The powerful truth why CPG Brand websites still matter.
With active social media platforms, SaaS services for e-commerce, and loyalty programs — it feels like the brand website is constantly under attack.
They cost a lot to build, and questions like “What is the point of a website anymore?” or “Why can’t we just use social media for brand messaging?” are in the thoughts of Brand Managers with ever-tightening budgets.
But these aren’t thought experiments cooked up by strategists and echoed by Brand leaders — they are real questions being asked today.
Let’s discuss the big question…are brand websites even needed anymore?
What’s the problem?
CPG companies have some unique challenges when it comes to brand websites. We’ve been working in this space for 30 years and have designed and built many, many brand websites — so it’s fair to say we’re intimate with this space and the problem at hand. CPG Brands sell products and those sales have metrics and analytics attached to them to see where the sale was made, what led up to that sale, and what channels drove the most sales.
Brand websites aren’t showing the ROI Brand managers need to move the needle on their goals.
The problem with the Brand website is that it’s a passive actor and Brand Managers are concerned that all the budget poured into these brand websites isn’t showing the ROI they need to move the needle on their goals. And because brand websites typically lack direct conversion metrics that point to an actual sale prompted by the website — they have a right to be concerned.
It isn’t the whole story though. Once you peel back the layers, you’ll see that the value of a Brand website rests not only in its conversion influence but also in its ability to connect and interact with the full marketing ecosystem.
Let’s start at the beginning.
When we talk about Brand sites, we need to first identify what their purpose is. A brand site is, at the end of the day, just another channel to reach consumers. It lives in an ecosystem of other media — TV, radio, out-of-home, etc. and like those other media channels, it has its own unique purpose and its own way of delivering value to a consumer.
To understand why a Brand’s website is important, though, we need to understand what consumers want from a CPG brand and how the brand site provides that.
- Consumers want brands that align with their values — it’s important to consumers that the brands they follow, enjoy, and buy from believe in the same things they believe in.
- They are looking for product details — things like flavor and format, allergies, and dietary needs. These are all things that inform purchase decisions and consumers search for it regularly (even while standing in the aisle).
- They need to know where to buy. Sure, consumers have their regular shopping haunts, but products sell out on shelves and finding where to buy their favorite products is key to making a purchase.
- They want to communicate with the brand. While social media is a popular format for doing this, the discourse is either angry customers looking for immediate action or fluffy love pieces that provide little value. No, for legitimate product questions and concerns — consumers want a direct line to the brand.
The “one source of truth” that reenforces your brand’s values.
While social channels are important for getting the word out and aligning with influencers that embody your brand’s values, its presence is fleeting. But, your brand site’s capacity as a passive actor makes it the perfect location to house and communicate your brand’s message in a more permanent fashion.
The brand site is the online face of your brand and provides a focused outlet for your message — especially Cause Marketing and other brand-specific communications that increase brand affinity. It is the primary owned channel and the one source of truth about your brand. More importantly it eliminates outside noise from the experience. The result? You have their full attention.
There is no truth without trust so let’s look at how a brand site builds trust both psychologically within the consumers sentiment AND on Google, where a legitimate URL increases authority scores for search results.
Trust is Key
A UK study by FashionUnited found that 8 in 10 consumers trust a brand with a website over one with only a social media presence. It makes sense, right? Brands without the stable foundation an official website provides don’t quite feel real — and worse, could be seen as scams.
On the other side, Google’s TrustRank values a brand’s official website because it sends signals to Google that you are a legitimate, unique brand. A registered URL, robust About page, informative Contact page (among other “signals”) increase the TrustRank thus producing better search results for users and better findability for Brands. The more legitimate you are, the more you’re trusted, the higher Google ranks you.
But don’t take my work for it…Eric Schmidt, Google CEO has this to say about brands: “Brands are the solution, not the problem… brands are how you sort out the cesspool.”
The Information consumers want.
We’ve already established that trust is the cornerstone of the brand website. That trust extends to the content provided on the brand site, content that consumers are looking and searching for. Your customers rely on your brand site to provide facts, especially when it comes to product information and details but more importantly — where and how to buy your product.
Where to find and buy.
It’s tempting to believe that most people shop online via Amazon or Walmart — when the reality is it’s about 56%. That leaves almost half of consumers still shopping in-store. This alone, makes product and store locators invaluable in providing a major piece of information customers want — where they can buy your product.
Several of our CPG clients offer e-commerce through 3rd party tools like Price Spider that scrape e-commerce sites for products and prices. The advantage of tools like this is that a Brand can provide online purchase routes for customers without building or hosting their own e-commerce functionality. The downside is that the user is sent offsite to complete the purchase, leaving any analytics for that purchase lost after the initial click. There are ways to connect these experiences, but it requires some coordination—happy to discuss, but this is a more strategic post ;)
Information is great, but what about the sale?
When it comes to how you can maximize youe brand website to positively affect conversion — we can use the very nature of these tools to encourage choice along the user’s journey. Consider these:
- Your product is out of stock at Jane’s favorite store. She takes out her phone and searches for it nearby. Your brand site’s product locator appears as a category link, and a single click provides Jane with a store that has your product in stock…only a 1/4 mile away.
- Steve’s child is allergic to gluten, while in aisle he’s trying to decide between your brand and a competitor — he wants to purchase your brand because he knows and trusts it—he’s just unsure if it will make his child sick. A quick online search provides the allergen information he needs right from your Brand site—as it happens, your product is gluten free.
- Brie likes shopping online and getting her groceries delivered. They’re on vacation for the week so they search quickly for your product “near them” and finds that they can “buy now”. The Buy now widget reveals a local store that does delivery to their AirBnB.
In all these examples, your website, with its relevant content, trusted URL, and correctly formatted structure provided Google with everything it needed to show relevant links to your customers. This is how the “passive actor” contributes to the sale, this is its strength.
Customer service is your brand too.
I think we can all agree that when it comes to instant communication that social media rules the roost. However, there are two huge challenges when it comes to social media as a customer service channel:
- Everything is public
- Time is of the essence
Both of these issues are inflamed by a consideration we find common with our CPG clients…having a customer service resource available to respond, 24/7. Having a controlled, predictable customer service channel sets expectations with your customers and helps the Brand manage that feedback. Customers will appreciate the options—remember, not everyone is on social media.
Redirecting customers to your official customer service channel on your brand site will allow you to manage that request and more importantly — keep the discussion private.
Your brand site as brand ambassador.
A dedicated brand site serves as your brand’s centralized hub, offering comprehensive information, control over the brand experience, and enhanced search engine visibility. By maintaining the investment in their website, CPG brands have an always on, dependable, and effective passive actor that can positively affect sales and cultivate long-term customer relationships.
Interested in seeing how Millennium can help you maximize your Brand site? Visit us and get in touch at millenniumweb.com/contact
