Strategies for Beauty Brands on Amazon | Maria Rodriguez from BellaVix

Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition online. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are and influencing them in key decision moments. With relevant micro-experiences like case studies, intro videos, and much more, stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us out on pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Maria, advertising manager at BellaVix. How are you doing, Maria?

Maria Rodriguez: Sorry, Ernesto. I’m great. I’m happy to be here.

Ernesto: Thanks for being here. It’s great to have you on. I’m sure our listeners are tuning in, Maria, wondering what BellaVix is all about. So, in your own words, tell us a little bit more.

Maria: So basically, I would say BellaVix is a trusted marketplace partner. We have more than 20 years of experience in marketing and e-commerce, especially on Amazon. I’d say Amazon is our core focus. We’re also an Amazon advertising partner, verified, and ranked as one of the top 25 Amazon marketing agencies on Clutch.co. We aim to partner with brands that are either struggling to secure a strong position on Amazon or are new and want to enter the platform for the first time.

Ernesto: Definitely. Okay, perfect. Interesting. So, for our listeners to get a good understanding of BellaVix, what would you say is the key problem that you guys solve for clients?

Maria: The key problem is that Amazon is a very competitive marketplace. When brands want to enter, it’s hard due to many challenges, even for established brands. Maintaining a strong organic and advertising rank is difficult, and this varies depending on the category. Some categories are more aggressive than others, leading to higher CPCs, which means you need to invest more to stay competitive. So there are many challenges in maintaining profitability on Amazon.

Ernesto: Great. So how do clients usually find out about BellaVix? Is there a top client acquisition channel for you guys?

Maria: Yes, most of our clients come through client referrals. But we also have acquisition channels like our website, bellavix.com, where you can find case studies, blogs, and success stories. We’re also active on LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

Ernesto: Excellent. So, is there a particular vertical segment or an ideal ICP that you focus on at BellaVix?

Maria: Not necessarily, but we’ve noticed a trend with clients in the beauty category. We also have clients in the pet category, which is quite competitive, especially in terms of advertising and organic ranking on Amazon. But beauty is our primary segment.

Ernesto: Interesting. For our listeners in those segments, check them out at bellavix.com. What role does the website play in client acquisition?

Maria: It’s very important. As I mentioned, you can check our case studies, blogs, and success stories on the website. We’ve seen many challenges in the beauty category, for instance, where Amazon may flag products due to certain ingredients or resellers selling imitations. We emphasize brand registry and protecting our clients’ brands. In advertising, we focus on finding long-tail keywords that are competitive yet relevant for the market, making sure our clients can stay profitable.

Ernesto: Great. Are there any tools or tips you would recommend for website lead generation?

Maria: For Amazon, there are many useful tools like Brand Analytics, which helps check trends in keywords and markets. Amazon itself provides a lot of tools that can help leverage your brand.

Ernesto: Let’s switch gears a little, Maria, and talk about you as a leader. As the advertising manager at BellaVix, what are your key tasks on a day-to-day basis?

Maria: As the advertising manager, I oversee a team of specialists who handle daily advertising optimizations. My tasks include checking reports, monitoring KPIs, managing budgets, and sharing important advertising updates with clients. We customize reports based on each client’s goals, as their KPIs can vary.

Ernesto: Interesting. In your spare time, how do you stay up to date with marketing trends and strategies? Is there a preferred channel you go to?

Maria: I enjoy podcasts—one of my favorites is AdSplasher. I also get a lot of resources from LinkedIn, especially from the ads partner network, which regularly posts updates and new features. Additionally, Amazon’s partner network offers webinars and certifications that help me stay informed.

Ernesto: Great to hear. Let’s jump into our next section, which is the rapid-fire question round. Are you ready?

Maria: Sure!

Ernesto: First off, Maria, what’s the last book you read?

Maria: It’s not related to marketing, but I recently read Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. It was mind-blowing and expanded my perspective on many things. It’s a great read, though it’s a bit heartbreaking at times.

Ernesto: Sounds like a powerful book. Next, if there were no boundaries in technology, what’s the one thing you’d fix in your role as a marketer?

Maria: One challenge is when clients want to have off-Amazon advertising strategies, driving traffic from Instagram, Facebook, Google, or YouTube to Amazon listings. It’s hard to measure and track performance across these channels. I’d love to have a dashboard that consolidates data from all digital channels in real-time, making it easier to track performance in one place.

Ernesto: Interesting. If there’s one repetitive task you could automate, what would that be?

Maria: Keyword research takes a lot of time. When positioning products on Amazon, we do extensive keyword research. If there were an AI-driven tool that could dynamically update keywords based on trends and optimize campaigns accordingly, that would save us a lot of time.

Ernesto: Definitely an idea for someone out there to develop! Lastly, Maria, you have a lot of experience in marketing. What’s one piece of advice you’d give yourself if you were starting over?

Maria: Don’t get overwhelmed by metrics. While it’s great that digital marketing allows us to measure almost everything, it’s more important to know what to do with those metrics. Focus on the metrics that matter most for your business and make data-driven decisions based on them.

Ernesto: Excellent advice, not just for yourself but for our listeners too. Thank you, Maria, for being on today’s episode. Before we wrap up, what’s the one thing listeners should remember about BellaVix?

Maria: We’re here to be your partner in navigating Amazon. If you want to leverage the platform to reach your business goals, we’re the right partner to help you.

Ernesto: Perfect! Listeners, check them out at bellavix.com. Achieve category dominance on Amazon and Walmart. Maria, thank you so much for being with us today. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in. I look forward to our next episode of Pathmonk Presents.

Maria: Thank you for having me.