As a part of the retail industry, you probably know there have been more discussions around the role of content marketing in engaging consumers.
Consumers are consulting multiple sources throughout the researching, browsing and buying experience, and they’re looking to third-party sources, such as blogs and user-generated content, to help make decisions.
So how can retailers curate this content and/or create their own arsenal of resources?
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In the following Q&A, Donna Pahel, Director of Digital Marketing and e-Commerce Strategy, and Bob Egner, VP of Product Management at EPiServer, provide an ultimate checklist for content marketing in retail.
Retail TouchPoints (RTP): How would you describe the content marketing shift that’s taking place from B2B to B2C companies?
Pahel: Connected consumers have an infinite number of choices — not only about which products to purchase, but where to buy them. It is increasingly important for retailers to connect with their customers on a deeper and more meaningful level. Content marketing facilitates this by connecting relevance and experience to product feature and function. Additionally, brands that become respected and valued sources of content resources, afford themselves the ability to deepen relationships and garner customer advocacy over time.
Egner: Our customers in the B2C space are not only embracing content marketing, but they are making it their own by adapting to the needs of their customers, which are frequently different from B2B experiences. One trend that has clearly emerged surrounds the idea of content marketing for consumers who are researching prior to a purchase, whether it is online or offline. Brands that have historically sold through retail distribution find consumers are receptive to content marketing about use and care of products, expert opinions, user-generated content such as reviews and testimonials, and post-sale support information. Most research we have seen from our customers shows consumers trust the brand more than a retailer. Interestingly, this has created a situation for those brands activate an online channel directly to that consumer when they have purchase intent.
For B2C retailers, it creates a challenge to offer compelling content or a more convenient experience to the consumer. Our retail customers view this as a primary driver to expand their own content marketing. In most cases, they approach this by developing an analog for the in-store experience delivered by a sales associate.
RTP: Why do you believe content is so valuable during the browsing and buying journey?
Pahel: As consumers traverse the browsing and buying journey, relevant content provides brands with an opportunity to add context and bolster their value proposition in relation to their products and services. On the most basic level, many products and services could be construed as a commodity to a large extent. Toilet paper is toilet paper, right? Right! Unless you’re Charmin who elevates the belief that their product is more than just toilet paper and improves quality of living everyday in a small, but important way. Content provides an opportunity to elevate products from a commodity to something that resonates with the consumer on a deeper level. Content inspires and stirs an emotion connection to a product or service; hence, de-commoditizing the offering.
Egner: The feedback we get is in close alignment with data that Forrester has been publishing for several years — that the portion of web-influenced sales is growing, regardless of the channel used for the transaction. Consumers have unprecedented access to information that can help them make decisions, and they are becoming increasingly comfortable with using it.
RTP: What advice can you provide to retailers just getting started with their content marketing strategies?
Pahel: Retailers should consider using a mix of owned, curated and purchased content sources. Owned content is generated by the brand, curated is content gathered from respected and relevant sources (bloggers, organizations, etc.), while purchased content is procured from professional content producers who may be found for an infinite number of niche areas. An effective mix by percentage is unique to each retailer. Depending on resources available to generate owned content, a retailer may choose to get started with a higher percentage of curated and purchased content. Metrics should be put in place to monitor engagement with content over time, so that a retailer can optimize the mix of content sources over time. Retailers should also consider and test a mix of content types such as articles, videos and other rich media formats.
Egner: The most successful companies we work with have a relentless focus on customer experience. Taking an agile approach to creating and tuning experiences with that customer focus can drive the strategy of desired content, most appropriate channels, and the overall experiences that provide real differentiation.
RTP: What type of content engages shoppers most effectively?
Pahel: The best way to determine which content types will best resonate with your audience is to consider the need and experience from your customers’ point of view. That means asking the following questions: What are they seeking? What questions might they be trying to answer? How will they want to consume the content? Next, adopt a test and learn methodology to monitor engagement with different content types to understand which content your customers like best.
Egner: Judging from our client’s experiences, there is a close correlation between the type of merchandise being offered and the content that informs the consumer. In all cases, though, content that provides value to the consumer always wins over additional selling points. We see this trend of “selling without selling” as something that will become very pervasive over the next three to five years.
RTP: How can retailers ensure content remains consistent and compelling across all channels?
Pahel: First, prescribe to a test and learn methodology to constantly monitor success and optimize the content mix. Real-time, in-line survey prompts such as “was this content helpful?” are a useful input to content effectiveness as well. Additionally, understanding the user experience with regard to content types in specific channels is key. Content distribution is not a one-to-one across channels — it’s imperative that we as the brand owner experience and test content from the customer point of view before we test it out on our customers.
Egner: The key is a consistent experience based on that consumer’s intent. This means behavioral information matters to read what consumer’s state of mind. Additionally the experience needs to be consistent and measurable across channels. For example, you may reach a consumer by email on their smartphone and offer video content — make sure those interactions are simple, convenient and viewable on a small screen otherwise the consumer will view it as a “poor experience.” This notion of cross channel measurement is also creating challenges for organizations with siloed technology. The consumer only thinks of the brand, and not the channels that the brand uses — once again stressing the importance of understanding how the consumer thinks.
RTP: How do you believe content marketing in retail will change or evolve in 2014?
Pahel: Context is always important. Content provides an opportunity to provide context and tell a story. Retailers that do this in a transparent and meaningful way from the customer point of view will thrive. Connected customers will play an increasingly important role in our marketing strategies. With just a few thumb taps and clicks, connected customers share information about their experiences with our products and services to their vast social networks. Our ability to foster and empower those customers will have a remarkable impact on the perception of our brands, products and services among consumers.
Egner: It seems to be a rising tide and a very popular topic for us to cover with our clients and partners. Many organizations are still learning what they know, or don’t know, about this process. At the same time, they are evaluating the technology implications to their own platforms — all with a goal of creating better cross-channel experiences.
Bob Egner is VP of Product Management at EPiServer, a provider of multichannel digital marketing and e-Commerce software. Egner regularly interacts with customers who are working to improve the results of their online and mobile presence and customer engagement.
Donna Pahel is Director of Digital Marketing and e-Commerce Strategy at EPiServer.
Pahel joined EPiServer in September 2013 from customer and grocery leader, Giant Eagle, where she served as Director of Digital CRM for the for $10 billion-plus, multi-format retailer. Pahel brings 18 years of B2C and B2B marketing experience across multiple industries including retail and manufacturing with both client-side and agency-side perspective.
