This Issue's TLDR...

• How to improve your Amazon creatives (and lower your CAC!) using Direct Response Marketing principles
• 365 seller hacks(!) from my friend Max
• It's.All.About.The.HOOK.

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I've been on-the-record in a lot of different places saying that Amazon sellers need to evolve from Performance Advertisers to Full Funnel Direct Response Marketers.

Those terms don't mean anything to you?

Well, here's a TLDR from my friend ChatGPT:

A Performance Advertiser is like a sniper: laser-focused on quick, high-precision sales (ROAS, CPA, conversions).

A Full-Funnel Direct Response Marketer is more like a chess master—playing the long game, nurturing customers from curiosity to conversion with branding, content, and strategic ad sequencing.

One chases the sale. The other builds a customer pipeline.

Anyway, as I've said before, I'm here to support you in your evolution. And, today, I want to talk about one of the core toolsets of Direct Response Marketers: Behavioral Psychology.

In my experience, Direct Response Marketers "weaponize" psychology in a lot of ways. Sometimes, innocuous; sometimes, more nefarious.

But, there's no denying. The psychological tactics work.

So, to put you on equal footing with your marketing counterparts, I'm sharing 3 of the most powerful direct response marketing principles.

Enjoy!

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3 Direct Response Marketing Principles to Cut Your Customer Acquisition Costs in Half

Principle 1: Intensification

This one's all about turning up the heat on your audience. The goal is to tap into your audience's desires, fears, and pains—dialing them up so high that saying "yes" becomes their only option.

Here are 12 ways to intensify your product offer:

1. Curiosity: Tease your solution with something irresistibly intriguing. Specific phrases, clever hooks, or oddly satisfying visuals work wonders.
2. Proof: Don't just talk the talk—show them. Demos, testimonials, receipts. Make it undeniable.
3. Specific Messaging: Call out your audience. "Hey, busy moms tired of endless meal prep…" Be direct. Be personal.
4. Handle Objections: Address doubts upfront. "Don't think it works? Try it risk-free for 30 days."
5. Stretch Out Benefits: Short-term wins are cool, but what happens in three months? Six? Paint the big picture.
6. Social Proof: "10,000 happy customers can't be wrong." People trust the crowd. Use that.
7. Authority: Got experts? Industry awards? As seen on TV? Flaunt it.
8. Comparison & Discreditation: Show why you're better than the "other guys." And don't be shy.
9. Agitate Pain Points: Pour a little salt in the wound. Make them feel the problem before offering the fix.
10. Simplicity: Nobody wants complicated. Show them how easy it is to solve their problem.
11. Metaphors & Analogies: "It's like having a personal assistant in your pocket." Bam, now they get it.
12. Risk Reversal: Money-back guarantees, free trials make the decision feel 100% safe.

Principle 2: Market Sophistication

Here's the deal: not every audience is the same. Some have never seen your type of product before, while others have been spammed with similar offers for years. The trick? Know where your market stands and adjust your strategy.

Here's the breakdown of market sophistication levels:

1. No Competition: You're the shiny new toy. Just show up and win. (This won't last long)
2. Some Competition: Stand out with stronger claims or unique benefits.
3. Crowded Competition: Get specific...what exactly makes you better?
4. Complex Competition: Focus on your unique mechanism. What’s your secret sauce?
5. Super Saturated: Evolve your message. Find the next angle that competitors haven’t thought of.

The key? Match your pitch to the sophistication of your market. Don't overcomplicate things for a newbie audience or bore a jaded one with basic stuff.

Principle 3: Camouflaging

Gone are the days when you could sneak ads past people. Consumers are, uh, "woke" now; they see ads coming from a mile away. But here's the twist: you don't need to trick them. You just need to blend in.

Your ads should feel like native content on whatever platform you're using. Here’s how to match them:

1. Humor: Funny sells. If you can make them laugh, they'll stick around.
2. Native Transitions: Ads that look like organic content get watched. Period.
3. Platform Effects: Lean into what's trendy. Use the filters, music, and effects your audience loves.
4. Captions & Emojis: Write how people talk on that platform. Emojis, symbols, all of it.
5. Pacing: Keep it snappy. Nobody's watching your 3-minute brand story.

Blend in. Hook them. Sell without selling.

That's it. Three principles. Infinite potential to cut your acquisition costs and level up your marketing. Now go make it happen.

FRIENDS OF B@A Selling From The Beach Why sign up for the Selling From the Beach [SFTB] Newsletter? Life's best moments shouldn't be confined to once per year vacations. You truly can live anywhere by embracing eCommerce & Amazon FBA. They (Max & Rob) did it, and you can too. Each edition is packed full of travel tips and Amazon hacks that you can start using today. Sign Up to the SFTB Newsletter Here

BEST from my Inbox

Speaking of Selling From The Beach, my good friend Max Sigurdson-Scott went all "Founder Mode" on LinkedIn over the past year, putting on an impressive display of consistency as he posted one Amazon hack per day, for 365 days.

Wow. I tip my hat to you, Max.

Anyway, Max just released a single document with all 365 hacks and shared it with his SFTB subscribers. For free.

Is he crazy? Quite possibly.

If you want in on the action, you can get the full SFTB Master List of 365 Amazon Hacks HERE.

No time to read the entire thing? Here are Max's top 10 favorite hacks (in no particular order):

1. ​8 Secondary Image "font" rules​
2. ​Chinese sellers are killing us​
3. ​Amazon business P&L benchmarks​
4. ​Category-specific "Deadzones"​
5. ​Never fall to 4.2 review rating​
6. ​Do you have SnS Tire-kickers?​
7. ​Your body is a temple of doom​
8. ​GETIDA charges for non-cash reimbursements​
9. ​Storefront KPIs noone talks about​
10. ​Amazon's "Super Reps" are simply awesome​

BEST from X

Part of leveling up your Direct Response Marketing game is obsessing over the hook.

In my experience, Meta and TikTok ad agencies are some of the best at this.

They test so many hooks, so rapidly, that they instantly build pattern recognition around what works.

Just like Fraser.

Fraser Cottrell | Ad Creative For Meta & TikTok @sourfraser Why I think about you in the shower... Is one of the most attention-grabbing subject lines written by Ben Settle. This shows how you can approach hook creation. You have 2 seconds to capture attention of scrollers So here's 3 hooks that have been crushing it for our clients. 12:28 PM • Jan 13, 2024 2 Retweets 29 Likes Read 8 replies

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BEST from YouTube

This is a must-listen for anyone serious about eCommerce. My friend Bill D'Alessandro provides a no-nonsense perspective on what it takes to succeed in the CPG and eCommerce industries, and also shares some great insights on financial discipline, offshoring, and the risks of debt.

My 3 favorite "Bill-isms" from the episode:

• "The single biggest way to go bankrupt in e-commerce is to fix a margin problem with debt."
• "If you press that merchant cash advance button, you’re already bankrupt—you just don’t know it yet."
• "When people are drunk, serve them another drink." (On selling businesses at peak aggregator valuations.)

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For some of you, Amazon and eCommerce might just be "way stations" on your career journey.

Honestly, I probably fall into that camp.

I could see myself hanging up my bright orange Amazon cleats in the next 5-7 years.

But wherever I land, you know that I'm going to BUY & BUILD versus start from scratch.

Brian Beers @brianbeers 24 industries to build a successful business When I buy a business I look for services people are already spending money on My plan is to steal market share from competitors, not create a new market 7:7 AM • Jan 26, 2025 1 Retweets 24 Likes Read 10 replies

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