I’m handsome; my mom says so. That old quip is good for a chuckle, but there’s actually a lot of truth to it too. Like the expression “Be your own biggest fan,” it’s not about cockiness or confidence, it’s about being an advocate for yourself. In a highly niche world, everyone looks out for their own interests. Brands too must self advocate. Because if your own mom doesn’t think you’re handsome, good luck finding anyone else who does.
Now think about every time you update your product page. Those changes may have to go live in dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of places. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always happen.
Some retailers let you use a product information management (PIM) system to make updates yourself, while others keep more control over the content on their website, creating a bottleneck for any updates from your brand. Some channel marketing partners simply may not care enough to use your latest assets.
It’s frustrating when you invest time and resources into producing new product page assets and they don’t get used. It’s not a stretch to imagine spending months and tens of thousands of dollars on a new how-to video or product demonstration. However, every day that this new content doesn’t make it to your product pages, that investment is wasted.
Depending on the significance of the update, you may be tempted to let it slide when a seller doesn’t comply with your new brand guidelines. But there are several reasons why it’s worth following up with noncompliant distributors.
This is when advocating for your brand matters most.
Here’s why content compliance matters (and by the way, you are handsome).
1. It ensures your product pages perform their best
One of the main reasons brands update product page content is to improve performance. Maybe you’ve just optimized your product page title for emerging keywords or a more popular term for your product category. Perhaps you’ve added use cases from customer reviews into your description or found a better way to position your product in relation to your competitors.
Whatever your update entails, if it helps your product pages get more traffic or convert better, delays can directly impact your bottom line — and your seller’s! You want the best possible assets everywhere your products appear. And your retailers should, too.
PriceSpider’s Brand Monitor gives each of your sellers a content compliance score based on how well they follow your latest brand guidelines. It also lets you see how well each page is actually performing, so you can show your retail partners when updated assets make a tangible impact.
2. Outdated content can mislead customers
Sometimes your product page needs to be updated because your product has changed. A new version came out. Features were added or removed. The style evolved. When this happens, your old product imagery and copy may not work anymore. It may change someone’s expectations about what they’re going to get.
While it’s nice to think receiving a new-and-improved product will be a pleasant surprise for these customers, that’s not always the case, especially if your product update removed anything someone might want or involved subjective changes in style or design.
In this case, content compliance is essential because any product pages that don’t get updated will mislead customers about what they’re purchasing. This will inevitably result in increased returns, complaints, and negative reviews, all of which hurt you and your partner.
Any time a product page update reflects changes to the product itself, it’s even more important that every seller complies with your new guidelines. If a seller tends to delay updates, be sure they know that this one is more urgent than usual.
3. It helps maintain brand integrity
In ecommerce, it’s hard to represent your brand consistently. You could have thousands of products in your catalog, and each of them may be scattered across thousands of retailers, wholesalers, resellers, and marketplaces. But you don’t want each of these touchpoints to feel like different brands. You want your customers to be confident that they’re looking at the same products as they encounter you through various distribution channels. And you want everyone to come away from these channels with the same perception of your brand.
That can only happen when your brand integrity is intact. And the only way to maintain your brand integrity in ecommerce is by monitoring your channel marketing partners for content compliance.
Thankfully, you don’t have to manually monitor all of your product pages. You don’t even need a stand-alone solution for this one process. Brand Monitor is a robust digital shelf analytics tool that includes content monitoring capabilities. You’ll also gain the ability to analyze your share of search, monitor prices across channels, track stock availability, and more.
Monitor content compliance automatically
Content compliance helps maintain your brand integrity, improve product performance, and prevent your product pages from misleading customers. Whether you have hundreds of pages to monitor or hundreds of thousands, Brand Monitor has you covered.
See why nearly 2,000 of the world’s leading brands trust PriceSpider’s specialized ecommerce tools.
