Why Ecommerce Store Branding Is Necessary

One of the most effective things you can do to your ecommerce store right now is create a cohesive, recognizable brand. Think about the staggering amounts of huge companies that work their way into your life every day simply because their branding is so powerful. You could be out about your day and catch a logo out of the corner of your eye and then, without you even noticing, that company and their products are in your head. You can do this same exact thing to your customers with your smaller ecommerce store, and if you haven’t created a brand for yourself, get on it immediately.

So, what exactly are the benefits of creating a brand for your store and products? There’s quite a few benefits, actually. First of all, recognition, meaning that over time, more and more people will begin to recognize your brand and you’ll have a much more important place in their head than if you have a very forgettable brand or no brand at all. Say when you’re running Facebook ad campaigns and you put your logo in the corner of the image and make sure your Facebook page is very nicely branded as well, people will notice this after seeing your ad a few times and they’ll remember you. Eventually, after seeing and remembering your brand for a while, there’s a very good chance they’ll purchase from you simply because they’ve been made aware of your brand many times over. Secondly, the marketing process is a lot easier once you’ve established a good brand, because your brand speaks for itself after a while. Once people start to know what your brand is, they’ll be a lot more receptive to any new items or promotions that you release, because they’ll have the mindset of “Oh! I’ve seen this company. They’re doing something new and interesting now, let me look at what they’ve been up to.” You see this with Coke releasing a new flavor or Ford releasing a new car - it happens all the time and is marketing on easy mode. Customer loyalty is a big one as well. If someone buys an item from a general store with no branding, they may enjoy the item, but there’s no real gain for you there other than short-term monetary gain. However, if you brand your website and products well and the customer enjoys the product they just bought, they’re a lot more likely to purchase from you again because they now affiliate your brand with said product. Customer loyalty is something you definitely want to have, as it can be very expensive to keep acquiring new customers. Finally, you will appear a lot more credible to customers. An unbranded store can be very sketchy for people to buy from because it just doesn’t look very established. However, when you have a very uniform store, nice product pictures, a catchy logo and the impression that you’ve been around and established for a long time, that fear will drastically fall off and people will be willing to compulsively purchase from you a lot more.

Here’s a hypothetical to drive this point home. Let’s say you’re driving somewhere new and you’re getting hungry. You want to pull over and eat somewhere, but you don’t really know where. There are a lot of stand-alone restaurants and diners that you’ve never heard of before, and while they could be good, they could also be a waste of money and you’re really not looking to experiment right now. Then, over the horizon you see a giant bell on a sign. You don’t even have to read the name under the logo to recognize it as a Taco Bell. You have eaten there many times before and enjoyed it, and you’ve recently seen they’re having a special promotion, so you decide that you’ll stop and eat there. So, while you had many options on where to eat, you chose Taco Bell because you’ve been there before and remember it, enjoyed their food, and remembered a commercial you saw from them that was describing their new promotion. This is all successful branding combined with a good product, and they just got your business.

So, what are some ways you can brand your store successfully? First of all, make sure you have a very clean, easily recognizable logo. This is crucial as you’ll be plastering this logo all over social media, your advertisements, your emails, and if you’re very involved, your products as well. Definitely look up some videos on logo design, as there’s quite a science behind it. Next, you’re going to want your website, emails, and social media to all be cohesive. If all of these different media outlets don’t have a cohesiveness to them, your brand as a whole will feel very convoluted and people will not recognize it as easily. Keep themes, colors, and attitude consistent. You will also want a general niche that your store follows with all items presented in a similar way. If you’re selling a lot of fishing gear, don’t throw dresses in your store. Sell fish hooks, lures, fishing poles, and then present every product in a similar fashion so they all look like they fit under one singular brand. Finally, make sure people know where they’re getting their products from. On your order confirmation emails, make sure your brand name and logo is loudly presented. Additionally, and I do this myself, ship some items from your own home and make the packaging very branded. I am sure to customize my product packaging and provide a “Thank you for ordering” card inside every order along with a discount code. This has produced a lot of brand trust and returning customers.

Like I said, there are a plethora of brands that are extremely successfully at creating a cohesive brand. Take McDonalds for example. You see their logo, the golden arches, and instantly think of their food. Maybe it’s not your style, but I love cheap food, especially their McChickens. Makes me a bit hungry just seeing it. Nike is great at this with such a simple logo, but when I see it, I think of performance and style, and then I begin thinking about what shoes of theirs I want to buy next. Finally, the Target logo gets me thinking about going there to pick up my weekly supplies of groceries and maybe some odds and ends along the way. All of these thoughts are unconscious and simply occur because of the strong branding that I’ve been accustomed to.

Creating a strong brand won't solve all of your problems, but it'll give you a much much much (did I say much?) more credible looking website which will in turn lead to more conversions. If you're ready to start your ecommerce adventure, you can get a free 14-day trial of Shopify by clicking here!