Today we’re releasing an Amazon prompt that will appear on new lenses and existing lenses that don’t have an Amazon module in the top 5 modules.
We’ve been doing a lot of analysis on lenses lately to find out what makes lenses useful to readers, including the best use of the Amazon modules.
We found something we couldn’t wait to tell you about: great product recommendations via the Amazon Standard module, placed within the top five modules on a lens, makes a huge difference in reader reaction and purchases. So we’ve added a note in the Workshop for you whenever an Amazon module isn’t in place.
We don’t recommend loading up lots of Amazon modules up top though… keep in mind that a balance of content is key, and your personal recommendations in your own voice is critical.
We’ve talked a lot this week about what makes a quality lenses and we want to make sure that you understand why we’re excited about promoting the Amazon module and encouraging to use it on your lenses.
First, the anatomy of a good lens is to:
1) Write about the things that you care about, have knowledge about and want to share.
2) Give your readers a useful experience.
3) Add content to your lens that’s original and valuable to your reader.
Every single lens that you create with an Amazon module can be personal and original, here’s a few tips. Your readers will love being able to purchase a book or a mixer or a movie right from your lens that you recommended and if you add Amazon modules in a smart and thoughtful way people will want to buy these products from your lens.
On the other hand, if you add miles of affilate links, very little content and poorly placed empty Amazon modules it’s likely that your reader will click off your lens.
The key is to engage your reader right away with a strong intro, good content and an Amazon module that shares a powerful recommendation. Our research clearly indicates that lenses with high quality product recommendations (via our Amazon Standard modules) do really really well in the top portion of a lens.
We’ve careful designed the Amazon module to be both beautiful and functional. We want you to add your own personal recommendations and descriptions. This is the difference between a mediocre lens and a sensational one that gets traffic, gets shared, gets talked about and gets sales.
We’re hoping that this Amazon prompt helps to remind you where to add an Amazon module on all of your lenses.
PS – New research just out shows that people prefer (by a huge margin) buying things online that were referred by friends. So if you write like a trusted friend, your readers are going to care (a lot) about what you have to say.
