These days, it seems that there are more ecommerce brands than you could ever imagine. From specialty socks to direct-to-consumer produce, there’s pretty much a website for anything. That leads us to ask: what can your ecommerce brand to show you’re different from the pack?
With fierce competition within your own industry, and consumers weary with so many ads online, it can be a challenge. But the hallmark of a high-quality business is meeting challenges with panache. So, take a look at these 5 tips for effectively marketing your ecommerce brand, and meet the challenge with gusto!
5 Tips for Effectively Marketing Your Ecommerce Brand
1. It has to look good
“Don’t judge a book by its cover” may apply to literal books, but for most online brands, customer experience couldn’t be further from the truth. If your website looks like it’s straight out of 2007, saturated with ads, and with a hideous layout, you’re going to lose customers before you even get started.
What should you do instead? Here are a few ideas to make sure your ecommerce site looks great:
- Prioritize visuals: Whether they’re large, high-res stock photos or brightly colored graphics, having something to catch your users’ eyes is key.
- Make information obvious: Nobody wants to scroll up and down your page hunting for what they need. Use drop-down menus and sidebars for quick navigation.
- Clean, clear copy: Writing is everything. Make sure the copy on your sight is clear and engaging.
Looking for an example? CBD capsules have great visuals and an enticing layout designed to get users excited about their products.
Once your website is in tip-top condition, it’s time to dig a little deeper.
2. Tell your story
In the age of conscious consumers, few things matter more than telling an authentic and interesting story about your brand. People don’t just want to buy a product; they want to buy into an idea. That means that, as you build up your online presence through your website and social media, you need to tell a story.
Not sure what that looks like? There are a few options:
- On of the simplest ways to tell your story is to have an about page or our story page on your site. Check this shoe brand out, Allbirds, for instance.
- In addition to this, though, you should also strive to shape the narrative around your brand on social media. That means posting regularly about your products, but also causes you believe in, like sustainability and racial justice, for instance.
After your story’s been told, you can focus on really securing your customer base.
3. Find the pain points
Don’t get scared – pain points aren’t as bad as they sound. Pain points are just the areas where your customer is lacking something in a way that means they’re likely to need your product. Do you do online accounting for small businesses? Then make sure your branding hammers home that you understand the struggles smaller organizations face when crunching their numbers.
Or if you sell a Fitbit fitness product of some kind, a good pain point to emphasize is how difficult it is to get started on a consistent workout routine – and how your product is exactly what they need to commit for real this time. Emphasizing these things shows that you know your customer’s needs, and are the best brand to satisfy them.
4. Max out SEO
In the digital rat race, it can be hard to scurry ahead of everyone else without solid name recognition. Unfortunately, too many brands lose out on possible customers because their web pages are buried 15 pages deep on any Google search related to their products.
Building up a great search engine optimization (SEO) profile is the solution. Here are a few ways you can do that:
- Create high-quality, genuine content that users will find interesting to read.
- Pepper your site with keywords often found in searches related to your products (but, like pepper, don’t go crazy with it or Google will punish you).
- Build up a network of links. Outreach to other sites is key here; any time you’re networking, see if they’re willing to help you out with a link or two.
5. Build good stuff
Of course, there’s no secret here, but it’s something you can’t avoid: one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd is just to build awesome products or services. Paired with killer web marketing, your brand will soar.
See also: What is enterprise ecommerce?
