Local brands are neglecting feed management and it is costing them big. By neglecting their feeds, CMOs are leaving hundreds of thousands of rands on the table as the most carefully constructed digital commerce strategies fail to deliver on their true potential.
A large part of the problem is a general lack of both awareness and experience and, because of this, local agencies are struggling to deliver relevant feed management strategies.
A product feed is a file that holds a list of products or services, as well as attributes and product information. This allows information to be shared in a structured fashion and organised so that each product can be displayed, advertised or compared in a unique way. This is important because it increases the visibility of listings and drives traffic to a brand’s online store by making it easy to submit accurate and complete product data to multiple channels.
‘There is a general lack of understanding when it comes to feeds and how they impact campaign performance. Where we are now with feeds tracks closely to where web development was 10 to 15 years ago, where everyone thought they could quickly build a WordPress website by themselves and everything would be great. The same attitude is being applied to feeds right now. Everyone thinks it’s just sending the information about the product to Google, and everything happens within the ad side,’ explained Stephanie Brummer, Senior Product Feeds Specialist at Incubeta.
She shared that it’s difficult to isolate the importance of feeds in the same way that it’s hard to isolate the eggs in the cake batter after it’s been baked. ‘Feed management is a very difficult thing to measure, but it has a huge impact. If your product data isn’t optimised, and if you haven’t gone beyond the basics, your feeds will not do well within the Google shopping environment. There are a myriad of complexities like Google policies and how the annotations work that must be considered. Unfortunately, marketing leaders don’t immediately see the value of feeds because they can’t separate the return from what they see on the ad side,’ Brummer said.
South Africa Still Playing Catch-Up
Brummer said that the South African market still lags behind both the US and UK when it comes to feed management sophistication, but is also quick to point out that this could also have to do with the fact that our digital commerce is not as mature as that of our counterparts.
‘Marketing leaders are cognisant that Google Shopping is not nearly as big here as it is elsewhere in the world. But at the same time, by not investing in feed management now, they will quickly find themselves chasing the curve if they resist the change that is rapidly approaching,’ Brummer said.
A contributing factor for the local lag also lies with the general lack of education and awareness of feed management at local agencies. This has led to many CMOs turning to their IT departments to perform the marketing function.
‘There are very few people who properly understand feeds in South Africa and even fewer people in Client Service who are comfortable having a conversation about feeds with local brands. Together with the dearth of agencies who offer strategic feed management, you can quickly see why this is a nascent skill in the country. The result is that IT departments are often asked to run feeds and this can result in unproductive tensions between the marketing and tech teams,’ explained Devin Botha, Feeds Team Lead at Incubeta.
Botha explained that part of the solution is to find a feeds team that is comfortable with collaborating across the entire digital marketing team as well as working hand-in-hand with the IT department. He said a strong involvement and understanding of every aspect – from the social side to Google ads- is required and the feeds strategists must be involved across the account to stay on top of the business requirements of the brand.
‘Digital marketing sophistication has come along in leaps and bounds over the past few years. It’s unfortunate that a lack of awareness and skills in feed management is keeping many brands from realising the full potential of their campaign efforts. Feed management goes beyond a technical process. It should be seen as your North star that guides your product data through the clutter of marketplaces, ad channels and comparison shopping engines, to ensure brand visibility that drives optimum engagement,’ Botha concluded.
INCUBETA
https://www.incubeta.com
