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How to Take the Lead on Product Content Syndication in a Real-Time Economy

READ TIME: 5 MINUTES
July 25, 2022
Content-Syndication

The world of eCommerce is constantly shifting, presenting a perpetual challenge for brands and retailers to try and keep up. But what if you could change your position from being a follower in digital commerce to a leader?

For dynamic businesses that would rather be the disruptor than the disrupted, the Syndigo team recently hosted The Evolution of the Real-Time Economy and Syndication: A Leadership Approach, a webinar focused on innovating and getting ahead.

The session was packed with insights, ideas and inspiration for solving some of the most common and pressing challenges faced when competing in a fast-paced, cutthroat online marketplace. If you missed the webinar, it’s not too late to watch a recording on demand—or catch up with this recap.

Webinar: The Evolution of the Real-Time Economy and Syndication: A Leadership Approach

The State of eCommerce

The state of modern commerce online can broadly be described by the tension between two forces.

On one side, there are consumers who are increasingly picky and demanding about their online experiences and how they spend their money. They want a seamless UX, quick responses, personalized treatment, and complete information. The bar has been raised high, and customers will quickly bring their wallets elsewhere if expectations aren’t met.

On the other side, there are brands and retailers wrestling with the massive logistical challenges of meeting those expectations. The sheer amount of information, tools, systems, stakeholders and operations that all historically needed to align just to get bit of product content live is staggering—and the result is often slow processes, bad data and unsatisfied customers.

Syndigo CMO Paul Salay explained the challenges of working with this system using a (highly simplified) visualization.

“All of our clients, when you go back and rewind the clock, had many providers, along your workflows to create content.” Paul explained. “You manage that content for your internal purposes, as well as your external purposes, which then you had a syndicate that content to multiple retailers who had different requirements, who wanted to receive things differently. And then once you did that, you still had to use another provider to analyze it: Did it show up? What were the trends? How am I doing? So when you put it all together, it adds a lot of complexity because when you start moving data from system to system you’re bound to have multiple problems in that.”

The Real Costs of Bad Data

This slow, convoluted process results in incomplete, incorrect, and outdated data at a time when consumers expect on demand convenience and accuracy. That results in real, tangible impact on your bottom line.

Watch this clip to learn more about the costs of bad data from Paul Salay.

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The Evolution of Product Content Syndication

Fortunately, innovations in the world of eCommerce are streamlining once-convoluted systems and breaking down the barriers to meeting customer expectations across the digital ecosystem. Combining a one-stop platform with an unmatched two-sided network of brands and retailers, Syndigo makes it easy to syndicate the right product content to the right place at the right time.

Discover the History of Syndication (And Its Future)

Some of the trends highlighted in this evolution included the ability to:

  • Win all shelves (not just digital)
  • Distribute, store and manage all content (not just product assets)
  • Break down internal silos (governance, golden record, “single source of truth”)
  • Act at the speed of real time (Speed to Market, Speed to Value, Speed to Impact, Speed to GROWTH)
  • Serve both sides of the industry (Data governance and content tracking, Pre-built integrations, understanding requirements and taxonomy)
  • Change the flow of data from a one-way stream to an endless feedback loop (Across all platforms, entities, outlets)

Syndigo Sr VP of Retail Client Development, Trevor Martin, explains the evolution here:

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Getting Ahead of Customer Expectations

With the right tools, and the right strategy, it’s possible to shift from being a follower to a leader in eCommerce. Instead of responding to competitors and scrambling to keep up with customers, you can be the one dictating trends and setting the speed. It all comes down to delivering exceptional customer experiences faster.

“When it comes to the leadership perspective, this is so essential,” said Laura Creekmore, VP of Data Operations. “It was good enough a few years ago to be able to publish data through an API. It was good enough to be able to upload a spreadsheet. When we look at the customer landscape today at the retail marketplace that we’re all a part of, it’s not good enough anymore. It has to be good quality data. It has to be accurate. The customers are judging every one of us on that every day.”

Laura explained three core pillars of delivering those experiences in real time:

  • Data Quality and Automation
  • Deliver Data and Content Your Way
  • Scale and Depth

Learn more about those pillars, and how to build them, in this clip:

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The Right Tool for Each Job

Just as you wouldn’t grab a scalpel to do a cleaver’s job, or a sledgehammer to tap in a nail, it’s increasingly important to have the right syndication solution for each need—every product, marketplace, retailer, customer and device.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, and that’s why leading in product content syndication means fit-for-purpose solutions.

“The old way just isn’t good enough,” explained Trevor Martin. “We know that syndication is not just about sending content over the wall. We know that making sure your content is actually usable for its intended purpose. It means you need to account for the three essential things: the type of content accepted, the type of integration available, and then also the recipient’s own data processes.“

The ability to adapt to specific, unique circumstances and requirements means the difference in reaching customers wherever they’re at, and falling short of expectations. It empowers you to sell and win in online eCommerce, in physical stores, on digital marketplace, and even in the fast-growing metaverse.

Become a Syndication Leader

Ready to get ahead of the pack on product syndication and earn a competitive edge? Syndigo’s unmatched two-sided network makes it easy to publish any kind of content to the world’s greatest retailers.

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