Beyond Buzzwords: Content Commerce and the Messy Middle Explored

In the ever-evolving landscape of marketing, content remains king. Whether you're a seasoned brand or a budding startup, mastering the art of content marketing is non-negotiable. In my previous blog , I offered a glimpse into the future of marketing trends for 2024. Today, let's delve deeper into one of the newest trends of Content Commerce, the Messy Middle, and the strategic prowess of content.

Deciphering the Messy Middle:

Picture this: You've captured your audience's attention, but they're not quite ready to hit that "buy now" button. Welcome to the Messy Middle – that nebulous space in the sales funnel where many brands stumble. It's the phase where customers have moved past awareness but haven't committed to a purchase yet.

For consumers, the Messy Middle is akin to wandering through a labyrinth of options, opinions, and information overload. As marketers, it's our golden opportunity to shine. By providing valuable content tailored to this stage, we can guide consumers through the maze, earning their trust and nudging them closer to conversion.

Enter Content Commerce:

Now, let's talk strategy. Content Commerce isn't just a buzzword; it's a game-changer. This innovative approach seamlessly merges content and commerce to streamline the customer journey. From informative blogs to social media snippets, Content Commerce spans a myriad of formats, all designed to inform, engage, and ultimately, convert.

I think of Content Commerce as a facelift for my sponsored blogging efforts, be it educational, inspirational or review style. This content is supposed to be useful for 12-24 months and should be a localized SEO miracle if done right.

Four Pillars of Content Commerce:

1. Informative Content: Educate, entertain, or solve problems for your audience through various mediums – blogs, videos, podcasts, you name it.

2. Product Integration: Weave products into your content organically, showcasing how they meet consumers' needs without the hard sell.

3. Contextual Recommendations: Enhance content with relevant product suggestions, leveraging customer reviews and ratings.

4. Seamless Shopping Experience: Make purchasing a breeze by integrating shopping links directly into your content, minimizing friction for consumers.

Testing it in the real world:

I came across these terms for the first time in 2023. In a highly competitive industry, with very limited marketing budgets and a series of technological gaps to cover multiple markets, I felt our brand was stuck in this “Messy Middle”. When I finally connected the dots between PR, Affiliate Marketing and e-commerce, by leveraging a network of journalists, trusted local review experts and customers, I finally found a way to cut through the noise. Even more so, these “outlets” were SEO optimized for their own languages and countries, so our brand got an extra boost in exposure that we could not achieve without expensive technology upgrades, hiring and advertising. Our Content Partners lent their knowledge, reputation and authority to our brand when they tested our products, wrote or vlogged about them.?

I tested this program in two key? markets. Germany and France. Why these two? Because we (the brand) were already heavily investing marketing and advertising budget into the German market and building out a strong PR program to boot. While France also saw some advertising efforts, we could not spare the same attention and resources as we did for Germany. So the French market presented itself as a great control market to observe the effects of a Content Commerce program rolled out in a freestanding form, versus Germany being the test market to observe the confluence of Content Commerce, Advertising and PR being rolled out in sync.?

A Tale of Two Markets:

In 2023, armed with a plan, I spearheaded a pilot project in Germany and France. Germany served as our high investment testing ground for the combination of advertising+PR+affiliates+content commerce efforts, while France provided a low investment testing ground (affiliates + content commerce only) for comparison. Our control group constituted the rest of the EU for comparison purposes.We also relied on previous timeframe benchmarks for the same markets as an additional comparison data point.

The results were staggering. In Germany, we witnessed a 21% increase in Average Order Value (AOV) and a 16% uptick in the number items per order. Meanwhile, France boasted even more impressive figures – a 55% surge in AOV and a whopping 45% increase in the number of items per order.

Looking Beyond the Stats:

But numbers only tell part of the story. Concurrently, we launched a customer referral/ loyalty program, mirroring the cost structure of our Content Commerce efforts. The result? A staggering 130% surge in AOV. Yes, you read that right – double the average basket value compared to previous years.

Unlocking the Benefits:

Implementing Content Commerce isn't just about boosting sales; it's about forging meaningful partnerships and enhancing brand visibility. From expanding your reach to plugging gaps in your marketing arsenal, the benefits are manifold for both brands and content partners alike.

Here is a quick recap of the benefits to implementing content commerce into your marketing strategy:

Benefits to your brand:

• Exposure to customers you otherwise would not have been able to reach (or would have cost a lot of advertising budget)
• Increased sales and referral traffic to your site with a higher AOV (and item count)
• Plugging a gap in your marketing capabilities or technology set up (if you have any, we certainly did)
• Improved SEO ranking of your product names or brand even if the traffic is not directly your own website.

Benefits to the Content Partner:

• Earning commissions through affiliate or other compensatory programs
• Traffic to their site and other articles by using your brand name as keywords
• Boost in search ranking and authority in their local market through diversified content offerings.

Embracing the Future:

As I reflect on this journey, one thing is clear – the days of siloed content strategies are behind us. Moving forward, I'll continue to tap into the expertise of external collaborators, enriching our content calendar and driving tangible results.

I invite you to join me on this new journey. Let's elevate our content game, transcend the Messy Middle, and unlock a world of possibilities through Content Commerce. After all, in the ever-evolving realm of content strategy, adaptability is key.?

Resources for this article:

https://instant.so/blog/content-commerce

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-journey/navigating-purchase-behavior-and-decision-making/