Today, a sophisticated system for managing product information is more important than ever for companies to work efficiently and meet the (information) demands of customers in every respect. It is not only in e-commerce that the large volumes of digital assets and product information are otherwise almost impossible to manage. A proven strategy is therefore to combine PIM and DAM software.
In the age of disruption where loyalty is a slippery slope, where can your brand turn to for not just survival, but success? According to the 2018 Yotpo study, you can still look to product innovation, as brand loyalty continues to rise and fall on the product:
- 55% are loyal to brands because they love the product
- 51% say they lose this loyalty due to poor product quality
However, the reign of a product as a key differentiator for brands ends in 2020 – to be replaced by customer experience. Products will not stop being a top priority for businesses, but they will need to evolve and incorporate “experiences” to their development.
For example, product development should be based on customer development, or learning about its target audience and what they need before designing a solution, rather than creating a product first and then launching it to the market – only for it to fail.
In e-commerce, customer experience translates to product experience. Ensuring that when consumers first encounter your product while researching they a) only see accurate, complete and consistent information, b) are offered added value, such as loyalty rewards, free and quick shipping, upsell and cross-sell and so on, c) see products with descriptions that are relevant to their persona or interests.
For marketing and branding, it means having an emotional connection with your target audience and deliberately eliciting a positive response via rich product content.
When Consumers Equate Brands with Experiences
Wherever consumers encounter your product (e.g., website, social media, marketplaces, etc.), ensure that you at least leave a good impression – if not a remarkable one -, because as Carl W. Buehner says, “They may forget what you said – but they will never forget how you made them feel.”
There’s so much truth to that quote; it’s even backed by science. According to Peter Noel Murray Ph.D.:
- “When evaluating brands, consumers primarily use emotions (personal feelings and experiences), rather than information (brand attributes, features, and facts).”
- “Studies show that positive emotions toward a brand have a far greater influence on consumer loyalty than trust and other judgments, which are based on a brand’s attributes.”
So, how does branding and product experience work on your product page?
Here’s an example:
A typical product page has generic information that consumers expect, such as image, title, short description, price, checkout button and possibly a social media share button – just like the competition.
If you want to stand out, you have to offer visitors to your site something different and extra – rich and descriptive storytelling, benefits gained or where the materials/ingredients are sourced. You can even show a short video on how best to use it. You can even market your product with influencers or celebrity endorsements.
Whatever your creative strategy may be, the question is, “Do you have the tools to execute such bold ideas on your product page?”
Why Brands Needs Both PIM and DAM
A product information management (PIM) solution allows brands to automate the process of onboarding, validating, managing and publishing product data to gain a single source of truth. In short, brands can share complete, consistent and accurate product information across all sales channels and to their distribution network or retail partners.
How about digital assets? How important are they for branding? Studies say that:
- 65% of information will be recalled by people if paired with a relevant image
- 94% more views are registered by content with great images
But the clincher is, according to data attributed to the National Retail Federation (NRF):
- 67% of consumers admit that product image quality influences their purchasing decision more than:
- Product-specific information (63%)
- Long-descriptions (54%)
- Ratings and reviews (53%)
So, if you have an increasing need to manage high volumes of digital assets, then just like a PIM, a Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution becomes an essential tool for your brand.
A DAM will serve as a central repository for all your image, audio and video files, as well as documents and other materials used by sales and marketing. It’s a simple and straightforward solution that centralizes digital assets for discoverability, consistency and control.
- Seamless upload and management of all digital assets
- Track when and where an asset is used
- Eliminates the storage needed for duplicate assets used across different channels
- Link products and digital assets for a 360-degree view of your products
A PIM+DAM combo is foundational to a phenomenal product experience. In the age of disruption, it gives brands the agility needed to create groundbreaking product experiences that consumers expect.
