Leveraging Your Product Data Feed: 10 Ways to Gain a Competitive Edge

Introduction

Are you looking for a way to stand out from your competitors and assert your presence in the market? Look no further! With a well-managed product data feed, you can achieve just that. By leveraging the wealth of information available in your product data feed, you can gain a competitive edge and watch your business soar. In this blog post, we'll explore 10 inventive ways you can use your product data feed to get ahead of the competition—plus a fun fact about data you might not know!

1. Detailed Descriptions for SEO

One of the best ways to gain a competitive advantage is by climbing the search engine ranks. To maximise your SEO potential, fill your product descriptions with relevant and engaging keywords. Your product knowledge, combined with the data provided by your feed, can be your secret weapon for keyword optimization. Remember, content is king!

However, steer clear of adding prices, discounts, promotional texts, or messages about shipping as these might frequently change over time. Keep those in the product feed.

2. Capitalise on Social Media

Integrate your product data feed with various social media platforms like Meta (Facebook & Instagram). This allows you to convert potential customers into followers by showcasing your best products using rich, eye-catching media in real-time. It's said that 71% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals! 

Social media platforms also allow you to be more creative with your product images - adding prices, discounts and promotional texts to image overlays through image transformations in your feed management system. 

3. Get Personalised with Recommendations

Using your customer's purchase history, recommendations can be automated based on products they've interacted with, customer preferences, or even real-time behaviour. Fine-tune your recommendation algorithms by drawing insights from your product data feed to create the most relevant and targeted suggestions.

4. Boost Retargeting Campaigns

Ever wonder why certain products you viewed online haunt you for weeks afterward? That's the power of retargeting campaigns! By utilising the product data feed, you can create dynamic ads that show the exact products your customers viewed, increasing the likelihood of a conversion.

View this RAINS case study on how they achieved success with Google Performance Max.

5. Enhance Comparison Shopping

Embrace your product data feed to feature your products on comparison shopping platforms like Google Shopping, PriceGrabber or Shopzilla. By doing so, you can improve your chances of reaching a large pool of potential customers and showcase your competitive price points.

Pro tip: WakeupData CSS (Comparison Shopping Service) is free for all users of the WakeupData feed management platform. 

6. Create Promotions Based on Inventory

Your product data feed can provide you with valuable insights into your inventory. Utilise this data to create promotions and bundle deals to sell products faster, especially those with low stock levels or slow-moving ones.

7. Analyse Your Competitors

Stay ahead of your competitors by analysing their product data feeds and identifying gaps in their offerings. You can then create niche products to fill those gaps, giving you a unique selling point that sets you apart.

One tool to keep track of your competitors’ pricing strategies is to use a price monitoring tool. 

Collecting your competitors’ prices on key products will allow you to increase or decrease bidding on products where you are more or less likely to be the cheapest option. Don’t waste your advertising budget on products that are not competitive.

8. Improve Product Images

Investing in high-quality product images can make all the difference in engaging customers. Your product data feed should include good images (min. 600x600px) that showcase your products from various angles, coupled with attractive and aesthetically pleasing visuals. 

Pro tip: If your product images are too small, our image transformation tool can add them to a canvas of the right size to avoid rejection in Google Merchant Center. But, this is only a temporary solution, you should always prioritise good product images.

If you only have one image available in your product feed, it is possible to scrape your website for additional images and then merge them into the product feed in the WakeupData platform.

Fun fact: Did you know that 67% of consumers consider clear, detailed images to carry more weight than product information, full descriptions, and customer ratings?

9. Optimise Product Titles

Your product titles have a significant impact on click-through rates. Make sure to use engaging and relevant keywords by extracting vital information from your product data feed. 

In some cases your basic product titles do not contain all the data you need to be found in searches. This can be fixed by including product attributes into the product title, and thereby constructing an optimised product title that will be found in relevant searches - and not least in specific searches - where the user is more likely to convert.

10. Monitor Performance

Continuously monitor your product data feed's performance and make any necessary adjustments. The channel templates you use in the WakeupData feed management platform will always be kept up-to-date with the channel requirements by our team of feed experts. You may need to manage the frequency of the feed updates - how many times a day is data updated - in seasonal sales where prices change often or products might be out of stock. Regularly optimising your data can prove invaluable in staying ahead of the competition.

Final Thoughts

There you have it — 10 inventive ways to use your product data feed to stand out in the market and gain a competitive edge. Remember, your data is your superpower. By harnessing it and using it strategically, you can create meaningful and lasting connections with your customers and outperform your competitors. 

If you need help managing your product feeds or just want to discuss the options a feed management platform gives you, feel free to book a demo and we will be happy to answer your questions.

Stay efficient!