and you’re selling in the Amazon store, working with influencers who can do a live, talk about your product, whether it’s among other products that they’re talking about or specifically about yours and it’s a straight feature has a lot of opportunities. What I’m thinking about is Black Friday is around the corner. The holidays are here. It’s going to be like a flash in the pan. Halloween’s around the corner. Maybe you’re in the spooky business and you need to move some spooky product. Now’s the time. Maybe you’re also into Princess Peach cosplay.
It’s funny it came up on yours and not mine.
For everybody out there, I’m not a cosplay guy. I respect it. I get that Comicon is a big thing. It’s also under Featured Beauty. What did you get? Bleaching your roots? I’m looking at that one.
Natural daily makeup tutorial, Wednesday wake up, what happened in skincare? I have a lot of natural things on mine. I found Princess Peach.
I think I started hitting the arrow and zooming through. Cosplay for everyone. Next, we’ll do ASMR videos and we’ll see what else. You should read like a boring direction manual for like an oven or refrigerator in a whisper voice. I did see an ASMR video where somebody was holding an aluminum can and taking their nails like scratching on it, and tapping it, and poking it. I do like to fall asleep listening to rain noises.
I fall asleep every night listening to ocean noise.
I suppose that’s ASMR. Whatever floats your boat. That was Amazon Live. I feel good about it. That was a high level. There’s a lot more detail here. We’re not trying to make this one a three-part episode. We’re saying that this exists. Do the research yourself. Watch some lives and find a category that you’re interested in. Maybe you have purchased a new wheelbarrow, a hammer, a notebook or a Princess Peach cosplay. The opportunities are endless and there are a lot of different ways that you can go. If you have questions about Amazon Live, then ask them. We can add it to our questions episode that will be coming up. Kelli, what are all of our social handles so that people can find us?
@LMSTheAgency everywhere.
You can find Kelli on LinkedIn. You can find me on LinkedIn. You can ask questions there. We’ll add it to our episode. I might even respond to you. A little-known fact and I might be opening Pandora’s box here, but on our blog website, there is a live chat feature. You can go into the live chat and somebody will answer you. Do you know how I know that? It’s because I’m that somebody. My face pops up and it’s me. I’ve had some very interesting Sunday night dialogue about influencer marketing all via the chatbot. It’s not a bot, it’s a Tim chat. You’ll get a message responding to you saying like, “Our office hours are Monday through Friday,” and then I respond anyway. If I see it, especially in off times, I always respond, but during the day, it comes right into my Slack. There’s a Slack integration for it. How exciting is that? Follow us on all of the socials. We always put out extra little tidbits and messages there to expand upon these episodes. More than anything, we’re happy to have you and we will see you next time.
Thank you.
Important Links:
- LMS The Agency
- Constellation Capital
- Instagram – LMS The Agency
- Facebook – LMS The Agency
- LinkedIn – LMS The Agency
- Amazon
- Amazon Live
- Owlet
- LinkedIn – Kelli Frazier
- LinkedIn – Tim Lambertson