Want to build a powerful eCommerce brand but don’t know how to go about it? Here are some of the most effective methods of building a solid eCommerce brand for your business.
It’s expected that by 2021, there will be over 2.14 billion eCommerce buyers in the world. This will be a stark increase from just 1.66 billion in 2017.
The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated this growth as millions of brick-and-mortar stores have started going online to reach the widening customer base.
If you intend to take your business online and attract customers, you need to know how to build a powerful eCommerce brand.
Why, you might ask?
The increasing competition means that you need to give your audience a compelling reason to shop from you, and that’s what strong branding will help you achieve.
So, how can you build a powerful brand online?
Let’s dive right in.
Methods of Building a Powerful eCommerce Brand
Here are some of the ways in which you can build a solid brand for your eCommerce business online.
1. Concentrate on Customer Experience
To build a powerful eCommerce brand, you need to pay attention to the experience you deliver to your customers.
After all, no one would want to shop from a brand that doesn’t treat them well. So, make sure that you make it easy for your customers to find what they’re looking for and buy it.
What’s more?
You should also try to personalize your eCommerce website’s offerings to their interests. This can ensure that they feel special.
And that’s not all.
Your customer service matters a lot too. So make sure you’re there for your customers even after they’ve purchased from you. This can make them loyal customers who might even refer others to your brand.
2. Target Your Market Strategically
One of the biggest mistakes that you can make as an eCommerce brand is that of randomly targeting customers.
Instead, you should figure out your target market and customize everything based on their needs and likes. You should tailor the messaging, product recommendations, and even marketing modes based on it.
But why?
When your brand does things that consumers like, it’s likely to resonate well with them. As a result, they’ll be more inclined to buy from you and this can improve your rates of conversion too.
The idea here is to develop a brand persona that your audience will like. So, define a brand voice based on what your audience might like too.
Dollar Shave Club, for example, adds humor to their videos and other marketing communications. This makes them a favorite among younger audiences. This video, for instance, has racked up over 26 million views.
3. Share Your Story
One of the best methods of marketing your eCommerce store is storytelling. You need to tell your brand’s story to your audience to humanize it.
But how does it help humanize your brand?
A brand story can help you connect with your audience on an emotional level. Start with why your brand exists.
There are numerous competitors out there and your story needs to appeal to your audience to get an edge over them.
For this, you need to figure out why your audience will choose to buy from you over the rest. Your story needs to answer this question for them, indirectly.
The story may include:
- What is your brand?
- Who is it run by?
- What do you believe in?
- Why should anyone buy from you?
- Why did you start the brand?
Note how Sephora has shared the details of their story on the “About Us” page on their website.
Image via Sephora
4. Talk About Social Causes
One more way of humanizing your brand is by championing change. You need to talk about the various social causes that your business cares about.
Elaborate on why your brand cares for the causes and show your audience why supporting them matters.
What’s more?
You should also try to provide an option for your audience to join you in supporting the cause. This could be in the form of donations or raising awareness.
When you do this, it can help you form a positive culture around your brand.
You could also partner with influencers who are supporting the cause to build your brand even further.
You can talk about the cause(s) in your mission statement or have a separate page dedicated to causes too.
Remember, your mission statement matters a lot as it talks about why your brand’s doing what it’s doing. So, including your causes in the mission statement can be very helpful.
5. Make it About People
Yet another important aspect of brand building is to associate people with it. The idea is to showcase the real people who are working behind the scenes to bring your brand and products online.
This can be done by creating a page dedicated to your team where you can post short profiles of your members.
If your brand is sourcing materials from local artisans or is a small business manufacturing products, you can create pages dedicated to the manufacturers too.
For example, Fortress of Inca has a page that’s completely dedicated to the shoemakers who design and make all the shoes sold by the brand.
Not only does it give the shoemakers some recognition but it also gives a personal touch and brings the story behind the business to life.
Image via Fortress of Inca
6. Leverage Testimonials & Reviews
As a brand, one of your biggest assets is your loyal customers’ feedback. They are social proof of the quality of the product.
So, how can you leverage them to your advantage?
You can display testimonials from your customers on your website. Additionally, you should consider adding product reviews to each page that displays a product to persuade your potential customers to make the purchase.
When they see that others are praising your products or services, they’ll be more likely to buy them.
Ready to Build a Powerful eCommerce Brand?
Building an eCommerce brand takes a lot of effort and time, especially when you’re starting out. The heavy competition makes the process only tougher.
Nonetheless, you must concentrate on customer service and deliver the very best to your customers. Make sure you take a personalized approach to each customer to make them feel that you really understand and care about them.
You should also humanize your brand by talking about your story and the social causes that you support. Also, talk about the people who make the products and bring them to your customers.
Lastly, leverage your customer base and showcase reviews and testimonials to improve your brand image.
Do you have any questions about the methods mentioned above? If so, let me know in the comments.
