Amazon Product Launch Checklist – Rachel’s Version
These days there are many formulas for getting a product up for sale on Amazon. Ranging from very basic to way-too-complicated, and everything in between, there are myriad ways to get it done. But as with most things on Amazon, if you want fast results, and real success, there is an optimal order to the process. Each step builds on the last, so you have some momentum by the time the product goes live.
With a total of 15+ years of Amazon selling experience, hands-on experience at Amazon Headquarters, and now as an Amazon consultant and fractional CMO for a wide range of brands, Rachel Johnson Greer is the leading authority on all things Amazon Marketplace. Having successfully launched dozens of products for several brands, Rachel’s tried and true 5-step formula really works to help make this the Amazon product launch of your dreams.
Step 1: Know Your Customer
For new and established brands alike, launching a new product on Amazon.com can be a game-changer. But real success hinges on understanding your audience at a granular level. Thorough research is the holy grail of advertising content that resonates. When you know what your potential customers are searching for, you can tailor your messaging to address their specific questions and concerns. This makes your content more compelling and meaningful to those you’re trying to help, which builds trust. You’re not just selling a product, you’re adding value to their life.
What’s more, knowing your audience inside and out allows you to anticipate trends and shifts in their preferences, ensuring your brand and catalog both stay relevant and desirable. On the gargantuan marketplace of Amazon, where countless products vie for attention, standing out with targeted, empathetic advertising is an important key to success. So, invest the time to understand your audience – it’s a step that pays dividends in a successful product launch.
Step 2: Make Content That Speaks To Your Customer
You might already know that Amazon headquarters does in-depth studies on things like where the eye goes when it lands on a detail page, and the general behavior of shoppers… what convinces people to hit the Buy Now button. The anatomy of the Amazon detail page is already optimized to give shoppers what they need in terms of visual flow, but it’s up to brands and sellers to make magic with it.
When building your page, be sure to add as much information and answer all the questions you can. For example, the Key Features section is something you might be inclined to skip over, but on the shopper’s side it correlates with the filters they select when they search. So the more Key Features of your product that you’re able to select when creating your page, the more filters the product will appear in as the shopper drills down on what they need.
Detail Page Images (Image Carousel)
Amazon’s research confirms that one of the first places the eye goes on a detail page is to the left, so that’s why the images are there. The information contained in the images is absolutely crucial to make the sale. Most people would never buy a product on the internet sight unseen, and likewise, no seller or brand should ever put a product up without images. Shoppers need to see what they’re getting.
On a standard detail page there is space for 6 images and a video. If possible, use all of this valuable real estate to tell the whole story of your product. Showcase its size, key features, various uses, and more, through quality photography that always keeps the frame of reference of your ideal customer in focus.
From Amazon’s Image Requirements Help Page:
- Images must be 500 px to 10,000 px on their longest side
- Images must be provided in JPEG (.jpg or .jpeg), TIFF (.tif), PNG (.png), or non-animated GIF (.gif) file formats, and
- Images must be clear, unpixellated, and have no jagged edges.
Further, all images must:
- Accurately represent the product you are selling.
- Match the product’s title.
- Not contain nudity or be sexually suggestive. This includes both models and drawings.
- Show children’s clothing flat with no model.
- Not include customer reviews, five-star imagery, claims (for example, free shipping), or seller-specific information.
- Not include text or pricing details (Swatch only).
- Not include any Amazon logos or trademarks, variations, modifications, or anything confusingly similar to Amazon’s logos and trademarks. This includes, but is not limited to, any words or logos with the terms “Amazon,” “Prime,” “Alexa,” or the Amazon Smile design
- Not include any badges used on Amazon, or variations, modifications, or anything confusingly similar to such badges. This includes, but is not limited to “Amazon’s Choice,” “Premium Choice,” “Amazon Alexa,” “Works with Amazon Alexa,” “Best seller,” or “Top seller.” For more details on trademark usage, go to Intellectual Property Policy for Sellers – FAQ about Trademark
Now that you have the requirements, below is some personalized guidance from Rachel on strategy for each of the images. Just as Amazon has done deep research to identify shopping habits and capitalize on them, this advice is the result of A/B testing multiple iterations on countless detail pages.
Image 1 (Main Image)
As you know from Amazon’s image requirements above, the main image is always the product itself on a white background, with the product large enough to occupy approximately 85 percent of the image. This image should have no text, no graphics, and no packaging, just the product on a white background. A notable exception to this is clothing. Clothing should be presented on a model if it is adult size clothing.
Here is a bit of helpful clarification about adult clothing on the Help page: The model must be standing, not sitting, kneeling, leaning or lying down. However, we encourage representing various physical mobilities and models who use assistive technology, such as wheelchairs and prosthetics.
Image 2
This should be a lifestyle image that showcases the product in a believable setting and also says more about the product itself. For example, if you’re selling a waterproof Bluetooth speaker, your second image could be of the speaker sitting on a beach with waves in the background, or on a riverbed, with a few drops of water on and around the speaker. Or a closeup of the speaker with a beach volleyball game in the background. You get the idea.
The gnome figurine below is part of a holiday series offered by the flameless candle brand Luminara, so it made sense to put the product on a holiday background. Placing it next to a gift, with a bow tie, subtly tells the shopper this is a small item and helps shape their expectations.
Image 3
Make this another lifestyle image, this time with a focus on the top features and selling points of the product. For your speaker, the selling points could be “Waterproof!” and “Wireless!” and “Great Sound!”. Whatever your market sentiment research tells you are the top three most important features to shoppers.
This is image 3 for the holiday gnome flameless candle:
Image 4
This should be a product image that focuses on the top selling features, particularly the things that are meaningful to reviewers, what they enjoyed about the product once it was in their home.
Image 4 for our holiday gnome highlights the product’s ability to contribute to a cozy atmosphere through this holiday season and beyond, so this image focuses on things like the 200 hour battery life, and the timer that allows you to enjoy it for the duration of your evening without wasting battery power.
Image 5
A lifestyle image that showcases two more key features or selling points. The gnome is a flameless candle, making it a great choice for homes with children or pets. And as flameless candles go, this brand is high end, so a selling point that helps justify the cost was a purposeful choice.
Image 6
Hopefully by now the lifestyle images have done a good job of setting expectations for the shopper in terms of size, color, etc., but image 6 is all about specifics. This is where any important data, like measurements, is showcased.
Video Content
Adding a video is not a requirement, but it’s a fact that shoppers love video. This is a great way to add more context to your product. You can use this space to share a video you’ve created yourself, or highlight user generated content from reviewers and influencers.
Written Content
Detail pages are SEO gold, so utilize all the words that Amazon allows, and leverage all the market research and sentiment you can, to tell shoppers (and search engines) all about what to expect from your product and brand.
Each Of The Five Bullet Points Allows For Up To 500 Characters
It’s important to make the first sentence of every bullet point as relevant as possible. But few shoppers read past that first sentence, so use the remaining 400-plus characters to expand on the idea while targeting as many keywords as possible. Do not make this an unreadable “word salad” but do use as many keywords as you can while conveying as much relevant product information as possible.
The Product Description Has Space For 2000 Characters
Similar to how shoppers typically don’t read past the first sentence of a bullet point, it’s unlikely they’ll hang on every word in the product description. In fact, they may scroll right past it. But the product description is highly valuable SEO real estate, and should be strategized accordingly. When writing the description it’s fine to re-use and re-word some of the important content and ideas from the bullet points. Utilize all the keywords you can, so that even if they miss it entirely, you know it’s still working for you.
Scroll-Stopping Premium A+
A thoroughly optimized detail page is not complete without Premium A+. Any brand in Amazon’s Brand Registry can take advantage of this marketing tool, where brands have a chance to visually enhance the shopping experience, stop scrolling, and deep dive on some key selling points.
When building your scroll-stopping content, be sure you formulate a strategy based on customer research, and utilize Premium A+, which is optimized for mobile devices. Since a high percentage of shoppers are scrolling on their phones or tablets, it makes sense to optimize their experience.
What Is A+ Premium Content?
From Amazon’s Seller Central page: “Premium A+ Content provides the best-in-class detail page experience available for supplemental marketing information, enabling sellers to use differentiated content such as video, interactive hotspot modules, image carousels, and enhanced comparative tables to tell their brand story and showcase product information…”
Creating Premium A+ content is a little like building a basic website, with drag and drop modules that help you highlight specific features and showcase all the reasons why your product is the one that shoppers want. When you log into Seller Central to get started creating your A+ content, you’ll begin at a screen like this, showing all available modules:
Choose the modules you want to add, and customize them according to your strategy for the product and your brand.
Knit a couple of full size image modules together to create one big scroll-stopping hero image. Or add an influencer video for the social proof that’s so effective in today’s world. Hot spots can help you highlight product features, and product grids can showcase other items in your brand’s catalog. With a wide range of modules for a variety of purposes, the sky’s the limit in terms of what you can create. Premium A+ is the perfect place to cross sell and introduce shoppers to your brand’s other offerings, so again, think strategically and leverage the right pieces accordingly.
Step 3: A Scroll-Worthy Brand Story
Positioned like a hero image just above the A+ Content on the product detail page, the Brand Story is associated with every ASIN in your catalog and is the ideal space to highlight your brand’s USPs. Like a social media post with multiple images, shoppers can swipe through a series of images you share, highlighting your brand’s best qualities.
Share your origin story, talk about what differentiates your brand from the competition, and be as relatable as possible in the Brand Story. People buy from brands they like, so use this chance to utilize all that in-depth market research yet again. Turn visitors into customers and fans by showcasing all you have to offer.
When building your Brand Story, every aspect of it is customizable. You can create and upload your own branded images that link to your Store, or to a specific page on the Store. The Brand Story can help showcase your brand values, product categories in your catalog, and even a couple of your best selling products. The backdrop is customizable too, allowing you to take advantage of every bit of space above the Premium A+.
Step 4: Let It Ripen On The Vine (Program) – How To Get Legitimate Reviews On Amazon
How To Get Real Reviews Quickly Through Amazon Vine
Every seller who has launched a new product has been there: you need reviews to make sales, but you can’t make any sales without reviews. It may be tempting to buy Amazon reviews, just to get started, but this is never the right answer. That’s what the Amazon Vine program is for. You’ve put a great deal of time and effort into bringing to market a really fine product. Make it shine through this early reviewer program that Amazon created to get legit products the legit reviews they deserve.
Want more information about Vine, and learn if your brand qualifies for enrollment? Log into your Seller Central account and click here to view the Seller University video.
Already know you’re qualified and interested in participating in Vine? Click here to enroll.
Step 5: Advertising your product
Defense Campaigns
Once you have some good reviews, there are a wide variety of ways (and places) to advertise your Amazon products. One key location you definitely don’t want to miss is on your own page. You probably already know that competitors can bid for space on your detail pages. This provides an excellent opportunity for them to steal your shopper’s attention. If someone is going to be taking up that ad space, it might as well be you! This is the perfect place to showcase your brand’s other products, and a great way to keep shoppers clicking through your catalog instead of away from your page and over to the competition. It keeps competitors off your page and shows people other options they might not be aware of.
Check out Luminara’s holiday gnome candle detail page:
As you can see, we were able to successfully defend (and occupy) almost all of the potential competitor ad space.
Be thoughtful about what products you bid on for these coveted spaces. Make them the same kinds of products the shopper might like or want. For example, a shopper on our holiday gnome page is probably not in the market right now for a Jack-o-lantern flameless candle, since Halloween just passed. But they may like other types of candles to outfit their holiday home, so here we showcase a variety of tapers, pillars, and even a night light… perfect for out of town guests who may be unfamiliar with the home they’re staying in over the holidays.
Always keep in mind what your page is advertising as well as the bigger picture of what you’re doing with the brand’s advertising.
“Think about how a page is influencing the customer’s behavior and capitalize on that.” – Rachel
A Standout Product Launch
Successfully launching a product on Amazon requires a strategic and thorough approach.
Begin with a deep and nuanced understanding of your customer, and provide them with content that really speaks to them… content they didn’t even know they were looking for.
Optimizing product detail pages for searchability, garnering legitimate reviews through Amazon Vine, and strategic advertising all put the plan into motion.
When done well, the sky’s the limit not only for the success of your product, but for your brand’s future on Amazon.
How can we help your brand achieve success? Contact us.
Learn from the best in the business – FREE!
At Troveres we help brands articulate their story in unique and beautiful ways that utilize strategic, data-informed steps that drive engagement and increase conversion rates. Our content strategy was developed by former Amazonian of eight years Rachel Johnson Greer, who was part of Amazon’s private label team for more than two years, developing and maintaining brands with hundreds of products across dozens of product lines. Click here to download Rachel’s guide to Content Marketing That Converts for free.
