Enrich customer experiences with an integrated product content strategy
Producing high-quality content and delivering it to customers at the right time is no easy task
Recognise this problem? We did, too. Companies have been wrestling with these issues for years and now the drastically increased demand for digital experiences has magnified the challenges. So we decided to seek out new and relevant data that illuminates the current state of these familiar issues. The Forrester study found that current product content strategies lack the foundation for success. But what’s actually missing?
In short, companies are missing a strategic and combined approach to their content technologies — specifically, digital asset management (DAM) and product information management (PIM) software. Content production, storage, and management are spread across organizational silos and tools. And product data suffers the same lack of centralised management. Scattering your product content and data across so many tools makes it difficult to increase production volumes and content quality in order to enrich the customer experience.
Want to do it differently? Start by looking at the technology you use to manage your product content.
What’s in your content technology stack?
Thanks to the pandemic, digital commerce is now the preferred way to shop and interact. Your customers expect content that aligns with their journey every step of the way. If you don’t deliver, you’ll lose them. That adds a huge amount of pressure on teams to find a way to evolve their product content strategy efforts. Content needs to be delivered faster, the quality needs to be higher, and eventually you’re storing and publishing more content types than ever before just to stay competitive (e.g. 360º spin photography, video, etc.).
Does that sound like an impossible task based on your current production process? If so, then it’s likely that your content technology stack is holding you back from the scale you need to achieve these goals. There are brands who are successfully adding new content types to their mix to meet the rising demand for meaningful e-commerce interactions. It can be done. And with the right content tools, you can create a solid back-end foundation for successful customer experiences on the front end.
According to the Forrester study, “Roughly seven out of 10 content marketers use PIM solutions (72%), customer relationship management (CRM) solutions (72%), DAM solutions (69%), marketing automation platforms (69%), and SEO/SEM management systems (68%). Yet effective content optimisation is jeopardised if these technology solutions are not well-integrated.”
The integration of content technology is the key action point in that finding. Some teams have all the right tools and still can’t deliver the product content experience that converts and retains customers. If your technology doesn’t work together to support your process and strategies, it’ll be all but impossible to deliver the personalised content experiences your customers expect.
Integrate product data and content to personalise experiences
Delivering product content at the right time in the customer journey sounds like it should be easy, but it’s not. According to the Forrester study, “Nearly half of organisations report the ‘discover’ and ‘explore’ phases as being the most difficult in which to deliver content. This also happens to be where consumers have the greatest need for accurate and detailed product content.” Without the right content, your potential customers won’t complete their purchase with you. They’ll find another brand with the product content they need to make an informed purchasing decision and buy from them.
In order to know what content to deliver during each phase, you need to provide accurate, complete, and relevant product information. That takes a combined approach to your DAM and PIM tools. When you’re able to do this, you’ll jump ahead of a large percentage of your market. Most companies lack these connected systems and that’s a big reason why they struggle to segment and personalise their content delivery.
“Just five out of 10 content marketers feel their segmentation and level of product detail are sufficient, while a mere 43% consider their personalisation processes adequate to support content priorities.”
Enrich Customer Experiences With Product Content
Even with your DAM and PIM systems working together, there’s still a big challenge to overcome. You have to campaign to get your organisation to treat content as a strategic asset and support an integrated approach to content management.
Convince decision makers that content is a strategic asset
Many companies still treat DAM and PIM technologies as line items instead of essential components of their strategic vision. They don’t understand that content is a strategic asset and necessary to your brand’s success.
According to the Forrester study, “Nearly half of organisations use DAM or PIM tools to manage brand and product content at the department level, while fewer than a third manage DAM or PIM at an enterprise level. These solutions are critical to optimising content, but the lack of a holistic strategy puts organisations at risk of creating subpar workflows and analysis.”
Your customers suffer the most when your organisation doesn’t see the big picture around content strategy. And that means your bottom line suffers, too. Want improved ROI on your product content? Do you wish you had clearer content insights? Are you trying to create higher-converting customer experiences? Get your decision makers to understand that content isn’t just a marketing initiative. It’s a company-wide goal.
We commissioned this Forrester Consulting study to help illuminate current challenges in product content strategy and provide information to help you enrich your customer experiences. To understand these struggles, Forrester surveyed 259 digital marketing decision makers and 360 consumers from across North America and Europe.
Download the study today to begin filling in the gaps in your content strategy.
Nate Holmes, product marketing manager, Widen