Amazon A+ Content

Brand content on Amazon is the practice of replacing the description pages so they look gorgeous and can really help develop your brand and product pages, allowing you to go further with high-quality images and text – with a similar level of detail you’d find on any brand’s ecommerce web pages.

Not only is its visual appeal strong and a great way to tell your brand story but it also appears above the bullet points and other key buying features on mobile.

Amazon A+ Content: What is it?

Amazon A+ Content, or the basic A+ service compared to the ”loaded” Premium A+ Content, is a very unique tool which can be found within your Seller Central/Vendor Central account, allowing you to create beautiful and customized Amazon product descriptions for your listings.

Previously referred to as Enhanced Brand Content (EBC), Amazon A+ Content is available to all brand-registered 3^rd party sellers and vendors. It’s currently a free feature that thousands of sellers are utilising and benefitting from tremendously, as a result – such as being able to tell a unique brand story.

Brand registered sellers who are not using A+ Content are limited to using just 2,000 characters without any images or graphics for their product descriptions. But ask yourself this: would anyone want to read a large block of dark text overlay to find out more about a product, or read a description along with an enticing brand story where there are images and graphics to quickly paint a picture for them and tell them ‘at a glance’ what the product can do?

Exactly!

The best part is A+ Content or its more advanced variant Amazon Premium A+ Content, comes with a variety of brand story modules (up to seven modules according to the current content guidelines), allowing you to customise how your product details are displayed through images and graphics. This provides for a very unique look and feel to your descriptions – rather than just plain, boring lines of text – keeping potential customers far more engaged, as a result. Remember, it’s all in the brand story and how you tell it, this is where Premium A+ Content especially really comes into its own.

Not only that, but it allows your customer to make more informed purchasing decisions, thanks to the brand story module found within A+ Content.

Where does A+ Content appear and what does it look like?

If you go to your product detail page and look at the Product Description section, that’s where your A+ Content will appear, as it replaces the regular (plain and boring) text-only product description.

The thing about Amazon A+ Content is that you can customise it however you want. This gives you the ability to add images and graphics (including your standard company logo and high quality lifestyle images) to your Amazon A+ Content, as well as large infographics and descriptive text strategically throughout your product descriptions – ensuring that the viewer’s eye is drawn to key elements in order to help them make buying decisions. Talk about telling an enticing brand story!

What is Amazon Enhanced Brand Content (EBC)?

Amazon A+ Content was formerly known as EBC or enhanced brand content – a chargeable service which was accessible through Amazon’s brand registry (ABR) programme for vendors. Over time, it has evolved and is now available to all Amazon brand registry users, whether they have an account on Vendor Central or Seller Central.

To take advantage of Amazon A+ Content, you need to register your brand into the brand registry programme, although you will require a registered trademark in your operational region in order to join the free programme. Get all this done and you’re well on your way to telling a great brand story and unique, enhanced product descriptions – something which can truly set you apart from other sellers.

Who can use A+ Content and how much does it cost?

Amazon A+ content is available to all professional sellers who have been approved via the ABR (Amazon Brand Registry) programme.

Once you have approval, you can move forward in two ways:

Basic Amazon A+ Content – This grants you five standard modules per listing to use for product descriptions, which are free and available to all sellers/vendors.

Premium A+ Content – This grants access to seven modules per listing along with additional features which are only available to those who have been approved as ‘brand owners’.

The cost of Amazon A+ Content can vary a little, depending on how you want to leverage it for listings:

Self-service modules, for instance, cost around $400 or £320 per listing, giving you complete control over the layout and design of your listing, as well as the freedom to place content and images according to your liking. This is considered a viable option for sellers who have a fair amount of experience in branding and marketing to a specific audience.

The Amazon builds for you module will set you back by about $1,500 or just over £1,200 per listing. This option is ideal for sellers who have limited or basic knowledge of how to market and brand their products on a large platform like Amazon. This option is costlier as it requires you to send your content and images to Amazon so that they can do the marketing and branding for you. Therefore, Amazon will come up with the most suitable product description design and layout as per the demands of your listing.

How do I create A+ Content and are there guidelines to follow?

Okay, so let’s quickly go over how to create A+ Content:

Go to your Seller or Vendor Central account and log in.
Now go to ‘Merchandising’ and click on “A+ Detail Pages”.
You will see the two options we just discussed – Self-service or Amazon builds.
If you choose ‘self-service’, Amazon will take you to a page where you will enter the ASIN of the product you want to create the content for. A list of options with specific modules and layouts will pop up.
Choose the ASIN along with your preferred module/layout (you can choose up to 5 per listing from the available 12)
Now, if you prefer a specific module, you can use it every time or you can keep things interesting by assigning a different module for every listing. However, the cost will vary per each module package.
After selecting your modules, click ‘continue’, then ‘add to cart’ to see the final price you need to pay.
Alternatively, if you choose ‘Amazon builds’, you’ll be taken to a page where you can upload your text and images, which will then be submitted to Amazon.
Next, give your project a unique name, one that’s not only descriptive but also easy to recall.
Now you can design your layout and then upload it, although it’s important to preview it before publishing.
Select ‘finish’ once you are happy with how your listing looks. Amazon will then review it and make it live within 7 days, if it is approved. If not, then you will receive a notice, asking you to tweak your listing and resubmit.

Now, let’s shed some light on the guidelines:

Amazon Premium A+ Content is not something you can use to improve your page ranking. If you want to do that, then you need to consult an Amazon marketing agency that will work on optimising your listings.
After your page goes live, you have just two business days in case you want to make edits. This is why we emphasised earlier that you need to double check your content to make sure you are happy with it, before clicking ‘finish’.
Your competitors cannot be mentioned either by their brand name or product name/listings within you’re A+ content pages – for example, “Our product is better than insert competitor name”. If you do, you’re A+ content will be rejected.
Your text and images cannot be copied and pasted from another listing – they have to be fully unique for each listing.
Choose wisely – you’re limited to 5 product listings per vendor. So, consider which one of your listings are really worth the fee. For instance, the underperforming but high-quality ones which could use a boost or your best selling products which you feel require additional promotion?

Create Amazon A plus content

There are plenty of Amazon blogs to show you how to create great premium A+ content but, honestly, its a simple template comprising different modules. A drag and drop affair, if you will. We want to give you an insider’s guide into how to make the most out of the content manager and enhance your product detail page. You can access your Amazon A plus content from selecting “A+ content manager” under the advertising menu in Seller Central.

Key Tips for Great A plus content

Make the most of using comparison charts for key product lines, this will really help customers make informed decisions on your product listings and related products..

Don’t repeat images, remember, A+ content is there to enhance the brand, key buying decisions for your customers should be made in the bullet points, title and images

Share your vision with your customers – A+ pages allow you to expand and really sell your products’ features.

Use high quality images – Amazon will recommend image asset sizes in pixels for many of its modules so it’s always best to get these spot on with high resolution.

Best A+ Content modules to use

Product listings can potentially become a lot richer once you implement A+ Content and it also happens to be an excellent way to make your product features stand out. For this reason, we’ve hand-picked a few content modules to help you get started:

Standard image header with text – This module provides a very impactful image at the top, followed by textual content.

Standard comparison chart – This powerful content module piece lets you compare a variety of features from your listings within just one concise piece, such as when you’re selling different kinds of laptops, for example. Comparison charts really do come in handy when you least expect it! In fact, A+ enhanced comparison charts along with enhanced product descriptions can offer a strategic advantage over your competitors.

Standard single image & highlights – This standard module is excellent for developing additional product content and showcasing key features which cannot otherwise be highlighted in the basic product description and product listing additional bullet points.

Standard multiple image module A – If you want to use high quality images to expand your products’ main image line, then this module allows you to use descriptive data to draw on important features which cannot be drawn upon otherwise through standard product descriptions.

There are other modules to choose from as well, and you can experiment with different ones according to your needs, although you may find it challenging at first to decide which one offers the most bang for the buck.

We believe these are some of the most powerful modules available to Amazon sellers as they add a new dimension to an otherwise dull and fairly basic product description. Plus, enhanced images are far more effective than text content as a picture can tell a thousand words – make sure you use A+ to tell yours!

Create Amazon A+ Content: 6 Best Practices

If you’re planning to create Amazon A+ content that’s brilliant all the way around and resonates with your target audience with little effort, follow these six best practices:

1. Find the perfect balance between text and photos

Let’s start with the text:

Short and concise copy wins every time. Just make sure it doesn’t have any grammatical errors and that it’s descriptive as well as contains easy-to-scan bullet points. If you want to see great content examples on product listings, let us know!

As for the images:

Your product photos need to be professional and include lifestyle shots which show it in action. Your product detail page should also have multiple images and a unique logo image. Use both standard size and larger images too to allow people to see it up close or just use the zoom feature, but do make sure all images are high quality.

All in all, the images need to be visually appealing, lit appropriately, and clear, showcasing your product from a variety of angles. This will definitely help prospects make more informed purchasing decisions. Don’t forget the image keywords embedment to improve your overall SEO.

Both images and text are one of the most important steps to create Amazon A+ content that grabs people right away.

2. Outline the technical specs

Whether you’re using a regular account or an Amazon Premium account, including a technical specs module can be incredibly useful if you wish to share the fine details of your product.

Think about your product from a buyer’s perspective – so, what qualities might matter the most when someone considers a purchase? Include technical specs only on a need-to-know basis as you don’t want to overwhelm the prospective buyer with too much information. You may need just one or more modules, depending on how many variations of the product you’re selling.

One way or another, using a technical specs module will increase your Amazon sales and ultimately help you create great Amazon A+ content.

3. Tell a story to leave an everlasting impression

Storytelling is easily one of the most powerful ways of getting more units sold on your Amazon Seller Central account. In some rare cases, it might even improve the approval process.

Nearly all Amazon vendors are using storytelling to increase sales, educate customers, and much more – you should do the same. Here are some ideas to boost your Amazon listings with great storytelling:

Come up with a ‘story behind the brand’ – something which speaks of its values, origins, and underlying mission.
Showcase how your product has positively impacted the lives of those who have bought it.
Come up with a crafty narrative which is relatable and immediately resonates with your audience.

4. Use hover hotspots to allow users to explore product details

This specific best practice applies to Amazon Premium only. By integrating interactive hotspot modules, users will be able to hover over specific areas of your product image where text pops up automatically to help explain what a certain feature does or how it may be useful.

This is a great way for people to learn more about your product. If you’re an Amazon Premium registered seller then you should be doing this from day one. It will help you engage more buyers because they’ll be able to identify the value proposition at a glance.

5. Consider integrating Q&A sections

This again applies to Amazon Premium A+ content. When you address commonly asked questions through a Q&A section in your listing, you can help people make more educated buying decisions. What’s more, it will help you cut down the chances of returns and reduce purchase barriers.

For example, if someone has questions about your brand ASIN, additional cost for the premium version, key differences between other products you’re selling or, say, shipping details or how some of the interactive features work – then they would already have the answers rather than doing unnecessary back-and-forth with you.

Integrating a Q&A section might even improve your unit session percentage. (conversion rate)

6. Come up with comparison charts

Not all marketplaces offer this feature but, luckily, Amazon does, so take advantage of it!

Ever since Amazon announced comparison charts, Amazon Vendor Central and Seller Central account holders have been cashing in left and right.

Whether you’re a brand registered seller on Amazon or not – start using comparison charts today!

Comparison chart modules are available with both A+ Content and Premium A+ Content, so use these to cross-sell or upsell to buyers reading through your product description.

Want to learn more about how to create Amazon A+ Content or Premium A+ Content? We’re only a phone call away.