Referring to “content as king” in the context of ecommerce can be misleading, and it keeps organizations from weighing content against other strategic investment options.
We have all heard this in some form or another. “Content is king.”
I mean, wake up. It’s 2020 – this is one of the first immutable laws of ecommerce, friend. Forget the fact that Sumner Redstone (may he rest in peace) first coined the term to refer to TV, movies and radio – not product content. Ecommerce professionals, vendors and research firms have been appropriating this adage for over a decade to preach the innate value of digital product content. And they’ve been doing it for so long, only a fool or a luddite would argue the point.
Well, I cry bullshit. Foolish, I know. But the only reason people keep repeating that phrase in this industry is because it’s fun to say. No seriously – try it and then tell me I’m wrong.
Turns out there are lots of things equally or more important to a business than content. Take for example, creating an actual product. Or getting the pricing right. Or understanding, reaching and connecting with the right consumers. Establishing relationships with your distribution channels. Or making sure it stays frozen until you unwrap it poolside for your 3 year old daughter on a hot summer day. Lots of things.
“Content” as a term is so overused that it has completely lost its meaning – like “bandwidth” and “thinking outside the box.” Probably because someone ordained content as king in the first place. I mean shoot, how clever is that? “Psst – hey Jim. Did you hear? Content is king, but nobody knows what content actually is. If we can convince everyone that this thingy is content, they’ll hand us the scepter and we can start issuing proclamations and knighting people.” Well played, Jim. Well played.
“Content” is used to refer to all manner of product and Metadata, all serving different masters within the business and supply chain. Operational and supply chain data helps move the product through the business. Inventory data tracks quantities of product in different locations. Rich product content (itself an overused term) helps people find your product online and presents it to a digital consumer. Enhanced content (I think of this like viagra for the PDP) can provide more context for digital consumers – things like comparison charts, product tours, spin, videos and detailed points of differentiation. Regulatory and compliance data ensures the product is transported, stored, sold, disposed of and recycled safely. It also protects you from getting fined or sued. Planogram data is used to plan where product will be placed on physical store shelves. User-generated content consists of ratings and reviews, shopper questions and answers, curated social content and other information generated by consumers. Influencer content can include stuff like paid referrals and mentions by bloggers and practicians and famous people. Honestly I could keep going, but I need to pee and grab another cup of coffee – we’ve barely scratched the surface.
OK, I’m back. Two things you need to know about content. First, businesses never create all of this content at once. You may be startled to learn that they create content as it makes sense for their business. (No I’m being dead serious. I know I’m blowing your mind right now, but stay with me.) Second, people don’t just create content because it’s king. Or because it’s cool. Geeze, if that was true I’d be invited to a lot more parties in the Hollywood Hills. Parties where the drugs being passed around didn’t come from a CVS. Or frankly, parties at all. Even COVID parties. Or my next door neighbor’s kid’s birthday party. But I digress.
Businesses don’t create content because it’s king. They do it because it opens doors. It creates opportunities. It demonstrates quantifiable return on investment in the form of conversions, average order value, lifetime customer value for your brand. It means people can first find your product, and then trust that they’re buying what they think they’re buying.
Just like fork lifts, florescent lighting, health insurance, gas futures and painting actual lines on your parking lot, content is an investment in the growth of your business. And just like other capabilities, your investment in content will mirror the scale and sophistication of your business. You manufacture 11 SKUs of luchador masks? Good for you. You probably don’t need a PIM.
As you identify where opportunities to consolidate and scale your content will open doors and make your business more agile (in other words, “react like a small company even though you’re now a mid-sized or a big company”) you will also find that there are approximately fourteen thousand ways to solve for it.
Some companies hire and scale an MDM center of excellence – a SWAT team of content experts who will find, create and disseminate every relevant product detail to the stakeholders that need it. I am a big proponent of this approach because it creates a single source of truth, a watchdog for data quality, and a champion for content stakeholders (including both your operations and your customer). But most of all, it forces the business through a perennial exercise of aligning content investment to documented business outcomes.
Obviously you decide if that sort of role is right for your business, but commit to continuously asking the question with respect to your content investment. Without putting yourself through the exercise, you’re likely to be battered by external demands and unable to assess the impact it will have. Vendors will pitch you on stuff you don’t need, retailers will demand digital assets you don’t have, buyers will insist that your product would sell if only you would provide a few more images, or if you could agree to a lower cost.
Dozens of vendors will offer to create content for you. But if you outsource content creation you’ll need to focus on providers that specialize in creating the type of content you need (because many vendors will tell you they can do anything). And you will need to know how much you should expect to pay – and whether or not the price you’re quoted limits how you can deploy that content in the future.
Finally, consider there are situations where retailers, technology and trade partners, and government agencies won’t simply take your word for it. They require that you work with a specific vendor to create or validate your product content. Your only choice is whether or not this path forward makes sense for your business at this time.
Content is not king. Amongst your partners, content is currency. Within your business content fuels new capabilities and opportunities. Content is an investment, and within your business it should be treated as such. While this gives lots of digital teams sweaty palms, it isn’t a bad thing. They should view this as an opportunity for a seat at the table when it comes to making investment decisions for a business moving forward.
