AI has come a long way since it first debuted. From being nothing more than a bag of bolts to running a vast majority of our everyday lives, it seems unlikely that it will be taking a backseat to the future of technology. With some feeling reminiscent of the turn of the century when the internet put messengers out of jobs, it is understandable that there is an ever-growing pressure to “join in on the future.”
Embracing AI is inevitable, but this article provides expert-backed insight on why you should update your e-commerce content marketing strategy with human-optimized listings.
The Importance of Keeping E-Commerce Listings Updated
E-commerce content demands shift with algorithm changes, trends, and customer expectations. Staying on top of these changes might seem daunting, but those willing to go the distance may benefit from a positive impact on key performance metrics on e-commerce platforms. Below are a few reasons why you should ensure your content is regularly updated.
Changes in Algorithms
Search algorithms are king for generating traffic for your e-commerce website. We might not know exactly what’s behind the complex analysis performed by these algorithms, but a great rule of thumb is to remember that algorithms prioritize content designed for humans.
The term “designed for humans” requires in-depth dissecting as it offers the most insight on how to tailor content to suit the various steps in your customer’s purchasing journey.
Image from Semrush
To ensure your content remains visible to your customers, you should ensure it reads well and adequately satisfies the search query that directed them to your platform in the first place.
Changes in Consumer Behaviors
You might already know this, but companies are spending a fortune on data collection on their consumers. This is all in an attempt to understand and utilize consumer behaviors in e-commerce. Buyers’ needs and expectations change rapidly, often outpacing how fast businesses can adapt.
Regularly updating your listings with relevant, engaging, and high-quality content is the best way to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit from new market opportunities.
Competitive Advantage
If you’re selling on an e-commerce platform, you’re no stranger to competition and know the importance of standing out from the crowd. Creating content that not only aligns with your brand values but also reflects your commitment to quality is just another step to ensuring you outshine your competitors and retain the lion’s share of traffic generated from a search query.
The Limitations of AI in E-Commerce Content Creation: Where Human Content Shines
On a recent project for a client, we got to see just how important the “human touch” is when creating e-commerce content. Loctite is an industry leader in the construction industry, with its niche centering around adhesives such as world-leading specialty glues.
The company approached us to revamp their e-commerce listings and essentially “breathe new life” into them, as they were outdated, generic, and irrelevant to their consumers. Their content strategy involved drafting content from AI, which resulted in content that sounded and read okay but did not provide value to the customer.
Using this real-world scenario, below is an analysis of where the disparities between AI content creation and human content creation become clear.
Differentiating Similar Products
As mentioned earlier, Loctite deals with a wide range of products that sometimes overlap in utility, chemical, and structural formulas or physical properties. Their line of super glues, for example, consists of gel super glues, liquid super glues, and specialty super glues.
In its first AI draft, the language model showed an obvious struggle in creating unique selling points to match the sometimes subtle differences between the super glues. However, from the human perspective, a writer can efficiently review the product, identify the unique selling point, and create content around how this product would directly benefit the customer.
Unique Selling Points: Maintaining Relevance
Where AI could correctly identify unique selling points, it often struggled to highlight how they may be relevant to the customer, overlooked better selling points, or prioritized selling points that might not be of particular interest to the customer. An excellent example of this is AI doing a deep dive into how advanced Loctite’s formulas are in a manner that borders on a chemistry lecture.
Ideally, the human writer could point out how the advanced formula can benefit DIYers and professionals who prioritize an extra strong bond with added flexibility.
Keyword Optimization
It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of keywords in e-commerce content marketing. Recently, AI language models have gained the capability of incorporating keywords throughout the length of the content. However, its efficiency at doing this can be likened to slapping a band-aid onto a gaping wound (it’s not exactly useless, but it wouldn’t go so far as to save your life).
Image from Semrush
In e-commerce content marketing, keywords must be incorporated to sound natural to the customer.
This not only avoids a salesy tone but also lets algorithms know that your content is of high quality, allowing you to rank higher.
Brand Style and Unique Voice
Loctite’s super glues are known as record holders in the Guinness Book of World Records. However, an AI’s ability to remember that Loctite’s super glues can lift cars is not as good as a human writer’s. Similarly, AI struggles to get the full picture when capturing your brand’s unique style and voice.
Additionally, if you have adopted unique writing styles or voice techniques for your brand, AI will fall short of embodying these in your content strategy for e-commerce.
Improving Customer Connection
We are still a long way off from realizing Alex Proyas’ I, Robot dream of empathetic AIs. Current-day Sonny is incapable of understanding the customer journey, and its automated content doesn’t mirror the everyday frustrations your customers seek solutions to.
However, a human writer can envision themselves using your products (if they haven’t used them already), which poses the obvious advantage of creating content that connects with your customers.
The Art of Product Description
Crafting product descriptions requires a multifaceted approach. From the infographics to the captions and, finally, to the product descriptions, your approach must be dynamic to ensure you deliver high-quality and relevant content. AI might not be the best partner for this job.
A human writer can assess unique selling points, keywords, and other facets of your e-commerce content strategy to ensure you get perfect content every time. AI is undeniably an integral part of the future and is bound to impact various pillars of content marketing for e-commerce. However, some aspects of your content strategy are better off in human hands.
Improve Your Customer Product Interest
When navigating the topsy-turvy world of e-commerce, give yourself a head start and ensure maximum reach and visibility on platforms such as Amazon and other e-commerce websites by sourcing high-quality, relevant, and engaging content.
Express Writers focuses on high-value content, conversion-driven strategies, and specialized niches to ensure we deliver high-value content. Our expertise, personalization, and strategic thinking are bound to guarantee you the top spot in the e-commerce industry.