How to Build a World-Class Product Content Team: Insights from Anthony Testa

In B2B commerce, content isn’t just about marketing, it’s infrastructure. Without clean, structured, and consistent data, your systems don’t talk to each other, your buyers get frustrated, and your growth stalls.

In this episode of The B2B eCommerce Show, Justin King sat down with Anthony Testa, former product content leader at MSC and current B2B consultant, to talk about what it really takes to turn product data into a strategic advantage, not just a technical project.

Why Starting With What You Have Is a Mistake

The biggest mistake companies make is trying to build new content based on what they already have. That’s a disaster. 

Anthony emphasizes the need for a clean slate when overhauling your product content. Most organizations try to port over messy ERP data into new systems and end up with garbage in, garbage out.

Instead, start with cleansing, not importing. That means identifying what’s usable, scrubbing what’s not, and setting up a taxonomy and schema that fits how customers search and buy.

How to Structure Your Content Team

Anthony outlined two critical teams for content management:

• Data Operations: This is your frontline team. They work directly with suppliers to collect spreadsheets, product specs, images, and more. They’re supplier-facing, and soft skills are just as important as technical ones.
  
• Data Governance (The “Content Police”): This team ensures data is accurate, compliant, and follows your internal rules. They sit in the “staging area” and check incoming data before it’s published. If something doesn’t align, they kick it back, not fix it themselves.
  

You can’t have governance doing the cleanup. They’re there to enforce the rules, not do the work.

Why Data Compliance Matters

From typos to inconsistent abbreviations (BL for black or blue?), from misplaced dashes to miscategorized SKUs, Anthony makes it clear: small mistakes break big systems.

A consistent, enforced data structure ensures:

• Accurate pricing and inventory across channels
  
• Better search and navigation
  
• Cleaner invoicing and purchasing processes
  
• Fewer downstream support and returns issues
  

How to Work With Suppliers (and Why Most Fail)

The biggest bottleneck in content creation? Suppliers.

Too many manufacturers rely on their sales reps to provide product data. That’s a mistake.

Distributors need to build relationships with manufacturer marketing teams, not just sales and clearly define the format, cadence, and quality expectations for data delivery.

And if you’re a small distributor? You can still drive compliance. You may not be Amazon, but Anthony recommends pushing responsibility upstream to manufacturers wherever possible, especially for rich media like images and videos.

What Good Content Really Looks Like

According to Anthony, “good content” includes:

• Complete product descriptions
  
• High-quality images (ideally 360°)
  
• Robust attributes (dimensions, materials, compliance info, etc.)
  
• Clear category placement (e.g. cereal vs. gluten-free cereal)
  
• Data that flows cleanly through ERP, eComm, and invoicing
  

Content isn’t just about your website. It touches invoicing, logistics, RFPs, and more. If your customer can’t tell what a product is, they won’t buy it.

Content Is a Program, Not a Project

This isn’t a one-time initiative. Even with 50+ people at MSC, Anthony said content was never “done.” You need a continuous improvement mindset, with dedicated teams to:

• Maintain standards
  
• Integrate new SKUs
  
• Adapt to new formats (e.g., mobile, AI)
  
• Sync across all systems

Looking Ahead: AI, Knowledge, and the Future of Content

Anthony and Justin also explored the next big opportunity: capturing tribal knowledge before it retires.

Imagine a gig economy for retired experts, electricians, plumbers, welders, sharing product tips, usage hacks, even slang. That’s gold for AI training.

The vision? Let AI learn from human experience, not just product specs. That’s how B2B companies will differentiate in an AI-driven future.

Final Word: Data Is the Backbone of Your Business

“If your content is bad, your customer experience will be worse. If your data is good, everything works better, your systems, your people, your sales.” — Anthony Testa

Want to future-proof your business? Invest in the systems, the structure, and the people that make product content strategic, not just compliant.