How to Use Your Google Shopping Feeds to Improve the Subscriber Experience

When email subscribers sign up for more communication from your brand, particularly from retailers, they expect to see products and promotions sent straight to their inbox. However as a marketer, you want to make sure you get the right products in front of the right shoppers so they make it to the checkout without abandoning their virtual cart.

With personalization continuing to be a top priority, the best way to show subscribers what they want is to tap straight into your data feed for current inventory and pricing. By relying on a Google Shopping Feed to dynamically display products, you can spend less time worrying about a bad brand experience due to a customer being disappointed to find the product they want is no longer in stock. After all, brand experience can make or break shopper loyalty.

Besides shortening the buyer’s journey (a huge benefit), automating the product content shown in your email makes life a lot easier for email marketers. By relying on a feed, it improves efficiency, shows product information in real time, and allows you to tap into CRM data to achieve advanced segmentation and personalization with your dynamic content. Subscribers will see highlighted or suggested products based on when the email is open, allowing you to maximize your revenue opportunity and minimize customer experience friction.

What is a Google Shopping feed and how does it work?

A Google Shopping Feed is a list of your product catalog organized with detailed descriptions and images that connects to advertising efforts through Google Merchant Center.

Product information that may be included:

• SKU
• Title
• Description
• Link
• Image link
• Price (full & current)
• Gender
• Product category (e.g. clothing/accessories/shoes)
• Product type (e.g. dresses/tops/skirts)
• Custom labels (e.g. denoting sale/new in/selling fast)
• Date added to feed, or days in feed

By connecting your product feed to your email campaigns through platforms like KickDynamic, you are able to easily access a live image template for your email campaigns by adding blocks for each of the data fields you need. You can further customize products shown based on a variety of parameters (such as shopping history, price point, sale items, label, etc.), giving shoppers a tailored experience in every email.

Elevate the shopping experience—both as a subscriber and marketer

Subscribers aren’t the only ones who love seeing emails personalized to their shopping preference—marketers also find great value, too.

By embedding tags into templates, products will always show based on your most current product feed, eliminating the need to double check changes to things like inventory or pricing. As email marketers, that means efficiency gains, so you spend more time working on copy that converts.

You can also adjust your template data to offer different product options. Applying details by using gender or category rules will not only show your audience other options, but also provide insights into other campaign metrics and shopper preferences that can be used to better tailor future communications.

Stock rules can also be applied to ensure only in-stock items are displayed. Products that are no longer available will then be replaced with items that are available for purchase. This is great for product discoverability—boosting  revenue and enhancing your subscriber experience.

By connecting your email campaigns to your Google Shopping feed, you’re creating a highly personalized experience that subscribers have come to expect. They’ll get customized communication that not only feels thoughtful, but is also perfectly tailored to their shopping needs and preferences. As for email marketers: not only do you improve your ability to segment, but you also boost efficiency with products that turn prospects into buyers faster—keeping them coming back for more.