Amazon Content Strategy for CPG Brands

While Amazon may be dominating some retail markets, when it comes to CPG sales, brick-and-mortar retailers continue to drive the most revenue. However, it’s still imperative CPG brands get serious about their Amazon presence. Why? Because a lot of consumers use Amazon to research products. Yes, even those who eventually make their purchases in-store.

A late 2017 study published by ad and market research firm Survata found that 49 percent of consumers turn to Amazon first when shopping for products online. They credit Amazon’s easy-to-use navigation, product variety, pricing, and shipping capabilities as their primary reasons for consulting the online mega-retailer first.

While Amazon is known first and foremost as a retailer, it’s also an online advertising platform. It’s a place consumers can go to learn what products exist to solve their problems, how those products compare to others, what people who bought those products are saying about them, and a whole lot more. With the right content and optimizations, Amazon listings have the ability to inform consumers about a product from awareness all the way through purchase.

So, yeah. You could say Amazon is pretty important for a CPG brand’s advertising strategy.

Whether you’re looking to make your Amazon listings work harder or haven’t yet set up an Amazon presence, we’ve outlined a basic content strategy for ensuring your listings cover every phase of the customer journey.

Product Title

The product title is one of the most important pieces of content on your Amazon listing. It’s the first place Amazon looks for relevant terms when it’s deciding whether to deliver your listing in a search result. And with limited characters, it’s even more difficult to get this right.

An SEO strategist is a powerful resource for optimizing your Amazon product titles. But if you’re managing this solo, here are some tips for strategically crafting your words:

• Think of how consumers search for your product and what they care about. Use those words/phrases.
• Leave out your brand name. Most consumers aren’t using brand names in their search, and your brand will already be associated with the listing outside of the title.
• Include details like size, color, and package quantity, if applicable.
• Search for similar products and see how competitors are crafting their titles. Notice what’s showing up first vs. several pages in.

Bullet Points

This section is an opportunity to give an overview of the product, highlighting key benefits and uses, as well as anticipating questions someone might have about the product. Using relevant search terms in this section will help consumers find your product faster.

When deciding what content to include in this section, tap your customer service team or look to FAQs and reviews to understand what your customers care about and what questions they’re asking. If you’re selling plastic cups and your customers are often asking if they contain BPA, then address that in one of your bullet points.

Aim for six bullet points, choosing content that will leave the best impression on the consumer. We recommend the following types of content for this section:

• Product attributes
• Product uses and benefits
• Package quantity
• Ingredients & allergy info (i.e. gluten-free)
• Answers to FAQs

Images

Detailed product images are a huge selling feature on Amazon. Without being able to pick up and inspect the product online like they can in-store, consumers rely on product images to help them understand things like size, shape, ingredients, materials, etc. Your Amazon listing should include pictures of the product as well as its packaging.

In addition to detail images, your Amazon listing should include lifestyle images that show the product being used or, even better, evoke an emotional response that causes the consumer to picture how much better their life would be with the product.

Aim for at least six images per listing. Here’s our recommended shot list for reference:

• Product in package
• Product out of package
• Detailed product shot (close-up showing pattern, texture, etc.)
• Detailed packaging shot (ingredients, materials, directions, etc.)
• Product in use
• Lifestyle image(s)

Enhanced Content

Further down the product listing, brands have the opportunity to include enhanced content—photos, videos, information about the brand, links to other product lines, and more. The idea here is to keep consumers engaged while educating them with more information about your brand and products.

This is a great place to include promo videos, how-to videos, and additional lifestyle images. Showcasing related products and linking to them will keep consumers focused on your brand as a solution and prevent them from having to search out a competitor’s product.

We believe these types of content make the biggest impact in this section:

• Brand story & logo
• Relevant videos
• Product line showcase & links
• Product comparison chart (comparing sizes, quantities, styles within brand)
• Lifestyle photography
• FAQs
• Reviews

At MBB, we’re well versed in Amazon and CPG marketing. If you need help with content, creative, or SEO for your Amazon page, give us a shout.