How can Companies Profit from Omnichannel Marketing?

The purchase behavior of both end customers and companies has continuously evolved towards digital apps. Where there used to be only a few established channels operating independently from one another, you can nowadays choose from many more touchpoints. Reaching out to the customer across the whole customer journey – both in a digital and analog manner – with consistent data, this is what poses a major challenge. Mastering this challenge will translate into enormous benefits for your marketing team.

An omnichannel strategy provides the following benefits and more:

• Boosted Customer Satisfaction: Omnichannel marketing enables a smooth user experience for customers, allowing them to come into contact with a company through various channels. In the process, customers can choose for themselves which channel they want to use to buy products or inform themselves about a brand. This allows for a consistent brand presence and a uniform product message.
• Higher Sales: By offering their products and services on many channels, companies can increase their outreach and address potential customers in diverse ways. This enhances the sales potential and the company can generate more profit.
• Increased Customer Retention: The option to connect to various channels makes it easier for customers to make direct contact and forge a personal bond with the company. This can translate into stronger customer retention since it will be easier for them to stay in touch with the company.
• Effective Data Analysis: Using different channels, marketing teams can collect data from various sources, e.g. transactions, behavior patterns, or feedback. With a thorough analysis of this well-bundled data, companies can gain valuable insights into the behavior of the target groups across the whole customer journey – and improve both their strategies and offers on this basis.
• Simple Scalability: The optimal realization of an omnichannel strategy comes with the centralization of product information. This data foundation can be built upon when connecting new marketing channels, hereby skyrocketing your efficiency.

All in all, omnichannel marketing provides you with the possibility to directly address your customers’ needs and wishes, bolster your marketing presence, and increase your profit.

 

Examples for Omnichannel Marketing in B2B and B2C

In general, omnichannel marketing is relevant for both B2B and B2C alike. A small difference, however, results from the often times more complex purchase process for B2B customers. Given that this involves a large number of decision markers, B2B comes with longer approval and purchase periods. Especially when it comes to high-cost products, multiple stakeholders with individual requirements are to be convinced of the product. Besides this, the strategies differ only by relevant touchpoints, depending on your industry and target group.

B2B Example: Touchpoints of buyers and sellers when purchasing a heating system

• Website (buyer)
• Wholesale store (buyer)
• App as product portal (buyer)
• BIM system (buyer)
• ERP system (buyer)
• Service portal (seller)

B2C Example: Touchpoints when purchasing a cupboard for an end customer with the help of the service portal

• Product flyer (end customer)
• Social media ad (end customer)
• Online shop (end customer)
• Product configurator (end customer)
• Service portal (service personal)

 

Why is Product Data so Relevant for the Omnichannel Approach?

Product data is highly relevant for the omnichannel method since this is what forms the foundation for consistent content and a uniform product presentation. Contradiction-free product information across all sales channels is the fundamental requirement for a successful omnichannel approach.

When the product data isn’t identical throughout the entire customer journey, it can easily cause confusion for customers and, consequently, damage their trust in the company. This, in turn, can translate into a loss in sales. A consistent presentation of your products across all channels, to the contrary, assures that your customers will be able to view the product with one and the same set of information in all channels and, with that, enjoy a continuous sales experience.

So, when a company wants to implement omnichannel marketing, it’s important that the product data is always consistent and up to date. For this reason, Product Data Management should enjoy a higher priority to guarantee a successful customer experience.

 

What Software Tools are Indispensable for the Success of Your Omnichannel Strategy?

For the successful implementation of an omnichannel strategy, it takes the interplay of different software solutions such as PIM, CMS, ERP, CRM, and DAM systems. However, product configurators, apps and corresponding shop systems also play a decisive role. Additionally, the integration of AI-based tools does also play a crucial factor. The IT infrastructure and the selection of fitting tools from the “MarTech Stack” are game changers.

Since consistent product communication across all channels is a strategic point in omnichannel marketing, the PIM system occupies a central role in this case. Here, your product data is centralized, enriched with content, and, finally, distributed into various marketing channels.

Both product data and customer data are imported into the PIM by connecting ERP and CRM systems. Images and videos, on the other hand, are provided by directly integrated DAM modules or via a separate DAM system. For content creation and translation, PIM offers AI-based content automation tools and translation management systems with translation memory function. Target systems include the connected online shop, product configurators, apps, social media channels, or external e-commerce platforms such as Amazon or eBay, where products are made available to the customer.

Only when all these systems communicate with one another in a smooth manner, a successful omnichannel strategy can unfold itself for delivering a first-class customer experience.

The Impact of Multichannel Marketing

In the world of marketing, one thing is beyond all question: Customers do not only expect high-quality products but also a smooth purchasing experience across various channels.

And this is where Multichannel Marketing comes into play. Companies are to address their target groups on many different platforms, be it through websites, social networks, or direct sales. In this article, we dive into this fascinating world of marketing and explore the unbeatable alliance of Multichannel Marketing and Product Information Management (PIM).

 

What is Multichannel Marketing?

Multichannel Marketing is the strategic approach of reaching out to customers across multiple channels. To this end, it’s imperative to find just the right mix between online and offline channels in order to adequately address the target group. By utilizing more channels, companies can enhance brand awareness and increase the chance of attracting potential customers. Multichannel Marketing enables companies to make contact with their target group in an even more targeted manner and provide them with personalized offers which, finally, result in higher customer satisfaction rates.

Possible channels are:

• your own online shop
• physical stores
• presence on events and conventions
• e-mail marketing via newsletter
• social networks such as Instagram or Facebook
• guest blogposts on popular blogs
• flyers and product catalogs
• shopping apps
• online marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay
• a product portal which retailers can use to inform themselves about the manufacturer’s product

 

Are there Differences between B2B and B2C?

Indeed, there are differences in Multichannel Marketing between the B2B and B2C field. This is because not only the target group but also the demands, purchasing decisions, and channel preferences deviate between the two.

In the B2B field, the sales process is, often times, more complex and the sales cycle can be longer. Decisions made are tied to higher costs and risks, which is why personal interactions and more comprehensive sales channels such as sales partners and direct sales are preferred.

In contrast to this, the sales cycle in the B2C field is shorter and purchase decisions are more impulsive. Most of the time, B2C consumers make purchases in small quantities and prefer to carry out their research on the internet or through social media. This is the reason why B2C companies put stronger focus on digital marketing, online sales, and digital channels.

However, there are more and more overlaps between the two fields. B2B companies continue to tap more into digital sales channels, whereas B2C companies integrate personal sales as an additional service option. The right multichannel strategy depends on the specific requirements and preferences of your target group.

Multichannel Marketing in B2B

In order to get a better picture of what Multichannel Marketing looks like in the B2B field, let’s have a look at a fictitious manufacturer for industry equipment from tools and materials to machines. Our example company adopts a comprehensive sales strategy based on a variety of channels such as online platforms, specialist retailers, sales partners, and direct sales.

This rich scope offers higher accessibility and allows business customers the freedom to opt for their preferred ordering method. They may feel more comfortable buying from a retailer’s online shop or purchasing the products in person from the specialist retail stores of sales partners. Furthermore, there is always the option of direct sales (D2B), where manufacturers can purchase directly from the manufacturer. This holistic approach enables our manufacturer of industry equipment to respond to the customers’ requirements in the best possible manner and provide a smooth purchasing experience.

Multichannel Marketing in B2C

An instructive example for Multichannel Marketing in the B2C field would be a retailer who offers their broad product assortment both online via an e-commerce platform as well as physically in shops, pop-up stores, and at conventions. Additionally, such a retailer can tap into a mobile sales channel by offering goods on an app or a popular social media platform such as Instagram for sale.

For customers, this means an abundance of possibilities: They can decide based on their individual preferences whether to purchase it on the internet from the comfort of their own home or seek inspiration in the stationary store live on site. The connection between online and offline channels offers them a purchasing experience without any gaps at the highest flexibility.

Be it B2B or B2C, with the skillful integration of multiple sales channels, companies can not only increase their reach but also interact with customers in a large number of ways. This approach boosts the market presence and does also allow for many opportunities of presenting the own offer in unique ways. This will win the customers’ trust.

 

The 3 Challenges of Multichannel Marketing

Individual Customer Approach:
Today’s consumers are more demanding than ever. After all, they have the privilege of free choice. The range of offers is enormous, everything is available anywhere anytime. In the light of this abundance, it’s no longer sufficient to simply convey a suitable message to the right target group. The key is, much rather, to approach the customer at just the right time – namely, when her needs, attention, and willingness to buy is at its highest. Addressing customers in an individualized manner is central for capitalizing this decisive moment and building sustainable B2B or B2C relationships.

Tailor-Made Campaigns:
Humans are habitual animals – a figure of speech all of us have already come across. Your customers, too, have their own habits when it comes to browsing certain channels. And, just as the saying goes, old habits die hard. Customers will not change their ways no matter how great the incentive. For companies, therefore, it’s imperative to optimize their marketing measures across all channels – continuously, with further and further improvements. In the process, it’s important to provide a flexible combination of related channels and provide customers of individual touchpoints with targeted micro-campaigns. The most important objective is to close the gap between you and the individual customer by adapting to the demands of the specific situation, hereby amplifying the relevance of your message.

Qualified Analysis of Channels and Touchpoints:
In a marketing environment with ever-increasing interconnectedness, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to analyze the real contribution a single channel, campaign, or touchpoint makes to the overall sales and profits. Knowledge of this, however, is decisive for reliable success control as well as the steering of marketing and advertisement measures. Only if you can trace back which aspect has contributed to a higher engagement rate of your target group, you can adequately judge whether or not your budget and resources have been allocated optimally.

Mastering these challenges demands an even more well-planned interconnection of the different marketing channels. Only this, after all, can establish an efficient flow of data and information. This strategic evolution of Multichannel Marketing is referred to as Omnichannel.

 

How does Multichannel Differ from Cross-channel and Omnichannel?

These three strategies differ as follows: In Multichannel, the various channels operate independently of one another, without any overlaps or interaction. Customers can’t jump directly from one channel to another. When it comes to Cross-channel Marketing, in contrast, there is a data exchange between channels – but the message may not necessarily be consistent across all of them. Here, customers can switch between all channels between which such data exchange is possible. Omnichannel Marketing takes this approach even one step further by smoothly interconnecting all these channels with one another. Every channel embodies the uniform brand message together with all usage information. Only this can guarantee that customers will enjoy a customer experience without any gaps.

In short: The main difference between Multichannel and Omnichannel Marketing consists in the fact that Omnichannel Marketing offers a smooth, integrative experience for all channels, while Multichannel Marketing merely means that many channels are utilized but without such a smooth integration. Cross-channel Marketing occupies the middle ground between the two, though the boundaries are fluid.

 

How can a PIM System Support Your Multichannel Strategy?

Given the large number of different channels, it’s time-consuming to provide the respective product information in the right form per channel, for example the text length of product descriptions or the number of images. Especially considering that you also need to continuously maintain each channel. This is far removed from what a single source of truth has to offer. In a PIM system, product information is managed in a media-neutral manner and independent of specific target channels. For exports into online shops or for physical flyers, this data can then be adjusted for relevant channels. In the process, you may, for example, choose a shorter product description than for the online shop while also limiting the number and adapting the choice of images accordingly. With the help of the quality rules configured in the PIM, you can make sure that the product data quality does always conform with the target channel. Accordingly, the implementation of new channels such as apps for mobile end devices is easier to handle since the master data is already well-maintained and available in the PIM, so all that’s left to do are some channel-specific adjustments.

Content may be King, but Content Strategy is Queen

By now, it has long become a truism in the world of marketing: “Content is King!” This is an uncircumventable fact, now as then – especially in e-commerce and online retail. After all, those who want to successfully sell their products online must convince, satisfy, and inspire customers anew every day. And the bread and butter for this is good, high-quality content.

However, where does such content come from? Nowadays, the name of the game for companies is to plan, create, and distribute top-notch content from text to media across the entire customer journey. Marketers will be quick to add: not all content is high-quality content. And this is the precise point where the Content Strategy comes into play, providing you with an operative framework for all your future content cycles. Only with a targeted and individualized Content Strategy can you guarantee that your content fulfills the right objectives and is useful to relevant target groups. This is why smart strategizing functions as an integral part of the Content Marketing of manufacturers, brands, and retailers. You want to know how to design a meaningful Content Strategy? If that’s the case, you should keep on reading. In this blog post, we let you in on the most important steps and give you valuable tips for creating an effective Content Strategy yourself that fits your company.

Step 1: Get to Know Your Target Group

Do you know your customers? Do you know what they want – or do you only believe that you know what they want? In order to create a suitable Content Strategy, you are to familiarize yourself with your customers. Only this way can you produce content that your potential customers actually want to consume. One objective method for quickly getting acquainted with your target group is the Buyer Persona. As part of this method from the world of marketing, you develop a concept of the needs, pain points, and wishes of your ideal customer. Subsequently, this helps you in empathizing with your target group and creating made-to-measure content.

Furthermore, it’s key to listen closely to what your customers have to say by systematically gathering feedback and analyzing it. You can collect feedback by your customer base by utilizing tools such as Google Analytics or something as simple as product return forms. Among other places, social media is a top platform to learn about your target group. Be it in the form of polls or your direct interaction with them in comments – this is where you will gain insights about your target groups straight from the source.

 

Step 2: Don’t Forget about SEO!

Define your most important keywords and topics. Now that you’ve learned more about your customer, SEO should be the next topic on your agenda. Make the beginning with research on keywords, themes, and search criteria which your customers type into search engines. Relevant keywords may fall on both sides of the spectrum: very frequent and popular keywords, on the one hand, or keywords targeting long-tail products or market niches, on the other. The advantage of frequently searched keywords is that you can utilize them to reach out to a large audience; the disadvantage is that you face an equally large competition, meaning that your company may not make it to the top 3 search results. On the opposite side, less people base their searches on niche keywords, though they still prove their worth since they slowly but surely accumulate brand visibility and carry their weight on the search results pages of search engines. Our tip: Striking just the right balance is key! Specify a broad spectrum of the most different keywords in order to make sure that you’re accounting for all relevant search criteria.

For your keyword research, it’s helpful to know which keyword is relevant to your target group at a given stage of the sales funnel. Depending on the stage they’re currently in, consumers have different questions for which they expect a good solution. For example:

• What is Content Strategy?
• How important is Content Strategy?
• How do I create a Content Strategy?
• Who is the best service provider for Content Strategies?

 

Steps 3: Content Knows Many Forms

The digitization and the great technological progress that comes with it has made it much easier to make good use of all sorts of content formats. How does the saying go? Content is everything and everything is content. As part of your strategy, define what kinds of content you want to provide in which format and on which target platform. Popular formats include for example:

• Video
• Infographs
• Product content in form of product data and information
• Checklists
• Whitepapers
• E-books
• Use cases und success stories
• Podcasts
• Blogcasts

There is a rich offer of content formats to choose from. Which is why, as part of your content planning, you should focus on determining which formats are best suited for your target group. However, also keep in mind what kind of formats your team is best capable of producing.

Step 4: Create a Rock-solid Content Foundation

To produce high-quality content, you require a well-founded basis for all data and information. Be it podcasts, blog entries, social media posts, or exciting product descriptions – each and every type of content builds on correct and up-to-date input. When creating content for your product, for example, it’s necessary to communicate the current technical specifications. Incorrect product content translates into a negative purchase experience. The consequences: higher return rates, bad reviews, and, in the worst-case scenario, your brand image does also take a hit. To take preventative measures against such outcomes, your Content Strategy should incorporate all kinds of content – even those which seem banal, if not even trivial: product names, product properties, etc.

This content is usually scattered all over the company – in excel tables or PDF documents, in this or that corporate department. To make sure that nothing is overlooked, you should first establish a central data foundation for your product content. With a PIM system, this poses no problem whatsoever. As the single source of truth, the PIM system will guarantee that your data basis is always up to date and consistent across the board – allowing your marketing team to always draw from contradiction-free data as input for their content.

 

Step 5: Create an Editorial Calendar

For a successful strategy, the right content plan is half the battle. A content plan is much like the guiding thread running through all topics, formats, and personnel resources, keeping everything together. With it, you keep track of all content ideas and situate them in their adequate time frames. A blog entry on gingerbread by a food supply chain, for example, is much more suited for Christmas time than the summer season. Accordingly, experts recommend planning marketing releases in quarterly periods.

In particular, the editorial calendar is a useful tool for managing your personnel resources. Always keep in mind: content is teamwork! Accordingly, the knowhow of specific topics is distributed among your company’s various departments. Note down in your editorial calendar who provides the input for what kind of content, when they’re free to do so, and what other resources are required to finalize things – this may include, for example, graphic designers, social media managers, editors, etc.

Create an editorial calendar in which each and every aspect of the content is assigned to the respective person in response. This will give you the overview required to manage content cycle upon content cycle.

 

Step 6: Drum Up Business

Content Marketing doesn’t stop with the release of your content. Neither the best blog entry nor the most exciting podcast episode will bring in the desired results if it doesn’t even reach its target audience. As soon as you’ve produced the content, the name of the game is to distribute it to the relevant channels and beat the big drum for it.

While doing so, keep in mind that the channels on which your content is shared are equally as important as the channels on which they’re actually released. Target the channels on which your target group is active. If your target group consists of consumers in age groups older than 35 years, Snapchat may not be the optimal choice to promote your content and brand.

Data is King!

To establish the perfect strategy as part of your overall Content Marketing, you will need one thing before anything else. A perfect, consistent data foundation – be it your customer’s feedback and activity data or technical data which serves as the meat of your content. In a digital world, data is money and power – as the saying goes: data is king!

To this end, it’s also important for the success of your Content Strategy to collect all this product data, centralize it, and automate the corresponding product data processes. This is because the sheer quantity of data with which we find ourselves confronted on a daily basis can no longer be handled manually.

In just a few quick steps, your product data can be put to good use and you can set up an effective Content Strategy. You can find out how this works in our latest whitepaper: Content Strategy 2.0. Download it now for free and benefit from our expertise and the know-how of our product experts.

Why is Customer Experience More Important Than Ever?

The consumer’s expectations of companies and their products is higher than ever – and for a good reason: Online retail is booming, the markets are becoming increasingly more transparent, the availability of products is more convenient than ever, while the price difference is shrinking. As a result, the competition is growing. It’s for this reason that companies can no longer make it with good products and satisfied customers alone. The magic word of today’s corporate success is Customer Experience (CX). This field is the focus of attention of corporate Marketing departments. However, what exactly does the concept of Customer Experience even amount to and how can your company improve it? Find out more on this, as you read on right here.

 

What is Customer Experience?

Customer experience encompasses the set of all lived experiences by both potential and existing customers of a company or brand, across the various touchpoints (customer–company interfaces) of every phase in the Customer Journey. Every interaction can positively or negatively shape a customer’s view of the company. Those who manage to design a unique Customer Experience in all points of contact and boost the customer’s satisfaction can secure loyal fans in a sustainable manner when it comes to their own products and brand. In itself, the idea sounds quite simple, right? Though, what measures are required for turning satisfied customers into inspired fans?

 

How do You Turn Customers into Fans?

The customers of today are well-informed. With their smartphone ready to hand, they can get all the information they need on any product or service regardless of time and location. Furthermore, with the emergence of the age of digital transformation, the number of digital touchpoints has also skyrocketed. Here – where personal contact and advice by phone used to be the essential points of contact with customers –, online shops, social media, and e-mail marketing now reign supreme as indispensable measures. For companies, the name of the game is to reach out and inspire consumers across all touchpoints with target-group-oriented information and just the right content for their use cases, hereby also promoting customer loyalty. This is a challenge not to be underestimated, considering that the set of relevant information multiplies with the number of products, be it descriptions, texts, media assets, videos, or product images about said products.

Only those, however, who manage to design a positive customer experience can lay the foundation for sustainable customer retention. Loyal customers don’t only purchase your brand products but do also occupy themselves with your product portfolio both online and offline. They’re happy to share their positive experience with family and friends or via social media channels, hereby posing as valuable and faithful brand ambassadors.

There is hardly any marketing measure which is as effective as positive feedback from satisfied customers and the word-of-mouth advertisement resulting from it. Have you also felt this wow-experience after an all-around wholesome online purchase before? How many people did you tell about your last few positive purchasing experiences? Did you already pay any of these stores another visit? Those who are content with how the purchasing process went are even willing to pay more.

This is why it’s important to take appropriate measures for a cutting-edge customer experience across all points of contact along the whole Customer Journey. Mastering this challenge makes a professional Customer Experience Management (CEM) indispensable.

 

What is Customer Experience Management?

Successful Customer Experience Management is an integral part of any CRM and brings – staying true to the principle of Customer Centricity – the customer into the focus of attention. In fact, this trend does even go so far in its strife for improving the purchasing experience that many companies do no longer limit themselves to the concept of “customer” and, instead, shift their center of attention to the underlying human being as part of the Human Centricity approach.

With well-defined strategies and measures from the fields of Marketing and Management, Customer Experience is supposed to be controlled through the positive interaction with the respective touchpoints, hereby boosting customer loyalty. The objective of this method is generating a higher return on sales.

To this end, it’s crucial to identify the relevant target groups and their needs (Buyer Persona) as well as to optimize all touchpoints with which customers interact as part of their Customer Journey – all on the basis of the target group’s purchasing behavior. Mapping out both, a Buyer Persona and the Customer Journey, lays the foundation for a successful Customer Experience strategy. In our free whitepaper “From Buyer Persona to Customer Journey,” you will find concrete recommended actions and tips on how your company can put the Buyer Persona into good use. In this context, one thing can already be anticipated in advance: Handling customer-oriented e-commerce by manual work alone is nigh impossible. Yet, there’s no reason to worry whatsoever. There are suitable tools which allow you to automate and optimize processes to guarantee that measures to improve the Customer Experience provided by your company will be a surefire success.

 

All-In-One with the Right Tools

When operating within the scope of Customer Experience Management, it’s key that all teams across your entire company are working toward a unified Customer Experience in a coordinated fashion. This does also include the consistent use of tools across several departments. Processes should flow and transition smoothly into one another, while information should always be transparent. It’s the right combination of tools and well-defined processes that enables department-overarching CX. A good example for this are Customer Relationship Management systems which allow you to organize the customer information which is otherwise left scattered over several departments.

Depending on the product, touchpoint, target group, and use case, the customer always requires a different set of information. This is why a PIM system (Product Information Management system) is a must-have tool for groundbreaking Product Experience, i.e. the totality of responses during all stages of a customer’s research and purchasing process. The equation is quite simple: no successful Product Experience without top-notch Customer Experience. Make your products more experienceable and intuitive by not only marketing your products but also the underlying values and solutions. With consistent product data as your unshakable foundation, you can quickly collect the right data and descriptions for the right product and even distribute them at the right time to the right target group at the click of a few buttons.

You should only move on to analyze your customer’s demands after establishing this secure basis. This is what will allow you to realize suitable measures and processes for good Customer Experience. For this analysis, in turn, you will need to know what your customers want – here, feedback is the magic word. In principle, customer feedback in any form can be fruitful – be it positive or negative. Once all available feedback has been gathered, you can proceed by evaluating it and render it operative for your Customer Experience Management.

To objectively measure such empirical data, the Net Promoter Score is employed. In short, NPS. This key performance indicator represents a company’s customer satisfaction rate. In general, this score measures how costumers reply to the question: “How likely is it that you will recommend this company?” With the Net Promoter Score, you can find out how loyal customers are to a given company and if they would make use of its products and services again or even recommend it to others. The reply is measured by an evaluation scale form 0 (unlikely) to 10 (extremely likely).

Those who give a rating of 9 or 10 are referred to as promoters. In this case, your hard labor is already bearing fruits and convincing customers. Detractors, on the other hand, are defined as all those customers who give a rating between 0 and 6. Customers who give a rating of 7 or 8 are classified as being indifferent. All in all, you can calculate your own company’s NPS using the following equation:

NPS = Promoters (in percent) minus Detractors (in percent). As a result, possible NPS values range from plus 100 to minus 100.

 

Customer Experience: More Than Mere Buzzword Bingo

The significance of Customer Experience for companies far exceeds a simple definition which would reduce this complex phenomenon to the field of Marketing alone. Current trends indicate that a positive CX will advance to be a more and more essential factor for purchasing decisions, be it online or offline, be it B2B or B2C. Today’s customers want a simple and quick solution for their challenges. If the Online Marketing strategies or your well-groomed (digital) touchpoints succeed in optimizing the experience customers have while checking out your offers and buying your products, this will positively influence both customer satisfaction and retention. This, in turn, translates into sales and corporate success. Such strategies for improving Customer Experience, however, can only succeed if your entire company looks at things through the customer’s eyes and continues to do so throughout the whole Customer Journey. To make your CX Management strategy click together, all teams need to be on board and live the processes defined.

This also includes the integration of a software solution with which you can not only pool together all marketing-relevant information and assets, but also manage, enrich, and distribute your products in a contextualized manner. This is the basis for your unique Customer Experience. Equipped with this, you can transform satisfied customers into loyal fans of your company, your product, and your brand, while also staying streets ahead of the competition.

We support you on your path toward ideal Customer Experience – with our expertise and our PIM software.

Content Marketing is King!

The name of the game is Content Marketing: it’s been all the rage for the past few years, yet how many people out there truly have a good grasp of the principle behind this type of Online Marketing? What even is Content Marketing? What kind of companies can profit from putting it to good use? What expertise is required and what tools can support you in realizing it?

If you hesitate to give an answer to these questions straight away, you should most definitely keep on reading. In this blogpost, we’ll provide you with a comprehensive overview of the topic of Content Marketing and demonstrate to you how to implement this principle efficiently in your company. Before we drill deeper into the topic, however, let’s first clear up the core concepts in play.

 

What is content?

In general, content refers to various types and formats of arranged data, such as text, image, audio, or video. In Marketing, content is usually distributed for free and categorized into the following content formats…

• Text-based Content: whitepapers, online PR, blog entries, articles for online and offline magazines, guest contributions, e-books, reading recommendations, interviews
• Audiovisual Content: videos, online sessions, workshops, social media livestreams, explanatory videos, image videos
• Audio Content: podcasts, social audio
• Images: photos, info graphs, slideshows
• Application Content: product demos, price calculators, product configurators
• Social Media Content: social media posts, how-tos, tutorials, guides, stories

What is Content Marketing?

Content Marketing defines the strategic planning, creation, and distribution of content, tailor-made for a target-group-oriented approach with the aim to convert the defined audience into new customers. To this end, the focus doesn’t lie on the marketed product but, much rather, on the users and their use cases.

Content Marketing is an efficient option for convincing new customers and strengthening your already established customer retention rate. When it comes to implementing Content Marketing successfully, your branch doesn’t matter – be it industrial corporation or SME manufacturer, everybody can inspire their customers with the right content. What’s more important is that the content is fine-tuned to fit your customers and is always relevant. To this extent, this form of Marketing stands in direct opposition to classic advertisement.

 

Pushing or Pulling? Push-Marketing versus Pull-Marketing

Classic advertisement is usually based on the push principle. For example, a well-placed ad banner calls attention to the offered product or service. The disadvantage of Push Marketing: classic advertisement continues to lose influence and ground. Users have long gotten used to the flood of ad banners to which they are exposed day in day out – more and more users ignore or block it entirely.

In contrast to this, Pull Marketing presents itself as an alternative. Here, the interaction is actively sought by the user. They do their research and look for relevant content and information on their own. For companies, everything now revolves around meeting the customer on their own ground with target-group-oriented content and offering just the right solution in the form of their products or services.

This is the great advantage of Content Marketing: it delivers precisely the information which the customers are searching for and provide added value on top of that. With smart storytelling and a well-thought-out Content Marketing strategy, you have a sustainable way of shifting the customer’s focus of attention away from the competition to your product as the right solution.

 

The Focus is on Your Target Group

Before you go about investing your brainpower into coming up with a suitable strategy or fitting content, you should first ask yourself the following question: “Who is my customer?” Only if you have a – clear and distinct – answer to this question will you be able to convince and inspire your users with relevant content. The more well-defined your target groups are and the more knowledge you have of them, you’ll be able to approach them more naturally.

One method which can help you in getting a clear-cut concept of your target group is working on a buyer persona. A persona is an idealized customer who will represent your entire target group. In our free whitepaper, “From Buyer Persona to Customer Journey,” we let you in on how to create a persona, what tools can help you in doing so, and what methods are most effective when it comes to inspiring customers.

 

Storytelling: Customers Love Stories

After figuring out who your customers really are and what content and topics are relevant to them, you can think about the “how” of presenting your content. The keyword is: storytelling. Content must be presented in an intuitive, exciting, and memorable manner for it to fully unfold its effect. In its bare bones, it’s about delivering a narrative to consumers. After all, it’s easier for our brain to process and recall information when presented in the form of a well-structured story. Storytelling is not about delivering novel-like content. Much rather, you should give your content a structure, a relevant topic, and a guiding idea. The goal is to create an image in the consumer’s mind about how your brand or your product can be useful and valuable. Be it the category of fashion, food, music, or cars, your company is there to be remembered. And stories contribute to this in a long-term manner.

 

Content Marketing Throughout the Customer Journey

The question with which you see yourself confronted right now is: Where do you approach your customer and what content is meaningful? Content Marketing aims at meeting your customer at every touchpoint throughout her Customer Journey on their own ground with tailor-made content. Such touchpoints can be explained using a model from the field of Marketing: AIDA.

1. Attention
In the Attention Phase, users will become aware of your offer or product. This phase is rather unspecific since the user won’t think about making a purchasing decision just yet. The optimal content for this phase is informative, comprehensive, and covers the broadest possible scope.

2. Interest
In the second phase, potential customers conduct research and collect facts. To this end, content is to be provided which is in-depth and detailed.

3. Desire
Once the customer thinks she has gathered sufficient information, she commits to the decision-making phase. Here, she’ll be looking for the right company and provider, which is why supplying subsequent information and a concrete problem solution is an absolute necessity. The dialog with the customer now occupies center stage.

4. Action
In this final phase, the conversion of leads into customers takes place. Offer all import details about your service post purchase, together with further references and offers.

 

4 Points You Must Look Out for when Doing Content Marketing

1. Content Marketing is a process, not a one-time commitment
Things keep on developing and should be constantly re-adjusted to fit your target groups acquired tastes.

2. Content Marketing requires strategy
Successful Content Marketing entails a concrete marketing strategy. This helps you when it comes to creating the planned content and is the first thing which you should work on in order to realize any of your Content Marketing activities in a targeted and systematic manner. Any Content Marketing strategy pursues three foundational goals:

• How do I position myself as a brand?
• How do I win customers?
• How do I retain customers and make them come around again?

3. Content Marketing represents your company and your brand
Content Marketing serves the purpose of presenting both, your company and brand, in the best possible light. Furthermore, Content Marketing is an integral part of your overarching communication strategy about how your company reaches out to people. Make sure that your Content Marketing strategy smoothly synergizes with the other components of your entire communication strategy before starting content production.

4. Content Marketing is based around the Customer Journey
Content should always be centered around the customer’s needs. To this end, as we’ve already established, you’re required to know your target group like the back of your hand.

 

Content is King! And it will Stay that Way

Since companies want to position themselves sustainably and sell products to their target groups, Content Marketing is – and will continue to be – an indispensable tool. Especially when it comes to Online Marketing and SEO, it’s the content that matters. After all, the content is what is processed and rated by search engines such as Google and co.

The criterion for good content is whether or not it can provide added value and concrete solutions to the consumer. With strategic storytelling, customers always get the relevant content they’re looking for at the right touchpoint. You solve the challenges you are confronted with and, at the same time, convince with your brand, product, and company.

To make sure that your combo of product strategy and Content Marketing will be crowned with success, it’s essential to know your customer and respond to individual needs at the suitable touchpoint. At first glance, this looks like a mammoth task. But don’t panic! With the right tools for automating both, your product data processes and content distribution, this will be nothing short of a cakewalk.

With a PIM system, you pool your product content in a central system, manage it independent of corporate teams and departments for all touchpoints, and export it into all touchpoints. Even if a PIM doesn’t take care of coming up with the Content Marketing strategy itself, it still contributes substantially to getting the relevant content to the right target group, while also guaranteeing for consistent data across the board.

Authentic, Relevant, and Goal-Driven

To the question “The same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie?,” she always replies: “The same procedure as every year, James.” And, like every year, we from eggheads also ask ourselves once again the question “How do we reach out to our clients?,” and “How can we motivate existing clients to continue to make more purchases”. Do we give new marketing methods a try or do we default back to our battle-tested ways after all?

Marketing isn’t glued to the spot. Instead, it keeps developing continuously. Here, it’s important to go with the times so as not to miss out on any up-and-coming trends. This remains true even more so for all shop operators in particular. For one, since it allows them to keep the dialog going between them and their customers. On the other hand, to acquire new customers.

What is essential to a sustainable long-term marketing development? It’s fact that the focus shifts more and more towards authenticity — this is also true for the year of 2020. Especially in times like this, where people are already willing to pay for not being interrupted by ads. Ad blockers make it increasingly more difficult to win customers. More so than ever, it’s important to put the human being into the center, to identify and understand her needs.

Meaning, humanness, and authenticity are the driving marketing factors of the future. In particular with regards to digitalization, still standing strong in its triumphal procession.

We Present to You the Top Trends 2020!

 

Trend 1: Social Commerce

No story, no glory

Customer relations continue to become increasingly more personal in 2020. This is, at the very least, what platforms such as Facebook and Instagram want — since they are integrating more and more features for this very purpose. On the basis of this, companies can foster their relationship to their customers as budgets for social media marketing grow from year to year.

• Snapchat
  Snapchat implemented the “Stories” function 6 years ago. Snapchat Stories are temporary images or video clips which disappear after 24 hours. This attracts not only younger audiences who use these so-called #snaps as their playground. Companies also profited from this feature. Much more recently, Mark Zuckerberg has adopted this very idea, implementing it into both Facebook and Instagram. For a good reason: More than 500 million users utilize the Story function in Facebook and Instagram. This translates into higher subscription counts and brand presence, granted that the company can produce highly original and authentic Stories. This is, in fact, achievable with little resources. What do you need? A smartphone, internet connection, and an idea. IT know-how? Not necessarily! Global live streaming is a user-friendly service accessible to anybody. So, let’s get our storyboards ready, shall we?
• YouTube
  Anybody with 10.000 subscribers or more can use the previously mentioned function and upload Stories on YouTube with a much longer life cycle.
• Google
  Since 2018, internet search is ‘mobile first.’ This philosophy coupled with the Story trend gives you AMP Stories. Publishers can produce Stories for Google’s image search, giving birth to a new format of content.Since August 2019, Google has been going its very own path with its AMP Stories: The focus lies on content and search results. Later, Google’s artificial intelligence is also supposed to generated Stories by combining content automatically and presenting them as search results. This is a top-notch way of providing target group oriented content.

 

Trend 2: Micro-Influencer Marketing

Micro Influencer – Brands are Aiming at Finding Influencers with whom they Share Common Values

2019 has shown without doubt that the trend of so-called Macro Influencers with millions of subscribers has been stagnating. “Heroes” already earn more than necessary to make end’s meet with their Influencer activities. They have turned into companies of their own, with their own employees. Where does this leave the credibility? And precisely this is what the trend 2020 is aiming at — betting on Micro and Nano Influencers. Usually, they may lack the outreach of the big players in the Influencer scene, yet they are more credible and reach the target group they want to reach. The employees of companies, so-called brand ambassadors, are also micro influencers. If you bet your money on the right horse with a manageable follower count, you may have found your very own goldmine. Tip: Develop your own brand ambassador concept.

What Happens when Companies Combine Content Marketing with Influencer Marketing and Social Media Marketing?

Up until now, brands and marketers have conceived of Content Marketing, Influencer Marketing, and Social Media Marketing as separate forms of Online Marketing. In reality, however, they make up individual aspects of one and the same Online Marketing process. Here, too, we are diagnosing that this will change substantially throughout the next years. The boarder between B2B and B2C is dissolving more and more. Tip: Conceive of Content Marketing as an all-encompassing process.

Companies create content to increase the social outreach. However, they will also make good use of micro influencers who are authentic. This is because they are the micro influencers which share the same values as the company does. This will become more apparent in 2020. This is gonna be the year of live content! All technical obstacles are out of the way stopping you from customer binding on your channels using creative and motivating live videos. Be it natural live behind-the-scene shoots, entertaining product presentations of new releases or, for example, exciting how-tos, informative B2B webinars, or with actual employees. Live content shows what the company is capable of while providing interesting content.

The sales funnel to Stories is reduced via so-called “Shoppable Posts”, by simply eliminating the steps from discovery to purchase.

There are some shops, such as Christ Juweliere or Lampenwelt, who utilize this trend via their Facebook and Instagram channels in order to motivate their fans to make purchases. This simple “shopping-to-go experience” smoothly fits into the “shopper’s life” and translates into more spontaneous shopping. Shoppable Posts will make their big breakthrough in 2020 so that this trend will establish itself on all channels.

 

Trend 3: Content Marketing

For many years now, content has been, is and will still be the king in the future. This is nothing new.

Reality, however, looks different. Since Content Marketing, too, has changed substantially over time. To fill the target groups with enthusiasm and make them your fans, making a blogpost once in a month reporting on what’s new in the industries will no longer cut it. The magic formula — even in 2020 — is the following: Know your customer’s expectations. In the case of e-commerce, in particular, you can use content to motivate your customers to make purchasing decisions. However, this doesn’t imply: Being active on all social media platforms, bombarding your customers with daily newsletters, and shooting two new blogposts every day into the unknown. No. Much rather, it’s about creating quality content optimized to fit your target group on the very platforms used by them — as well as, and this is the supreme discipline, posting it in a format which your target group can and will consume. Nothing is worse than producing content which never reaches the target group.

Personalizing instead of Generalizing

One and the same e-mail for all customers? Generic e-mail newsletters addressing all customers at the same time will lose in significance in the year of 2020. To communicate the feeling of appreciation, fans (customers) want to be addressed in person. Despite of all the automation and digitization, customers want to build a relationship to the respective company. This only works on the basis of addressing them individually and adjusting the information to their needs.

 

Trend 4: Video Marketing

In the social media networks, videos are what result in the highest interaction rates. It may be true that 55% of all Facebook posts are shared links, as the analysis of 105 million Facebook posts have shown in 2018. Yet, videos have an interaction rate which is 258 percent higher than link posts. This research by Quintly makes clear what potential the distribution of self-made videos have on social networks.

With the increase in mobile end devices, the number of users consuming videos on them does also increase. Based on a prognosis by eMarketer, there will be 2,33 billion mobile video watchers in 2021. Accordingly, optimizing videos for mobile devices poses a great challenge. Among other things, this does also include preview images (so-called thumbnails) which are readable even on mobile screens.

Another video trend which is also living on in 2020 are description videos of products and services. To provide their users (customers) with something that’s worthwhile, they have to convey the offer within a short time window (2 minutes max.) in a simple, emotional, and credible manner. 360-degree videos will accompany us in a great many of situations: For example, they will replace site plans and route descriptions, in particular in in-door settings like airports, museums, shopping centers, or office buildings.

 

Trend 5: Augmented und Virtual Reality

Augmented and Virtual Reality will continuously leave more and more positive impact, not only in the world of gaming. They will also do so in our everyday life. The sales of both Augmented and Virtual Reality glasses will, according to a prognosis by IDC, skyrocket from 9 million in 2019 to 68.6 million in 2023.

And the preparations for this are to start in 2020: In the future, we will, for example, be able to use Augmented Reality to how this or that piece of furniture may fit into our living room or kitchen prior to its purchase. Consequently, it comes down to analyzing the data requirements in play.

Virtual Reality grows in importance when it comes to the description and presentation of products and processes. This allows for even better User Experience. If this provided right at the point of sale, it can contribute to the customer’s awareness and, consequently, support you in your sales procedures.

 

Trend 6: Voice Search

Technological advances result in continuing changes to the search behavior on the internet. Because of the growing use of mobile end devices for search requests and the growing use of language assistance via Siri, Alexa, Cortana, or Google Assistant, the number of Voice Searches does also grow. Accordingly, Voice Search will become an increasingly important field of Search Engine Optimization.

To be the search result of a voice search, you don’t need to be at position 1 of search engine results pages (SERPs) — you’ll need position 0. This is the so-called Featured Snippet. For “conventional” searches, this panel appears in between ads and position 1 to answer frequently asked questions in a quick and easy manner. For Voice Searches, the result provided would appear at position 0. This is why it is all the more important to occupy this position; all other positions no longer play any role in searches based on audio input.

How may one reach this position? The most relevant matter is determining the questions your users have about products and services. The most important step to get to position 0 is to answer the question in your website’s content in a simple and brief fashion.

Subsequent SEO measures for occupying position 0 and, consequently, securing the competitive edge are:

• Geschwindigkeit der Webseiten verbessern
• Webseiteninhalte strukturieren
• FAQ-Seite erstellen
• die mobile Darstellung optimieren

Für lokal bezogene Suchanfragen ist darüber hinaus ein Eintrag bei Google My Business erforderlich. Ebenso wie die Pflege und Korrektheit der Unternehmensinformationen u. a. bei den Öffnungszeiten. Bei lokalen Suchanfragen liegt die Intention des Users häufig darin, das Unternehmen vor Ort zu besuchen, bzw. direkten Kontakt aufzunehmen, was eine entscheidende Bedeutung für die Sichtbarkeit und Richtigkeit der Unternehmensdaten nach sich zieht.

With the increase of Voice Searches, the demand for audio-based features may rise accordingly, since unlike videos, audio replies don’t come with any visual components.

 

Trend 7: The Big Data

This is also old news: Data helps! They help you at developing new concepts as well as products. And, the best thing about it: You will also become more creative. Since it is precisely this aspect which constitutes the weak spot of computers processing Big Data. There are countless companies which are literally parasitic on other companies’ data. This is because they lack the understanding, infrastructure, or capacities to read and evaluate data.

What does this mean for the business experience in the field of e-commerce? — Regardless whether we are talking B2B or B2C. What it all comes down to is putting to use the possibilities of digital transformation. Use it and stop simply registering your data in Excel tables or other tools; use your data to make important decisions and be creative!

 

Conclusion

You want to make your brand’s name stick in the heads of your customers? Keep on developing your online shop. We from eggheads wish you plenty of success in the implementation of the trends. And, don’t forget — the most important foundation of 2020 is: Self-Confidence!

Have an informative talk with one of your eggheads PIM/MDM exports, and learn how to self-confidently export your product data into the various distribution channels.