Every Amazon seller should be using insert cards to maximize their marketing initiatives and improve their relationship with their customers. When selling on Amazon, there are not many ways to connect with your audience outside of the Amazon site - insert cards are one of the only ways you can do so.

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What Is An Amazon Product Insert Card?

A product insert card is a small piece of promotional material that you include in your packaging when shipping out your Amazon product.

These insert cards can be a variety of sizes - including postcards, small posters, business cards, and more. You can get pretty creative with the actual design of the insert card, and make the packaging insert as interesting of a size as you wish with different elements like your brand logo. 

The point of a product insert card is multifaceted, but many times fits within one of these 4 categories:

• Add value to your customer’s purchase
• Connect your customer to your brand
• Request a neutral review for your product, without incentive
• Upsell your customer to another product you offer

This is one of the only Amazon-approved ways to market to your customers after their purchase. You don’t want to miss out on it!

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Amazon Product Insert Card Rules

There are rules and regulations surrounding Amazon product insert cards. Amazon fiercely protects its reputation online and wants to avoid scam-like and spammy material from Amazon sellers that will turn people and direct customers off from shopping there. 

Because of this, you must abide by all of the following rules when designing your product inserts.

• Don’t promote another e-commerce platform or website. Amazon wants you to succeed - but only so far as they benefit from that success. Do not promote your own website, or social media accounts - in doing so, you negate your contract with Amazon. 

• Don’t ask for positive reviews. You are not allowed to exclusively ask for a positive review or negative reviews or negative feedback. If you were to put in a review request, you may only ask for neutral reviews.

• Don’t offer incentives for reviews. You may not offer coupon codes, free products, rebates, or anything of the sort for a product review. 

• Don’t include inappropriate content. All product inserts must be squeaky clean and free from offensive material!

• Don’t talk about discounts, reviews, or offers in the same insert. Pick one theme and stick with it. Mixing up your messaging can come across as misleading and sneaky - either offer a discount, coupon code, or review requests, but don’t try to do more than one at the same time.

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4 Insert Cards You Need To Us

You may be wondering what you are able to do with your insert cards. There are plenty of ways to work within the guidelines set by Amazon to come up with brilliant insert cards that connect with your customers. Here are 4 product insert cards you can use in 2022 to maximize your results. 

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1. The Hand-Written Note. 

The goal of this insert card is to appeal to your customer’s need for human connection. More and more, research is showing that the modern customer craves genuine interaction and connection, rather than the cold alternative that the digital world offers. 

Show your customer that you want to connect with them and that there are real people behind your brand with a nice, handwritten note. This doesn’t mean you should send out scraps of post-it notes. 

You can achieve a beautifully designed, handwritten note by writing something simple and importing it into design software to add your brand colors and a level of professionalism. At the minimum, make sure you sign in with your real handwriting. Ideally, pen the whole thing yourself. 

You can still use a copywriter to help you clean up your words! The important part is that the message comes from you. 

This kind of insert card works well for thank you letters. Thank your customer for their purchase, and include a plug for why you exist as a brand (think vision/mission - not advertisement). 

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2. The DIY/Tutorial. 

Another potential product insert card includes the DIY or tutorial card. These cards are not advertising to your customer, but rather giving them free bonus material with their purchase. This is a great way to offer more of that human connection we referred to above, and show your customer that you are more than just a business - you care about them!

Here are a few examples of a great DIY/tutorial insert card:

• A list of creative workouts to do with your workout gear product.
• A few cool recipes that utilize your kitchen product.
• Dog training tips for customers to try with your dog treat product.
• Parenting hacks for customers buying your toddler gear.
• Gardening tips for those receiving gardening gloves, watering cans, or outdoor products.
• Step-by-step DIY instructions to make use of new art gear.

The possibilities are endless with this form of insert card. Most other varieties of product packaging inserts are not designed to be kept - this one is designed to be saved and used. That’s great potential for your brand!

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3. The Upsell.

The upsell variety of an Amazon insert card is meant to showcase other products that your brand offers (on Amazon, of course) that may be relevant to your customer based on their current purchase. These are fairly simple but do require some planning. 

You’ll need some research to see what other needs your customer may have, or what products you offer that would pair well with the product they have already bought. Avoid simply advertising a “superior version” of the product they are receiving - the time to upsell in that form was before the purchase was made. 

Here are a couple of examples.

• Your customer bought a cutting board. Advertise your affordable set of kitchen knives or herb shears.
• Your customer bought a collection of dog chews or toys. Include your new collection of dog beds in the insert.
• Your customer bought a passport holder. Include your set of packing cubes.

The idea behind this insert card is to follow up on something your customer has already expressed interest in. Feel free to offer a coupon code on this “upsell” to incentivize a purchase! 

Note: you may not include any incentives for review or positive feedback - but offering discounts on new products separately is allowed.

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4. The Ask

Honestly, this insert is my least favorite. It’s the most likely to come off as desperate and “spammy,” but it can be done tastefully with some creative copy and by mixing in plenty of “thank you’s” and making use of the handwritten feature. 

This card idea is listed separately because you cannot ask for reviews with any form of incentive. You can, however, make this request. Here are a few kind ways you can phrase your big ask.

• “Let us know what you think of our product by leaving an honest review on Amazon!” 
• “We love hearing from our customers! Tell us how you put our product to use in an honest review on Amazon.”
• “Your feedback helps us make our products better and keep improving for our customers. Leave us an honest review to let us know what you liked (and what you didn’t)!”
• “Your honest feedback is valuable to us, and to new customers! Leave us a review on Amazon to help us provide a better experience to our shoppers.”

You may not ask for any specific form of review (no requests for five star reviews, only positive reviews, or anything of the like). Rather, you may only request accurate, honest feedback without any form of incentive.

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Additional Things to Consider

No matter which of these four varieties you choose to use, be sure that they adhere to your branding identity and help connect your customer back to you. Use your color scheme and ensure your logo is prominent. You want this card to add value to your customer, but you also want them to remember who it’s from. 

Additionally, be sure to direct your customer to your social media channels. While you aren’t allowed to promote additional storefronts, e-commerce websites, or emails, you are allowed to include your social media icons and handles. This is a great way to connect!

Keep your card simple and don’t overdo it with the copy. You’ll want to have a clear vision for your card and stay focused on that vision! It shouldn’t be an essay. Your card should be highly visual, appealing, and easy to skim. The CTA (call to action) should be immediately visible.

Feel free to test out multiple varieties of these cards and see which ones have the most fruit! It may be hard to test out what traffic or purchases are coming directly from these cards, but do your best to track your marketing initiatives and results.

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Conclusion

Product insert cards are an excellent way to extend your communication with your Amazon customers. These simple cards should be appealing visually, consistent with your branding, add value to your customer, and abide by all Amazon guidelines. Need help creating Amazon product inserts that work? The team at EcomHub has been selling on Amazon professionally for years and can help you get the quality marketing material you need. Let’s talk!

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