Build Your E-Commerce Brand in 4 Steps
Your brand gives your e-commerce business a unique identity, but how do you build a brand?
Developing your brand requires some research to understand the landscape of businesses that are similar to yours. Then you can get to the fun part of branding: deciding how your business looks, talks, and shows up online.
First Up: Market Research
You might have researched the market and competitive landscape when you started your business; if so, good for you! Now draw on that research to look at what your competition is doing. Consider elements such as their logo, brand colors, fonts, tagline, website copy, and social media presence.
These three questions can guide you as you scout your competitors’ brands; it’s kind of like a SWOT analysis:
How is my business similar to this one?
How is my business different?
What’s my business’ unique differentiator?
We know it may be not much fun to spend time on the research phase, but once you get into it, you’ll be glad you did this. Having the answers to these questions can help you design your branding. It can also help you avoid unintentionally shaping your brand to look or sound too similar to your competition. Even if you’re working with a creative agency, you can give your research insights.
Second Step: Build Your Look
The visual component of your brand is probably the most important one. When you think of iconic businesses with strong branding, you might automatically associate their brand’s logo and colors with them. Consider these three businesses:
Because of their strong branding, you don’t even need to see their names to know that the logos represent Starbucks Coffee, McDonald’s, and Target.
Choose a logo that complements the name or mission of your business. Add one, two, or three signature colors that can appear on your logo and website. Select an easily readable font to use consistently across your website and advertising. If your font isn’t readily available—such as Arial or Times New Roman—download the font to your computer so you can use it everywhere.
Have some fun with this! As you build the look of your business, record the decisions you make about your logo, colors, and fonts. This becomes your brand kit, which defines the look and feel of your business brand.
Step 3: It’s Time to Build Your Voice
As you build your brand, consider the communication style you use with your target market. The way that you communicate with customers can help define and differentiate your brand while making your audience feel welcome.
Consider how much the words on the page set the tone for these two discount outdoor gear shops: Moosejaw and Backcountry.
As you build out and document your e-commerce business’ voice, be sure you keep in mind your target market. Consider how they talk as you determine what kinds of words, phrases, and tones of voice define the way that your business will talk to them.
Step 4: Build your Web Presence
Having an e-commerce business means your brand needs to be visible online. In most cases, this means that you’ll want to have a website and social media accounts. These aren’t just places for your brand to show up, but also for you to sell.
When choosing social media platforms, remember that you don’t need to be on every platform. Focus first on the those your target market uses. If you are selling to Boomers, you’ll probably want to avoid TikTok. Similarly, if you’re appealing to Gen Z, Instagram and TikTok may be ideal. This helps you focus your time and energy on social media platforms with the highest return for the effort.
Now that you’ve landed on your look and voice, it’s easier to build out a cohesive web presence. Some e-commerce platforms make it simple to build your storefront with your brand kit. You can use your logo consistently across your website, and social media profiles or shops. You can also use the exact same shades of color, using the hex color codes, and your font for posts you design on social media.
When you’re done, you’ll have created a consistent brand that makes it easy for potential shoppers and customers to recognize your business across the internet.
Find Tools and Help as you Build Your Brand
Building your e-commerce business’ branding can feel like a lot to do. But it’s important to give it a clear identity so it can stand out from the competition, and identify the products you sell and platforms you sell on as uniquely yours. Certum specializes in e-commerce solutions for our clients—so we can guide you to workable solutions based on your unique needs.
If you have questions about how to get your e-commerce business started or build out its branding, don’t hesitate to contact the Certum Solutions team. Book a call today so a member of our team can list, first, and create a unique solution for you.