The impact of product information in the content marketing strategy

The impact of product information in the content marketing strategy

Product information should no longer be considered a necessary evil, but perceived and used as an essential part of the content marketing strategy in e-commerce and traditional retail. 

But let’s begin with the status quo. In most retail companies, as the employees who work with such content know, it is often the case that the information the customer gets to see is not what the retailer receives from his suppliers and manufacturers. These data come, if at all, as incomplete information and images in insufficient resolution, etc… PIM systems are used to cope with this chaos, but the work of completing or refining the data remains with the retailer. The consequence of this is that product data is seen as a necessary chore and essential questions remain unanswered in order to get products live quickly and reduce inventory. 

Questions such as:

– What information does my target group expect?

– What is the key information necessary for a purchase decision?

– What other information (images, datasheets, rich media, etc.) would be available?

– Do the images meet the expectations of my target audience?

– Does the marketing text sell or is it just a summary of attributes as block text?

– Does the marketing text correspond to my target group?

The result is high return rates and purchase cancellations due to customer uncertainty, which results in lower margins and for customers, a loss of confidence. Often, attempts are made to counteract this with the 100th discount campaign and special sales with an even wider range of products and shorter life cycles. In addition, there is high price pressure, as a retailer rarely has exclusivity on product ranges and the comparability of products leave prices as the only variable that can be changed.  Admittedly, this effect cannot be completely prevented even with the highest loyalty of the customers, but it has been proven by various studies that the customer is willing to pay a little more if he has confidence in the retailer and feels satisfied with the buying process.

Situations such as this can be avoided with a consistent content marketing strategy that gives the product information the importance it deserves. The most innovative systems are of no use if they are not fed with information that answers all the customer’s questions and the customer completes the buying process with the feeling of having found exactly the right thing. This then also reduces the return rate, increases loyalty, leads to follow-up purchases by the customer and can reduce price pressure.

We give this brainchild the name Product Data Marketing, because it should always be considered in a consistent marketing strategy, because good Product Data Marketing makes it possible to plausibly convey to an Eskimo why an icebox is just right for him. In plain language, this means that due to the omission of sensory buying experiences on the surface in eCommerce, significantly more extensive information must be provided in order to achieve the same goal – namely to sell the product.

Author

Sascha Neubacher is the CEO of ContentFactory1. Contentfactory 1 GmbH, based in Starnberg, Germany, has been involved in the gathering, structuring, managing and enriching of product information for years. Now Product Data Marketing forms a substantial part of the value chain in our service portfolio. Learn more at www.contentfactory1.com