leveraging partners to manage the 'digital shelf' by amy shipman

#SMX #24C @AmyShipman

A product focus on the digital shelf

Leveraging Partners to

manage the ‘Digital Shelf’


In the beginning, there was THE SHELF, and the goal was clear…In the beginning, there was the STORE…


and in that store was THE SHELF


Goal was to MAXIMIZE shelf presence


Customers chose the store, then the product


Then, this happened…


… and the customer journey changed


Customer now choose product first and then the store


Search Results became new SHELF… the DIGITAL SHELF


But we lost sight of shelf presence


Example: Imagine this is the SERP

SEMSEMSEMSEMSEOSEOSEOSEOSEOSEOSEO

PLA PLA PLA

PLA PLA PLA

PLA PLA PLA

SEO

SEOSEO


Our website ranked #1 in SEO!

SEMSEMSEMSEMUS

SEOSEOSEOSEOSEOSEO

PLA PLA PLA

PLA PLA PLA

PLA PLA PLA

SEO

SEOSEO


Maybe the top position in SEM & PLA too!

USSEMSEMSEMUS

SEOSEOSEOSEOSEOSEO

US PLA PLA

PLA PLA PLA

PLA PLA PLA

SEO

SEOSEO


But much of the digital shelf remains exposed

USSEMSEMSEMUS

SEOSEOSEOSEOSEOSEO

US PLA PLA

PLA PLA PLA

PLA PLA PLA

SEO

SEOSEO


Partners were critical to filling those positions

USPartnerPartnerPartner

USPartnerPartnerPartnerPartnerPartnerPartner

US Partner Partner

Partner Partner Partner

Partner Partner Partner

Partner

PartnerPartner


Leveraging partners to maximize presence for our product on the Digital Shelf


1. The customer experiences the SERP as a whole, not in parts

2. Focus on coverage for the product, not rank of the URL

3. Partners are critical for maximizing coverage

3 Key Principles of maximizing Digital Shelf presence


1. Conduct Research

2. Create a Click Curve

3. Enable Search Tracking

4. Rate the Resellers

5. Project your Product Coverage

5 Key Steps to monitoring Digital Shelf Presence


Research: Develop a robust understanding of the Customer Journey

KeywordsHow do customers look for your

product?

QualitativeMotivations, processes & challenges?

Where click & why?

QuantitativeBuild on Qualitative.

How many? How often?


Click Curve: Assign value to each position in the SERP

0

7

14

PLA 1 PLA 2 PLA 3 PLA 4 PLA 5 PLA 6 SEM 1 SEM 2 SEM 3 SEM 4 SEO 1 SEO 2 SEO 3 SEO 4 SEO 5 SEO 6 SEO 7 SEO 8 SEO 9 SEO 10

% of Clicks


Tracking: Who is showing up where & how often?

(Paid Search) (Organic Search)


Rate Resellers: Is that website promoting our product?

Rate the reseller on likelihood of promoting our product

Very unlikely

Very likely

Foes FriendsComplicated

Additional support

Co-op Partners

ý

þ

þ


Combine all element to provide a product view of shelf

Coverage by Reseller by Position

*Likelihood of Your Product

*Click Curve

= Weighed Coverage of the

Digital Shelf

UsCo-opsFriendsComplicatedFoes


A few tactics for partnering


Support partners in all three Search channels to drive coverage

PLA PLA PlaybookCoverage Data

SEMKeywords targets & gaps

Coverage dataAd/landing page testing

SEOSEO Audits

Account DashboardsContent


Share PLA feed and campaign information. Starting to leverage Manufacturer Center.Feed Optimization Manufacturer Center1. Product Titles2. Product descriptions3. Custom Labels

Campaign Optimization1. Campaign Structure2. Campaign Settings3. Negatives


SEM: Share keyword & competitive information, consider shared account. Different models by country.

Keywords Gaps Coverage Shared Accounts


Partner SEO ranges from content focus to full technical analyses

Track key partners as closely as you do yourself


Principles Steps1. SERP holistically

2. Coverage over rank

3. Leverage partners

Think holistically, focus on coverage & act collectively

1. Conduct Research

2. Create a Click Curve

3. Enable Search Tracking

4. Rate the Resellers

5. Project your Product Coverage


Depend on your friends, focus downstream &

paddle hard


Amy Shipman, Supplies Online Strategist at HP Inc.

§ ~5 years Digital Marketing & e-Commerce Channel Strategies

– Delivered market share growth & search coverage increases

– Created standardized & scalable process for managing the “Digital Shelf”

§ ~15 years Product Marketing

– Designed HP Instant Ink: the first cloud controlled ink subscription program

– Developed award winning printing systems

§ Passion for the outdoors: rivers and rock