Toucan's Content Recommendations Leading Up to Seasonal Sales Periods

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OK, we'll kick off now. So hello everyone and welcome to another one of our Toucan Talks webinars. I'm Curtis Ritchie, our Marketing Manager here at Toucan, and we're really excited that you've all joined us today and are very much looking forward to running the session for you. If you want to learn about Toucan's content recommendations leading up to seasonal sales periods, then you're in the right place. We have Ben here, who is our creative partner at Toucan and an expert when it comes to everything creative on Amazon, and he will be taking you through our session today. So the session today will run for around 35 minutes, and that will consist of a 25 minute presentation followed by a 10 minute live Q&A. In terms of questions, please feel free to submit them by typing them into the Q&A section at any point during the webinar. I will collect all of these while Ben is presenting, and we will then answer as many as we can in the 10 minutes at the end. So now I will hand over to Ben to take you through today's session.

Cool, thank you Curtis. Just moving on, so regarding our agenda today: first we'll be looking into how to fully optimise your PDP. We'll be breaking down above and below the fold and following up with case studies and our PDP optimisation checklist, which will outline all the necessary steps to optimising your PDP. Following our PDP optimisation strategies, we'll be showing a glimpse into how we align both sponsored ads and DSP content to drive conversions during the Christmas shopping period for one of our clients within the beauty and electronics category. And then finally, we'll be covering the ins and outs of AB testing, so what is AB testing, when we should AB test and why we should AB test.

So kicking off, the importance of having a fully optimised PDP. Having a fully optimised PDP is crucial not just for seasonal sales periods, but throughout the year. A fully optimised PDP not only helps consumers find all the necessary information to complete a purchase, but by utilising all the content pieces available on the listing, like a full listing, image set, A+ content and brand story, this can help to increase visibility and boost conversion rates dramatically, much like we'll see throughout the following case studies. In addition to this, we see a lot of our clients' competitors not fully optimise their PDP, which in turn gives clients we partner with a huge competitive advantage, especially during the high traffic seasonal sales periods. And lastly, providing consumers with highly converting and information rich content ultimately helps reduce returns.

Moving on. So, above the fold: at Toucan we'd like to break down the PDP into two sections, above and below the fold. When considering above the fold, we want the information to be primarily conversion focused. So this will involve showcasing relevant, informative, concise and accurate information, and covers elements like product details, bullet points, the main image, additional listing imagery, titles, ratings, pricing, promotions and, in some instances, variations. I like to think of this as the attention grabbing stage, as if we're in a store and we've maybe picked up the product and are looking at the front of pack. We're wanting our attention to be grabbed, and letting a bit more top line information in.

So focusing on our first case study, we worked with New Co to optimise their main image ahead of some of the key seasonal sales periods. For this specific SKU, this was the environmental and sustainability focused SKU. We saw that when the product arrived, it came with these really great front of pack stickers that pulled some of these great USPs out. So what we wanted to do was implement these onto the front of pack, as well as increase the size of the product to maximise the full width of the mobile phone or desktop screen we have available. In addition to that, we also made sure to increase vibrancy and sharpness, just to give it a little bit more pop when consumers are seeing that on the product search page as well as the product detail page. So just by implementing these small uplifts and small additions, we saw a 25% increase in glance views, which just goes to show all these small updates can really affect how many consumers are actually transitioning from that product search page to the product detail page to complete purchases.

Following that, this is our first seasonal case study, concerning After Eight. As you can see from the before image, this generic After Eight image was used throughout the year. Then, as we move closer to those seasonal sales periods, we updated the content to be more Christmas focused. By doing that, we saw conversion rate, glance views and P Cult year on year increase at 34%, 39% and 85% respectively. As you can see, actioning that across the whole listing image created a really engaging and really tailored approach, and a bespoke customer journey for consumers landing on that PDP.

Additional to that, we did the exact same thing for Jelly Tots. As you can see from the before image, it's similar to that After Eight image, generic, which could be used throughout the year. And in the after image, we implemented the actual packaging into scenes that speak more to a seasonal feel, including things like rich wood tables and foliage around that to describe those seasonal things as well. By doing this, we again saw conversion rate, glance views and Pecos year on year increase at 100%, 1275% and 265% respectively. So again, some really great results there, just by implementing some additional content that maybe is already available to you within your image catalogues, or is obviously something that we can work with you to create bespoke exactly for these sales periods.

So just moving on. Breaking down below the fold, we're firmly into the discovery phase now. Much like picking up the product from a shelf and looking at the front of pack is attributed to above the fold content, think of below the fold content as if we've turned the product around, looking at the side and back of pack information. So, as we now have the consumer's attention, content that can be found here is generally more descriptive, engaging and visually appealing, through the use of additional modules like A+ content, brand stories, and reviews and ratings.

And then just looking at a quick case study as well, this is the implementation of the Nestle brand story that we implemented earlier this year. Just by implementing this brand story, Nestle saw a 16% increase in revenue over an 8 week period. So this is a new content piece available to PDPs on Amazon, but it works really well for clients of all sizes. But specifically for Nestle, this was a great addition just because you're able to link all of the different product categories under the overarching brand in one really convenient place. So you're able to link directly to PDPs, brand specific pages, or the brand store as a whole. It creates a really easy way to shop, promote cross and upsell opportunities, and synergise that whole shopping experience within the brand.

And then moving on, we're just going to touch on the product detail page optimisation checklist. So to wrap up this section, we've pulled together this, which outlines everything we like to implement for our clients, which include things like main image optimisation strategies. So this is where we've shown how only small updates to the front of pack can dramatically improve click through rates and drive conversions. We also like to make sure we've got 7 to 9 listing images. We've seen that products with a more complete listing image set will rank higher on the product search page than those without. Following that, we'd like to make sure we've implemented video content. So keeping up with consumer trends is increasingly important to us at Toucan, so we want to make sure we're providing shoppers with this video content to create a more immersive experience, which is increasingly important when shopping on Amazon. In addition to that, we also like to make sure we've got links to brand stores, so making sure that your product details are clearly visible. You also want to make sure that the rest of your product catalogue is easily discoverable, and linking to brand stores through links under your title, or through brand stories, is a great way to increase brand awareness and promote cross and upsell opportunities for the rest of the range. Following on from brand stories, like we've just touched on, these help to create synergy between the brand's different product catalogues and, much like brand stores, help to increase visibility and discoverability. Second, following that, premium A+ content: this is a great addition to any PDP, and through the inclusion of video content and other more interactive modules, we're able to create visually engaging imagery that pushes consumers to convert. And then finally, AB testing, a great way to identify which content resonates best with the consumers, which we'll be touching on a little later in this presentation.

Cool. So moving swiftly on, we're now going to look at how we can best align SBAs with DSP content to create a seamless customer journey through consistent imagery. So as you can see from the examples on the right hand side, our Studios and Ads teams worked in collaboration to develop consistent content, with relevant imagery and copy that allow consumers to enjoy a seamless customer journey across the sales funnel. In addition to syncing SBA sponsored brand ads and DSP, we also made sure to translate that over to the brand store landing pages where consumers completed purchases. And with this final step, we saw some great results versus Amazon benchmarks.

So following on from this, some of the results: from sponsored ads during Q4, sponsored product ads had an increased ROAS and click through rate of 44% and 60%. Sponsored brand ads had an increased ROAS and click through rate of 8% and 125%, and sponsored display ads had an increased ROAS of 587%. In addition to sponsored ads, we saw that DSP during Q4 had an increased click through rate of 80%, an increased DPVR, or detailed page view rate, of 1450%, and a ROAS increase of 1000%. So by simply synchronising imagery across the sales funnel, we were able to dramatically improve performance on a super large scale.

Cool. And then finally, moving on to AB testing. So first we'll look at what AB testing is. So for those who don't know, AB testing involves pitting two sets of content against each other to see which produces the best results. Usually control, or variant A, is the original version, while variant B is the modified version. But before conducting the tests, we need to first establish our hypothesis, so what do we expect to happen, and what kind of KPIs, whether that's conversion rate, click through rate, or all those kinds of things, are we planning to use to measure this success. And then, following all of this, we need to analyse our results to see which set produced the best outcome.

So moving on to when. I think this is the most prudent part, so when we should conduct AB testing. Generally, AB testing can be conducted throughout the year, but more specifically, we want to run AB tests when we're aiming to optimise conversion rates, testing new designs or layout changes, validating our hypothesis, or improving overall content engagement.

So moving on to why, some of the more important bits on why we should look at AB testing. AB testing has been proven to increase conversion rates, with brands using My Experiments in Vendor or Seller Central reporting improved conversion rates of up to 15%. As well as this, brands also observed a 25% sales uplift by optimising content on their PDPs directly, based on consumer insights derived from AB testing. And then finally, increased engagement: optimised content can help build trust in a brand, leading to an increased number of loyal and repeat customers, which ultimately is what we want during these sales periods as well.

So again, looking at one of our case studies, we saw that Nestle, by optimising their main image and pulling some of those elements that are contained within the pack outside of the pack, we were able to improve ordered units and conversion rate by 23% and 20% respectively. And this can be done with lots of different kinds of products and brands. Maybe in terms of other ways we can optimise main imagery, or optimise main imagery in terms of AB testing, we could pit two different content pieces together, where maybe front of pack USPs haven't been edited versus where they have been edited to be a bit larger, so they're more easily readable and clear from the product search page, much like what we did for New Co in the initial case study we went through. But for Nestle, this is a really great and easy way to inform their decision making across the rest of their main imagery throughout the rest of their product catalogue, concerning lots of different brands, not just within confectionery, but maybe dairy and pet categories as well.

Great. And then, so to wrap up, just to touch on some other additions to the main image we can also test: this includes things like product images, A+ content and brand stories, and more, so including things like titles, bullet points and descriptions as well. So the entirety of the PDP is covered within AB testing, which is really great. So we can really look to fully optimise these PDPs leading up to any seasonal sales events, whether that's Christmas, Easter or things like back to school as well.

So just to wrap up, we've looked at Toucan's best in class PDP optimisation strategies, as well as run through our PDP optimisation checklist. We've also shown how synchronising sponsored ads, DSP, brand store and PDP content across the sales funnel can dramatically improve performance at a large scale. And then finally, we've looked in depth at and displayed the benefits of AB testing. I hope people found this webinar useful moving forward for your brand, and please don't hesitate to reach out if you'd like to learn more about Toucan Studio Services and how we can best implement optimisation strategies for your brand.

Thanks for that, Ben, that was great. We have some questions that have come through that we can now answer in the live Q&A.

Live Q&A

So to get us started off, are there any specific categories or niches that benefit more from seasonal strategies?

So yeah, I think before answering this question, we should maybe consider the categories we're seeing implement updates and changes. From a physical retail perspective, I think we're in agreement that decorations, messaging and imagery are all being implemented earlier and earlier each year, and those updates are generally more attached to the grocery category, I would say, which when broken down further could cover subcategories like wine and spirits and confectionery. But in addition to grocery, we've seen from case studies like Shell, which we went through earlier in this presentation, that categories like electronics can also benefit heavily from implementing seasonal content strategies. But I guess, saying that, different seasonal periods bring different categories their time to shine, as we've also worked with stationery and electronics brands to implement back to school content, which has helped them massively in regards to increasing visibility and awareness, as well as driving conversions. So generally, one specific category doesn't attribute to all the seasonal sales periods, it's case specific I would say, but I think most categories can be covered within one or multiple different sales periods throughout the year.

OK, great, thank you. Another question we have is, when should sellers start preparing their seasonal content for peak shopping times, such as Black Friday, Christmas and back to school?

So I think at Toucan, the process of implementing these seasonal content updates starts maybe two to three months before these sales periods get into full swing. We like to start the process quite a way before the seasonal sales periods, and that's because at the start of this process it's all about confirming things like which ASINs will receive seasonal content updates, and then working collaboratively with our clients to identify key messaging, imagery and overall content they'd like to implement across the catalogue. But typically our clients selling within the wine and spirits and confectionery categories have a large product offering, so implementing these changes needs to be actioned, like I said, two to three months before, so that they're ready to showcase optimised imagery in time for their peak. So yeah, I would say generally, like I said, two to three months, but again, case by case. But it's better to be more prepared than not, so I would definitely give it at least two months before the seasonal sales periods to start this process and start getting seasonal content implemented.

OK, great. Another question we have is, how do you align seasonal content with sponsored product or brand ad creatives?

Oh, OK, nice. So I guess, much like we've seen with Scholl, a great way to align seasonal content with sponsored product or sponsored brand creative is to create a tailored shopping experience across the entirety of that sales activation funnel, which tracks the journey all the way from seeing the initial ad, to visiting the brand store, to navigating to the PDP to complete the purchase. So it's all about creating, I would say, a consistent experience that keeps the consumer engaged throughout their shopping journey. And again, I like to think of this as if you were maybe in a shopping centre: you're met with seasonal ads pulling up to the car park to spark interest, and then throughout the rest of your journey you might be met with additional imagery and content that builds on that initial interaction, before you visit the shop to complete the purchase. So it's mirroring what we're seeing from a real world perspective, but online, from a digital perspective as well. So it's about making that PDP and the entire consumer sales journey really consistent and synergised, by creating that consistent imagery and providing that imagery to consumers as they're moving along that funnel.

Nice, thank you. Another question we have here is, should listing images also be used in a brand store, or are different images more preferable?

So this one specifically, I think I understand, maybe it can be ideal to translate imagery that's already been created to another area of Amazon creative. So I understand that it's maybe a quick way to make sure we've got content on the brand store. But I think ideally we want to make sure that those different content pieces are differentiated, because they're serving two different purposes. So listing imagery, like I've disclosed throughout the presentation, is very conversion focused, concise, relevant information, which is just there to grab consumers' attention. I think for brand stores, once a consumer's on the brand store, they're in a little bit more of a discovery phase, so the content, or the text content coupled with the imagery, can go into a little bit more depth, and is probably sized slightly differently as well, just to make sure we're taking into account both desktop and mobile views. So in an ideal world, we want to make sure those are both differentiated, just to serve the consumer with the exact purpose that they're needed for in these two different scenarios, much like A+ content as well. So we want to make sure A+ content differentiates from listing imagery content as well, just because when a consumer is met with either of these kinds of content pieces on the PDP, they're serving two different purposes, as well as that brand store. So ideally, like I said, it's good to differentiate those kinds of things, but if that's all we've got to play with, and if you're under a time crunch, then I think it's OK to implement those kinds of things, but as long as they're consistent, which is great.

OK, thank you. And one final question, Ben: what is the value in a shop the range image and listing imagery?

So I think the value of a shop the range image, I think maybe it depends on whether it's a small brand that's new to Amazon or looking to establish themselves on Amazon, or an overarching brand that has multiple ranges. I think for both instances, it's just a good idea to implement that imagery, whether it's on the listing imagery, A+ or brand store, just to increase visibility and awareness of the overarching product catalogue and the different products that could be used in conjunction with each other. So I think making sure that we're showcasing those kinds of things, either through range imagery or maybe variations attached to that product detail page, is really key to making the rest of the brand shoppable. So I think it's very crucial that we are implementing this, if not in the listing imagery, then maybe through a product video that showcases the brand or range as a whole, or again imagery on the A+ or brand store. So it's just about creating a really engaging shopping experience and showcasing all the products and services that you have to offer to consumers.

OK, that's brilliant. Thanks Ben for answering all those questions, and we'll wrap it up there for all our guests on the webinar. A big thanks to everyone for coming today to our Toucan Talks webinar. If you would still like to get in touch with us, if we didn't get round to answering any of your questions, or you would like to know more, please do get in touch with us by email at hello@toucanecommerce.com. Another big thank you again for coming today, and we hope to see you at another Toucan Talks event, whether that is online or in person in the future. So thanks, and have a great rest of your day. Thanks everyone.