Debunking the Myths around Product eContent Marketing part 2

“ The problem in our company is that the digital team has carved out a space for themselves and they are not integrated with the rest of the organisation”.

Does this sound familiar?

In our first article, we helped dispel some common myths around Product and Content Marketing. It’s not about Brand building, the shopper is already in your brand universe. It’s about providing an engaging and compelling product experience for the shopper. The trick is to help them find your product easily so they buy it and not get frustrated and go looking for a competitors product.

Is your organisation equipped with the right people in the right teams are you collaborating in an integrated way?

This is about Digital Transformation and The Future of Work.

In case you missed this first round, here is a link Debunking the Myths around Product eContent Marketing – part 1

 Myth #1: Content Marketing is not Product Content Marketing

Myth #2: It’s the Digital team that takes care of Product Content

Myth #3: I don’t need to know my audience to develop Product Content

Myth #4: Brand Advertising = Product eContent advertising

Before we talk more about more myths, let’s talk about mindset. This is not a myth, it’s a reality. Even a necessity. We all need to have the right mindset about Digital Transformation. It’s a journey which takes place over time, not overnight. It impacts people, structures, processes, systems, budgets, strategies, planning, partnerships, agencies and suppliers. It impacts Capability Building, Leadership Training and Development. In writing this, I realise there are so many areas, such as customer negotiations, Retailer and eRetailer partnerships. Finally, technology plays a key role. All these areas are linked to Product eContent – they are enablers in creating and bringing Product eContent to life in the online world.

In our 2nd article, we will help shed light on the following myths:

 Myth #5: Creating and curating content is expensive and takes time

Myth #6: Product eContent is technical

Myth #7: SEO and Product eContent can be managed separately

Myth #8: It’s difficult to measure how Product eContent drives awareness and sales

All of these myths have come to mind from conversations and learnings during the past few years. This is why education is so important. Why do marketers think of Product eContent a technical or even as an afterthought ? Let’s be clear, it needs to be integrated at the very start – when you start talking, thinking and planning the following: brand and content strategy, product launch, packaging, in-store POS (Point of Sale), creative campaigns, TV advertising, Product and Lifestyle images, digital and search strategy for DTC Direct To Consumer websites, Social Media. This approach will be much more efficient than doing it separately on its own. Above all, you will see the results driving your brand and sales. This will drive Industry manufacturers and Retailer partnerships, the recipe for success in the ever-changing environment.

 Myth #5: Creating and curating content is expensive and takes time

Reality: Content creation in its traditional sense may be considered expensive, think about the huge advertising budgets spent by brands.

Now think about the shift in media budgets from TVC to digital and the impact on content.

Be smart – what can be reused, adapted and repurposed?

The beauty of this is you do not need to create Product eContent from scratch. Leverage existing content, optimising and making it suitable for online purposes. This will give you a range of assets such as images and videos to choose from and providing a consistent look and feel. Your marketing budget can be used more efficiently as you will integrate this in the brand planning process.

 Myth #6: Product eContent is technical

Reality: Even if a product has technical aspects, the content can still be engaging without being too technical.

How? find the emotional aspects and tell the story. Use powerful imagery showing the features and benefits with icons, use short product demo videos.

Think about watch brands and how some in particular succeed in bringing the brand to life while also visualising the technology and technical aspects of the product. Or the headphones brand BOSE which combines the technical and emotional content beautifully. BRAUN ORAL-B and GILLETTE spring to mind, where still today the product technical side is communicated clearly in an impactful way.

Take a look at this Header Banner and Features & Benefits Hero images:

Myth #7: SEO and Product eContent can be managed separately

Reality: SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and eContent should be considered together. SEO is the process of optimising a website so that easily find it vis search engines such as Google.

The shopper will land on your brand.com or on the PDP (Product Detail Page) of an eRetailer. We need to help shoppers find your products. Yes we often switch brands but if you have a loyal consuler base you want to avoid losing this fanbase to competitors. If the content is search optimised your brands and products will be found much more easily. The trick here is to have a search optimised Product Name and Copy (Features and Details, Long and Short Descriptions). You can do this by incorporating Category Search Keywords into the Copy so when shoppers are searching your brand appears in the top google rankings and found more easily on the eRetailer platforms.

Myth #8: It’s difficult to measure how Product eContent drives awareness and sales

Reality: It’s easy to measure the impact – do a reality check before and after!

Remember the days of getting photos of the in-store POS and Display units? it was THE way to track success for a product launch or promotion based on the number of displays. This is still a critical way to drive sales.

VISIBILITY: Now it’s on-line. Is your product visible? How will you grab and keep your shopper’s attention along the customer journey?

Before and after: Keep a benchmark of how a specific Product Detail Page looks today, so you can then compare the content which has been implemented on brand.com website or on eRetailer websites. The need for brands to have a holistic and integrated approach to Content Marketing is more important then ever.

eContent brings your brand to life online

Key eRetailers follow this evolution enhancing their digital capabilities regularly, to satisfy the growing needs of online shoppers and offer a more complete online shopping experience. Here is an example on Nestlé MAGGI Liquid Seasoning, where you can see the difference before and after the implementation on Amazon.co.uk.

We need to help our shopper find, love and buy our brands and products online. So when creating the brand and product experience online, let’s keep the live in-store experience top of mind.

Tell the story with powerful, engaging and relevant Product eContent. It should be like reading your favourite book, use impactful imagery, icons, show a short video, product demo or testimonials.

It’s your show, engage with your audience – bring your product story to life !

This article was originally posted on eBusiness Institute on October 8th

Contact us to learn more on how we can help your transform your company and providing a best in class Product Content experience