What Free Gifts Look Like

In this episode, Josh interviews Kris Gramlich, an experienced Amazon FBA seller and entrepreneur. Kris shares practical strategies for building customer loyalty, including using product insert cards with QR codes that lead buyers to claim free gifts in exchange for their contact information and order ID. He emphasizes providing value rather than manipulating reviews and discusses sourcing free sample gifts locally to quickly engage customers. Kris also offers actionable tips on optimizing product images, building an audience, and leveraging influencer marketing, all aimed at fostering long-term relationships and driving repeat business on Amazon.

Chapters:

Introduction to Kris Gramlich (00:00:00)
Josh introduces Kris, his background in entrepreneurship, and his Amazon FBA journey.

Product Insert Cards & QR Codes (00:01:03)
Discussion on using product insert cards with QR codes to engage customers and offer free gifts.

Landing Pages & Customer Verification (00:02:00)
Explaining the process: QR code leads to a landing page, collects customer info and order ID to verify purchases.

Avoiding Review Manipulation (00:04:06)
Emphasizing not asking for reviews to avoid Amazon penalties and focusing on providing value instead.

Free Gift Strategy & Messaging (00:05:15)
Details on the types of free gifts offered, messaging on insert cards, and conversion rates.

Sourcing & Sample Packs (00:05:48)
Switching to U.S. suppliers for faster fulfillment and offering sample packs as free gifts.

Landing Page Experience & Brand Story (00:07:30)
Using videos and storytelling on landing pages to build brand connection and encourage opt-ins.

Gift Relevance & Opt-In Process (00:08:01)
Ensuring free gifts are relevant to the purchased product and using order ID to prevent abuse.

Email Follow-Up & Community Building (00:09:16)
Using MailChimp for follow-up emails, sharing brand story, and building a community around new product launches.

Consumable Products & Customer Satisfaction (00:10:26)
Focusing on consumable pet products, offering alternatives if customers are unsatisfied, and prioritizing customer happiness.

Actionable Takeaways & Listing Optimization (00:11:46)
Josh summarizes three actionable takeaways: optimize listing images, build an audience, and use free samples for subscriptions.

Product Launch Strategies & Influencer Marketing (00:13:55)
Discussing launch strategies: audience outreach, PPC, influencer marketing, and new affiliate software tools.

Where to Find Kris & Closing (00:15:51)
Kris shares how listeners can connect with him and offers a free gift; episode closes.

Links and Mentions:

Tools and Websites
Zapier
Mailchimp
Sellozo.com

Transcript:

Josh 00:00:00  Today I am excited to introduce you to Kris Gramlich. Kris is a professional FBA seller, a podcast host and an account executive at Sellozo. Kris has always been entrepreneurial and enjoyed the thrill of selling items, from selling items at garage sales as a kid to mowing yards and then selling clothes on eBay. Kris learned how to sell physical products on Amazon in 2013, starting out by selling things around the house. He learned the basics of retail arbitrage and started sourcing his own products. Kris launched his first product in 2014 after watching YouTube videos and listening to podcasts. Currently, Kris has four brands and enjoys helping other sellers on Amazon. Kris hosts a podcast with Dustin, another seller, where they talk about industry leaders and other sellers. So welcome to the podcast today, Kris.

Kris 00:00:52  That's quite the intro there. Josh. That's pretty good. I'm gonna have to take a couple notes there and kind of implement those on our own podcast. That was really good.

Josh 00:01:00  Hey. Well, you have, you have a good bio yourself.

Josh 00:01:03  I think that's that's why it sounds so good to you. So I want to dive in a little bit more with, how you're building that audience with insert cards. You know, we do the same thing with our brand. I don't know that I necessarily see that as, like, overly gray. I mean, you look at like a box of, you know, grab some Clorox wipes. Right. What's on the product label for Clorox wipes? it's the P&G website. Right. So like and they have like a, you know, they're not saying like, hey, come register your warranty per se, but like they have links to their social media, right? They have their icons, they have their website on there. So like I don't think people need to be as scared about that. Right. But what are you seeing working really well when it comes to product inserts?

Kris 00:01:49  Well if anything good out of Covid came, it's that people were more adapted to QR codes. So people like start to they know what that is now.

Kris 00:02:00  And so QR code like that just not people realize, oh I can scan that. So a QR code insert that is has some type of messaging messaging like so thank you. you know, get your free gift. there's, there's things that, that I'm doing now where, somebody scans it, they go to a landing page. in that landing page, they give name, email address, order ID number, and that just kind of verifies that the order matches with Amazon order. So we're not just getting spammed for free gift. Yeah. And they scan it and we just give a free gift out. And, all they got to do is provide us with their name and their email address. we're think about adding their mailing address there, just to kind of have that for like a backup plan to do postcards. I get a random side note here, but I bought something Amazon like literally 60 days later, I got a gift. Like a postcard in the mail. Really? How'd this? How'd this guy know to send me this postcard for another item? So, like, reverse engineering? That's kind of fun for me.

Kris 00:03:07  So I'm trying to figure that out, but, Yeah, the insert scan, QR code landing page. Basic information. No first name, last name, email address, and then the order ID. we're using a tool called, It's going away from me. Zapier or Zapier, however you want to pronounce. Okay, that that, links up order IDs so that, when they type in your ID, it matches correctly with the order ID inside your account. and then from there, we send them a free sample and the free sample. You know, it's just something to, like, get them to engage with us, maybe try another product that we're thinking about launching down the road. it also just allows them to, like, feel warm and fuzzy. So maybe that when that review request does come and that that review request is done by Amazon, we're not sending any more like, hey, give us a five star review. We're just leaving it more like providing value. And whenever they get something from Amazon that says, how would you rate your experience with so-and-so brand? Maybe they think, hey, that was a good brand.

Kris 00:04:06  I'll leave a five star review, so we're leaving that alone.

Josh 00:04:09  So you're not even touching reviews. You're not.

Kris 00:04:11  Even to touch.

Josh 00:04:12  It. Yep.

Kris 00:04:13  Yeah. Just leaving like just value.

Josh 00:04:15  Yeah. I agree 100% with the, you know, not even touching reviews. We we've made the same decision because we have opt in flows and all of that. And everybody's like why don't you ask for a review? And it's like, I'm not even touching it with a ten foot pole.

Kris 00:04:28  Because not anymore.

Josh 00:04:29  That's that's the one thing that like is if Amazo...