Balancing Technology and the Human Element in a Full-Service Amazon Agency
Technology is critical to the success of any business on Amazon, but it is possible to give technology too much power over your strategy.
In an instance where art is imitating life, there’s an infamous episode of The Office where Michael and Dwight are driving between sales calls. Michael is following GPS directions to get to the other side of a lake and follows the GPS prompts a bit too perfectly, giving the technology so much control that he misinterprets the information, and they end up driving directly into the lake. Here’s the clip:
For anyone not wanting to watch the clip, here’s a shortened version of the dialogue:
GPS: “Make a right turn.”
Michael starts immediately turning right, heading toward a lake.
Dwight: “No no no no. It means ‘bear right.’ There is a right up there.”
Dwight points to a sign further up the road.
Michael: “It said right. It said, ‘Take a right’... Maybe it’s a shortcut, Dwight. It said, ‘Go to the right.’”
Michael continues to drive directly toward the lake.
Dwight: “It can’t mean that! There is a lake there!”
Michael: “I think [the GPS] knows where it is going.... THE MACHINE KNOWS!”
They crash into the lake and the car begins to submerge.
While technology is powerful, it is possible for us to give it too much influence, defaulting to its data and proclaiming, “The machine knows!” without double-checking the situation against our own expertise. It’s critical that we verify what the tech is recommending and ultimately make the final call on whether any tactical adjustments should be made.
But again, the proper use of technology is a key element to the success of any Amazon business. So, how do you identify what that proper use looks like?
What is the role of technology in a full-service Amazon agency?
At Global Overview, we use technology to scale, not drive, our strategies.
Tech is a key part of the engine that keeps our strategies in motion, but our GO team members always have their hands on the wheel, their feet on the pedals, and their eyes on the road.
Here’s how a handful of our team members describe it:
"Technology enables GO team members to dig deeper and faster in support of pressing business decisions. Data is key, but it's only as useful as its interpretation and application. That's where the human element comes in." - Dan Zampini, Sr. Brand Manager
“Our team uses in-house technology and resources to identify optimization opportunities within our advertising strategies, but it’s the human element that has to confirm the optimization is sound. We don’t allow our technology to implement optimizations behind the scenes, where we are out of the loop and in a more reactive state. At the same time, there are optimization opportunities that technology is unable to recognize. Having humans review client accounts on a frequent basis helps us maintain a proactive state, identifying and implementing all the right opportunities at the right time in the best interest of each client.” - Matt Fergen, Sr. Business Development Manager
“The technology at GO has allowed us to generate more insightful and analytical looks at how we grow brands across multiple categories. With these insights, we are able to make quicker and more meaningful changes to strategies to drive long-term growth and overcome short-term obstacles. The technology we utilize certainly makes our lives easier, and we are thankful for it, but it truly is the human element that allows us to interpret this information and provide recommendations to best serve our clients.” - Chanse Pierson, Brand Manager
What is the impact of a healthy balance of technology and the human element in a full-service agency?
When we incorporate data & technology into a broader scope of support, we’re able to provide a more holistic approach that effectively meets the complex needs of our clients. Here’s a case study that shows the role data & technology played in our client’s overarching success on Amazon:
Full-Service Management Spurs Rapid Growth ⇢
GO began working with a pet brand in Q2 2022 that had a wide array of products under their belt. They had an incredible following and unshakeable brand loyalty, but many aspects of their business were limiting their sales potential, including meager and inconsistent content, variation challenges, zero investment in advertising, inventory decisions that weren’t beneficial for margin, and a lack of detailed data.
When the brand brought us on board, we knew we could use our strength of being an experienced, full representation agency to help them bring in new consumers and ultimately boost consumption... Read more ⇢
What’s more, technology allows our team to scale our efforts for clients in an extremely efficient way that would not be possible from a manual perspective. For instance, say a client with thousands of ASINs needed us to monitor when products were losing the Buy Box so that we could curtail ad spend on them until the situation was rectified. Thanks to our tech, this task that would have taken many hours to complete has now transitioned into something that is automatically tracked for us. This opens up more time on our calendars to focus on other critical aspects of the business, allowing us to improve our clients’ Amazon performances in more ways within a shorter period.
But again, it can’t be overstated that the machine must not take total control. As tech scales our work, our team is always monitoring how it’s scaling and altering its tactics when necessary because we understand the context of our strategies far better than the machine ever will. This is why we keep a close eye on our tech: we make sure everything is operating not just efficiently, but appropriately for our clients in an effort to generate the maximum positive impact possible.
How can you find a better balance for your brand?
It might start by assessing if your total support, which includes technology and the human element, needs more customization.
One size never fits all at Global Overview. Our team values the unique goals and opportunities of every client in such a way that we custom-build our strategies and support accordingly. If you’re sensing that the balance between technology and human needs to be reassessed, we’d love to help you take those first steps.