Adding Value Through Digital Media And Content

Mena Wouters, Director Merchandising, Partner & Product Content Experience, Lowe's Companies, Inc. [NYSE: LOW]

Mena Wouters, Director Merchandising, Partner & Product Content Experience, Lowe's Companies, Inc. [NYSE: LOW]

As head of partner & product content experience at Lowe’s, Mena Wouters is at the forefront of e-commerce, digital media and merchandising. Formerly shaping the digital content strategy at Electrolux, driving digital engagement at LPL Financial, and launching the e-commerce business for Xerox, her career includes working with some of the world’s leading brands. She is known for her ability to blend the art and science of e-commerce merchandising and crafting strategies that resonate with consumer sentiment. Born and raised in Missouri, Mena spent several years working in the EU before returning to the US. She is currently based in Charlotte.

The Role of Digital Media and Content in Driving Value across a Large Enterprise

The role of digital media and content has changed tremendously as e-commerce and the CaaS (content as a service) landscape has developed. Where companies used to think about media and content in strictly offline terms, the emergence of e-commerce and DTC offerings has rocketed digital content and customer expectations. It’s now a crucial engagement and revenue driver in all stages of the funnel - from awareness to loyalty.

Digital content is now a proverbial canopy covering key aspects of almost every business activity – brand visibility, customer engagement/interaction, marketing and advertising, e-commerce, internal employee communication and collaboration, training, and development, and the list continues to grow. This content generates an immense amount of data that provides insights back to the business, allowing better and more informed decision-making around what customers want, what employees need, and adjustments to market conditions and signals.

If companies invest in digital media and content, really putting dollars behind it, they can expand their reach much further. The return on that investment is better funnel conversion and huge top-line sales impact potential.

Embracing Digital Content Innovation to Stay Ahead

CaaS offerings and capabilities are changing daily. The biggest mistake businesses can make today is not evaluating what's being offered in the market against their needs and then putting those offerings to the test. Some of the largest companies get behind because they are too risk-averse to try what's out there. To that, I'd argue that the bigger risk is not capitalizing on the rapidly evolving CaaS offerings and thus not benefiting from the positive impacts to speed to market and cost reductions that they bring.

Strategies Companies Should Implement to Mitigate Risks Associated with Digital Media and Content Initiatives

Work with reputable firms. Vet those firms relentlessly. Know and stay on top of current regulations and bring legal teams in to help assess. The best firms are buttoned up in understanding risks and how to help their clients mitigate them. In the current landscape, everyone is trying to go fast and, in many cases, needs to go fast. The teams that do this successfully are those that aren't afraid to poke holes in the projects, ask hard questions, and lift an eyebrow at ambiguity.

Considerations in Approaching the Creation and Distribution of Digital Content to Ensure Relevance and Impact across a Diverse Enterprise Audience

It's important to consider what's happening within the walls of the business to ensure an effective impact outside of those walls. There are three big top-of-mind considerations:

Fight Silos: Content and digital media are often created in multiple departments. In an ideal scenario, there is a content organization that works to streamline efforts and go-to-market activities. The companies that have these are the ones that audiences often engage with and commit to long-term because the content is being pumped out in a connected, cohesive stream. For companies where brand, marketing, content, media, and other creators are stretched across the business, it's crucial to bring those groups together to compare notes, calendars, roadmaps, and collateral to avoid costly redundancies and overlaps.

Customer Insights: If a customer insights team exists, they should be number one on the list of partners. Too often, content and media are created with anecdotal information, and then when it goes to market, it doesn't resonate with audiences. Understanding the audience with the help of customer insights dramatically improves the chances that efforts will return what the business is looking for. And, if no customer insights team exists, use a third party to get to this data

Data, Data, Data: Content and media give back, not just in revenue impact, but in data. Use that data to modernize, update, pivot and reprioritize what is being rolled out to market.