In today’s world, having a successful e-commerce business requires a lot more than selling amazing products on a functioning site. When your competition is literally just a click away, you need to take the steps to ensure that your business appeals to customers and makes them come back for more. In order to do that, you need great e-commerce branding that represents what your business is all about. Putting in the effort to create an effective branding strategy pays you back in the long run by giving your business an edge that sets it apart from others.
1- Define your brand
Focus on the idea or story that your e-commerce business is centered around. Imagine some of the most famous brands or companies you know, and the “voice” of the brand will immediately come to mind. You think of the logo, tagline, colors, and general feel of the product or company. This is the result of a genius business branding strategy. In the same way, you need to brand your e-commerce business and create one united idea or concept that you build your brand around. The way you portray your business is what will make it unique, and if your brand promises quality, value, or ideals that customers can relate to they will be more likely to choose you over competitors. Whether the concept of your business is that its products are helpful, expertly crafted, or it caters to a certain lifestyle, you have to make sure that your brand clearly projects that idea.
2- Keep your customer in mind
In e-commerce, the customer is king and you won’t have returning customers if you don’t keep your target audience in mind. Customers want to know that your e-commerce business will benefit them, so you need to prove that it will in different ways. For example, customer reviews or customer images of the product on your site give others an idea of how your product adds value to other’s lives. Use customer feedback and recommendations to further refine your brand to cater to your audience. Marketing tactics like free shipping deals, sales, promotions, limited stock notifications, and money-back guarantees also attract and compel customers to buy from e-commerce businesses.
3- Expand your brand’s reach using social media
You want your e-commerce business to be easily accessible, and social media is the perfect medium to communicate with loyal or future customers. Spread your brand across all social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Youtube. Multiple access points for your e-commerce business create awareness for your brand and serves as another place for customers to reach you resulting in personal customer relationships.
4- Make sure your brand is visually cohesive
One of the most important factors in any type of branding is being recognizable. Designing your brand is one factor that you simply shouldn’t skimp on. A gorgeous design can captivate someone who’s not even interested in what a business has to sell, while a poorly made logo or design can reflect poorly on a business and may even turn potential customers away. Good visual branding is made up of an appealing aesthetic that includes an easily identifiable logo, a pleasing font used on a site or in a tagline, colors specific to a business, and anything that represents the e-commerce business visually. It’s crucial that your brand’s visual elements are united and consistent everywhere. Your representation on your website, business cards, social media, ads, or emails should have a cohesive look that is coordinated and tied together. If your business card looks nothing like your website, or your logo on your Facebook is different than the one shown in ads, your branding will be ineffective because nothing is consistent.
Powerful e-commerce branding is what will convince the public to buy from your business rather than from the boring retail giants. Most people are drawn to a company that they feel some type of emotional connection with, and for that reason it’s important to clearly convey the story or idea that your brand represents. If your e-commerce business provides value, high quality, or some unique element not available elsewhere people will be more ready to buy from you. Creating a brand that attracts people both emotionally and visually to your business requires some effort, but it’s an action where both you and your customers profit.
