The 2025 Growth Guide: International Markets, PPC Strategy & Automation (Digest #12)

Digest #12 → Subscribe​

Hey Amazon pros! 👋

This week we're diving deep into international expansion opportunities and the tools you need to scale globally. Plus, compelling new data on how PPC actually impacts organic rankings, and a game-changing automation platform that's helping agencies operate more efficiently.

The TL;DR:
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🌍 Agency Insights: Amazon expanding to 22 marketplaces in 2025
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📰 Latest Amazon News: Major worker strike during peak season

🚨 Platform Updates: Prime discount tool getting much-needed upgrade
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📊 PPC Insights: New data proves PPC's impact on organic rankings
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🛠️ Tool Deep Dive: Make.com emerging as the go-to agency automation platform

Let's get into it!

Agency Insights: International Expansion in 2025

Your guide to going global on Amazon

The Amazon marketplace landscape is changing rapidly, with new opportunities emerging for agencies ready to guide their clients into international waters. Here's what you need to know for 2025.

The Market Opportunity: Amazon is expanding to 22 marketplaces with the addition of Ireland in 2025, while markets like Southeast Asia, Australia, Brazil, India, and the UAE are showing explosive growth. For agencies, this means more opportunities to add value through international expertise.

Key Areas Where Agencies Can Excel:

1. Localization Services

• AI-powered listing optimization across languages
• Cultural adaptation of content and marketing
• Market-specific compliance guidance

2. Logistics Strategy

• FBA optimization across marketplaces
• Inventory management to reduce costs
• Cross-border shipping solutions

3. Global Advertising Optimization

• DSP management for international audiences
• Multi-channel strategies to compete with TikTok Shop, SHEIN
• Market-specific budget allocation

The Competitive Edge: With 34% of sellers already using AI for international listings, agencies need to stay ahead. The winners in 2025 will be those who can combine technology with deep market knowledge to help clients navigate this expansion effectively.
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​Bottom Line: International expansion isn't just an opportunity - it's becoming a necessity. Agencies that build these capabilities now will have a significant advantage as Amazon continues its global growth.

Need help expanding your clients into European marketplaces? Connect with me (Nicholas Hodge) on LinkedIn for our trusted EU expansion partner details.

Latest Amazon News: Worker Strike During Peak Season

Seven Amazon facilities saw workers strike on December 19, marking what the Teamsters call the largest U.S. strike against the company.
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The timing - right before Christmas - was strategic.

Key locations included NYC, Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco, and Skokie, IL.
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Workers demanded better wages, benefits, and safer conditions, while Amazon maintains most strikers are third-party contractors, not direct employees.

The NLRB's recent ruling that some Amazon drivers are de facto employees could force negotiations despite Amazon's stance.
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For now, Amazon reports operations remain unaffected during this critical holiday period.

Important Platform Update: Prime-exclusive discounts are moving to the Price Discounts tool

Amazon is streamlining their discount management by merging Prime-exclusive discounts into the main Price Discounts tool - and honestly, it's about time.

Key Changes:

• Prime Exclusive Discounts tool removed January 7, 2025
• All discounts now managed through single Price Discounts tool
• Existing Prime discounts will run until scheduled end
• No new Prime discounts after December 31, 2024

New Process: Create all discounts (Prime-exclusive and all-customer) through Price Discounts under Advertising tab. Select "Prime customers" as Audience type for Prime-exclusive deals.

Our Take: The current Prime-exclusive discounts tool has been clunky and limiting. This consolidation should bring better functionality and easier management. The unified dashboard with global controls and performance metrics is a significant upgrade from the current split system.

Impact: While customer-facing displays remain unchanged, sellers should see improved efficiency in discount management. Watch this space - we're expecting the integrated tool to offer more robust features than its predecessor.

PPC Insights: Does Amazon PPC Actually Improve Organic Rankings?

Key findings from Stephen Pope's latest analysis

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The age-old question in Amazon advertising: Does PPC spending actually help organic keyword rankings? My Amazon Guy's founder Stephen Pope recently shared some compelling data-driven insights.

The Data Story: Using weekly tracking of keyword rankings against PPC spend, Pope demonstrated significant ranking improvements:

• "Floor cleaner" jumped from #109 to #37 (50K monthly searches)
• "Floor cleaner for mopping" surged from #121 to #8

Key Investment Insights:

• Competitive keywords can require $5K+ monthly spend
• Success depends on calculating necessary clicks and conversions
• Top-of-search placement prioritization is crucial
• 10% conversion rate needs ~950 clicks for 95 orders

Additionally on't ignore low-volume keywords. Pope shows that keywords with just 363 monthly searches achieved 30% conversion rates - much more efficient than fighting for broad terms.

Strategic Approach:

1. Segment keywords by ranking position (1-15, 15-30, 30+)
2. Target specific ranking improvements
3. Monitor conversion rates closely
4. Adjust strategies based on performance

Our Take:
While Pope's data confirms PPC's impact on organic rankings, the real insight is in the methodology.
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Many agencies throw money at high-volume keywords without proper tracking or segmentation.
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The key is strategic spending with clear ranking goals and consistent monitoring.
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We've seen similar results with smaller budgets when focusing on highly specific, conversion-ready keywords first.

Tool Deep Dive: Make.com - The Ultimate Agency Automation Platform

Beyond basic Zapier workflows

While Zapier has been the go-to automation tool for most agencies, Make.com (formerly Integromat) offers more powerful capabilities specifically valuable for Amazon agency operations - and it's free to start.

Why Agencies Should Care:

• More complex automation scenarios
• Better pricing for high-volume operations
• Direct Amazon API integrations
• Visual workflow builder for complex processes
• Extensive template library to get started quickly

Key Agency Applications:

1. Client Reporting Automation

• Pull data from multiple sources
• Generate custom PDF reports
• Automatically distribute to clients
• Track delivery and engagement

2. Campaign Management

• Monitor campaign metrics
• Trigger alerts for performance issues
• Automatically adjust bids based on rules
• Schedule campaign updates

3. Team Workflows

• Automate task creation
• Route client communications
• Trigger approval processes
• Sync data across tools

Pro Tip: Start with their free templates - they have hundreds of pre-built workflows specifically for agencies. You can customize these to fit your needs rather than building from scratch.

Bottom Line: While the learning curve is slightly steeper than Zapier, the advanced capabilities, extensive template library, and free tier make Make (haha) a game-changer for scaling agency operations.

That's it for this week! 👋

Before you go we’d love to know what you thought of this week's newsletter to help us improve the AMZ Agency Edge experience for you. Feel free to reply with any comments.

See you next week.
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Nicholas Hodge
COO - Seller's Arena and SellerSynapse

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