How are you telling your brand story?
If you’re a registered brand on Amazon, Amazon A+ Content provides a fantastic opportunity to present your brand and your products your way when selling on Amazon.
Free and unlimited for both vendors and sellers, Amazon A+ Content is one of the most effective ways to increase traffic and sales — and to cross-promote your other products.
What Is A+ Content on Amazon
A+ Content is Amazon’s way of letting you enrich your product descriptions and page details with:
- High definition videos
- Enhanced images
- Comparison charts
- Robust FAQs
- And more
These details allow you to showcase your brand and better convey the value of your products to help customers make informed buying decisions and give consumers a more sophisticated shopping experience.
According to Amazon, only vendors and/or sellers who are either approved through the Amazon Brand Registry program or a part of specific programs such as Amazon Launchpad and Amazon Exclusives can use A+ Content.
If this applies to you, you can add A+ Content to any product within your approved brand catalog. And you can get that enhanced content set up in as little as 15 minutes.
A note on Premium A+ Content: It’s important to note that Amazon’s free A+ Content is completely different from Premium A+ Content, also known as A++ Content. The latter is an invite-only option that involves following a criteria and gives brands access to even more modules, such as interactive images, slider galleries and video loops. While A++ Content can be a great option for very large brands and feature-heavy products, A+ Content works well for the majority of ASINs.
Benefits of A+ Content
When selling on Amazon, you have to compete and stand out among millions of sellers. Adding A+ Content can play a huge role in giving you that competitive advantage.
The main goal of A+ Content is to increase your conversion rate and boost product sales. It provides a better understanding of your product to help persuade customers to buy.
To capture the attention of potential buyers and drive sales, your products must be distinguished from related products sold by your competitors. Previously, differentiation was a big challenge for sellers due to the limited guidelines from Amazon. Before A+ Content, it was tough to grab a consumer’s attention and convince them to purchase with just a small paragraph. Formatting restrictions limited sellers from going above and beyond with their product presentation, a factor shoppers highly regard.
To help you further understand the importance of A+ Content, here are some additional benefits.The enriched elements of A+ Content can more effectively:
Grab a shopper’s attention.
Buyers are looking at hundreds of product pages. Amazon A+ Content can help your product stand out from the crowd with formatted text, large, high-definition images or a video explaining the product usage. Cluttered product pages deter consumer interest; optimized content and formatting entices it.
Visually pleasing for consumers to skim for key information.
Chunks of paragraphs and text blocks are difficult to read. Amazon A+ uses unique images and text layouts, bulleted feature lists and product comparison charts allowing consumers to easily skim and more quickly get the information they need. With consumers visiting multiple touchpoints, providing information effectively is essential.
Bring your product into the spotlight.
A+ Content gives you the opportunity to showcase specialty features in action, provide tips for getting more out of your product or tell the story behind your product. A more comprehensive look can give consumers the confidence and trust needed to ultimately make a purchase.
Help boost conversions.
Enticing images paired with quality content can encourage consumers to hit the Buy Box. And paired with an easy buying experience for consumers, the result can lead to an increase in return on advertising spend (ROAS) and reduced advertising cost of sale (ACoS).
Fight counterfeits.
Using A+ Content will help shield your product from counterfeits. It will garner brand recognition and build reputation. Consumers will know your brand is the rightful owner of these types of products, and it will prevent others from counterfeiting.
Use proven marketing strategies.
Do the aspects of the Amazon A+ Content remind you of a well-designed brochure? That’s not a fluke. Without the limitations of an ordinary product description page, A+ Content allows sellers to explore color schemes, different formats and other strategies marketers have utilized and found successful for decades.
Improve reviews and reduce return rates.
Before purchasing products, consumers want as much information as possible. With A+ Content providing consumers with detailed information they need, you can expect fewer returns after the purchase. Fewer returns means more satisfied consumers. Satisfied consumers are likely to share positive reviews of your product and brand, which will then persuade future consumers during their own research.
How to Create A+ Content on Amazon
Start by manually selecting which products you want to enhance. While all ASINs can benefit from A+ Content, laying solid groundwork boosts chances for success. You’ll want to be sure the time and resources you put into creating extra content are likely to result in higher sales and revenue.
If you’re having a hard time choosing ASINs, start with your top sellers. Other excellent candidates for A+ Content include products that tell a strong brand story or tend to sell at premium prices, as well as the items you’re already driving traffic to through seasonal campaigns and promotions.
Brand-registered Amazon Sellers have access to an A+ Content Manager that provides recommendations on which SKUs to prioritize adding A+ Content. These are ranked in order of priority based on a variety of factors Amazon indicates may increase your sales and discoverability.
You’ll have two options to choose from: Self-Service or the Amazon Builds for You module. When using the Self-Service option — Rithum recommends this option for most ASINs — you can use up to five different design modules per product page. There are 12 different basic modules to choose from, so play around with the different modules to figure out what will work best for the specific product.
Guidelines for A+ Content on Amazon
Amazon A+ Content does give you more creative freedom, but following guidelines can ensure your content gets approval. Here are a few to consider when creating A+ Content:
- Images: Be sure to use supported image file types such as JPG, BMP and PNG in the RGB colorspace. Avoid blurry and low quality images as these are not allowed for A+ Content.
- Text: Proofread all your text and avoid spelling mistakes and inconsistent punctuation. Use bold and italic formatting only for headings or a few select words.
- Claims and awards: There are quite a few requirements for including certifications and awards. We recommend researching the rules thoroughly before including them in your content. For example, certification claims and awards must be proven through text with certifying or awarding body, study, publication or other evidence. The year of the award or certification must also be specified. Environmental claims like “eco-friendly,” “biodegradable” and “compostable” are not allowed in text, images or symbols. Related claims, such as an assertion that a product is “recyclable,” must be proven in text with supporting information. Satisfaction claims are not allowed.
- Content restrictions: Steer clear from referencing your company as a seller or distributor. Only use comparison charts when comparing against products of the same brand. Keep away from quotes or attributions made by individuals, customers or other private figures.
There are just a few of the guidelines set by Amazon. To read more about specific terms and policies, check out their A+ Content guidelines.
A+ Content Best Practices
When creating your A+ Content, we recommend:
- Making the content easy to scan. Use subheadings, short paragraphs, bolding and other formatting options that will make it easy for consumers to understand the biggest benefits of your product at a glance.
- Combining text and images. When describing a key feature or selling point, accompany that text with a related image — and vice versa.
- Using consumer feedback for inspiration. If your customers often compliment you on a particular product feature, highlight it in comparison charts or descriptions.
- Avoiding content errors. This goes beyond typos. Tread carefully when using special characters and symbols (including trademarks) and links. Be certain to include the correct image sizes based on the selected module.
46% of online consumers stated they start their product searches on Amazon, so your key focus should be to optimize your product detail pages.
Looking for more Amazon advice? Rely on the Amazon experts.
Acting as an extension of your internal team, Rithum’s Managed Services team combines the strengths of our cutting-edge e-commerce technology with our unmatched industry expertise. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help manage your Amazon A+ Content.
Interested in learning more about how to optimize your Amazon A+ Content? download our eBook to see ideas and inspiration for product pages that increase traffic and boost sales.
Editor’s note: This blog post was originally published in January 2018 and was updated in December 2022 for accuracy and comprehensiveness.