Your content rocks. So why isn’t it converting everywhere?
How a more customized product information content strategy may just be the ticket…
Product Information Excellence in eCommerce is the optimization of information aligned to the customer’s digital buying journey. It ensures that every touch point with your organization enhances the customer experience, moving the customer along the path to purchase. There are 6 critical elements of Product Information Excellence. If you are all-in with eCommerce and if your mission is to drive revenue through digital channels, you must have a clear strategy with a closed-loop management system that encompasses all 6 of these elements. You can read the full summary article – The 6 Elements of Product Information Excellence – here.
The first Element is Optimized Product Information Content. A deep dive into Element #1 – The eCommerce Product Information Checklist: 30 Critical Success Factors for Optimized Content that Converts – provides more detail on how your copy, images, video, enhanced & interactive content should be created, updated, managed and automated for success.
The second Element is Customized Product Information Content. There are many brands that work very hard to create their content using the 30-point checklist. This is where it all starts – and it may be enough if you are selling on one platform in one region to one type of customer, with static competition.
The reality is that many eCommerce sellers want to grow their revenue, and that often means selling their products in new markets, on different marketplace sites, or through different channels and resellers. Understanding the buyer’s journey and adopting a multi-channel strategy can give you an edge over the competition.
In this article, we will look at the ways sellers can grow, and the customization that is required to win.
If you are selling products on your own eCommerce site, you likely have a search tool as part of the functionality of your online store. You know that when potential customers come to your site, you want them to find what they are looking for as quickly as possible. When they find the right product, and when they are directed to a product page that is optimized (see Element #1), chances of conversion are maximized.
So what happens when you want to grow and expand your sales? Should you consider new channels? Selling where your customers already shop is a logical strategy. Nearly half (48 percent) of online shoppers simply head straight to a large eCommerce marketplace, and B2B is moving just as fast. In fact, Amazon reports that 50% of the Fortune 100 companies use Amazon Business. Forrester Research’s Allen Bonde recently stated that when it comes to deciding whether to participate in B2B marketplaces, companies “don’t have a choice if your customers are already there or if your competitors are a step ahead.”
While Amazon is the big dog (it grew from $1 billion to $10 billion in sales in just three years…and more than 70 percent of business buyers use it to research products and prices), they aren’t the only eCommerce marketplace that matters. Many vertical industries have marketplaces specific to their sectors. Examples are LabX for life sciences, chembid for chemicals and plastics, ePlane for aviation parts and LeafLink, a B2B cannabis marketplace. Technology is one of the fastest growing verticals in this space (examples: CDW, NewEgg), with Forrester predicting that the tech share of B2B online marketplaces will grow from 13% in 2019 to 17% in 2023.
1. Customize the FORMAT of your product information content for each channel and/or marketplace.
If you’ve decided that B2B channels/marketplaces are something to pursue, will your content, which has been optimized for your own eCommerce site, work in these new channels? The answer is a weak “maybe.” You may be able to use your existing content by syndicating your copy and images to the new channel, but only if they take the product
information content in the same format, which is unlikely. These marketplaces have their own eCommerce platforms,
standards and search tools. Your team will have to deal with varying category trees, rules and policies, and backend platforms that could change from time to time…. As you expand to additional channels, the product information you use to market effectively in one channel will likely need to be altered and optimized for another channel. The good news is that in most cases, it’s totally worth it.
Here are some of the content customization requirements to consider:
The Copy – Your product title, description and bullets will need to conform to the standards of the marketplace. It’s not just what you list that matters, but how your listings are structured. Product titles, images, descriptions, keywords and categories are often what compel consumers to make purchases. And if you’re on more than one marketplace, they could be quite different from each other. One channel site may allow 5 bullets and 1000 characters, while another only allows 3 bullets and 800 characters. Yes, you could provide both sites with the same 3 bullets/800 characters, but you would be leaving way too much opportunity on the table. If those fields are indexed for search, you’re less likely to be found by the customer. And whether they are indexed or not, you want every opportunity to communicate the value and benefits of your product. Competition on these sites is usually dynamic and fierce.
The Images – You will need to understand the marketplace requirements and there’s a good chance they will differ from what you already have, or the requirements may differ among the different channels. You will often find specific requirements for the first image (size, style, quantity), the number of images, acceptability of 360-degree images, rules around annotations, and if/how you can provide comprehensive “context” photos of the product in-use. This may mean that you need to take and manage more images for each product so that you can provide a customized set for each channel. Now…you could use the “lowest common denominator” and re-use that set for every partner, and that would make life easy… But that would also be a mistake. The image gallery is your visual value proposition and success requires the best you can provide.
Enhanced Content – There’s a really good chance that the channels have different capabilities. “Enhanced Content” refers to additional content that is more free-form, and sometimes interactive, “below the fold.” It could be tables, additional imagery with hovering capabilities, downloadable content, etc. Most sites will have templates and guidelines and you may need to re-create different content pieces for each marketplace. The content strategy here would be to leverage as much as possible, but customization is unlikely to be avoided.
Video – Some sites allow one video, and some allow several. Some marketplace sites have length, size and even content requirements. Amazon is particularly restrictive and will audit your video content to ensure it meets their stringent guidelines. Having flexibility to customize your video creation and management is important for optimization. Whatever you do, don’t leave it out. Some algorithms will boost your position in search just because a video exists. (Amazon is one.) And, videos are important for conversion.
Search – Just like your own eCommerce site, all the major eCommerce marketplaces have some sort of algorithm in place to determine which items show up at the top of search results for different terms…. They’re key to relevant search results, with the goal being to show listings that are most likely to get a conversion based on the search term. So while you have probably done the keyword research for your own site, and these keywords may still be useful on the channel site, where you put them and how you organize the information could be quite different. On top of that, they change. Marketplace sites often compete with each other and they are continually striving to improve their own functionality to deliver the best customer experience.
What does that mean for brands? If you are selling on Amazon, there’s a ton of information out there that helps you understand the search function and lets you know when it changes or it’s updated. But what about the others? There’s a good chance those channels are using a commercially available tool (Solr, Endeca or Lucidworks Fusion are examples) that enables them to tune and change how they want the search to work. If your channel partner will tell you how it works, then great. That gives you the roadmap to know which fields are indexed and prioritized for search. But if not, you’ll have to do your best to optimize your content for each channel site, ensuring it’s complete (see Element #1), monitored and tested.
2. Customize your product information LANGUAGE & MESSAGE for each region
Are you selling in different markets? Are they different countries? Do they speak different languages? Let’s break these down and look at the customization that’s required.
Language & Local Terminology – Customers always prefer to transact in their local language. While translation may be intuitive, it’s not enough. You need to customize the copy into the specific local terminology – called “transcreation.” For example, while many Latin American countries speak Spanish, some use “una laptop” for a laptop computer while others use “una computadora portátil.” While both may be technically correct, you need to know the local common terminology that is most likely to be searched. An English example would be car parts – a windscreen vs. a windshield, or a car’s trunk vs. a boot.
Think as well about phrases. In English we might say that something is “lightning-fast.” A literal translation likely wouldn’t work. You’ll need a local, cultural language expert to help you customize your content.
As we move into more voice search, the search queries will be more conversational, with more phrases. Voice search is growing in both B2C and B2B. You want to be seen as credible everywhere. If you can’t get the language right, how can customers trust your brand or your product?
Don’t forget about numbers and units of measure. Commas instead of periods, metric instead of imperial are important customization that you need to make for your content to be credible in the local market.
The Value Proposition – You cannot assume that the same value proposition will transcend borders. Different regions, countries, and cultures value different features and benefits for the same product. People in one country might care more about function and simplicity, whereas in another country, design may be the most important product feature. It could result in a simple customization of re-ordering your bullets and images, or it could be as complicated as rewriting the copy altogether. In either case, your best chance at conversion is presenting the content that resonates with the market.
Cultural Norms and Preferences – Accommodating cultural differences of your international customers is essential to ensure successful customer experience. Colors, for example, can have a major impact in certain countries. Bold, red annotations would be seen as negative in some countries and cause potential customers to leave your product page immediately. If you have people in your context or enhanced images, do they look like the people in the country in which you are selling?
Some cultures favor clean, “un-cluttered” images, while others would find that same image boring and move on to another brand. An example of this is below. On the left is an example of a webcam listed on Amazon.com. On the right, you’ll see a completely different type of image for a webcam listed on Amazon Japan.
Be considerate of seasonality, local holidays, lifestyle and how different customers in different markets prefer to purchase.
The buyer persona – Who is buying your product in each market, or on each marketplace? It may not be a different country at all. It could be a different channel site that caters to a different buyer. For example, the people buying your product on Amazon might be the less technical consumer type. People who buy your product on a vertical sector marketplace might be more technical and expect different content. The less-technical crowd may need basic information, simple how-to videos, and may value different features. The professionals on the marketplace site are probably starting from a different level of knowledge and may not need a basic how-to video or simple diagram. Instead, they may want to see more specific technical specifications, access to different downloadable documents, and videos that show the product in a professional environment. They may be more interested in the copy than the images altogether. Knowing your customer, their buying journey, what they value, and how they want to be served are critical to your Product Information Content strategy. Getting it right in every marketplace requires customization which will in turn drive conversion.
3. The Competitive Landscape
You will likely encounter different competitors in different markets, and on different marketplaces within the same region. Different competition means that you will probably have to highlight different product features and benefits. Let’s use the example above, comparing mass marketplaces with the vertical sector specialized site. Perhaps your product is made of metal and all of your competitors on the mass marketplace offer products made of plastic. In this case, highlighting the durable, metal construction would differentiate your brand and your product. On the B2B industry marketplace, all of the competitors there may also use metal because that is the standard, expected level of construction. Clearly, your product information content will be different. Copy, images, videos and enhanced content will require customization across platforms, regions and countries.
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Jonathan Perelemen, VP of Agency Strategy and Industry Development at BuzzFeed famously stated, “Content is King, but Distribution is Queen and she wears the pants.“ What this means for brands is that optimized content is critical, but it’s not the end. Understanding the different distribution channels, the different product information requirements, the unique buyers and competitors is absolutely required work.
If you are selling only on your own eCommerce site, and you’re mulling over expansion in different countries or through different channels, it’s probably time to make a move – because your customers are already there.
Your first step is to build a system to create, optimize and manage your content. Element #1 in the 6 Elements of Product Information Excellence is all about that, and you’ll find a simple checklist to help you get started. Element #2 is your second step – the consideration of your sales channels, and how to customize your product information content for each. Understanding the customer journey and their experience on the path to purchase will enable brands to cater their content so that it’s timely and relevant, significantly increasing the chances of conversion.