Branding Ecommerce 101: How to build your brand

Successfully branding ecommerce stores is not an easy task.
There are tons of things you need to do before you can create a memorable and recognizable brand. 

In this blog post, we’ll discuss some of those things, i.e. the many aspects of branding ecommerce businesses. We’ll also talk about how you can create a strong branding strategy, how to design your website and logo, and how to market your brand effectively. 

So if you're ready to build a successful ecommerce brand, read on!

Branding Ecommerce: Building a brand strategy

​Your branding strategy is the skeleton or outline for branding your ecommerce business. It holds the whole thing together.

And it can be broken into 5 components. 

Your branding strategy should include your brand's mission statement, your target audience, value proposition, and key messaging. Once you have these elements in place, you can start to design your website and logo.

Websites are the most important tools for branding ecommerce stores, but don't get ahead of yourself. Work on your mission, values and key messaging BEFORE designing your website. Websites should be designed to reflect your brand's values and mission and your logo is a vital part of your visual branding strategy because it's how most customers will recognize your business.

Note: Logos should adhere to three simple standards: simplicity, memorability, and recognizability.

Let’s review each component of branding ecommerce in more detail:

1. Finding your target audience

One of the most important aspects of branding is finding your target audience. This can be difficult, especially if you're just starting out. But it's essential to have a clear understanding of who your target audience is before you can start branding ecommerce stores.

To find your target audience, start by thinking about who your ideal customer is. Consider their age, gender, location, and interests. Do the products that you sell appeal more to men or women? Are they age-specific? Are they connected to a certain country or region?

Once you have a clear idea of who your ideal customer is, you can start targeting them with your branding efforts.

2. Your brand’s value proposition

A value proposition is the promise of value that a company makes to its customers.

​It’s what sets your company apart from your competitors and tells customers why they should buy from you.

In order for your ecommerce brand to be successful, you’ll need to have a strong value proposition. Your value proposition should be clear, unique, and relevant to your target audience. It should be a statement that tells customers what they can expect from your products or services. 

In essence, it’s the main reason why someone should buy from you instead of your competitors. In order for your value proposition to be effective, it needs to be clear, unique, and relevant to your target audience. Let’s take a closer look at each of these three elements:

Clear: Your value proposition should be easy to understand. Use simple language that anyone can understand and don’t be vague or broad.

Unique: What makes your ecommerce business different from the competition? What can you offer that no one else can? Remember, your value proposition isn’t something that you do better, but, rather, something that you deliver that no one else does.
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Relevant: Your value proposition should address something that’s relevant to your business. This should be obvious, but it’s worth considering.

3. Your mission statement

A mission statement is a short, clear statement of your brand’s purpose.

It should answer the question: What is our ecommerce brand all about?

​We’ve written in detail about what makes a great mission statement, and, more generally, how to write an ‘About Us’ section.

Crafting a strong mission statement is an essential part of building a successful brand. It will help you to communicate your brand’s purpose to your team, customers, and partners. It will also guide your branding efforts, informing everything from your overall branding strategy to the design of your website and product packaging.

4. Key Messaging

Building a strong brand requires a lot of careful planning and execution. But perhaps the most important part of branding is key messaging. 

This is the process of distilling down what your business is all about into a few key statements that you can use in all your marketing and communications. Key messaging helps you stay focused on your goals and makes it easier to connect with potential customers.

A good example of key messaging comes from the health insurance company, Oscar. “Stay healthy, save money,” sums it up pretty concisely. The key message that Oscar Health Insurance is trying to impart is that by using its services you’ll, quite simply, be healthier and spend less than what you would on the competition.

Note that there’s nothing vague about this message. It gets to the core of the company’s service in very few words.

5. Website + Logo

So you’ve made it to the final (and most fun!) part of branding ecommerce stores. Building a website and logo is the final manifestation of the four steps that came before it. 

And, fortunately, creating a website and logo for your ecommerce store doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. There are a number of DIY website builders, such as WiX, that can help you get started. And many of them offer templates specifically designed for ecommerce stores. As for logos, there are a number of free online logo makers that can help you create a professional logo for your business. You can even make one for free using Canva.

So don't wait – get started on creating a website and logo for your ecommerce store today.

Michael Arnold

Michael is a freelancer from New York City. When he isn’t writing about how Kliken unleashes the marketing, you can find him reading, writing for pleasure, or traveling the globe.

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