What Problem Does PIM Solve?
by Michelle Lawrence | Last Updated: Aug 10, 2023
Your goal as a marketer in manufacturing is to increase ROI, keep customers happy, acquire new customers, and keep internal stakeholders happy.
That’s a tough job if you don’t have the right tools.
In order to be successful, you need a solution to manage your product information in a way where anyone can access it and keep it updated.
You need a Product Information Management (PIM) solution.
What Is Meant By Product Information?
Product information can take many forms.
For instance, it can be quite factual and look like:
Pricing
Skus
Product Classifications
Product Ingredients
Product Name
But it can also tell more of the story. Product information can also take on the form of
Product Ratings
Product Descriptions
Product Images
Related Products
Replacement Parts
Owner’s Guides
Assembly or Onboarding Instructions
Warranty Information
Product Videos
The importance of product information is simple - it’s to give customers more details about a specific product.
Product information alone is used to sell products. Now as consumer behavior has shifted and consumers are looking for more experiences created by brands, product information needs to be coupled with engaging product experiences.
What do we mean by product experiences? Let’s take a look at an example.
Product Information Example
Say a consumer walked into their local hardware store looking to purchase a new riding lawn mower. They might walk in with a preconceived notion of what brand is best or plan on continuing to remain loyal to the brand they’ve always purchased from.
This consumer narrows it down to two products with nearly identical features. There’s just one differentiator; one with just a simple, printed card with product information, and one with a QR code that the consumer can activate via their smartphone to learn more about the features of the product, view customer reviews, view a brief instructional video on how to use, and use a digital coupon at checkout.
What product do you think the customer will purchase?
Having a well-thought-out product experience strategy could mean the world of difference for your business.
It just takes the right technology like PIM products to help you get there.
What Is a PIM?
Product Information Management (PIM) software is a tool that enables manufacturers to collect all of their product information into one repository and have one singular place for employees to view, manage, and edit product information like product descriptions, pricing, related parts, and more.
PIM software makes the lives of marketers at manufacturers incredibly easy as it removes the headache of trying to track down product information to create marketing materials.
Everything is in one, centralized place.
What Problem Does a PIM Solve?
So we know that PIMs remove the headache of marketers needing to hunt down product information when creating marketing materials, but what other problems do PIM solutions solve?
Let’s name a few.
Manage Product Data and Digital Assets - Without using a PIM, product data and digital assets are as organized as the junk drawer in your home. With a PIM, you can trust all of the product information and digital assets are in one place. You can also keep a lock on what assets are available to teams within the department and determine who can edit product information within the PIM.
Removes Internal Friction - Sales resources can get spun up quickly or even be created by sales teams with premade templates and designated branding
Makes Teams More Productive - Reduce time spent tracking down product information and focus on other tasks.
The importance of product information is felt across all teams, not just marketing. By investing in a PIM solution, you’re not only making your life as a marker easier, but you’re also a hero to the entire organization.
What Is the Best PIM?
While there are several PIM software companies like Lumavate and the Salsify PIM, there is only one PIM that stands out to marketers at manufacturing companies.
Lumavate is the best PIM for manufacturers.
Why Lumavate Is the Best PIM
Create Digital Experiences Tied to Product Data
So you’ve put your product information into a PIM. Now what?
You need a place where you can create a front end for customers to engage with this product data.
Lumavate’s platform has the ability for marketers to quickly create digital product experiences that dynamically pull in product information from our PIM.
Let’s say you were building a product catalog. Using the traditional method, would be costly, timely, and outdated as soon as the catalog was printed.
Now using Lumavate’s platform, you can create a catalog in just a few hours using the product information that was already entered into the PIM solution and images from our built-in Digital Asset Management (DAM). Plus, when any of this needs to be updated, it will dynamically update in the catalog as well.
Integrate to Your Tech Stack
Software solutions shouldn’t dictate which tools you use. That’s why we integrate with some of the best solutions like Salesforce, Marketo, Eloqua, and more so you can always use your preferred method of technology rather than being forced to use a specific solution.
Messaging Your Customers
How is your business currently communicating important information with your customers? Is it by sending email blasts whenever there’s a new warranty update? Is it posting on social media about a special promotion? Or do you have a documented way of getting important information to customers?
With our platform, you can send personalized text messages to your customers once they opt-in to your messaging program. With text messages, you can send customers updates if a warranty changes, when there’s a sale going on, or if new product information just dropped.
Get Started Using a PIM
It’s time you made your life easier as a marketer. Don’t waste another minute being frustrated with scattered product data and digital assets.
Schedule a demo with a member of our team and we’ll show you how much simpler your life can be.