Our deep dive into the 7 most essential feeds on Google Shopping continues with looking into Primary and supplementary feeds. Usually the simplest yet the backbone of your setup.
If you ever advertised on Google, then you know that Google Merchant Center is a competitive market to be. Managing and optimising your product feeds often seems redundant and tedious, but it plays a huge role in the success of your campaigns.
And let’s admit it, no one likes putting in effort without harvesting any benefits so you better read carefully.
Understanding the slight differences and applications of primary and supplementary feeds is necessary for digital marketing professionals and e-commerce experts aiming to maximize product visibility and performance on this platform.
Psss. Do you want to learn how to optimise your product feeds FOR FREE? Check our Ebook below 👇
Central Hub for Product Information - the most straightforward depiction. The Primary Feed serves as the central repository for all your product information. It's where Google pulls data to populate your Shopping ads, ensuring that potential customers see the most accurate and relevant information about what you're selling. Easy peasy, right? Not so fast.
Primary feeds act as the cornerstone of your product information infrastructure within Google Merchant Center.
These comprehensive datasets include vital details about your products, such as:
Primary feeds are typically generated from your e-commerce platform or inventory management system and require regular updates to ensure that all listed information is current and accurate.
The frequency of updates can vary depending on the volatility of your inventory and pricing but is often set daily to maintain the integrity of the product listings.
The creation and maintenance of primary feeds demand a meticulous approach, ensuring that all product information is formatted according to Google's specifications.
This includes the correct use of attributes and values, adherence to character limits, and the implementation of structured data to facilitate the accurate and efficient processing of your product listings.
And guess what? That is one of the reasons why you need a reliable and flexible product feed management platform, one that ensures personalisation and streamlines your processes such as WakeupData.
Now, once we have cleared out the basics, let’s look into the key components of a primary feed and more importantly, what you should keep in mind when creating them.
At WakeupData, we always build platform updates based on customer feedback and that is why we offer an Image transformation tool, a background remover tool, near-real-time data with our hourly runs and much more. Check our platform and add-ons here and find the best solution for your business.
It won’t be us if we do not share our know-how with you so, here you go, our recommended practices:
Keep your product data up to date: Regularly update your feed to ensure that product information, availability, and price are always correct.
Use high-quality photos: Clear, high-resolution photographs are essential for efficiently promoting your items and attracting potential buyers.
Create intriguing titles and descriptions. Create informative and compelling product names and descriptions that use important keywords to improve exposure in search results.
Use optional attributes: Provide additional product information that may be relevant to your target audience to boost ad effectiveness and user experience.
Monitor and Optimise: Regularly evaluate the performance of your primary feed and make any required changes to increase its efficacy and the success of your Google Shopping advertisements.
Okay, so the primary feed is one thing, we cleared the air around it, but how about supplementary feeds? Supplementary feeds provide a flexible mechanism to augment the data in your primary feeds with additional, valuable information.
Why does it matter?
These feeds are instrumental in customizing and optimizing your product listings for specific marketing objectives. Key enhancements offered through supplementary feeds include:
Supplementary feeds are linked to primary feeds and are processed in conjunction with the primary feed data.
This relationship enables the dynamic update of product information without altering the foundational primary feed. For example, if a product is part of a temporary promotion, the supplementary feed can add this information to the existing product listing in the primary feed, thereby highlighting the promotion without modifying the core product data.
The strategic use of primary and supplementary feeds in Google Merchant Center is a powerful tool for enhancing product visibility and appeal in Google Shopping. By meticulously curating and regularly updating these feeds, merchants can ensure their product listings are optimized for both search relevance and shopper engagement.
Moreover, leveraging the capabilities of supplementary feeds to add targeted information enables advertisers to tailor their approach to specific audiences and marketing goals, ultimately driving higher conversion rates and ROI.
In practice, this requires a deep understanding of the platform's requirements and the ability to analyze performance data to continually refine feed content. Collaboration between marketing, IT, and product management teams is often necessary to ensure the seamless integration and ongoing optimization of product feeds
In summary, mastering the intricacies of primary and supplementary feeds in Google Merchant Center is a technical and strategic endeavour that can significantly impact the success of Google Shopping campaigns. By leveraging these tools effectively, specialists can enhance product listings, cater to specific customer needs, and achieve a competitive advantage in the digital marketplace.
Creating and managing primary and supplemental feeds within Google Merchant Center is a fundamental task for e-commerce professionals aiming to optimize their online presence on Google Shopping. These feeds serve as the conduit through which your product data flows into the Merchant Center, allowing it to be displayed to potential customers. Below, we delve deeper into the specifics of creating and leveraging these feeds effectively.
A primary feed acts as the cornerstone of your product data strategy, serving as the main data source for the Merchant Center to access and showcase your product information. Here’s a more detailed look at its creation and management:
The creation of a primary feed requires careful attention to Google's data specifications and the strategic structuring of your product information to maximize visibility and engagement.
Supplemental feeds provide a way to enrich or update the product data contained in your primary feeds without altering the primary data structure. These feeds can include:
For businesses managing multiple client accounts through a multi-client account (MCA) structure, feed rules and supplemental feeds offer a layer of flexibility and control:
This hierarchical structure of feed management ensures that large retailers or agencies can effectively apply global strategies while retaining the ability to customize for specific sub-accounts or market needs.
The effective creation and management of primary and supplemental feeds in the Google Merchant Center are critical for the success of any Google Shopping campaign. By understanding and utilizing these tools, retailers can ensure their products are accurately represented, targeted to the right audience, and optimized for performance.
Whether managing a single account or multiple sub-accounts, the strategic use of these feeds can lead to improved visibility, engagement, and ultimately, sales performance on Google Shopping.
Feel more than welcome to get in contact with us in case you have any questions, we are always here to support you.
Subscribe and keep yourself updated with our newsletter as we go deeper into the world of e-commerce.
You can read how WakeupData helped Kaufmann to achieve a 44% revenue increase and 71% more sales YoY by utilising proper feed optimisation software.
Or how we helped Plantorama with the implementation of Google LIA, has taken the next step in their omnichannel journey, improving the buying experience for their customers, and has increased the store visit rate by 46%. At the same time, they saw an increase in conversion rate of 9% with Google LIA over traditional Google Shopping Ads.
Stay efficient!
P.S. We are geeky and nerdy and thus love to share knowledge with our audience so do not hesitate to contact us for more information on anything feed-related through our social media channels or contact information.
Book a short meeting with us and let's talk business.
You think your feeds are as efficient as they can be? Book a free feed audit and figure it out for yourself.