Do you have a brand that you’re struggling to get to the online market? We’ve collected some vital tips to help you carve out your spot in the e-commerce world and turn your brand into a sensation for consumers.
Take out a notepad and jot down the advice that really sticks with you, as just one idea could be the one you were looking for this whole time. You won’t be quizzed on this material, but I’ve heard somewhere that writing down information drastically improves retention rate. Let’s begin!
Build Your Brand’s Style
Choose what you want your brand to be associated with and stick with it. Inconsistency in your brand’s mood and feeling with the consumer will only serve to confuse them and drive them to the competition. Even something as simple as a defined color scheme works to build the foundation of how consumers identify and experience your brand.
If you already have a defined brand style but don’t like it, it’s time to rebrand! Relaunch your brand as something new and exciting to draw in your existing customers and bring in new ones.
Why not implement a vision statement into your brand? Like a mission statement, it gives your brand the opportunity to display itself to the world. Unlike a mission statement, the vision statement offers a description of what your brand’s end goal is once it is realized. It’s like a “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” question for the brand. Here’s a brief example to get you familiar with how the two statements may differ:
COMPANY NAME: The Magical Unicorn Company
MISSION STATEMENT: The mission of The Magical Unicorn Company is to provide high quality unicorns to the community and spread unicorn awareness.
VISION STATEMENT: The vision of The Magical Unicorn Company is to make the community a happier place and be globally recognized as a pioneer in high quality unicorn services.
Makes sense? Not only does a vision statement give your brand some extra content and flair for the consumer, but it also gives you a target to aim for with your brand. If our explanation didn’t get the gears turning, there’s plenty of other examples you can find online that may be a better fit for what your brand can use for its mission and vision statements.
This is just one of many ways you can build your brand’s style. Just remember to stick with it once you’ve established it. Again, consistency in branding is more than important; it can be life or death for your business.
Form A Relationship with Your Customers
This type of advice works well for any business or brand looking to get a reliable consumer base, but this tip is especially important when dealing with an e-commerce setting because, hey, you aren’t able to see your customers every day; everything is handled through a screen. So how do you form a relationship with your customer when you aren’t able to give a hearty handshake? Here are three ways to connect with your customers
- Produce online content: A key aspect of online business is that your customers are no longer merely a person who walks into a shop to buy and leave. They are browsing endless websites to find what they want. And sometimes what they want isn’t to simply buy things but to read, watch, and listen. They’re both a customer and an audience. Creating a blog (even a small one) or making videos online will give your customers information they can enjoy on their downtime and see that your brand is more than just a product.
- Be active in online discussion: Getting engaged in online discussion is another key aspect of utilizing e-commerce. Find some industry-related forums or be active on social media, offering helpful opinions and information that shows you are a reliable authority in your industry. You might even find someone who can give you some advice to help you along your branding journey.
- Follow the examples of your industry giants: You’re likely not the first brand in your industry to get involved in e-commerce. If you are just getting started, take note of industry leaders and see what they did right. From incorporating influencer marketing to utilizing a market innovation, an industry leader knows what works and what doesn’t. Follow their online presence and incorporate some of their tactics into your e-commerce strategy. Something as simple as following them on Instagram or Facebook can give you the information you’re looking for.
Quality, Story, and A Step Further
Another piece of all-encompassing business advice is to sell high-quality products. Just like forming a relationship with your customer, being able to provide a high-quality good or service is key to creating a reliable consumer base for your brand. And it becomes even more important when customers are limited by the screen when buying. If your brand can give them reliable products or services, they will be more likely to return to your brand and purchase more of what they need, rather than take the risk of trying a competitor with whom they have no established purchasing history.
That’s not all. In order to maintain brand loyalty and even expand it, you’ll need to show that you’re more than just a brand. There’s a person, or a group of people, working behind that image, and you can show it to the world. Displaying your values, your purpose, and your desired impact on the world can develop a deep emotional connection between your brand and your consumers. An origin story about your humble beginnings or an inspirational video about how your brand wants to help the world are just some of the examples to follow. Media content is deeply connected with emotions, and you want to be able to give your brand an emotional connection to its consumers.
And if you want to show that your story is authentic, take it a step further. Be sure to get involved in the bigger picture and show that your brand stands for something more than just buying and selling. Teaming up with a charity or a cause can show your consumers that you are living up to those dreams of impacting the world, and this builds quality in your story and your authenticity.
Start from Step One and Adapt
With all this in mind, where do you begin? To put it simply, you start from the vision you want your brand to achieve and build from there. Figure out what you want your brand to be remembered for when consumers think about it, and work to fulfill that vision. Once you follow through on your work, be adaptable. Not everything will work on the first attempt, so be prepared to learn from any mistakes made along the way.
But to minimize the necessity to adapt, I want to leave you with some old advice about building that I think will help you get the right mindset when building up your brand’s e-commerce presence:
Think thrice
Measure twice
Cut once
Article Provided by: The White Label World Expo - Las Vegas
If you want more information on how to get your e-commerce brand to stand out, check out these sources we’ve used to help build this article:
- How to Build an Ecommerce Brand That Outshines All Competition: An Actionable Guide - written by William Harris, published by Sellbrite
- Ecommerce Branding: 11 Examples and 27 Expert Tips to Help Build Your Brand Online - written by Tracey Wallace, published by BigCommerce
- How to Create an Ecommerce Brand - by Foundr Magazine, published on YouTube