For this interview, E-Commerce Nation contacted the CEO of Profit Whales: Vitalii Khyzhniak to discuss the internationalization potential offered by marketplaces, as well as cross-channel advertising and pricing strategies.
Profit Whales is particularly relevant to this topic as the company specializes in running these advertising campaigns. The company’s main objective is to help e-merchants develop their business wherever they want.
This interview was held as part of #AmafestUK, an event for Amazon professionals in Manchester.
Can you introduce yourself and your background?
My name is Vitalii Khyznhiak, I have been into the digital marketing industry for quite some time now and I’ve spent 3 years at Profit Whales. Last year I became the CEO of the company, which allows me to express my main passions in life: communication, numbers, promotion, assistance in mergers and acquisitions.
Can you introduce Profit Whales and its activity?
Profit Whales is a full-service marketing agency that helps 7-9 figure Amazon brands accelerate sales growth using on & off Amazon traffic to give them an edge over competitors and diversify the revenue streams while increasing the business evaluation. We have official partnerships established with Amazon Ads, Google Ads and Pinterest. We’re also headed towards many more collaborations that will help us work with every advertising channel on the market. Profit Whales operated as a software once, but it’s already been 2 years since we’ve put it on hold and now use it internally as just a part of our services. They currently include Amazon PPC, DSP, Google and Facebook Ads, social media ads, listing optimization, branding, content creation and more.
Is Amazon a lever for international growth?
Yes, Amazon provides solutions for every kind of business involved in it, from sellers to service providers. You can expect to get a lot of traffic in every niche, and if you know how to manage it properly, large numbers of sales will come to you. Amazon offers global scaling on various markets while simultaneously fighting against fraudulent activity, which makes the experience smoother for its audience, the one buying and the one selling. Being Amazon Ads partner, we at Profit Whales see the amount of encouragement the marketplace gives to service providers who work with it, and it’s good to know Amazon is interested in a mutually fruitful relationship .
What advice do you have for sellers who want to promote on the marketplace?
First of all, remember that advertising should be a long-term investment and it hardly ever brings immediate results that will last and keep your business afloat. Also, make sure to put money in the quality of your listings and product photos. Only after you have a proper stock and content can you start promoting it. Still, there’s no need to be overly precautious about advertising – try and test ads on and off-Amazon. The earlier you implement a cross-channel marketing strategy, the better. Plus, you don’t risk that much in the beginning.
What is cross-channel marketing and how to best apply it to the advertising strategy?
Cross-channel marketing ensures you have a continuous brand narrative across all the platforms where you choose to be displayed and promoted. When people search for your brand on different resources, they should see an integrity in your image, so make sure to use the same branding, logo, color scheme, etc. Advertising must be consistent. That is, the same message must be transmitted through various platforms. This is quite challenging to implement, but also can bring amazing results. Promoting yourself across different channels – Google, YouTube, Pinterest, introduces a wide range of audience to your brand, therefore raising awareness across all the web.
What are the most recurrent requests from your customers regarding Ads?
Usually everyone’s concern sounds more or less the same: “Where’s the profit?”. Of course, for everyone, the answer differs depending on individual areas that need improvement. There has also recently been a pleasantly surprising increase in questions like “How to use Amazon Ads data both on Amazon and off it?”. It is a relief that the clients become more self-aware and tend to start thinking more strategically. They are much less interested in a quick way to short-term grand income that they will potentially spend in a few months, if they do not get banned or suspended. Our clients are now focused on their image, branding and the quality of their product. They want to see a detailed plan and we provide them with it through roadmaps that lead to brand success.
What were the most specific requests?
Each request is unique, of course, usually they are all about increasing sales. The one case that comes to mind is when a huge water producing brand came to us and asked for an advertising strategy to scale them on the US Amazon market. That was particularly unusual, because they are in the top-10 water companies in the world and you would hardly think they would need more advertising in online retail.
You talk about repricing tools on your blog, how important is the price displayed on Amazon?
The price you select determines your place in the competition. Would you rather operate with accessible prices to have more sales or increase your prices when you’ve obtained enough reviews to have a loyal audience? The answer can depend on a number of factors, that’s one of the things we deal with when setting up advertising campaigns. Prices are a crucial tool for PPC.
You are participating this year to #AmafestUK, is it the first time you come? (if yes, what did you think of it? if no, what do you expect from this event?)
It is my first time, so I’m very much open to the experience and prepared to take the best out of it. Gatherings of professionals like Amafest UK are usually one of the most pleasant parts of my job. I’m naturally a people person and having a chance to meet hundreds of those who share my passion for e-commerce advertising definitely crosses a line out of my 2022 goals. After a lot of my friends and colleagues have shared positive feedback about previous Amafest editions I am especially thrilled to be participating myself this year.
What do you think is the added value of an event on marketplaces professionals?
Events like this give a chance to extract the essentials of the long years of collecting expert knowledge in 10-15 minutes of their presentation. The audience can interact not only with those professionals, but with fellow beginners to collaborate and create potential business partnerships. The atmosphere of people connecting and motivating each other is a hospitable environment for new ideas to come into life.
