Perhaps ecommerce marketing is your true calling. You love being creative with your messaging and strategy but also enjoy being analytical and technical. For many marketers, the job is a labor of love. You’re doing your best to do right by the customer and your products.
Ecommerce marketing, however, can also take a lot of power away from marketers. There is pressure to drive sales and scale even when you may not have the tools and data to do so. In the end, marketing specifically within ecommerce has its own unique hurdles and headaches. But if you’re suffering from these pains and aches, don’t worry… you’re not alone.
If you face these five pains on a regular basis, it’s probably a sign that you’re really doing your job - and trying to do it well!
1. Lack of feed transparency
A.K.A. Where is this data coming from and where is it going?
Ever look at a product ad or listing and think, “wait, where did that data come from?” Or “why is this Facebook description showing up on Google?” Product feeds are complicated. They’re huge and every single one looks pretty similar to the next (when you’re a human and not a robot). Especially if you’re stuck using CSV files, it’s can be difficult to understand what all that copy and data really represents.
2. Total lack of data control
A.K.A. Why can’t we tailor these robotic descriptions for actual humans?
Product feeds come from a lot of different sources. PIM. DAM. Your website. One thing is certain: it usually doesn’t come from a human, and it shows. Perhaps you have a ton of amazing products. You have detailed product information and even images. But then you have to sit around and wait for someone from a technical team or an agency to help actually make changes. That probably feels ridiculous. You’re the marketer. In order to work your marketing magic, you need control and the ability to make changes and test all those tweaks.
3. Impossible expectations about speed
A.K.A. Keeping up with the Joneses’ new platforms
Marketers know the importance of touchpoints. The shopper’s journey has dozens to hundreds of them, and that’s why you’re probably constantly revisiting your strategy to include all the latest channels. But then it hits you: you don’t really control how much time it takes to get on that new channel. You want to advertise on that cool new social platform or start listing on that niche marketplace. It’s so close you can almost reach it - and then you have to wait for technical teams to help you actually get there.
4. Product images
A.K.A. “I just want to put a logo on these 500 pictures”
Unless you’re extraordinarily lucky, you probably don’t have beautiful tailored images for every product you advertise. Perhaps you have the single, white-background product image and another that has a little bit of color or shows the product being used by a model. And you want to do the seemingly impossible by adding a little branding to it. You’ve done all the work of getting your campaign together and optimizing copy, so why is it so difficult just to put some logos and brand colors on your images? What’s more, imagine if you could put sale prices, exact dates, and details right into the ad? It seems unfair to not have such basic capabilities.
5. Performance
A.K.A. You can’t test data is hard to manage
Marketers know the value of proving results. Everyone wants to know how all those efforts are fairing, and that’s not always easy within the scope of ecommerce. Plus, most marketers thrive on the thrill of testing something new. When it comes to your ads and listings, you might want to try different copy or creative, or even test out different channels. The only way to get great results is to try lots of options and find out what doesn’t work. However, if you’re itching to try new things, it might be the case that you have to wait around for technical support before you can start. Then there’s the manual work of tweaking copy or sending off feeds, and suddenly that new idea leads to dozens of tiny tasks.
It’s worth it, but it’s hard work!
What can you do?
You know what the beauty is of having found this post? You know you’re not alone! One problem many businesses face is digitalization, and that might be the root of your problems. Without the right system in place, marketers can’t take control of their product marketing and other business users might struggle to sell more online at scale. What you might be lacking is agility.
Agility is what turns product data into a tool that can be easily managed and transformed. Agile data can be quickly edited and audited. It can also be optimized for performance and prepared for new channels. The Productsup platform turns manual processes into automated processes. Plus, it’s as easy as drag and drop.
If all these pains sound feel familiar, check out these common manual edits that you shouldn’t be making manually. It might just be a surprise.