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With millions of sellers worldwide, it can be difficult to stand out from other merchants on Amazon. However, when done right, selling on Amazon can be a profitable venture.
Using tools for product research and listing optimization allows you to find profitable products to sell and optimize your listings. Aside from these tools, Amazon also has features that can help you grow your business and gain a competitive edge. One such feature is Amazon A+ Content.
In this article, we’ll do a deep dive into what Amazon A+ Content is, its benefits, and how you can use it to boost conversions and sales.
In a nutshell, A+ Content elevates your Amazon listing’s product description.
Formerly known as Enhanced Brand Content (EBC), Amazon A+ Content is a feature that lets brands, brand-registered third-party sellers, and first-party vendors highlight their products and brand stories through thoughtfully designed product descriptions. Unlike regular product descriptions for Amazon listings that have several limitations, such as 200-250 characters for product title length, a 500-character limit for features, and 2,000 characters for product descriptions, Amazon A+ Content gives you a more effective way to showcase your products and story while giving you more opportunities to engage with potential buyers.
For instance, you get access to pre-built templates that let you add features to your product descriptions to further enrich them, such as banners, bullets, and interactive images. By configuring the Amazon A+ Content module, you can also add clickable links and comparison tables, as well as enhanced video content. When taken together, all these features let you dive deeper into your product’s features and unique selling points (USP).
In the examples below, you can see that The Honest Company leveraged Amazon A+ Content to showcase its product’s key features, as well as highlight important study findings to inform potential buyers of its product’s benefits:
Amazon A+ Content provides you with customizable solutions to drive conversions and sales, as well as highlight your brand story.
According to Amazon, A+ Content can boost sales by up to 20%. That’s because Amazon A+ Content lets you elevate your product listings through features like rich text and imagery. You can access modules that let you customize how your product listings will look like. For instance, you can add relevant infographics and comparison tables to help highlight product features and allow potential shoppers to make more informed decisions. Using the different modules also lets you showcase your brand’s or product’s value, allowing customers to better understand your offerings and how these can be a potential solution to their pain points. You can also optimize A+ Content to further boost sales. Amazon lets you run multiple A/B tests to discover which A+ Content versions your customers prefer.
Amazon A+ Content opens up cross-selling opportunities. Furthermore, the Q&A module lets you answer customer questions, while other modules help you represent product features more accurately, helping build customer trust and loyalty.
Not all customers who browse your product listing have the same needs or issues. Using Amazon A+ Content for your listings lets you showcase your products in a way that caters to different customer segments. For example, you can use descriptive text to help some shoppers discover all product features, while images or carousels cater to customers who prefer to skim product information.
Amazon A+ Content lets you show in greater detail how customers can use and benefit from your products. Potential customers can also better envision how your products work and thus, enable them to make better purchasing decisions. Moreover, you can highlight your products’ USPs by customizing the modules. For example, you can use a banner to introduce your brand, add images to display key product features, and add a comparison chart to help customers see what makes one product different from another.
You can find A+ Content in the Product Description section, under the “From the Brand” field. Instead of reading a lengthy, plain text product description, you’ll see a more engaging presentation. The examples below show the difference between a standard product description and A+ Content.
Amazon A+ Content is highly customizable. Aside from rich text, images, and videos, you can also add infographics, descriptive text, and even product carousels. Below are some examples of what you can do with Amazon A+ Content:
To be eligible for Amazon A+ Content, your brand should be registered in the Amazon Brand Registry. You must also have a registered and active trademark. Submit information like your trademark registration number and a list of product categories for review. Once you receive a verification code from Amazon, you can complete the enrollment process. After successful enrollment, you get full access to the Amazon Brand Registry service. From there, you can access and use content types like the Basic A+ Content and Brand Story.
Note that your eligibility for an Amazon seller account and Brand Registry will be based on the countries you want to sell in, according to Amazon. Moreover, the scope of A+ Content is currently limited and is unavailable for the following categories: books, music, and DVD.
The good news is that basic A+ Content and Brand Story features are free for brand owners. However, note that you’ll still need to account for sign-up costs (Professional selling plan) and additional selling fees. If you’re a brand owner enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry, you may sign up for the Amazon Premium A+ Content, provided you’re eligible for this feature. For Premium A+ Content qualifying brands, you’ll see a banner indicating it’s available as a feature within your A+ Content Manager. The eligibility criteria for A+ Premium Content varies per country.
Access to Premium A+ Content is available to qualifying brand owners at no cost during its promotional period. Once the promotional period ends, Amazon will notify you of the corresponding fees. As of writing, there’s no end date yet for the promotional period. Furthermore, Amazon doesn’t charge vendors any fees without their consent.
Premium A+ Content comes with larger modules and more features like interactive hotspot modules and image carousels. According to Amazon, using Premium A+ Content can help brands boost their sales by 20%. With Premium A+ Content, you get access to both Basic and Premium modules. The latter includes three new video modules (full video, video with text, and video with image carousel), two hotspot modules that let you add descriptive text over certain areas of an image, and four navigation carousel modules.
To qualify for Premium A+ Content, you need to meet the service’s eligibility criteria. You must have previously published an A+ Brand Story to all the ASINs in your catalog. To check for previously created and published projects, access your A+ Content Manager. You can also go to your page and check to see if you have Basic A+ Content and A+ Content Brand Content on your ASINs. You can find these under the “From the Brand” field on the detail page.
Lastly, you need to have at least 15 approved project submissions (A+ Content) within the past 12 months. To confirm your approved submissions, check your A+ Content Manager.
Premium A+ Content lets you use up to seven modules on the detail page, instead of the usual five. With Premium A+ Content, you can use larger image sizes (up to 1464 x 600 pixels). Premium A+ Content also lets you add testimonials, clickable Q&A fields, and interactive comparison charts.
Starting with A+ Content is relatively straightforward and can be done in three steps:
Amazon A+ Content lets you choose between two template types, which can be accessed via the A+ Content Manager: Enhanced Product Description (Basic) or Brand Story A+ Content template. You can choose either one or both. To start creating A+ Content, you first need to register your brand through the Amazon Brand Registry service. Once done, go to Amazon Seller Central, click on “Advertising”, and select “A+ Content Manager”. Choose “Start Creating A+ Content” to get started.
Amazon A+ Content is still subject to the same guidelines that apply to other product detail page content on Amazon. You can refer to Amazon’s policies on restricted products and category requirements, as well as guidelines for A+ Content.
This option lets you create rich content for your listing. You can choose from 17 different modules to highlight your product’s unique benefits and features. The modules allow you to customize how you showcase your content. Some of the modules you can choose from include:
The Brand Story option lets you humanize your brand and tell your brand story in a more consistent manner. With it, you can add your brand logo and an enhanced brand description. If you select the Brand Story option, you’ll be asked to select a main image and a logo image. You’ll also need to add a name in the “Content name” field, as well as a background image. Lastly, clicking on the “Add Module” button lets you choose from several brand-focused modules, such as brand focus image, brand Q&A, and brand ASIN and store showcase to better highlight your brand and its offerings.
Amazon A+ Content lets you customize how you present your brand, products, and product-level features. For instance, it lets you create custom paragraph headers and images, use bulleted lists, and add unique images and text layouts. Here, we’ll dig deeper into how you can start adding Amazon A+ Content for your brand.
In cases where your submission status is “Not Approved”, you can check the rejection reasons. Click “Edit” to view the rejection reasons for specific A+ Content. If the A+ Content is approved, it can take up to 24 hours before you can see the published changes on the detail pages of the applied ASINs. Lastly, before creating images like logos and banners, check each module, as they may have varying image size requirements.
To edit your A+ Content, go to the Content details page. From there, follow these steps:
Creating A+ Content can be a time-consuming endeavor. To help you optimize your A+ Content and tap into benefits like improved conversions and sales, here are some tips and best practices to follow:
Create a storyboard to visualize how your A+ Content will look like. Are the text and image fields balanced? Are you able to effectively utilize the space?
Double-check your text to ensure they’re error-free. Include relevant product information to highlight your product’s unique points and value to set it apart from the competition. Doing so also positions it as a solution to your target audience’s pain points. Present all information in a simple and easy-to-digest manner. Lastly, update your A+ Content regularly to ensure that all information is accurate and up-to-date.
Not all products may be suitable for A+ Content. Choose products with the right features. For example, if you have a product with a lot of complex features or a unique story, you can use A+ Content to highlight these points through text or imagery. Choosing products that already receive a good amount of traffic also helps. You can leverage the traffic that the product already has and use A+ Content to convert said traffic.
If you don’t yet have products registered with Amazon, you can use tools like Jungle Scout’s Listing Builder to create optimized product listings or product research tools like Helium 10 and AMZScout to find winning product opportunities.
Amazon has a long list of content restrictions, which include not posting shipping details and warranty or guarantee information in A+ Content. Before creating A+ Content, make sure you go over A+ Content guidelines to avoid violations or having your products removed.
Use high-quality images and add readable text. Optimize your images and text for mobile devices. Amazon recommends that image resolution should be at least 72 dpi. Include relevant alt-text or image keywords that help describe the images. While Amazon doesn’t index alt-image keywords, they’ll be indexed by search engines like Google. Amazon also recommends that you refrain from reusing old images or text to ensure that the A+ Content highlights your product’s or brand’s unique aspects.
Look into customer data and reviews to identify common customer concerns. Doing so gives you valuable insights into common purchase barriers and helps reduce returns. Plus, it helps you identify topics you can highlight in your A+ Content to provide your customers with better shopping experiences.
Take the time to see what your competition is doing with their A+ Content. Think of how you can improve your A+ Content to edge out the competition. For instance, you might want to add more images to better highlight your product’s unique features. You may also want to add relevant infographics to showcase specific information and features to help drive conversions.
Your business is growing and you need a reliable solution that will help you scale your operations more effectively. Threecolts is a marketplace management platform offering a range of solutions designed to help you manage your ecommerce business. Whether you’re on Amazon, Walmart, or eBay, Threecolts provides you with customizable business solutions for every need, from automating pricing to finding profitable products to sell on Amazon. Get started today.
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