Thursday 20 February 2014

The importance of high quality product data

If advertisers want to be truly multichannel then they need to have access to, and control of, their product data.

By extracting product data from several different sources, you can fulfil any required channel marketing

application.

Data can be extracted directly from your ecommerce site, existing data feeds or an API, and can then be distributed
into hundreds of different online channels, increasing the visibility of your products in front of online consumers.

However, it all hinges on having high-quality product data that is comprehensive, accurate and consumable.

Helen Southgate, UK Managing Director, Affilinet:

Overlooking quality - especially when it comes to data – is a big mistake…The correct data will drive customer
acquisition, incremental sales and contribute towards increasing the lifetime value of a customer. The wrong data
can impact brand reputation, growth and see an advertiser lose customers to a more savvy competitor.

Product data must be comprehensive

John Ashton, Digital Marketing Executive, Notonthehighstreet.com:

Having a product data feed that we can trust - that’s the most important thing. It means that we can be confident
that whoever accesses our products is getting the best, and most relevant, information...

Comprehensive data contains all the relevant product attributes for each unique, marketable product in your
inventory.

Product attributes include: price, description, images etc. and the most effective way of extracting rich product data
from ecommerce websites is through screen scraping as this tends to be the most reliable source of merchant
product information.

If attributes are missing from a product data feed consumers will not be able to see all product information. If this
happens, the advertiser loses credibility with the consumer as well as value, because their products cannot be
integrated into any channels that require those missing attributes.

To create a comprehensive product data set, product information should be gathered from more than one source,
e.g. data feeds, APIs and directly from an ecommerce website.

This ensures that no product attributes are missing and gives advertisers access to all the product data required for
their channel marketing initiatives.

Product data must be consumable

Chris Sheen, Head of Marketing, SaleCycle:

Product data is integral to SaleCycle's business, and the solutions we provide our clients. There are so many
different data sets which can influence your marketing decisions, from simple personal details (e.g. gender)
through to advanced demographic and modelling information (e.g. Mosaic) - but it's product level data which gives
us the clearest indication of a customer's buying intentions - both now and in the future.

Your product data must be in a usable format for marketing applications, taking attribute mapping and
transformation into consideration where necessary, so that partners, e.g. digital agencies and price comparison
sites, can use your product data.

It must also be in good order so that you can take advantage of new channel opportunities as and when they arise.

Consumable data is easily accessible and contains all necessary product attributes; this makes channel integration
simple and cost-effective, giving you more control over where your data is distributed. Data can be integrated as a
data feed or as part of an API that can be interpreted by those looking to use your data.

It can also be provided on an FTP site for download.

Optimising your data

Having comprehensive, accurate and consumable data enables the correct mapping and categorisation of your
product data. This makes it easier to integrate the data into online channels even if their menu categories are not
the same as those on your website.

Having product data which is clearly structured, labelled and formatted makes this process easier and it’s also
possible to combine or split product data to create new attributes, e.g. by taking attributes such as ‘colour’ or
‘gender’ from the product title.

This can also work the other way by combining individual attributes to optimise product titles or descriptions in
paid search automation.

High-quality data

Richard McKnight, Digital Marketing Manager, Chain Reaction Cycles:

With the online space becoming more competitive each year, one of the key areas that can position your business
ahead of competitors is quality data, not only to ensure your advertising channels are working correctly but also to
ensure relevant and efficient traffic is being driven from each.

Ultimately, you should always aim to have the highest quality data possible so that you can drive incremental sales
revenue through different channels and provide a consistent consumer experience of your products across
channels.

Having control of your product data enables you to create engaging content across various online channels
including: display advertising, marketplaces (Amazon, eBay etc.), Google Shopping, Price Comparison Search (CSEs),
behavioural retargeting and social media (Facebook).

If data is comprehensive, accurate and consumable it gives you the ability to be creative and flexible with your
data, displaying your products across multiple channels to reach the greatest number of consumers and give them
an optimised buying experience on your site.

Source: http://econsultancy.com/blog/64322-the-importance-of-high-quality-product-data

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