Strengthen your data discipline and boost your ad performance by using accurate data to optimise your campaigns and target your customers more effectively.
Martin Langborg Hansen
Do you have data discipline? If not, there’s a high chance you’re not getting the most out of your advertising budget
In a digital world where Google’s algorithms are becoming increasingly sophisticated, it is more important than ever to be disciplined with your own data – particularly your product data. Google and other platforms are constantly advancing in areas such as machine learning, big data, and automation. That’s why it’s crucial to provide Google’s algorithms with the right data, so you get maximum value from your ad spend.
After reading this article, you’ll understand why product data is so important for your webshop, and the potential consequences if you don’t stay on top of your product data!
Contents
Product data is the information you assign to your products on your webshop. This includes the product title, description, price and even the image. However, you can go much deeper than just completing the fields your customers see on your website. It’s also important to add additional parameters, which help platforms like Google or Facebook better understand your products. This could include details such as brand, gender (for example, for clothing), or GTIN numbers.
The options available to you can vary greatly depending on which CMS you use. As a result, we often see missing relevant data on products if those fields aren’t available as standard.
One of the platforms where it’s vital to have complete product data is Google Shopping. Using a product feed and Google Merchant Center, you create ads directly in Google’s shopping feature, where the product image, title, price, and even reviews are displayed. The product feed is pulled directly from your CMS, which means it’s in your own backend that you need to ensure as much information as possible is attached to your products.
The product title is one of the most important indicators for Google to match your product with a search query. Depending on what you consider relevant, it can be beneficial to include the brand, function, material, size, colour and, if applicable, the serial number in your titles. Product titles and descriptions should also be closely aligned with the search terms your users are using.
Example:
Search term: Nike Air Max 270
Poor title: “Nike Air Shoes“
Good title: “Nike Air Max 270 Women’s trainers – white“
There will also be underlying values, such as brand (Nike), gender (Women), and colour (White). These values can be used to build dynamic titles across your feed, so the correct title is automatically created for each product. This way, the feed will automatically insert the right brand, gender or colour in the title. The title you use on your webshop doesn’t necessarily have to be the same as the one shown on a platform. On Google and Facebook, you can include more information in the title than you might need on your website.
Take a look at Zalando’s setup, for example:
In the feed, this title contains all the necessary information relevant to the product (although there’s a display error on gender):
This does not mean you need to aim for the same level of data control as Zalando – that can be impossible. It’s just to illustrate what’s possible with the right setup.
The product feed is made up of a number of data fields, which are the fields that send the necessary information to the platform you want to sell your products on. There are three types of fields:
The required fields can vary depending on which platform you are using the feed for. Typically, the plugin you use will automatically assemble the required fields when you select the platform.
Title, description, price and image_link are examples of fields that are usually required.
Recommended fields are data fields that are not mandatory for uploading your feed, but it is advised to include them. These are the fields where you can gain a competitive edge.
Fields such as brand and product_type are important for segmenting your campaigns by brand or category level. These are two fields we always recommend setting up. If you include these, you can, for example, bid differently on brands or categories where you have the highest margin. Another use is for products where you know you are price competitive.
By adding these fields, you’re also giving Google a stronger indication of what type of product it is, which puts you in a better position in the competition for search visibility.
GTIN is another important field, which used to be a requirement for Google Shopping, but is now only recommended. GTIN is also known as an EAN number (the number you might see under barcodes), which specifies exactly which product it is, as the number is unique. By attaching this data to your product, you can tell Google precisely which product it is. This is a big advantage in search results and can enable your products to appear in price comparison modules, among others.
In some industries, GTIN can be a key parameter for better performance. Not having GTIN in your feed can put you one step behind your competitors, but there are several reasons why you might not have it. Your backend needs to be set up to add GTIN values to products, and of course, you need to have the numbers available. Don’t panic if you don’t have GTIN in your feed. Your ads will still run, but we recommend using it if possible. Google may still reject products if they know for certain there is a GTIN, but it’s not included. This is often the case for well-known brands.
Additionally, it can be useful for some product feeds to include parameters such as gender or sizes, so the platform you use can better distinguish whether the product is intended for men or women. Sizes are relevant for clothing, for example. Again, this requires the data to be correctly configured in your shop system.
Custom fields are usually only used when you have very specific segmentation needs. For example, you may want individual budgets for certain price intervals, or to bid differently depending on your shipping costs. In this case, you can create a custom field with your own filters.
This is often a more technical solution and is not recommended for beginners. In some cases, you may need a third-party system before you can set up the necessary filters.
In summary, the more data you can provide in your product feed, the better your chances of being visible on Google, Facebook, Pricerunner or wherever you want to be seen. The most important fields to keep updated are:
And if possible:
If you’re falling behind with your product data, it can have a significant impact on your online marketing performance across several channels. Here are some of the consequences you may face:
These are just some of the issues we see with poor data discipline. Unless you address them, all of the above will ultimately lead to lost revenue.
When setting up your product feed, there are some very basic steps you can take to ensure maximum effectiveness. These may seem obvious, but we often see mistakes or missing information.
By following these steps, you have a solid foundation for performing well on your chosen platforms. There are many more elements you can work with in your product feed, but the above are the best starting points and relatively easy to implement.
As well as providing the right inputs to your product feed, you must also follow the guidelines for the platform you intend to use your feed on.
In general, this means using common sense. For example, you must not advertise counterfeit goods, dangerous products, or inappropriate content.
There may also be specific industries where visibility is restricted or you need to go through certain approval processes to advertise.
This includes products containing alcohol, 18+ content, health-related products, political content, or trademarks.
As mentioned throughout this article, your webshop may not be set up to configure your feeds with the correct data. Fortunately, there are third-party systems available to help in various ways. The list is long, but if you need advice on how to get your product feed running smoothly, do not hesitate to contact us at Wemarket on 70 44 42 90 or write to us via the form here: Contact us
You can also enhance your data with price monitoring or profit tracking systems, ensuring you remain competitive on specific product categories in your business – while still maintaining a healthy profit margin.
In Google Ads, the past year has seen a strong focus on automated recommendations, automated bidding, and Smart Campaigns. Google is developing its systems to be smarter than what humans can manually control, based on the huge amounts of data they possess. This has both advantages and disadvantages, and Google’s recommendations aren’t always the best to follow. However, Google’s features are now so advanced that it’s hard to achieve better results by managing everything manually.
This means you generally see better performance the more you feed these algorithms – with data, images, remarketing lists, and so on.
That doesn’t mean automation and Smart Campaigns are always the right solution. But when you use them, it’s all about giving Google the best possible conditions to perform, and here, good data discipline is absolutely crucial.
I hope this article has given you a clear impression of just how important it is to be structured with your product data. It can take considerable effort to enrich your products with large volumes of information, but in the long run, it’s crucial for ensuring your business performs at its best.
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