Amazon A+ Content: Definition, Best Practices & Examples
In the competitive realm of ecommerce, where countless products clamor for consumer attention, establishing a distinctive brand presence is crucial for success. This is where Amazon A+ Content comes in, offering brands a unique opportunity to elevate their product listings and captivate shoppers in a visually engaging and informative way. A+ Content integrates detailed product descriptions, rich images, charts, and more to help customers make informed buying decisions.
With its host of powerful features, A+ Content empowers brands to go beyond the standard product description, unleashing a variety of benefits that enhance brand visibility, customer trust, and ultimately drive sales. In this article, we’ll explore why utilizing A+ Content is critical for Amazon sellers and delve into some of the top advantages it brings to the table.
Jump to a Section:
- What is Amazon A+ Content?
- What is Amazon Premium A+ Content?
- Who Can Create Amazon A+ Content?
- How Much Does Amazon A+ Content Cost?
- How to Create Amazon A+ Content
- The Benefits of Using Amazon A+ Content
- Amazon A+ Content Guidelines
- Optimizing Amazon A+ Content: 6 Best Practices
- How to Test Your Amazon A+ Content
- An Example of Successful Amazon A+ Content
What is Amazon A+ Content?
Exclusively available to registered brand owners, A+ Content is a powerful tool that allows you to craft a compelling narrative, foster customer loyalty, and potentially boost sales. By leveraging rich content, A+ Content enables you to showcase your brand’s unique story and educate customers about your product’s distinctive features. With its ability to showcase enhanced product images and customize text placements on the product detail page, A+ Content empowers you to highlight what sets your brand and products apart from the competition.
Features of Amazon A+ Content
Amazon A+ content allows brands to incorporate images and text into a variety of content modules to enhance a shopper’s experience including:
- Custom paragraph headers and images – Custom headers are designed to grab the attention of potential buyers and is another great way to showcase your product(s). These eye-catching headers give you the chance to further engage with shoppers and are a great way to stand out from the competition.
- Bulleted features lists – With A+ content, you can provide detailed descriptions and benefits of your product(s) in easy to read, bulleted lists so potential buyers can purchase with confidence, knowing exactly what your product is and what it provides.
- Unique image and text layouts – Photos are crucial as shoppers browse on Amazon as they want to visualize the product they are considering buying. Unique image and text layouts, you can show how your product looks and works all while conveying your brand’s message.
- Product comparison charts – Product comparison charts easily showcase what each product offers so a potential buyer can ensure they are buying the right product to fit their needs.
Where does A+ Content appear?
Basic or Premium A+ content and A+ Brand Story content submitted by sellers shows in the product description and in the “From the Brand” section on the detail page. The “From the Manufacturer” section of the detail page is reserved for A+ content from retail vendors.
What does Amazon A+ Content look like?
As we mentioned, A+ content can consist of a variety of modules including enhanced product imagery, custom headers, product descriptions, product comparison charts, and more. Below is an example of A+ content detail page for Amazon Echo:
What is Amazon Premium A+ Content?
While the option for brands to use basic A+ content is free, Amazon’s premium A+ content offering usually comes with a premium price tag. Luckily for brands, in August 2022, Amazon announced that Premium A+ is available for free during a promotional period. Premium A+ content includes additional modules like:
- Video modules
- Interactive hotspot modules
- Image carousels
- Enhanced comparative tables
- Q&A modules
By utilizing these additional features, brands can showcase their product(s) to potential buyers at an even deeper level.
Check out Amazon’s eligibility criteria to see if you qualify for Premium A+ Content. You’ll qualify if…
- You have already published A+ Brand Story to all ASINs within your catalog that you own. You can confirm this by accessing the A+ Content Manager and searching to see if you have created and published a project. You will also see A+ Brand Story on your ASINs under the “From the Brand” fields on the detail page.
- You have had at least 15 project submissions of A+ content that have been approved within the past 12 months. You can confirm this by accessing the A+ Content Manager and checking the status of your submitted projects and the last modified date.
Who Can Create Amazon A+ Content?
Much like Amazon Premium A+ content, regular A+ content also has eligibility requirements. The first step in the process is to ensure that your brand is registered with Amazon’s Brand Registry Program. Being a part of the Brand Registry Program gives you access to a suite of tools designed to protect your brand.
According to Amazon, to be eligible for Amazon Brand Registry, you’ll need:
- To have an active registered trademark in the country where you want to enroll (or a pending trademark application filed through Amazon IP Accelerator)
- The ability to display your brand name or logo prominently on all the products and packaging you offer through Amazon.
How Much Does Amazon A+ Content Cost?
“Basic” A+ content on Amazon with 12 standard modules to choose from is currently free. It may be free, but it’s important to keep in mind that there is the additional cost of creating the content, whether that’s in house with your team or with an Amazon advertising agency that offers A+ content creation.
While basic A+ Content is complementary for sellers, Premium A+ Content comes with a fee. Sellers can expect to pay about $100,000 to $250,000 per product detail page. However, Amazon is currently offering a promotion where vendors can try Premium A+ Content for free for an undefined period of time.
How to Create Amazon A+ Content
1. Log into Vendor Central and hover over the “Merchandising” menu then select “A+ Content Manager” or log into Seller Central and hover over the “Advertising” menu then select “A+ Content Manager”.
2. Start creating A+ Content by either searching for an ASIN or product name or “Start creating A+ Content” and initiating the A+ Content workflow.
3. Choose between Basic Enhanced Product Description or Brand Story modules:
- Basic Enhanced Product Description allows you to add details and product imagery that highlight the benefits of your product on the main product detail page.
- Brand Story gives you the opportunity to tell your brand story across all the products in your brand by adding logos, pictures, linking to your Amazon store, and more. Brand story can be added to all your product listing pages.
Hot tip: Amazon recommends you create both Basic A+ Content and Brand Story content to maximize your brand’s presence on the detail page.
4. Create a ‘Content Name’ under ‘Content Details’ to uniquely identify the content. During this step, make sure to select the intended language of the A+ content as it’s required.
5. Select your modules
In this step, you’ll have the opportunity to add one or more modules to create your desired style. You can reorder/remove modules, add text and images, and preview content before submitting. Check out a few of the modules you can incorporate into your A+ Content or Premium A+ Content below:
6. Apply your ASINs and submit your changes
During this step, it’s time to associate one or more of your ASINs with your newly created content. You can do this by either searching for an ASIN within your catalog to apply the content or you can use the bulk upload feature to apply the content to a larger number of ASINs in your catalog.
But, the big question is – how do you decide which ASIN to create A+ content for?
Amazon suggests vendors focus on products that are premium priced, have differentiated benefits and features, or have a strong brand story. Focus on products you’re already driving traffic to (for example, a Black Friday campaign) to ensure all the traffic you are generating is seeing the best detail page possible.
Once you’ve applied the content to your ASINs and submit your changes, your content will go through an approval process and get published.
The Benefits of Using Amazon A+ Content
With A+ content, you have the ability to stand out from the competition all while giving shoppers more information about your product and brand. But what are the other benefits? Let’s look into the top benefits of using Amazon A+ Content.
“Detailed product listings with A+ Content is a highly effective strategy for boosting customer confidence, allowing shoppers to make informed purchasing decisions which can eventually increase engagement and conversion rates.”
Pooja Lakhani Associate Account Manager, Retail Operations at Tinuiti
Increase conversions
According to statistics, A+ Content can increase sales by 3 to 10%. By educating consumers about your product and brand through this additional content, you’ll have a better chance of conversion in the long run.
Highlight product features and benefits
When you use A+ content to your advantage, you can highlight product features on a deeper level so consumers know exactly what they are buying at the forefront. A+ content also gives brands the opportunity to highlight product benefits and unique differentiators to stand out in the marketplace.
Capture shopper attention
With eye-catching imagery on display, A+ content captures shopper’s attention much more effectively than if you were to have a plain product detail page.
Reduce product returns
A+ content helps consumers make more informed purchasing decisions reducing the amount of returns you receive.
Reduce negative reviews
Customer reviews are everything in the online shopping world. When used properly, A+ content can proactively answer shoppers’ questions so they know they are receiving the right product for their needs, in turn, reducing the possibility of negative reviews.
Flaunt your brand
A+ content can show off your brand story by using rich imagery, text, and additional modules. Image headers and video (Premium A+) can showcase your product in use and users can get a real feeling for both your product and brand.
Amazon A+ Content Guidelines
There are a variety of Amazon A+ content guidelines that you’ll need to keep in mind when creating your A+ content so you can ensure approval. Some of the major guidelines include:
- Supported image file types include: .jpg, .bmp, and .png in the RGB colorspace
- The use of animated images (for example, .GIF) is not allowed
- The use of blurry or low-quality images and images is not allowed
- Brands cannot mention awards received more than 2 years ago. When highlighting awards or endorsements, include a note in the text with the date when the awards or endorsements were given
- Warranty or guarantee information, and references to off-Amazon return or refund policies, is strictly forbidden in A+ content
- Any violations of Amazon policies, including restricted product policies, category requirements, or program policies are prohibited
- Do not include any shipping details, QR barcodes, or personal information like phone numbers, addresses, or emails on A+ pages
- Do not reference or compare products with competitors
- Comparison charts can only compare against other products owned by the same brand
- Hyperlinks, external web links or language attempting to redirect to other sites inside or outside of Amazon (including your other products) are prohibited
Check out the full list of Amazon A+ content guidelines here.
Optimizing Amazon A+ Content: 6 Best Practices
When it comes to content design for A+ content pages, there are a few best practices you’ll want to follow. Check out our list of six best practices to consider when creating your very own A+ pages.
1. Pay Attention to Sizing & Resolution
All of your images need to be the right size and resolution. These requirements will be different depending on the module you select. It’s important that you follow these requirements, otherwise Amazon will reject your A+ content application.
2. Stick to the Content Guidelines
Some symbols and special characters are forbidden – that includes the registered brand & registered trademark symbol. You also can’t include hyperlinks to other websites (although you can include links to other ASINs within certain module types).
3. Leverage Banners
Banners are a great way to break up your product detail page. It signals a new section to the shopper, grabs their attention with images, and provides more information about your product and brand.
4. Use Charts to Differentiate Products
Charts can be a valuable way to display not only one ASIN but many of your other product offerings.
Advertisers can utilize a comparison chart is to display similar ASINs in relation to your own business. In the example below, a protein and supplement company created a comparison chart for a variety of products they offer – comparing them based on key features, grams of protein, weight/count, and more. This gives your customer a chance to discover other similar items without having to navigate away from the detail page.
5. Use Minimal Text & More Visuals
A+ content in general, should be more visual. Text should directly communicate in simple terms what the message is. You want to maintain a healthy balance of lifestyle and product images that feature the highlights of the ASIN.
6. Use Uniform Design
You don’t want to design for just one landing page – you should have your entire catalog in mind. Your A+ content should be consistent across the board and in a lot of ways it should represent an extension of your brand and your website. Think big picture and how you want to represent the brand as a whole.
How to Test Your Amazon A+ Content
Every marketer knows the importance of testing. That’s why it should come as no surprise that we recommend testing your A+ content to understand effectiveness. Let’s take a look at how you can test your A+ content.
Take Benchmarks from Reports
The first option for tracking success would be looking into your reporting, the “Unit Session Percentage” specifically. The Unit Session Percentage metric is calculated by dividing your sessions (number of people who visited your site within a specified time period) by the number of units sold within the same timeframe.
Units sold / # of sessions = Unit session percentage
If the unit session percentage is increasing, your A+ content and overall listing is performing well. If your unit session percentage is decreasing, it could indicate opportunities for improvement and optimization.
Use the Amazon’s Manage Your Experiments tool
Amazon’s Manage Your Experiments tool is a great way for brands to incorporate A/B testing into their Amazon strategy. With the Manage Your Experiments tool, you can conduct split tests on your product listings and A+ content to see which content performs better. During this test, one group of shoppers will see one version of the content (A) and another will see a different version of that content. Amazon allows you to determine which content drives a higher conversion rate and publish the “winning” content.
According to Amazon, Using Manage Your Experiments can help increase sales by up to 25% (based on observations from experiments created by sellers).
Medical Guardian: An Example of Successful Amazon A+ Content
Tinuiti’s Amazon Creative team had an opportunity to partner with Medical Guardian, a leading provider of medical alert solutions that help their customers live a life without limits through use of their medical alert systems and service. We worked with them to create a new custom Amazon store design, and implement strategic use of fresh A+ content pages.
Highlighted below are examples showcasing how our creative team effectively utilizes modules, image types, and textual elements to empower shoppers with the necessary information and confidence required for making informed decisions. In the case of Medical Guardian, our team displayed their creative prowess to achieve precisely that.
In the example below, we created a comparison chart for a variety of Medical Guardian offerings — comparing their medical alert solutions based on usage, range, battery life, and more. By incorporating comparison charts into your A+ content, you give your customer a chance to discover other similar items without having to navigate away from the detail page.
Mini Guardian – Product Page with A+ Content & DPI Results
A+ content enhancements to the popular on-the-go Mini Guardian PDP resulted in:
- Sales: +30.34%
- Conversion Rate: +0.20 Points
Home Guardian – Product Page with A+ Content & DPI Results
A+ content enhancements to the popular in-home Home Guardian PDP resulted in:
- Sales: +147.24%
- Conversion Rate: +0.44 Points
Conclusion:
A+ content is clearly important during any time of the year, but is your A+ content refreshed and ready for the upcoming Prime Day? If not, now’s a good time to optimize your content as shoppers flock to the marketplace looking for their next big deal. Click here to watch our Prime Day Panel on-demand and be sure to check out our 2023 Prime Day Checklist. Interested in selling on Amazon or have additional A+ Content questions? Contact us today.
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