Understanding How the Content Helps Business in Sales Season

What do you think when you hear the word ‘Content’? A piece of text? An image? Or a short video? Technically all of the above are forms of content. We are all consuming a big amount of content on a daily basis and it won’t be wrong to say that we are consuming content more than food. No matter which website or social media you visit, which book you read but all you do is consume content. This content consumption has increased a lot post covid. We tried to know the content and its effect on business. Below is a part of a conversation with Narinder Mahajan, Co-Founder & CEO of ODN Digital Services in which describes a lot about the content.  

What goes behind launching a successful Big Sale Season and making it a success?

The launch of a successful Big Season Sale is like planning and cooking a festive dinner for the whole family. It needs special ingredients, adequate preparation time, and lots of care.

The ingredients for brands to make Big Season Sale successful entails clarity on objective and budget, a festive-themed social media and eCommerce marketplace strategy to capture the attention of the target audience.

Today selling online is a business of selling digital content. Having a robust and targeted content strategy is crucial for success, especially during the Big Season Sale. The Content strategy must include high-quality product and lifestyle shoots, Reels and eCommerce videos, creatives, A+ and infographics.  

We are having the festive season in India, and a lot of businesses try getting maximum value from it. How should they do it in terms of content playing an important role?

Well, the festive season is the most crucial time of the year for eCommerce brands. The Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) is five times higher when compared to ordinary days. For eCommerce Brands, the 20 Big Sale Season days can yield 100 days’ worth of revenue. Thus, it can make or break a brand.

It is important to understand the psychology of customers to get the maximum value. The Big Sale Season content must mirror what we see in a real market. During the festive season, the physical stores are lit up, full of vibrant colours and music, along with discount boards and hoardings all around, right? 

Similarly, the digital content should capture the festive furore and try to replicate the euphoria and essence of the festivities.

Successful brands do this by running a festive-themed campaign during this period. This includes festive-themed creative shoots, videos and banners for social media and eCommerce marketplace to give the digital content the mood and feel of a real marketplace.

Please tell us what is the current industry trend of your sector?

The eCommerce content sector has undergone a sea of transformation due to Covid, a burst in the technology scene and the resulting change in customer behaviour. The sector is continuously morphing with eCommerce marketplaces and brands adopting technology to make the online buying experience as close as buying in physical stores.

The top four eCommerce content marketing trends are the rising importance of Videos, informational creatives, creative shoots and the growing traction of Augmented and Virtual Reality.

Videos have become the number one influencing content medium today. Product explainer videos, lifestyle videos, 360-degree videos, influencer review videos and snackable reels for social mediahave taken centre-stage and are driving Conversion for eCommerce brands.

The next trend is the growing importance of infographics, creatives and A+ content. They provide the eCommerce brand with a premium feel and help in establishing trust with the customer.

Lastly, with 5G around the corner, Augmented /Virtual Reality has become a rage among forward-thinking brands.AR/VR takes the customer experience to the next level altogether and makes it as close to the real in-store shopping experience as one can imagine.

 Small businesses mostly underestimate the power of content. Could you please elaborate on it?

 Yes, the major issue is a lack of awareness regarding the medium to long-term benefits of high-quality eCommerce content. A lot of small businesses are caught up in the perennial chicken-and-egg problem of focusing on short-term return on investment versus having an overarching vision for growing the brand sustainably. Short-sightedly many of them decide against initially investing in eCommerce content which is a grave error.

 Investing in high-quality eCommerce content like Creative Lifestyle Shoots, Product Explainer Videos, Infographics and A+ content has become a bare minimum for small businesses to thrive in the increasingly competitive eCommerce marketplaces.

 In reality, there has never been a better time for small eCommerce brands to grow. Virtual marketplaces have levelled the playing field to a great extent. The cost of digital content is much lower compared to traditional advertising mediums like TV, Print Media and Radio. The cost of creating high-quality content is just a fraction of the value it adds to differentiating a brand and increasing its revenue. Patiently investing in content that is relevant, consistent and adds value to the customer's life can lead to a 2 to 5 times increase in sales in just 6 to 8 months.

Will Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI and ML) change the way we see content right now? If yes, how?

Oh Yes, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will have a significant impact on content marketing, particularly in terms of content automation. It will assist content marketers in conducting a more thorough analysis of eCommerce data, increasing the speed of content creation, and making eCommerce campaigns far more effective through hyper-personalization.

AI and ML will help in analysing user behaviour in real-time and instantly test hypotheses. AI & ML will aid in gathering valuable insights from a vast amount of hidden data and automatically optimize content marketing tactics using predictive analytics. When a marketer will know in real-time what your customer thinks about the brand, a brand can easily create targeted content that meets their customer’s needs and wants. Combined with AR/VR, AI and ML will make the customer experience as good as or even better than the luxury in-store shopping experience of today. With the advent of AI and ML around the corner, it is exciting times ahead for the eCommerce Content Sector.