Using Product Information Management (PIM) to Optimize Enterprise Search

Chris Risner
Web Developer

O ne major way that organizations can help enterprise search is to proper implement a product information management (PIM) solution.

Marketers are increasingly discovering that having an effective enterprise and site search is critical to customer engagement and customer satisfaction. In fact, in a recent study, Jupiter Media Matrix reports that 80% of visitors abandon sites if the search is functionality is poor. In addition, Marketing Sherpa reports that 43% of site visitors go directly to the search box when visiting a website. Because of this, the marketing department is constantly looking for ways to improve their enterprise search. This blog post discusses how a PIM solution can help optimize the enterprise search for an organization.

Centralize Product Data and Information

One of the main benefits of implementing a PIM is to centralize product data and information into one location and allows the marketing department to go to one location when they need to add new products or make modifications or updates. Enterprise search then benefits from this configuration by allowing integration to one data source for product information (the PIM) and ensuring that the PIM source continues to have access to the most recent content. Search then is always up-to-date and minimizing data inaccuracies.

Enforce Base Product Data with Workflow

Proper implementation of a PIM provides the team to establish a minimum amount of data that is required in order for a product to be released or launched. In addition, the PIM will create a workflow that enforces all the products conform to this for consistency across all products. All new products will fall under the same workflow rules ensuring that the base data is maintainted. This allows enterprise search to expect a base amount of data in the system and prevent null results and blank data points in search functions such as filters.

Create Common Taxonomy Language

A product information management (PIM) project will typically include an exercise to discuss the organization of the data including a common language for the data. This taxonomy includes product types (such as sensors or software solutions), categories, and attributes. This work to understand the structure of the data will allow enterprise search to have the data necessary for features such as parametric search functionality and filter capabilities.

Conclusion

As marketing departments look for new ways to improve the customer experience, they are looking to improve the enterprise search functionality. One main way to provide a better enterprise search is to properly implement a product information management (PIM) solution. A project focused on getting a modern PIM up and running can help enterprise search in multiple ways. Marketing teams would be wise to evaluate whether it makes sense to utilize a product information management (PIM) solution within their company. The direct benefit of the proper use of a PIM on enterprise search could provide a very lucrative return on investment.

Our team is one of the leading minds in enterprise search and smart product recommendations. If we can help you, please reach out and connect with us.

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