What is Amazon A+ Content? (Link from CPCstrategy.com)

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Posted by Tara Johnson on August 31, 2018 in A+ Content

Vendors have the option to sign up for Amazon A+ Content, a program that promises to enhance your product detail page with visuals and enhanced marketing content to overcome purchase hesitations and drive brand affinity.

Download the Complete Guide to A+ Content

A+ Content integrates detailed product descriptions, rich images, charts and narrative copy to help customers make informed buying decisions.

This free premium content from manufacturers is meant to drive more conversions on a detail page. According to Amazon, A+ Content can increase sales on average 3 to 10% by educating the consumer about your product and brand.

In the following blog post, we cover everything you need to know about A+ Content including:

Jump to a Section:

What is Amazon A+ Content?

Amazon A+ content is available for first party (1P) vendors on Amazon and features high quality images. In short, A+ content better conveys the value of the product through the use of multimedia.

Conversion rates can improve as a direct result of A+ content, specifically comparison charts which provide shoppers with a visual feature comparison of the vendor’s products.

Below is an example of A+ content detail page for Amazon Echo:

How Much Does Amazon A+ Content Cost?

“Basic” A+ content on Amazon with five standard modules is free.

It may be free, but 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.

NOTE: Basic A+ content is not the same as Premium A+ content, which includes seven modules, offers a plethora of additional features, and prices vary by vendor (at Amazon’s discretion). You can see all of these features and more in our Premium A+ content post.

How to Create an A+ Content Detail Page

The first step is to submit an A+ Detail Page promotion request.

1. Log into Vendor Central and hover over the “Merchandising” Menu then select “A+ Detail Pages”:

2. Next, Amazon vendors must select their A+ detail page package:

“Self Service” Module
“Amazon Builds For You” Module

Self Service Modules – For this option, the vendor is expected to provide and select all content and copy. There are Basic, Silver, Gold and Platinum modules and each have a flat fee. Some vendors may qualify for free A+ Pages, but there is currently no way to predict if the pages will be free until all the content has been submitted.

Amazon Builds For You – Here the vendor will supply Amazon the content and photos and Amazon will choose the design and layout of the A+ detail page. The price per page is about three times more expensive than the self-service modules and also has the module levels of Basic, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

Pro-Tip: The fees for each package can vary depending on the time of year. The cart price will depend on the types of module a vendor selects.

A+ Content: Creation & Management Solution For Vendors

By choosing the Self-Service Module, brands will be asked to:

Create Project
Build Layout
Upload & Arrange Content
Review & Add To Cart

If you select the Self-Service module, you will be taken to the below page:

Here, you can enter the ASIN you would like to build out your A+ content for.

So, 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 selected your ASIN, you’ll be prompted to select a build layout style, as seen in the image below:

Amazon offers a selection of 12 different modules total including Standard (10 choices) & Advanced (2 choices). Of those 12 options, vendors can select up to 5 modules to use on their product page.

Note: You can mix module types or use the same module as many times as you like. The fees for each package can vary depending on the time of year and the cart price will depend on the types of module a vendor selects.

Standard Modules (10 options)

Standard Module 1 – Features 1, 2 and 3 (pictured below) are a great pick for product(s) with multiple image shots or capabilities that you want to stand out to the shopper.

Advanced (2 options):

Advanced Module 1 (pictured below) has the ability to show comparison charts, which are also extremely valuable to shoppers. We’ll discuss comparison charts in more detail later on in this post.

Once this page is filled out and all images are uploaded, you’ll have the opportunity to preview your A+ content, review pricing and submit. Amazon should have the A+ page live within 7 days (if not sooner).

Amazon A+ Content Guidelines

A+ content is not indexed, therefore it does not provide any organic boost to your detail page.
Amazon A+ Content does not show up on mobile or the Amazon Mobile App (at least not yet).
Only those products not listed on Amazon.com by another vendor are eligible to receive the A+ Enhanced Marketing Content page at no additional cost through the promotion.
To qualify for the promotion, vendors must submit all content required to create the A+ Enhanced Marketing Content pages within one month of confirming the PO for the eligible product.
Offer limited to five or less A+ Enhanced Marketing Content pages per vendor.
Once an A+ Enhanced Marketing Content page is live, a vendor has 2 business days within which to request an edit or update to the Page.
Amazon reserves the right to remove a vendor’s A+ Enhanced Marketing Content pages for any reason, including, but not limited to, a vendor closing its account, failing to fulfill Purchase Orders or violating Amazon policies.
Images and text must be unique to A+ and focus just on the product.
Lifestyle images are allowed if they clearly depict the product in use.
Do not mention competitors or their products in your content.

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Amazon A+ Content Best Practices

We sat down with Hiram Cruz, Lead Graphic Designer at CPC Strategy to discuss the best practices for A+ Content design.

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.

Content Errors – 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).

Proofread Prior to Submission: Amazon tells you it can take up to 7 days for approval but usually they approve / deny your application much faster than that (average is 48 hours for us). Make sure you proofread all content / images before submitting. If in the event an A+ page gets approved (and you later discover there was a grammatical error), you will have to resubmit. This means the A+ content with the grammar error could run live on your product page for up to a week.

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.

Utilizing Charts – 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 premium mattress manufacturer created a comparison chart for a variety of mattresses they offer – comparing them based on height, comfort level and more. This gives your customer a chance to discover other similar items without having to navigate away from the detail page.

Minimal Text & More Visual – 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.

Uniform Design – According to Cruz, one of the biggest takeaways is that 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 (as seen in the Anker banner example below). Think big picture and how you want to represent the brand as a whole.

Is A+ Content Worth the Investment?

“It depends,” Nick Sandberg, Marketplace Channel Analyst at CPC Strategy said. “In my mind there are a few factors to consider including:

How much revenue does the ASIN currently bring in?
Are the ASIN’s competitors using A+ content?
What category is it in?
Is there currently a similar product comparison widget placed on the detail page by Amazon?”

REVENUE & PRICE:

If the ASIN brings in a lot of revenue, spending a fraction of the ASIN daily or weekly revenue is not a substantial investment for the chance to increase conversion and the general positive appearance of the detail page.

Often the price of the item will help determine if it’s worth the investment.

For example if you can sell just a few units to cover the cost, it’s worth the investment, and if you have to sell an extra 1,500 units, it might not be worth the investment. If it’s not making a lot of money, adding A+ content should not be viewed as the best lever to increase revenue on the ASIN.

COMPETITION:

If competitive ASINs have A+ content, adding A+ would be a way to match what the market is doing and raise its competitiveness. If other ASINs don’t, but the revenue you are generating makes sense to reinvest in the content consider it a way to differentiate your page.

COMPLEXITY:

If the product is in technology, appliances, or some type of product that has a lot of features and functions that are difficult to convey in the images, bullet points, and descriptions, than using A+ to further explain can really help a product make sales.

COMPARISON:

Often in categories where A+ content is common, Amazon places their own product comparison widget that compares your product to other competitor’s similar products.

But, often you might have similar products in your own line that a customer should be considering as well. In A+ content you can build your own comparison widget but this will compare your products to others in your line. This is a good way to kind of re-position your products among themselves to combat what Amazon is also doing on your page.

A+ Content Success Story

Serta Simmons Bedding, the #1 mattress manufacturer in the United States teamed up with CPC Strategy in August 2016 to optimize their Amazon advertising efforts with a special focus on developing premium A+ Content.

As the leading provider of mattresses to the hospitality industry, Serta partners with hotel groups such as Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Choice Hotels International, Best Western International, Omni Hotels and Resorts, as well as Bellagio Las Vegas

Their product portfolio includes the Perfect Sleeper®, which is the Only Official Mattress of the National Sleep Foundation, and the iComfort® Sleep System, both named Consumers Digest Best Buys.

Serta through its licensees also manufactures the exclusive Bellagio at Home® mattress collection.

In addition, Serta is distributed internationally in more than 150 other countries worldwide.

Amazon A+ Content Creation: Serta Simmons Bedding

At CPC Strategy, our project managers consulted with your Serta Simmons Bedding to build A+ content, customized for the Amazon Marketplace as an extension and premium representation of their brand.

We execute on Amazon A+ Content creation in 3 stages:

Customized Creative Briefing
Content Direction & Strategy
Design & Implementation

1) Customized Creative Briefing

The purpose of our initial creative briefing with Serta Simmons Bedding team was to better comprehend the brand’s business objectives and target audience.

CPC Strategy worked in close coordination with Serta’s team to understand their brand voice and creative as it related to A+ content initiatives.

2) Content Direction & Strategy

CPC Strategy assigned a dedicated A+ content project manager to handle Serta Simmons Bedding creative.

We work with Serta to identify premium product features to highlight on their detail page, including bedding technology and product comparison charts.

In the example below, we created a comparison chart for a variety of mattresses Serta offers—comparing them based on height, comfort level and more. This gives your customer a chance to discover other similar items without having to navigate away from the detail page.

3) Design & Implementation

CPC Strategy also worked with Serta to template A+ Content designs for their catalog, merging Parent / Child ASINS for optimized A+ Content navigation.

We successfully executed & managed all aspects of A+ Content submission via Amazon Vendor Central.

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