Content Marketing Strategies Boost Customer Loyalty Special Report
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In an industry where many companies rely on selling products that are the same or similar to competitors’ offerings, retailers are embracing content marketing as a means to stand out from the crowd and provide value to the customer.
The State Of Content Marketing In Retail
Leading retailers such as Pet360, boohoo, BeachMint, Blinds.com and Duane Reade understand that content marketing strategies can only turn into revenue if the content makes the brand relatable to the consumer.
Content marketing has become a priority investment for B2B organizations over the past few years, but has only recently become a focus for retailers looking to foster customer loyalty. In fact, only 39% of B2C content marketers have a documented content strategy, according to a report from the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs.
To successfully engage customers with content, retailers are banking on numerous delivery vehicles, such as the e-Commerce web site, digital publications and social media. Merchants also are tapping a variety of content types to deliver their brand message, including but not limited to: blog posts, how-to guides, videos, advertisements, images and infographics.
With the advent of social media, the average consumer can gather product reviews and information from sources more relatable to them than any mass medium. Thus, traditional advertising is taking on a less prominent role in the daily consumption habits of the consumer, according to Michael Brenner, Head of Strategy at Newscred. “One of the big aspects of confusion is the notion that content marketing is an individual piece of content or a different kind of ad, as opposed to a mentality or culture,” Brenner said. “Whether via print, radio, TV and now the Internet, advertisers as brands have simply shifted their approach to continuously trying to get that promotional message in front of our consumers using whatever mass medium they’ve been shifting towards. The retailers that are getting it right are
Only 39% of B2C content marketers have a documented content strategy. - Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs
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realizing that they need to create stories and tell them in a larger, more consistent way than just promoting what they do through traditional advertising.” In particular for retailers with niche products or a long timeline between purchases, content marketing can create frequent touch points with shoppers in between purchase periods. “If I’m an underwear retailer, a customer is only going to shop for underwear a couple times a year,” said Jason Goldberg, VP of Commerce Strategy at Razorfish. “If the customer is only going to come to us twice a year when they need underwear, I don’t have a great opportunity to build the relationship with that customer and my brand. I need to give the customer more reasons to visit me more often, and it can’t all be to replenish my drawer.”
Video Content Enhances The Visual Experience Video has become one of the most popular content marketing vehicles, offering a 360-degree online view of products that otherwise could only be experienced in-store. Retail site visitors who view videos stay on the site two minutes longer on average and are 64% more likely to purchase than other site visitors, according to comScore research. “One of the impediments to buying from certain product categories online is that you’re not sure exactly what you’re going to get,” Goldberg said in an interview
with Retail TouchPoints. “You’ve lost the ability to see that item on the mannequin in the store, try clothes on for yourself, or see exactly how big that television is and whether it’s going to fit in your living room. Video is a much more immersive way to help customers have confidence that what they’re ordering is what they want.” Retailers are using a variety of video types, depending on their brand goals and product lines. Videos can provide product information, how-to guides, user-generated feedback, cross-sell ideas and more. Blinds.com, for example, created a library of videos designed to illustrate how to choose the right window treatment, and how to measure and install the products. While the content initially added value to the web site, it wasn’t until Blinds.com enlisted the services of video commerce solution provider LiveClicker that the content could be managed and measured for effectiveness.
Retail site visitors who view videos stay on the site two minutes longer on average and are 64% more likely to purchase than other site visitors. - comScore
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“Before we were working with LiveClicker, we had minimal information available to us, and I didn’t necessarily know what that information was telling me,” said Robert Reed, Video Producer at Blinds.com. “I could see the number of plays and I couldn’t see much detail beyond that. Because we can see these metrics now, we can be more strategic and put videos in a particular order or put them in a certain place on the site that increases conversion rates.” Comparing Q1 2013 to Q1 2014, the video engagement rate on the Blinds.com web site increased by 99%. Revenue increased by 92%, while orders and conversion rates both increased by approximately 70%. “There’s so many different ways that you can try to help customers through additional measuring and installation to show them that this is something they can do themselves,” Reed said. “Video is a great way to help customers come to the realization that these processes aren’t that hard to put together.” Other retailers use video solutions to promote their products, but also strive to differentiate their brands from the rest of the pack. Women’s fashion retailer boohoo built up its own video channel, boohoo TV, to accompany the retail site, giving consumers detailed video guides on how to wear clothing from the boohoo
brand. The television site includes information regarding fashion trends, a section dedicated to boohooMAN, the retailer’s menswear collection, as well as advertisements promoting the brand clothing and lifestyle. The value of boohoo TV doesn’t end with the videos, as the retailer implemented the Amplience video merchandising solution to create digital commerce experiences. The online video merchandising solution enables boohoo TV to merchandise products directly alongside the video channel, creating a direct link from brand-building content to product collections. The solution is designed to streamline the buying process and increase average order value, giving consumers relevant purchasing options on a sidebar while they browse new trends.
The Benefits Of Professional Vs. Amateur Video Professionally produced video optimized for e-Commerce outperforms usergenerated (UGC) video by 30%, delivering a 24.7% lift compared to an 18.7% lift for the UGC video, according to comScore. “A lot of people say that video doesn’t have to be professionally done, and I think there’s a place for [UGC video],” said Robert Rose, Chief Strategist at
Professionally produced video optimized for e-Commerce outperforms usergenerated (UGC) video by 30%, delivering a 24.7% lift compared to an 18.7% lift for the UGC video. - comScore
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the Content Marketing Institute. “But I’m actually a big believer that the better the video quality is, the better it is for the brand. A lot of brands have taken the advice that video can be shot using an iPhone, and then when they go through with it the video ends up looking unprofessional and not very good.” Brenner shared similar sentiments, advising that brands need to understand the economics behind their video strategies in order to make them work. He recommended retailers hire videographers and trained directors that not only know how to use video to tell a story effectively, but also help create a content-centric culture throughout the organization. “Consumers are choosing what they want to watch and when they want to watch it,” Brenner explained. “Why do we consume more video? We’re becoming a more visual society and I think it’s becoming harder to entertain us. It’s not that people don’t read print, it’s just that if you want to be entertained, we’re more easily and quickly entertained through moving visual content.”
Engaging The Consumer Throughout The Purchasing Process Video content is certainly not the only successful vehicle retailers are using to build their brands. Other content marketing strategies are helping retailers such as Duane Reade and Pet360 build their businesses. Additionally, retailers and publishing departments are converging more frequently to create digital and print publications for consumers to read during their shopper journeys. These content marketing methods are designed to help retailers connect with the consumer throughout numerous touch points and throughout the purchasing process, even when they are not considering purchasing an item. The retailers that are implementing these methods successfully are getting a legup against the competition.
“Why do we consume more video? We’re becoming a more visual society and I think it’s becoming harder to entertain us. It’s not that people don’t read print, it’s just that if you want to be entertained, we’re more easily and quickly entertained through moving visual content.” – Michael Brenner, Newscred
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Progressive Retailers Differentiate With Content Marketing
brands: PetMD.com, PetFoodDirect and BlogPaws. With this business approach, the retailer strives to blend content, products and community.
With more competition throughout the industry than ever before, retailers are taking new opportunities to stand out from the crowd by turning to content marketing. While content marketing is a practice that has primarily been used in the B2B space, merchants now see the e-Commerce site, social media and branded publications as outlets to provide consumers with compelling information that may lead to a purchase.
Pet360 initially operated under the PetFoodDirect brand name, purely as an online retailer. With more competitors offering similar products and prices, the Pet360 team decided to differentiate the overall business model. After researching the needs of pet parents, they realized the company could blog about petrelated topics to fill a niche that had yet to be addressed.
Retailers such as BeachMint, Pet360, Duane Reade, Net-a-Porter and Gilt Groupe are implementing creative content marketing initiatives to engage consumers throughout the purchasing process and further build the consumerretailer relationship.
Pet360: A “ContentFirst” Retailer Pet360, an e-Commerce retailer of pet products, includes an extensive media network that spans across multiple
“There was such an amazing blend between the volume of content that people wanted to consume, combined with what pet parents were looking for around products,” said Rose Hamilton, EVP of Customer Experience and CMO at Pet360. “It was pretty clear to us that figuring out how to make a relevant experience and join the content and consumer products together made a ton of sense.”
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The company’s three brands house a team of experts including veterinarians, pet trainers and pet groomers that provide advice to site visitors and shoppers through blogs. By turning into a “de-commoditized” business, Pet360 can focus on the content side of the company and fulfilling the customer journey, rather than worrying about an ongoing pricing battle with competitors. “It allows the team to focus on starting and cultivating a relationship over time by giving away our story, our solutions and our advice, so that when a pet parent decides to buy, they choose us,” said Hamilton in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “And then it’s not about whether or not we’re six cents under a competitor. It’s about the extra value we’re providing along the journey of that pet parent’s life with their pet. Every day, changes are going to happen with their pet, and they’re going to have unique needs and will not always buy the same product at the same time every single month.”
Because customers turn to Pet360 for a multitude of reasons, the retailer has paired its content strategy with a CRM system to recognize individual consumer needs and deliver relevant messages at every touch point. “The old version of marketing — the four Ps: Product, price, promotion and placement — has now become so transparent,” Hamilton said. “If a business continues to go to market that way when the rules have changed, I think it’s going to cause a lot of challenges for retailers. Focusing on lifetime value and customer engagement is the new marketing, and content is the execution of what that is. There’s a tide shift happening because the consumer is really in the driver’s seat, and retailers who don’t pay attention to that will end up in a retail hospital because they have to evolve and change with the customer.”
Social Feedback Plays A Starring Role In Content Strategy The importance of social media in a content marketing strategy cannot be understated. Most (71%) online consumers indicate that they share content via social media, according to a 2013 poll from Ipsos. Of the different types of content to share, 43% said they shared photos the most. Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are the three most popular networks for social content sharing, according to a report from AddThis.
“The old version of marketing — the four Ps: Product, price, promotion and placement — has now become so transparent. If a business continues to go to market that way when the rules have changed, I think it’s going to cause a lot of challenges for retailers.” – Rose Hamilton, Pet360
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Although site traffic from Pinterest remained unchanged throughout the Thanksgiving weekend of 2013 (including Black Friday and Cyber Monday), the revenue brands generated from Pinterest doubled over the Thanksgiving weekend and on Black Friday, and increased 3.6-fold on Cyber Monday, according to research from Piqora. “I think retailers will eventually realize that customer-generated content is a necessity,” said Scott LiPera, Head of Client Engagement and Digital Marketing Services at eClerx. “This is the age of kids growing up who have only lived in the Facebook world. Hence, it will be an expectation. It would be like going into a store and not seeing some of the common technology that we’re accustomed to seeing. Imagine going to a grocery store that didn’t have the barcode reader at the checkout.”
Duane Reade Spearheads Social Engagement Duane Reade has put an emphasis on consumer-generated content with its “Get Social” program, a social media marketing strategy designed to increase brand awareness and engagement across all retail locations. The pharmacy retailer developed a “VIP Blogger” program made up of a network of loyal consumers who serve as brand
advocates for various campaigns. The “VIPs” are in charge of creating relevant content and promoting specific PR efforts, and encourage social media followers to share information on their own accounts to spread the word. Initiatives deployed through the VIP Blogger program include the “Boo-Tiful Legs” campaign, the “Show Us Your Party Legs” Facebook contest and the “Show Us Some Leg” campaign, all designed to promote the pharmacy’s branded hosiery line, Doris International. The pharmacy also held numerous “Twitter parties” to drive buzz around new store openings. “We saw the opportunity to own consumer-generated content working in collaboration with our most passionate customers that held a particular standing with relevant social communities within the New York Metro area,” said Calvin Peters, PR & Digital Communications Manager at Duane Reade. “Simply put, it was all about being authentic and local while always looking to bring a convenient relevance play within our consumer-related content; with an ‘always on’ mechanism.” Duane Reade’s emphasis on Twitter engagement resulted in a 6,709% increase in followers year over year, according to Twitter. The “Show Us Some Leg” campaign, which centered
Duane Reade’s emphasis on Twitter engagement resulted in a 6,709% increase in followers year over year. The “Show Us Some Leg” campaign, which centered on the hash tag #DRLegwear, drove 19.4 million impressions on Twitter, boosting sales by 28%.
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on the hash tag #DRLegwear, drove 19.4 million impressions on Twitter, boosting sales by 28%.
The Rise Of The Branded Publication
Peters credits the success of the “Get Social” initiative to an approach he refers to as the Parallel Persuasion equation: Brand Advocacy + Brand Voice + PR Integration + Conversation Relevance = Social ROI.
More retailers are entering the editorial space to provide loyal consumers with fresh content in the form of print and digital publications. Retailers still spread the word through traditional content such as catalogs and promotional inserts, but in an era where shoppers frequently get bombarded by similar tactics, editorial options present a more creative, and less intrusive, approach, according to Brenner.
“With the interweaving of traditional PR tactics and innovative social media communication,” Peters explained, “we now have the opportunity to distinctly measure the impact and ROI of a PR driven campaign like we’ve never been able to derive previously.”
“Instead of becoming like an online catalog, retailers should become an online newspaper or magazine to stand out,” Brenner said. “They have to become what we’re interested in, as opposed to interrupting what we’re interested in. You’re seeing a very limited number of retailers that are thinking like a publisher or a media property. Not many are trying to use the trust that they’ve gained with the people that have shopped in their stores or online by creating engaging content.” For example, Net-a-Porter launched its own digital publication, The Edit as well as a print magazine, Porter, to communicate with consumers across all platforms. In 2012, Gilt Groupe and Hudson News partnered with the DuJour Media Group to launch luxury magazine DuJour.
“Instead of becoming like an online catalog, retailers should become an online newspaper or magazine to stand out. They have to become what we’re interested in, as opposed to interrupting what we’re interested in.” – Michael Brenner, Newscred
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But the convergence of content and commerce is reaching a new level, as businesses are creating digital and shoppable publications. In August 2014, Condé Nast merged its shopping publication Lucky Magazine with e-Commerce solution provider and online retailer BeachMint to form the Lucky Group. The magazine’s editorial and business teams were retained, with Condé Nast’s artistic director serving as the advisor. “From Spring 2015, Lucky Magazine readers will be able to shop all of the brands they love, directly through Lucky and our new e-Commerce site,” said Josh Berman, CEO of BeachMint. “Our private label brands will continue to operate as a division within The Lucky Group, but there will be no integration between these brands and our Lucky properties, outside of the normal dialogue brands have with editorial teams.” Berman noted that the merger will “provide the ultimate discovery-topurchase experience for our customers,” indicating that the BeachMint platform will be integrated into the magazine’s digital display.
The Dos And Don’ts Of Content Marketing Whether a retailer is looking to branch into editorial territory, build up its social presence, create compelling videos or publish blogs on the e-Commerce site, the company has to implement an effective content strategy to be successful. While content tactics and strategies typically are established by individuals in specific departments, organization-wide implementation starts with the executive team. “When I talk to CMOs, I tell them their job is to create a culture of content,” Brenner said. “Their job is to understand that the company is already interacting with potential customers. Every one of these employees has social media now, and every one of them can tell a story.” After molding that content culture, the retailer needs to understand its pain point and determine why the content is being implemented in the first place. A directionless content strategy won’t solve the problem efficiently, and will likely substantially increase costs. “Look at the purchase funnel and identify where it hurts the most,” Rose said. “What is it that we’re trying to accomplish that is difficult right now? Are we trying to build awareness? Are we trying to increase the value of customers coming through the top of the funnel?
“What is it that we’re trying to accomplish that is difficult right now? Are we trying to build awareness? Are we trying to increase the value of customers coming through the top of the funnel? Are we trying to create more repeat customers?” – Robert Rose, Content Marketing Institute
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Are we trying to create more repeat customers? Once we start to identify that, we can start to ask how content can help optimize that one layer.” To stand out from competitors, retailers need to learn to differentiate themselves so that the content they produce isn’t easily found anywhere else. “If you’re not Amazon and Walmart, you’re not likely to win on having the broadest assortment and the lowest prices,” Goldberg said. “Most retailers are focusing on catering to some niche, such as being known for having the subject matter expertise and helping the customer more. Producing guides and event-based content are some of the better tools available for retailers to try to differentiate themselves and provide unique value to their customers.” Content also needs to be released on a consistent basis. Retailers should not go days or weeks without publishing new pieces of content, according to Rose. At the same time, they must ensure that all content is relevant to target customers and their wants and needs.
“Content right now is everybody’s job and nobody’s job,” Rose said. “If content is going to be successful, it has to have a real function in the business. It has to actually exist as something we do, where people are responsible for it. Content can’t just be published simply because we don’t have anything else to do.” For retailers who strictly operate in e-Commerce, content performance hinges on how well the back-end of the web site functions. The more a web site adds content, the more data gets transferred, thus slowing the page down. Of course, the best content will lose effectiveness if the page isn’t performing sufficiently. “Consumers have gotten increasingly sophisticated about understanding which sites perform better than others, and will gravitate to those sites,” said David Hsieh, VP of Marketing at Instart Logic. “One of the most challenging things that retailers face today is the balance between an immersive, personalized experience and fast performance.” Hsieh recommends that retailers pay attention to details that make a big difference in performance. “Customers respond to highly visual sites, so given a choice between using words and pictures, use a picture,” he said. “The kind of image format you use is a big trick. Make sure you adapt the size of the image intelligently based on the browser your customer is using.”
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The Future Of Content Marketing In Retail Content marketing has yet to be deployed across the entire retail industry, confirming that there is plenty of room for growth. While retailers have plenty of technology at their disposal to optimize content delivery and performance, they are lacking the organizational structure and creativity that will help them develop their content marketing strategies. “Testing, targeting and personalization are the sexiest things that nobody does,” Rose said. “This isn’t a technology problem, the technology exists. It’s the processes and the content creation that’s not there yet.” Retailers that aren’t already adopting content strategies are going to need to acquire more manpower to build up their content marketing arsenal. This team expansion, as illustrated by the case studies of Pet360 and Duane Reade, can go one of two ways, according to Goldberg: “We’re going to see a subset of retailers hire more people to start producing a lot of high-quality professional content and use that as a way to differentiate themselves,” he said. “In the other extreme, we’re going to see retailers embrace user-generated content
a lot more. We’ll see retailers create more opportunities for customers and brand evangelists to create their own content that then shows up on the e-Commerce site, helping them sell more products.” With the convergence of content and commerce, retailers also are closer to seeing the convergence of departments within the organization. While many departments previously had limited interaction on projects, or no interaction at all, it is now up to individuals in every creative role to understand content marketing and how it relates to their role. “The evolving synergy between public relations, social media and content marketing will become more and more prevalent,” Peters said. “As brands and retailers alike now realize content is king, we’ll see dual-industry roles emerging in public relations and social. Brand evangelists will be tapped to put forth omnichannel, storytelling narratives integrating the best peer opinions online, recommendations from people their consumers know and editorial content.”
“We’re going to see a subset of retailers hire more people to start producing a lot of high-quality professional content and use that as a way to differentiate themselves. In the other extreme, we’re going to see retailers embrace user-generated content a lot more.” – Jason Goldberg, Razorfish
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Retail TouchPoints is an online publishing network for retail executives, with content focused on optimizing the customer experience across all channels. The Retail TouchPoints network is comprised of a weekly newsletter, special reports, web seminars, exclusive benchmark research, an insightful editorial blog, and a content-rich web site featuring daily news updates and multi-media interviews at www.retailtouchpoints.com. The Retail TouchPoints team also interacts with social media communities via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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