Traditionally, marketing has focused on the power of brand messaging to establish value, influence consumers and drive sales. But, today a whole new avenue has been made available and digital marketing practices are able to add value by focusing on the individual product level.
Technology Changes Everything
Tactics we now take for granted didn’t exist 20 years ago. Email, in the form of AOL, Prodigy and CompuServe launched in 1998. Google was founded the same year. Facebook started rolling out to the general public around 2006. And, most of us began using smartphones well into the first decade of the 21st century.
As a result of these extraordinary changes, in addition to what most people learned about marketing in college, we need to adjust our thinking about influencing buying habits to match the reality of how people shop today.
Consumers Using Search to Shop
The transition from traditional retail to online shopping is well documented. But it’s important to understand how people shop online.
Often, shoppers are using search in platforms such as Google, Amazon, and others. Search results lead them directly to the product page for the item they want to buy. Shoppers are experiencing brand messages at the product page level, sometimes missing key components to the value proposition.
What does this change in buying habits mean for businesses from a marketing perspective?
It means we need to get really granular. We need to employ a product-centric approach to present a specific feature-benefit solution and unique value proposition right where end users make buying decisions. We need to deliver engaging, rich digital content at the item level to drive conversion to basket.
Create a comprehensive online sales experience
To determine whether you’re optimizing your online marketing efforts, take a critical look at your digital presentation at the item level. Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you have a comprehensive sales presentation on each and every product page?
- Is your page content item-specific?
- How is your product described? What is related in your copy descriptions and bullets, etc.?
- Does each product page include an image set and video(s)? Are image and video assets customized to the specific item on the page?
- Have you included all the structured and non-structured elements on the product page for resellers?
- Are additional elements available that can enhance the end user experience?
With a persuasive product-centric approach, your online sales presentation becomes more effective on each and every product, resulting in more informed shoppers and increased sales.
Midwest Resource Group can work with you to effectively organize and deliver an optimized content presentation right where customers make their buying decisions in today’s digital marketplace—at the product page.