Let’s talk about including product content in Product Data Management.
This post might be a little more technical than usual. The reason is it’s addressed to product owners, as those in charge of translating factory developments and technical specs into digestible and easy-to-understand briefs, like landing pages or Amazon listings.
One may think launching a product is making a description, adding a bunch of pictures, and waiting for the magic to happen. But every product page hides tons of work from Product Data Management to market research, and to have a functional online store.
First off: what’s Product Data Management?
Product Data Management (from now on, PDM) is the process of organizing, storing, and maintaining product information in a structured and consistent manner. It involves its collection, update, and distribution across different channels, making sure it’s accurate, complete, and accessible. Because after all, product information is what consumers need to make a purchase.
Thus, PDM is the very essence of ecommerce operations and allows easily managing product catalogs, inventories, and streamlined customer experiences.
Good Product Data Management in ecommerce…
Is accurate and provides consistent product information
Shut up and take my money is something we all want to hear. But the internet changed trade for good, and in such a competitive context, accurate and consistent product information is the key to standing out.
Consumers need detailed and reliable information to consider buying a product. Effective PDM ensures that product attributes, specifications, pricing, and availability are up-to-date and consistent across all platforms, fostering trust and enhancing the overall customer experience.
In fact, marketplaces like Amazon are very strict about this and often apply strong penalties to products and brands with misleading information about any of them.
Has a strong impact on trust and customer experience
Poor PDM makes end users find inaccurate or incomplete information. And that has an immediate impact on customer trust and results in abandoned carts. Your ultimate goal as a product manufacturer is to provide accurate, detailed, and comprehensive information, ideally giving answering every question before it even arises. That translates into building trust, increasing the likeliness of purchase, and a creating strong brand reputation over time.
Has centralized operations and good communication
Every business needs to have a clear structure to streamline its operations and leave no room for improvisation. With centralized and standardized product data, everyone rows on the same stroke. And that is essential to collaborate effectively, minimize errors, save time on manual data entry, and money in correcting mishaps.
This improves operational efficiency, reduces costs, and allows businesses to focus on what really matters: growth and innovation.
Lead to more sales and conversions
Because trust and reliability are such powerful emotions, they trigger purchase decision. Their importance is detailed in our post about product psychology in product content.
Good product data has a direct impact on sales and conversions. Customers are likelier to trust a product with detailed descriptions, images, and specifications.
Is SEO-optimized
Additionally, optimizing product data for SEO is necessary to increase visibility and organic traffic. This includes product descriptions, ALT text in images, snippets, and of course, voice search – a growing trend.
Using product content in Product Data Management
While product data management focuses on structured product data, adding product content in Product Management Systems increases the quality, visual appeal, and effectiveness of the product’s information. And that ensures consistency and improves the customer experience and business efficiency.
Rich product data
Product content, such as high-quality photography, videos, and 3D animations, enriches product data by providing visual representations and enhancing the understanding of a product’s features, benefits, and use.
Including product content within PDM systems ensures that it is associated and synchronized with the relevant product data, creating a comprehensive representation of the product.
Visual Communication
Product content serves as a means of visually communicating information to potential customers. It allows businesses to showcase products from various angles, demonstrate functionality, and highlight unique features effectively. By integrating product content with PDM, visual assets are easily accessible and associated with the right product data, ensuring consistency and accuracy.
Improved Customer Experience
Interactive and engaging product presentations improve customer experience. And high-quality product content is what actually keeps people scrolling to find out it is what they are looking for. Treat your product videos and photography as part of your product data, so it can be easily found, and understood.
Efficiency
There are many PDM systems that allow you to fully manage and organize your product content, just by linking it to the corresponding product data. Small and medium-sized companies won’t probably need one, yet businesses with several product lines should include product content in PDM systems. This way, they can easily search, retrieve, and update their visual assets.
This would improve their workflow efficiency and reduce both managing time and errors.
The keys of Product Data Management
Information Architecture
Information Architecture is the organization of a website’s content and flow. Roughly speaking, how the content is organized, its order, and its aim, which in turn help define its tone of voice to transform a plain object into a desirable experience. The desirable experience users look for. This includes creating categories, attributes, and taxonomies (what the product is and does) aligned with customer expectations and industry standards.
Good information architecture makes navigation easy and enhances searchability, improving the overall customer experience.
Data Enrichment
This is when Content2Sell comes in!
Rich product data is that which includes images, videos, and other multimedia support information to 1. enhance a product’s presentation, 2. provide consumers with detailed information and a more immersive experience.
This is frequently seen as lifestyle photography, product videos, customer reviews, testimonials, and user-generated content enabling customers to make informed decisions.
Integration with ecommerce platforms
Seamless integration between PDM systems and ecommerce platforms is critical for efficient data synchronization. This integration ensures that product data is automatically updated across all channels, eliminating the need for manual updates and reducing the risk of errors or inconsistencies.
How to make effective Product Data Management
Newborn brands need to have clear and standardized structures, roles, and responsibilities to ensure accountability and effective collaboration between teams.
As we mentioned above, data accuracy, consistency, and completeness are vital for a product to inspire trust. It doesn’t end there, because providing the right information calls for identifying and correcting errors, inconsistencies, and duplicate entries. And also, to give it a consistent format so it can be seamlessly transmitted and integrated across systems.
- Data Quality Control is fundamental. As important as it is to test your business ideas before launch, it is to make regular audits and validation sessions. Not only to ensure the product data is accurate, consistent, and ready to use but to save valuable time in corrections and communication.
- Create a collaborative environment with partners and suppliers. Define effective communication channels and processes to make sure your product data is accurate and up to date.
- Centralize and standardize your product data. Keep your data clear and concise and always use the same format for consistency and seamless integrations. Place it all in one source file to make updates and corrections easy.
- Remember: complete, accurate, and consistent data across all channels, to provide your potential customers with reliable and compelling information.
- Customer-centric approaches significantly improve customer experience. Tailor your product data to meet their specific needs, address pain points, and provide comprehensive information.
- Make a comprehensive and consistent content strategy where your images and videos complement your written copy, so your product can be easily understood.
- Monitor, update, and adjust. Every platform and marketplace makes regular updates, and the slightest inconsistency can affect its view. Therefore, running frequent checks and taking feedback seriously is the best way to adjust your product page promptly.
Let’s talk about your product
Because people don’t have the time or the will to read endless product descriptions, the role of product content in Product Data Management is a vital one. And because brands need different channels to reach cross-border markets in this hybrid world, how they structure and manage their product data can make the difference between success and oblivion.
