With over 100 million households in the US being Amazon Prime members, most Americans know what Amazon listings look and feel like. They purchase everyday consumables like laundry detergent, dog food, and light bulbs through the platform frequently. But it’s easy for a brand to fall into a trap when they initially list their products on Seller Central. They don’t convey the amazing content they’ve already built for their brand, their packaging, and their product well through the platform. The result? Lost sales because customers don’t feel comfortable with your a brand’s presence on Amazon.
How do you optimize your content for Amazon so customers understand your brand’s unique value proposition and want to buy from you? That’s what we’ll cover in this post.
How to Think About Your Brand on Amazon
Brands put a lot of time, effort, energy, and love into their messaging so customers can understand their product’s features, benefits, and value proposition. And it shows in the product packaging, social media presence, and their website. But when brands get to Amazon, it’s, “Let’s just put up what we can because this Seller Central interface is confusing.” The result? Customers find themselves looking at the front and back image of a package, some basic copy, and that’s it. Simply put, a product listing doesn’t have the same great feeling from a customer’s point of view. It doesn’t carry the same energy the brand has put into its messaging.
Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. You may have bought a product at a local store. Maybe it’s a grocery item that you want to buy again, or maybe it’s a product you bought, a one-time use product, but you want to get a second one for your spouse or friend. You love the product, brand, and packaging. Maybe you visited the brand’s Instagram page or their website. Next, you went to Amazon to purchase the item again and you’re taken aback. The same warm, fuzzy feelings you got as a customer for that brand don’t come across on the Amazon page.
It may seem silly to say, but it’s true. Even as a customer, you may wonder if it’s the actual brand because a reseller could be selling it. Brands need to understand Amazon and the different types of content they can upload to Amazon to persuade customers. Amazon, by design, is a very cookie-cutter website. Amazon wants the end-user to know where they need to click to find reviews, the buy-now button, and product specifications, such as dimensions and weights.
As a brand, you need to understand what you can do in the different sections of the pages to convey your message. For example, imagery could create more infographic-type images, features, and benefits of your product. The copy can tell the feature and benefit statements instead of just specifications. And utilizing specific Amazon content like A+ pages and stories will relate to getting more loyalty for your brand and, ultimately, more sales.
What are Amazon ‘Brand Stories’?
Amazon is constantly changing and recently added a new feature to product pages, allowing brands to put more content on the page, called “brand stories.” Now they’re technically a part of A+ pages. The A+ pages are a more feature-rich section in the middle of the page where additional imagery and content can replace a standard paragraph product description. And brand stories fit right above and provide the same thing as an A+ page. So, it’s another opportunity to add more content about your brand and help build a connection between your brand and the end customer.
What Does Success Look Like?
Whether a customer visits your Facebook page, your website, finds your product in a retail store, or finds it on Amazon, they should understand your brand’s value proposition and the features and benefits of the product. You do that by using Amazon as a tool to inform and teach those customers.
Amazon, by default, has become a review engine even for those buying products in a store. Most people have done this as well. If you’re in a store and considering a product you’re unfamiliar with, it’s common to pull the product up on Amazon to read the reviews, features, and other information not evident by just looking at the product packaging at the store. You have an excellent opportunity to treat Amazon as an information channel for all your channels and as a sales tool.
How Content Can Increase Conversion Rates by 3-4x
We’ve seen brands increase their Amazon conversion rate three to four times simply by optimizing their Amazon presence and content. If a customer doesn’t quickly understand a product on Amazon, they will bounce and go to another product that does. Using the features Amazon provides in Seller Central, it’s crucial to use the copy, photography, and infographics / explainer-type imagery to make customers feel more comfortable with their purchase. They’re not going to hit the back button and go to the next item on the search page. They’re going to stay there and buy your item.
