Leverage Amazon A+ Content to Boost Conversion Rate

Amazon content creation does not charge any fees for using the basic form of their A+ Content platform. Based on their FAQ, they aren’t ruling out the possibility of future charges. If they make any announcements, Amazon will not charge you for any content created before that announcement.

Their paid-for version is Premium A+, which is known to cost an average of $350 thousand. Premium A+ includes additional templates compared to their basic version. There are more engaging content options, but the pricing limits its usefulness to massive brands.

Amazon shares that the benefits are higher conversion rates, increased traffic and increased sales. This platform should not be an alternative to Amazon SEO or PPC campaigns.

This system isn’t a direct confirmation that you will grow in the ranks because you use it. However, Amazon will likely be able to recognize the text easily when compared to other graphical forms.

For example, having an image with the text built into it (like in a banner ad) might not be easily caught by Amazon’s search system. This creation platform might be a solution around it.

Before you create enhanced branded content, it’s essential to be aware of the Amazon Brand Guidelines. Here are a few of the crucial elements you should be mindful of when creating Amazon content:

• Image files must be below 2 MB and be in JPG, BMP, or PNG format
• Do not use low-quality images
• Your alt-text needs to describe the image
• Don’t mention endorsements or awards received two years (or more) ago
• Environmental claims are not allowed (eco-friendly, biodegradable, and compostable)
• If you can recycle the product, you can mention that
• No warranty information
• No time-sensitive statements (on sale now, the best yet, etc.)

While these are the most common, you should familiarize yourself with these Amazon Brand Guidelines before submitting them.

Despite how powerful this platform is at improving your Amazon detail page, there are some drawbacks.

The most significant limitation comes back to what we’ve already mentioned, the brand guidelines. Scrolling back up a bit will reveal a segment of a massive list of things you can’t do.

Next, Amazon’s seven-day waiting period for approval means that this doesn’t create an immediate-response situation. So you can’t rely on it as an option for a quick turnaround.

This limitation can be a headache if Amazon tells you you’ve made a mistake in your content. The resulting wait time can cause some content updates to not appear for months.

Also, if you have a “from the manufacturer” listing on your page, you will be competing with that. This “from the manufacturer” section isn’t necessarily bad, but it does mean you cannot customize the content.

The last limitation comes back to the available templates. At the time of this writing, Amazon has 15 different modules (two of them being your generic product description and brand logo). That’s a lot, but it can make you look pretty similar to your competitors over time.

Below is a table of the available modules:

This table does not include any enhanced features for the paid version of Amazon A+ Content.

There are three eligibility requirements for utilizing this Amazon content:

• You need to be part of the Amazon Brand Registry
• This program is limited to professional sellers
• You need to be part of a managed selling program (such as Amazon Launchpad)

Once you have the approval to contribute to the program, you can use your brand catalog products. Product listings outside of your catalog cannot qualify for this program.

Vendor Central and Seller Central have incredibly similar features. However, there is a significant difference between the two:

• Amazon Sellers are third-party groups who sell on Amazon
• Amazon Vendors are invited from Amazon’s corporate team to sell on behalf of Amazon. They are identified by the “sold by Amazon” marking on the product listing.

Vendors typically enjoy greater access to tools, but there is virtually no difference between vendors and sellers when using Amazon Content.

However, Vendors already have the trust of Amazon and likely already have some preexisting brands. As a result, Vendors have an easier time accessing enhanced branded content.

A+ Content is a primary feature of being part of the brand registry. If you want to take advantage of any part of Amazon’s content powerhouse, you need to become a registered brand.

To become part of the Amazon Brand Registry, you must meet these requirements:

• Your brand needs to have an active registered trademark

OR

• Your brand needs to be on the verge of finalizing that trademark

AND

• That brand must be a text-based mark
• It must be on the list of approved countries

There are sometimes country-specific requirements for registering that trademark. You will need a list of categories your goods fall under (clothing, electronics, sporting goods, etc.) and the applicant number from the office.

For more information check out our ultimate guide on the Amazon Brand Registry.

If you want to become part of this Amazon content initiative, you will need to be willing to work with one of Amazon’s managed programs. One of these programs, Launchpad, is a great way to become featured in such a way as to boost the potential for conversions and customer reviews.

To become part of the Amazon Launchpad program, you need to meet three requirements:

• You need to have professional accounts for less than four years
• You need to make less than $5 million in gross sales
• Your featured products must have 3.5 stars, five reviews, and enroll in FBA

There is a minimum 12-month commitment with a willingness to pay a 5% premium for referral fees to Amazon.

Amazon makes this part of its requirements because they want to establish a level of trust with you before you access some of their advanced features. Modifying your Amazon detail page with Enhanced brand content is a “reward” for this effort.

The best way to track your content’s success is through the Manage Your Experiments (MYE) feature available to Amazon brands. If you’ve already gone through the registry, you have access to this tool.

You can use the tool to run A/B tests, otherwise known as split tests, to determine the most effective page type. For example, you might find that one module of Amazon A+ Content works better than another module because it features images better.

Amazon selects customers in an experimental group to view your page at random. The page which creates the most conversions is typically the winner.

MYE will inform you whether your listing is eligible through Vendor or Seller Central. Typically, it just needs to meet a moderate amount of traffic requirements.

The Amazon Creative Assets library is a categorized list of images that you have previously updated. These images include files you’ve uploaded in other areas like sponsored brands or products.

The asset library helps you look through previously effective image content and sort them through personal means. You can also name files and use the internal search function to locate specific files.

For example, if you sell RC cars and want to look up “RC Car Driving Down Concrete,” you might have a file that matches those general terms.

Files in the creative assets library will have alt-text you’ve already specified. There are no pre-built stock images in this asset library.

If you want to make sure your content converts, here are some tips you can take with you that should help out:

As an extension of your Amazon detail page, the A+ Content builder has further opportunities to convince them to buy your product. Take this additional opportunity to earn their sale by informing them on how your product can help them.

Remember to follow the Amazon Brand Guidelines when producing this, as Amazon frowns on many high-pressure sales tactics. Focus on establishing value.

The best way to convince someone to buy a physical product digitally is by showing how prospective buyers use the product. Some instructional content focusing on the benefits provided by your offering can change minds.

You can also supplement instructional visual content with text. It’s essential to be sure your text matches your visuals when writing something.

This situation is convenient with baby products, one of the most popular entry products on Amazon. Seeing a cute kiddo play with toys your kiddo can play with is one sure-fire way to turn the corner.

Young brand owners sometimes forget they have a brand to manage when they get into the details of their product descriptions. The Amazon detail page is a different method of providing people with your brand story. Emphasizing a brand story is vital when trying to maintain an audience.

If you haven’t already, be sure to develop a brand style guide. This guide gives you a reference point when producing new content on your products.

Also, when you are writing anything, remember to keep it simple. Writing beyond a fifth-grade level might alienate certain members of your audience.

When you create content or choose to take photographs of your product, it’s essential to think like the potential customer. When writing content, always think about all of the possible reasons someone has against buying your product.

Start by producing a list of reasons people might have to avoid buying your product. Think about how you would answer those questions. Keep expanding upon that list until it gets hard to think about any more reasons.

The point is that the next logical objection that comes to mind is something you want to preempt. You want to put counters to each of those objections in order, just as you would a landing page for your product.

Amazon A+ Content is a powerful tool limited to members of the Brand Registry. The world’s most customer-centric company continues its content efforts through other features like Amazon Posts and Amazon Live. As this continues, it will be interesting to see how other eCommerce platforms try and compete with them.

Becoming a member of the Amazon brand registry is more worth it than ever. However, your branded products need to be able to compete to work. If you need help beating the competition through competitive intelligence, check out DataHawk Amazon Seller Tools.