B2B Agility™ Episode #33: B2B E-Commerce Content Optimization with Ashlyn Fulton, D'Addario & Company
Release Date: December 17, 2024
In Episode #33 of B2B Agility™, hosted by Greg Kihlström from The Agile Brand, the spotlight shines on Ashlyn Fulton, Senior Digital Content Manager at D'Addario & Company. This episode delves deep into the intricacies of content creation and optimization within the B2B e-commerce space, offering valuable insights for marketers striving to enhance their digital strategies.
Introduction: Setting the Stage
Greg Kihlström opens the episode by emphasizing the critical role of content in driving customer engagement and business growth in the evolving digital landscape. Speaking from Opticon 2024 in San Antonio, Texas, Greg introduces Ashlyn Fulton and outlines the episode's focus on B2B and DTC e-commerce content optimization, the impact of generative AI, and the influence of platforms like Optimizely.
Notable Quote:
“Is your e-commerce content working as hard as it should be? In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, strong content creation and management could be the key to unlocking both customer engagement and business growth.” – Greg Kihlström [01:08]
Guest Background: Meet Ashlyn Fulton
Ashlyn Fulton provides a comprehensive overview of her role at D'Addario & Company, a global manufacturer of guitar strings and instrument accessories operating in over 130 countries with more than 5,000 SKUs online. With a decade-long background in digital marketing, Ashlyn has transitioned from managing diverse digital channels to focusing primarily on website content management and optimization.
Notable Quote:
“I'm primarily focused on website content management and optimizations.” – Ashlyn Fulton [02:36]
Challenges in DTC and B2B Content Creation
Ashlyn discusses the unique challenges of managing content for both Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) and Business-to-Business (B2B) audiences. For DTC, the primary focus is on conversion to sales, loyalty programs, and cohesive messaging across multiple brand stories. Balancing sales goals with diverse business unit priorities requires data-driven strategies to align content with customer preferences.
In the B2B realm, the emphasis shifts to supporting dealers by providing the necessary tools and streamlined ordering processes. Ashlyn highlights the importance of creating templates and workflows that cater to both audiences simultaneously, ensuring efficiency without compromising on tailored messaging.
Notable Quotes:
“It's a lot to message in a cohesive way while hitting our sales goals and then also making all the business units happy.” – Ashlyn Fulton [03:26]
“Our focus is making our dealers happy, giving them the tools that they need to sell our products to their customers.” – Ashlyn Fulton [04:05]
Leveraging Optimizely for Content Management
A significant portion of the discussion centers on the use of Optimizely as a content management system (CMS). Ashlyn explains how Optimizely facilitates the creation of robust, reusable content components, streamlining the content creation process. For example, running targeted giveaways becomes efficient with reusable blocks that can be easily updated and deployed across the site.
Ashlyn also highlights specific features of Optimizely that have been instrumental in their e-commerce strategy, such as visitor groups for personalized content delivery, search and navigation tools for content optimization decisions, and the recently implemented ODP (Optimizely Data Platform) for enhanced content analytics and experimentation.
Notable Quotes:
“The CMS makes it really easy for us to create robust content pages and components that can easily be duplicated and reused without having to start from scratch every single time.” – Ashlyn Fulton [05:16]
“We use visitor groups for personalization a lot across the site, just making sure that the right audiences are seeing the right content.” – Ashlyn Fulton [06:07]
The Role of Generative AI in E-Commerce Content
Generative AI emerges as a transformative tool in the conversation. Ashlyn envisions AI assisting in content suggestions, campaign execution, and large-scale projects like product description rewrites, which are particularly daunting given their extensive SKU range. Looking ahead, she anticipates AI enhancing personalization by analyzing customer data, suggesting segmentation strategies, and facilitating highly personalized customer experiences.
However, Ashlyn also underscores the necessity of retaining a human touch, expressing caution against over-reliance on AI to the detriment of human creativity and oversight.
Notable Quotes:
“I would also really like to use it for a large scale copy project such as product description rewrites, something that could take months or even years given the amount of SKUs that we have.” – Ashlyn Fulton [07:42]
“I don't think it's going to take over everything completely. At least right now there's always got to be at least a little bit of a human touch.” – Ashlyn Fulton [09:14]
Continuous Improvement in Content Strategy
Ashlyn emphasizes the importance of building content with continuous improvement in mind. She outlines D'Addario's strategy of integrating optimization considerations from the planning stage, utilizing a robust briefing process and tools like Clarity to analyze user engagement metrics. Regular reviews and optimizations are facilitated through tools such as Siteimprove for site performance and SEO, Ahrefs for keyword research, and Microsoft Clarity for user behavior insights.
Notable Quotes:
“We have a really amazing strategy team and a really good brief process along with several tools that we use to make sure that we're taking optimization into consideration at the content planning stage.” – Ashlyn Fulton [09:45]
“It's been an absolute game changer just making sure that our site is accessible to everyone.” – Ashlyn Fulton [10:38]
Future Trends and Advice for E-Commerce Brands
Looking forward, Ashlyn identifies AI as a pivotal trend that e-commerce brands must embrace. She advises companies to integrate AI into their strategies fearlessly, viewing it as a tool to enhance marketing efforts rather than a threat to jobs. Ashlyn also shares her enthusiasm for ongoing innovations presented at Opticon 2024, particularly regarding AI roadmaps and experimentation tools that promise to further refine and personalize customer interactions.
Notable Quotes:
“AI is now, it's the future. And my advice would be to get on board and start figuring out how your company can use it and just don't be scared of it because it's a tool for marketers, not something that's going to take our job at least yet.” – Ashlyn Fulton [11:28]
Conclusion: Key Takeaways
Greg wraps up the episode by thanking Ashlyn for her insightful contributions. He reiterates the importance of agile content strategies in B2B e-commerce and encourages listeners to explore more episodes and resources available through B2B Agility™.
Final Notable Quote:
“What do you do to stay agile in your role and how do you find a way to do it consistently? Being open to new ideas and new ways of doing things, using data as much as we can to learn more about our customers.” – Ashlyn Fulton [12:46]
Summary
This episode offers a comprehensive exploration of B2B e-commerce content optimization, highlighting the delicate balance between DTC and B2B content strategies, the transformative role of platforms like Optimizely, and the burgeoning impact of generative AI. Ashlyn Fulton's insights provide actionable strategies for marketers aiming to enhance their content creation and management processes, emphasizing continuous improvement and the strategic integration of emerging technologies.
For more detailed insights, listeners are encouraged to follow the show notes for links to Ashlyn, D'Addario, and Optimizely, and to explore other episodes at www.b2bagility.com.