The Most Overlooked Pillar of Your Brand Probably Isn’t What You Think 

Your brand is one of your company’s most important assets. It differentiates you from the competition, connects emotionally with customers, and defines your mission as an organization. That’s why it’s important to support it on all fronts— not just in the traditional channels associated with your brand.

As new data from The State of Product Content 2023 show, there’s a major component of the brand that often goes overlooked—product content, the assets and information that describe and present your product online. Organizations aiming to maintain an appealing brand that stands out from the crowd and engages customers should pay careful attention to ensure this critical pillar is not overlooked.

So Much More Than a Logo

It’s easy to put the idea of brand into a narrow channel defined by more obvious channels: the company name, its values, colors and styles, logos, and so on.

But the reality is far more complex. A brand is also built by what the customer experiences when buying and using their products—including, prominently, all the information, resources, and media developed to describe and promote them.

According to the research, the availability and quality of product data has an immediate and substantial impact on how your customers think about your brand. The report indicates at least 62% of consumers will think less of your brand if your products are not represented completely and accurately online.

Impact of Product Content on Brand Perception

Does it negatively impact your perception of a brand if their products are not accurately and completely represented online?

A brand that prioritizes having lots of information and in-depth resources available for its products is considered more trustworthy, transparent, and customer-focused.

The people working on a company’s product content might not always realize the true scope and influence of the work they do, whether it’s meticulously documenting ingredients for a nutrition label or writing descriptions for online PDPs. The impact of this critically important work extends far beyond its initial tactical purpose and has a lasting impact on how your brand performs in the marketplace.

What Can Be Done to Protect Your Brand?

The data indicate product content should be given as much consideration and priority as you put into preserving your brand identity and enforcing your messaging and style guide.

The content your customers want

The first part of the puzzle is to create comprehensive—and accurate—content.

Fundamental Core Content and data are a good start, but modern shoppers are increasingly expecting more sophisticated, engaging experiences. There’s a reason Enhanced Content, which includes features like side-by-side comparison charts, video clips, and interactive product tours, has been shown to increase conversion rates by an average of 39%.

Want to find out what kind of content customers want most? Download The State of Product Content 2023

Management and delivery

Once you’ve developed all the appropriate content, you need to keep it organized and readily available for use across your organization. According to the research, 22% of consumers recently saw inconsistent imagery and depictions of products across different channels, and 26% encountered conflicting or contradictory product information.

PIM (Product Information Management) paired with DAM (Digital Asset Management) makes it easy to catalog and curate all your product content and keep it a clean, consistent ‘golden record’ for any need and ready for syndication to your retail partners.

Monitoring and measuring

One huge challenge for maintaining great product content that represents your brand is that sometimes you lose immediate control over it. Once you send content to a marketplace or retailer, it can feel like it’s ‘out of your hands.’

With content monitoring analytics, you can regain confidence that your product content is live on shelves in its most up to date, accurate form across your entire ecommerce ecosystem. This is the fastest, easiest way to look out for errors, identify inconsistencies, and ensure your content is representing your brand in the best light possible at all times.

Protect Your Brand with Key Insights

Consumers have a lot to say about how product data influences their experience and perception of your brand. Find all the insights, survey results, and analysis in The State of Product Content 2023.