As I mentioned earlier in this series, it’s essential that your company invest in stick and drive content. This is the fun, sexy stuff that nets you 500,000 Facebook fans.
But just because you’ve invested $1 million in that content doesn’t mean you’ve closed the deal. Take a look at these examples of ineffective product pages.
Click to view the full-size image.
Click to view the full-size image.
Bad Content Drives Away Customers
Let me ask you to put on your consumer hat for a second: Are these pages likely to convert you?
We know from the numbers that customers making a significant purchasing decision will research the product on three or more sites before they decide.
If they can’t get the information they want, or if they experience inconsistent or incomplete product information (Does it come with batteries? Does it have an HDMI input? Can I play Angry Birds on it?), they are likely to turn to another brand.
Getting It Right: Beautiful Product Pages
All of which lead us to our main argument: you need quality product-detail pages to convert. Take a look at these pages.
Click to view the full-size image.
Click to view the full-size image.
Product Descriptions: A Sound Investment
Put that hat back on: Are these pages more likely to convert you?
Statistically, all things being equal (good product, good reviews, competitive price point), these pages are 15 to 35 percent more likely to convert. In fact, a retail test we participated in showed an overall conversion lift of 38 percent.
And guess what: The written content on these pages cost somewhere between $200 and $450.
You’ve just spent thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to drive customers to this page. Is it not worth another few hundred to get those extra conversions? Do the math.
The Product Page: Your Perfect Sales Rep
While you’re counting your beans, keep this in mind: these pages are your 24/7 sales reps. The buzzword in retail these days is “convergence.”
Although it’s difficult to measure precisely how your online content influences your offline sales, trust me: it does. Your customers are turning to their devices to research your products before they jump in their cars to buy them.
The 24/7 sales reps known as product pages are some of your most valuable sales assets. They work while you sleep. They don’t require health insurance. They don’t need coffee breaks. And they’ll never get you sued for harassment at the workplace.
What is that worth to you?
When it’s all about ROPO, and it’s all about smartphones and tablets, and it’s all about empowering the consumer with information and choice, if you don’t provide compelling, product-centric content on your channel(s), you will not convert. But someone else will.
The Takeaway
Stick and drive content is sexy and it’s necessary. But it’s not designed to close the deal. It needs content that converts.
