Welcome to Highway to Sell! I’m Sarah Lamb, Head of Marketing at Clear Ads.
This week, we’re doing things a little differently. With Tom away on holiday, I’ve given our founder George Marissa the challenge of chatting to as many fascinating service providers for Amazon sellers as possible while he’s out at events.
We’ve got two great guests today:
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Clayton Atchison, Community Ambassador for Carbon6, diving into pixel tracking and off-Amazon advertising through PixelMe.
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And later, Jamie Davidson, co-founder of AMZ Insiders, on scaling brands to nine figures and what sellers are getting wrong (and right) in 2023.
Let’s jump straight into George’s chat with Clayton.
George:
Clayton, welcome! You’re part of Carbon6, which has loads of brands under its belt, but today we’re focusing on PixelMe. Can you explain what it is and what it does?
Clayton:
Sure! PixelMe is one of our most powerful—but hardest-to-explain—tools. At its core, it helps with off-Amazon advertising.
It connects to APIs from Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok on one side, and Amazon Attribution on the other.
So, instead of creating ads separately on Google, you can launch Google Ads directly from within PixelMe. Every ad automatically includes your Amazon attribution tags, so you can track how much you spend, how many clicks and purchases you get, and what your ACoS looks like—all in one place.
George:
So, essentially, it bridges Google and Amazon, keeping data synced both ways?
Clayton:
Exactly. You could technically do this manually by exporting spreadsheets from both platforms, but it’s a nightmare. PixelMe automates everything and visualizes your data in one dashboard.
It started life as a retargeting software, so we’ve worked with brands like Sephora, Pinterest, Gucci, and Procter & Gamble. The real magic is that PixelMe lets you easily add tracking pixels—from Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, and more—to every ad or share link you create.
George:
So you can retarget any traffic you’ve paid for—say, from Google or TikTok—on other platforms later?
Clayton:
Exactly. You can even build audiences from influencer links or email campaigns. Once you’ve added those pixels, you can re-advertise to those same shoppers across multiple platforms.
We support most major ad networks. Some, like Pinterest, still require you to set up retargeting manually, but PixelMe will store the pixel data so it’s ready to go.
George:
Got it. And what makes PixelMe better than using Amazon Attribution alone?
Clayton:
Mainly the automation and time savings. PixelMe is just $99/month for Google Ads. If you value your time at more than $20/hour, it’s a no-brainer.
Amazon Attribution on its own is clunky—you have to manually tag every link and campaign. PixelMe automates it and connects all your spend, conversions, and rankings in one dashboard.
Plus, we track keyword ranking changes on Amazon, so you can literally see how your off-Amazon traffic improves organic rank.
George:
How many keywords can sellers track?
Clayton:
Up to 25 per campaign—which is more than enough for most users.
George:
What kind of success rates are you seeing from sellers using PixelMe?
Clayton:
Honestly, when done right, around 80–90% see great results.
Failures usually come from:
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Using too much phrase match instead of exact match.
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Writing poor ad copy.
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Or breaking Google’s Terms of Service—for example, using banned words or promoting restricted products.
One client sold a $350 oat milk maker but advertised it like it was a $50 one. Once he added the real price, his ACoS dropped to 6%, and because he’s in the US, Amazon even paid him through the Brand Referral Bonus.
George:
That’s wild—Amazon paying sellers to advertise on Google!
Clayton:
Exactly. It’s part of Amazon’s push to bring external traffic back to their marketplace.
George:
So what ad setup tips would you give sellers?
Clayton:
Keep it simple.
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Use exact match keywords (5–10 max).
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Start with $30/day budgets.
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Increase bids for desktop traffic—it converts about 2x better than mobile.
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Add social proof in your ad text—like “1,000+ five-star reviews.”
And make sure your inventory team is looped in—if your ad campaigns succeed but you run out of stock, you’ll lose momentum fast.
George:
What’s next for PixelMe?
Clayton:
A few exciting updates:
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Retargeting campaigns will soon be launchable directly inside PixelMe (you currently have to set them up on each ad platform).
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In-app optimization for conversion—we’re building a system that lets PixelMe feed conversion data back into Google for smarter auto-optimization.
Amazon doesn’t allow direct data sharing, but because we’re an Amazon-approved partner, we can process it internally and send optimized signals to Google.
That means higher conversion rates and better automation. It’s a game-changer.
George:
And sellers can join a free trial, right?
Clayton:
Yes! Normally 30 days, but for Clear Ads listeners, we’re extending it to 60 days free. Plus, we’re running 10 free managed-case studies—we’ll run your ads, you keep the data, and we just ask for a testimonial.
George:
That’s awesome. Clayton, thank you for joining us!
Clayton:
Thanks, man. Always great chatting.
Segment 2 — Jamie Davidson: Scaling, Exiting, and Staying Ahead
Sarah:
Great insights from Clayton! Next up, George sits down with Jamie Davidson, co-founder of AMZ Insiders and a veteran who scaled his Amazon brand past $100 million in annual sales.
George:
Jamie, you’ve been in this game for a long time. You hit nine figures back in 2018—how did that come about?
Jamie:
Yeah, we had a great run. I had two partners, and we grew our brand past $100 million in 2018. I exited that business less than two years ago.
Now, I focus on helping other sellers through AMZ Insiders and consulting with Northbound Group on brand exits.
George:
What’s the biggest mistake you see sellers making today?
Jamie:
The biggest one? Thinking they’ve missed the boat. Every year people say, “It’s too late.” In 2015 they said it. In 2018 they said it. But opportunity still exists—it just looks different.
The key difference today is you have to be brand-focused and customer-centric. The days of “throw it on Amazon and hope” are gone. You need a real product strategy and customer insight.
George:
What strategies are working well for brands right now?
Jamie:
Data-driven decisions. Use tools—including AI—to understand your audience better.
For example, if you sell a golf rangefinder, ask ChatGPT: “Describe my ideal customer. What else would they buy?” Keep digging. It’s surprisingly insightful.
Also, analyze negative reviews—those are gold. Every complaint is an opportunity to improve or differentiate.
George:
Do you use AI for listings too?
Jamie:
Yes, absolutely. You can tell it: “Write my bullet points at a fifth-grade reading level”—and it’ll do it instantly. You can also ask it to draft messages to Seller Support, summarize reviews, or rewrite content for clarity.
It’s not perfect, but it saves hours.
George:
You’ve scaled from $1M to $100M. What changes at each level?
Jamie:
0–$1M is grit and hustle.
$1M–$5M is systems and repeatability.
Beyond $5M, it’s about leadership and team building—you need to motivate people and manage processes.
Most founders can get to $2–3M. Scaling beyond that often requires bringing in people with operational or software backgrounds, like my partner did.
And remember—it’s fine to exit early if you don’t want to build a 100-person company.
George:
What tools helped you scale fastest?
Jamie:
We built our operations around NetSuite, customized to handle logistics and reporting globally. It let us automate a lot. The key is not having too many tools—just a few powerful ones that talk to each other.
George:
Biggest opportunity on Amazon this year?
Jamie:
External traffic and multi-channel brand building. You can’t rely 100% on Amazon anymore. Build DTC sites, social presence, even Walmart listings.
The challenge? Higher entry barriers. You need better products and more upfront investment. But the total market size is still massive.
George:
If you could go back and change one thing?
Jamie:
I would’ve built and sold more brands earlier instead of keeping everything under one umbrella. Some got neglected because we didn’t have an exit plan for them. I’d focus on creating sellable, self-contained brands sooner.
George:
Tell us about AMZ Insiders.
Jamie:
It’s a coaching community that’s helped over 1,000 sellers. Around 250 are active now, and more than 100 have hit seven figures.
We focus on getting sellers from launch to multi-million-dollar revenue through structured systems, mentorship, and scaling strategies.
George:
That’s amazing. Jamie, thank you so much for joining us.
Jamie:
Thanks for having me. Great chat.
What an incredible episode! Huge thanks to Clayton Atchison from Carbon6 and Jamie Davidson from AMZ Insiders.
If you enjoyed this, share it with your network—and if you’d like Clear Ads to help grow your Amazon brand, book a free strategy call at clearadsagency.com.
You’ll also find all the links mentioned in today’s show in the episode notes. See you next time on Highway to Sell!
