4 Reasons Why Branding Is Important For eCommerce

Branding is what distinguishes a unique brand from a mediocre one. It is not just a strategy or stage in the product development process. On the contrary, it is deep analytical work, taking into account your customers’ needs and effectively communicating the value of the product or service to your target audience.

However, while many eCommerce companies limit their branding efforts to designing a logo and developing a website in matching colors, making the most out of branding requires going way beyond that. It is especially true because the eCommerce market is expected to reach more than $16 billion by 2027 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.9% from 2020 to 2027.

With new eCommerce stores of various sizes and purposes appearing on a daily basis, you have to be eye-catching to attract and retain the attention of hesitant customers. Here are a few more reasons why you should invest in branding without delay:

Positioning

Positioning your business in a highly saturated market, which eCommerce undoubtedly is, can be a challenge. To succeed, you need to understand what makes your company stand out from the competition, develop a clear message, and, most importantly, communicate it effectively. A proper brand positioning strategy can help you achieve just that if you approach it wisely.

For this reason, experts from Brandly360.com suggest not only paying attention to competitors’ marketing strategies but also monitoring their pricing and availability. This way, you can develop your pricing strategy based on relevant data, justify it to your customers, and even predict industry trends.

And wrapping all this information in an eye-catching tagline will not only allow you to explain to your prospects what sets your products and services apart. Most importantly, it will make your brand appear more credible, professional, and creative.

Ultimately, it could help you improve your positioning and achieve success. So, don’t sleep on the opportunities thoughtful branding can offer!

Perception

When we think of branding, we usually refer to a brand’s visual identity and representation — colors, logo, and other design elements. However, while all these components are critical, there is much more to it. A well-thought-out branding concept should reflect your company’s authenticity and communicate its vision statement or unique offer to consumers.

As such, branding is a set of associations and feelings that your company provokes in a customer rather than just a color palette. It is a helpful distinction, so it is worth keeping in mind.

By leveraging your brand identity thoughtfully, you can navigate the way people perceive your business, making it more compelling to them. After all, trust is the main reason most customers follow a particular brand.

In other words, branding could be the way to go if you want to manage your customers’ expectations better and meet their needs. Investing in branding allows you to let your prospective customers know who you are and what your business represents, as well as what you stand for.

Loyalty

Branding also builds brand loyalty among existing customers and persuades new ones to join their ranks. This factor is crucial for any organization as 65% of revenue in most companies comes from repeat business with existing clients. Not to mention that existing customers loyal to brands purchase 90% more frequently than new customers.

Moreover, loyal customers stick with brands they believe provide the highest quality or the best service on the market. Consequently, it is crucial to ensure that your branding strategy features visuals consistent with your message — only then can you achieve a memorable brand that looks and feels professional.

If your brand becomes renowned for high-quality customer service and outstanding prices — things you can manage with branding — it will attract more clients. It allows you to grow your customer base rapidly and enjoy more conversions.

Awareness

For an eCommerce store, being actively represented online is vital. Crafting a branding strategy tailored to both your business needs and the target audience’s pain points is key to ongoing brand awareness. Sticking to your brand colors and logo in your website design, social media graphics, banner ads, and everything in between over and over again can help you build an online presence and make your brand recognizable.

At the same time, you want your branding concept’s visual aspect to match the message you’re about to communicate. For instance, if you want to provoke festive or joyous feelings in your target audience, you should choose a bright selection of colors rather than using dark hues of gray or brown and stick to it in all your marketing efforts. Doing this will allow you to avoid sending out mixed signals to your prospects and clarify your offer.

The Bottom Line

As you can see, developing an effective branding strategy is a complex process that requires defining your target audience, analyzing the industry your brand operates in and crafting a compelling message. It is not just about selecting a couple of eye-catching colors and an attention-grabbing font to design a logo.

Branding is also about delivering a targeted message that will make both your potential and existing customers understand how your business can help them solve a problem.

Furthermore, if you switch the vision of branding from an expense to an investment, the question of its importance ceases to exist. In exchange for time or money, you receive customers’ trust and loyalty, the ability to set yourself miles apart from competitors, and the opportunity to get clear, understandable positioning. All these give your eCommerce store a greater likelihood of succeeding in the marketplace.