Acomprehensiveguideto UGCfor e-commerce 3 4 10 20 23 27 34 Introduction BuildUGC-richPDPstogrowrevenue Addsearchvaluewithuser-generatedcontentPowerandefficientcontentsupplychain KeeppeoplecomingbacktobuydirectlyLearnfromthevoiceofyourcustomer Keytakeaways What’sinside 2 GUIDETOUGCFORE-COMMERCE ©2023BAZAARVOICE,INC. Introduction Commercehasshifted—brandsandretailersarenolongerleadingthechargeanddictatinghowandwhatconsumersbuy.Consumersareundoubtedlymoreeffectiveatsellingproductsthanbrandsintoday’scommercelandscape. Butasmarketers,we’rebiasedtowardbrandedcontent.Andwe’vespentasizablepercentageofourbudgetandtimecreatingit.In2021alone,brandsspent$7billiononadvertisingtoinformandinfluenceconsumerbehavior. Thefactisshopperswanttohearfromothershoppers. 83%ofshopperssurveyedinour2022ShopperExperienceIndexsaidtheytrustorganicpostsfrominfluencersmorethansponsoredposts.1Anduser-generatedcontent(UGC)outperformsbrandedcontent onallcounts,authenticityincluded. Ifengagingconsumerssolelybypushingmessagesthroughadvertisingnolongerworks,whatdoes?Brandsmustempowertheircustomerstoadvocateandsellontheirbehalf.CompaniesthatpursueaUGCmarketingstrategywillincreasetheirrevenue,conversionrate,SEOimpact,andin-storesales(ifapplicable). Here’showtogetthoseresults. GUIDETOUGCFORE-COMMERCE3 ©2023BAZAARVOICE,INC. # BuildUGC-richPDPstogrowrevenue Today,there’stremendouspressureoncompaniestooperatemoreprofitably.Andthere’salsopressureonstakeholderstodomorewithfewerresources. Manye-commercemanagersarebeingaskedtoincreaseeverythingfromtrafficandconversionratestoaverageordervaluesandrevenue—andprovethey’redoingitefficiently. Youcanaccomplishallthesethingsbyfocusingononecoreareaofyourbusiness: Theproductdetailpage. Well-optimizedPDPscanimprovesearchresults,provideabetteruserexperience,andgiveyouacompetitiveedgeoverotherbrandsandretailers.Andtoday’sshopperjourneyisfueledbytherichPDP. Yellowbackpack Realpeoplepackingintheadventurewithus.Shareyourswith#GoFurther GUIDETOUGCFORE-COMMERCE4 ©2023BAZAARVOICE,INC. Whyisarichproductdetailpageimportant? ThetraditionalPDPbeginswithaproductandsurroundsitwithsupportingcontent.Unfortunately,onaverage,only1.77%ofvisitstothesetraditionale-commercewebsitesconvertintoapurchase.2 Strugglingtoconverttrafficisacommonproblem. Infact,only15%ofthe71top-grossingUSandEuropeane-commercesiteshave a“good”productpageuserexperience—andmorethanhalfofallproductpagesrankeither“mediocre”or“poor.”3 Whyareproductdetailpagesunderperformingdespitebeingcriticaltoe-commercesuccess? ThecommonreasonswhyPDPsfailare: •Theyaretoobasic •Theyhaven’tbeenoptimizedfortargetcustomers •Theydon’tinspireshoppers Unlikeatraditionalproductdetailpage,therichPDPstartswithimagesanduser-generatedcontent.Integratingshoppercontentdrivesinterestatevery stageoftheshopperjourney– fromtheinitialsearchallthewaythroughtothepurchase—andhelpstocreateasiteexperiencethatrivalsthebiggestofyour e-commercecompetitors. GUIDETOUGCFORE-COMMERCE5 ©2023BAZAARVOICE,INC. Howtobuildahigh-converting,richPDP Optimizingyourproductdetailpagesmakesiteasierforcustomerstofindtheinformationtheyneedaboutyourproductsandimprovestheiroverallwebsiteexperience.Andprovidingagooduserexperiencecanhelpbuildcustomer loyalty,encouragerepeatpurchases,andincreasesales. Buthow,exactly,doyoubuildarichPDP?Theseninetipswilldriveconversionandimproveyourwebsite’suserexperience. 1.Featurecontentshoppersneedtomakeinformeddecisions Helpfulproductdescriptions,reviews,andshopperimagesandvideosinspireconsumerconfidenceandincreasethelikelihoodofapurchase. 88% ofshoppersusereviewstodiscover andevaluateproducts1 50% ofconsumerspreferamixofbranded andshopperphotosandvideos1 2.Helpin-storeshopperseasilyresearchyourproductsonline Bringinguser-generatedcontenttothebrick-and-mortarexperiencecanhelpin-storeshoppersmakepurchasedecisions.Forexample,36%ofshopperswant virtualdisplaysinstoresshowingcustomerreviews,photos,andvideos,while34%wantQRcodesthatcanbescannedtoreadonlinereviews.Additionally,33%ofshopperswanttoseelive,up-to-datestarratingsforproductsinstores.4 3.Showcaseyourhighestconvertingcontentfirst Showcasinghigh-convertinguser-generatedcontentatthetopofyourproductdetailpageiscriticaltocapturingtheattentionofonlineshoppers.Why? Because79%ofshopperssayonlinereviewshaveasmuchofanimpactas recommendationsfromfriendsandfamily,5and53%feelmoreconfidentintheirpurchasewhentheyseeshopperimagesratherthanprofessionalphotos.4 4.Setvolume,quality,andrecencygoals Setbenchmarkstostayontopofyouruser-generatedcontent.Regularlyauditandoptimizeyourshoppercontentforquantity,quality,andrecency. 1/3ofshoppersconsiderreviewswith photosmorecrediblethanreviewswithout6 1/3sayaproductneedsmorethan100reviewstobeconsideredcredible6 1/4ofshoppersexpectbetween51to100reviewsforcredibility6 2/3thinkreviewswritteninthepastthreemonthsaremorereliablethanolderreviews6 5.Makeproducthighlightseasytoskimread Keephighlightsbrief,usebulletpointstolistfeaturesandbenefits,orboldkeywordsorphrasestohelpcustomersquicklyfindspecificinfo. Add