What Are the Benefits of Amazon Brand Registry?
Successful Amazon sellers come across some spectacular listings when browsing through Amazon. They see listings with a particularly lengthy product description or with large, extensive graphics. These special descriptions are part of something called the Amazon Brand Registry Program. So how do you get into Amazon’s Brand Registry Program?
The requirements are simple: you need to present images of your brand being on your product or your product packaging, have a website that contains your brand name, proof you own that site, and a trademark on the brand name. The website portion of this is easily accomplished, but the trademark can be difficult. While a straightforward process, getting a trademark can take time, typically eight to twelve months. There are online services that can help for as little as $500, but there is not shortcut to the waiting period. The trademark will take time, and Amazon needs to know that you own the intellectual property behind your brand before enabling you to use the myriad tools accessible through brand registry.
The Benefits to Successful Amazon Sellers
The biggest regret sellers have regarding brand registry is not having gotten involved earlier. Brand registered sellers notice an immediate increase in sales once they’ve begun using these additional tools. Though brand registry does nothing to artificially increase sales rank, the new toolbox of options will allow for better listings and higher conversion rates, which will invariably help with search rankings. If you are smart, you will take full advantage of these new options to create a better experience for your customers and increase exposure. So what, exactly, are the benefits?
You Always Have The Buybox
This perk alone might be enough for you to consider getting acquiring a trademark, especially if you deal frequently with hijackers. Brand registry does not completely remove hijackers, but it does mean you will always have the buybox, which makes you a less attractive target for these blackhat tactics.
Amazon will typically not mediate intellectual product disputes, yet the trademark will begin to help you legally. If a hijacker jumps on to a branded listing, a cease and desist letter can be sent to the seller asking them to stop, and refusal can be met with a lawsuit. So while a trademark will not extinguish the hijacker problem, it puts the law firmly on your side in case of disputes, and allows for action for those that continue infringe.
Keep in mind that with a trademark you can stop others from selling your exact product with your brand name. However, other sellers can still sell your product with another brand name. In order to protect yourself from that, you would need a patent. A patent is a different type of intellectual property which is much more complicated and costly. A trademark proves you own the name, not the design or the form of the product. Even without patent protection, ownership of the buybox and a quicker more effective way to deal with hijackers are worth the time and money spent on a trademark.
Amazon Advertising
Once you are brand registered, you will have some new options for advertising.
Sponsored Products
This is PPC as you know it. You pick keywords, create manual or auto campaigns, and run them with different match types. This form of advertising is related to keywords and your ad cannot be displayed for keywords that are outside of your Department, or even your category. You have a minimum budget of $1.
Headline Search Ads
This works in a similarly to sponsored products, except you have an ad for your brand or your group of products at the top of a page. You create your own banner, subject to Amazon approval, that when clicked take the customer to your catalog.This ad is also displayed only in your home department and related categories. The minimum budget for this type of campaign is $100.
Successful Amazon sellers are on top of their PPC campaigns and are aware of all the options they have to experiment with. By becoming a part of Amazon’s Brand Registry your opportunities increase dramatically. Any seller that has mastered their PPC will discover numerous ways to advertise their product uniquely.
The Branded Product Description
Your product description usually doesn’t get much attention considering people can get a lot of information out of the product images and the bulletins. Many people only read the product description if they feel information is lacking elsewhere. It can be easily overlooked since it appears something like this:
Of course you have some options to make your product description more appealing and attention grabbing. Those options are limited to bolded letters and making paragraph breaks with basic HTML code. While you should do you best to maximize the efficacy of your product description, it is the part of your listing that gets the least attention. When you are a registered brand your product description gets a noticeable upgrade. Above is a standard product description for a speaker, while the image below shows a Brand Registered product description for a speaker.
This is the opportunity you get. You can utilize graphics and images to customize the space that was previously a drab product description. Not only can you use this space to better showcase your product and its features, you can also use it to give your brand more exposure. You can include your other products and use it to establish a brand identity. Of course the content here is subject to Amazon’s general guidelines. However, it is obvious that you can use this option to make a positive impact on your listing!
The Video Feature
As Amazon sellers we try hard to showcase our products within a limited space. Typically we can only do this through images and text, which can do a great job, but can sometimes leave us wanting more. Once you are a registered brand you can add a video in the same space as your product images. Let’s take a look at the image below:
It’s obvious that the video amidst the product images grabs attention. If a customer has been browsing through your category and only your listing has a video they are likely to remember it. You will get people to spend more time on your listing and the opportunity to showcase your product in an immersive way. If you have a video where you show how to install, use ,or set up your product, the potential customer will better be able to imagine using it themselves. With a video you give a whole new dimension to your listing. This is why the video feature can be such a valuable addition.
Amazon Seller Support Takes You More Seriously
You probably have open cases with seller support that have never been addressed. Most sellers are not happy with the way they are treated nor the responses they receive. Sellers in Amazon’s Brand Registry Program have their messages answered and their cases taken more seriously. While Seller Support still will have some limits on their authority, you will have a better idea of where you stand and get advice on what actions you can take. We can all agree that no seller should get preferential treatment with seller support, in this imperfect world it is better to be the one receiving the preferential treatment.
There are no real downsides to becoming a registered brand.The biggest issue is the time it takes to get a trademark. There is also the issue of tying up 500$ of capital for up to year, when that money could be spent on more product. You should give strong consideration to starting the trademark and brand registry process ASAP if you are serious about selling on Amazon. Once completed, all of your future products will be under the umbrella of your registered brand, and will have the same benefits. If you are confident you can be a successful seller, investing in yourself and in your trademark is a great idea!
Good luck sellers!
