Building, Maintaining, and Protecting a Brand in E-Commerce
Creating, maintaining, and protecting a brand is one of the biggest investments for e-commerce companies. To embed the character of your brand and the products or services you offer in customers' minds and, consequently, increase your sales figures in the short, medium, and long term, you need a well-planned branding process.
The e-commerce sector is one of the fastest-growing and most competitive industries. Every day, many new companies join the sector, facing competition from firms that have already completed their branding process and are reaping the rewards of the market. Therefore, if you want to elevate your brand to higher levels in this league of giants, you must carefully plan what to do and what not to do in the branding process.
What You Should Do
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Involve Your Team in the Process When planning the branding process, ensure that your employees, who experience and live your brand every day, contribute to the process. By organizing meetings and workshops, you can create a roadmap for the strategy and refine it by listening to your employees' ideas. Remember, just like any other process, you need your employees to effectively carry out the steps in the branding process.
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Conduct Competitor Analysis The branding process is directly related to how you position yourself in the consumer’s mind and in the market. Therefore, it is beneficial to closely examine the branding processes and plans of competitors who have gone through similar processes. Detailed analysis will help you avoid costly mistakes and save time and energy in correcting them, while paving the way for a healthier branding process.
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Identify Your Potential Customers When defining your branding strategy, you should identify your target audience early in the process. Once you determine your potential customers, you can develop strategies that are suitable for their characteristics. This is one of the most accurate steps in the branding process. Remember, the branding process is about establishing a connection between your brand and the consumer. The types of communication, addressing styles, and similar applications you use should be tailored to the characteristics of your audience.
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Increase Your Visibility on Digital Channels The branding process involves embedding a company or product in the consumer’s mind. Given today's realities, one of the best ways to achieve this is through activities on digital channels. By increasing your visibility on digital platforms, you have the chance to influence your target audience. Continuously appearing on digital channels, in line with your branding goals, can become one of the fundamentals of the branding process.
What You Should Avoid
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Don’t Make Empty Promises The biggest mistake in the branding process is making hollow promises to attract customer interest. Branding also involves building customer trust. Making promises you can't keep is akin to brand suicide. Avoid making promises to consumers that you cannot fulfill.
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Don’t Copy Other Companies The goal of the process you plan should be to create and maintain a unique identity for your brand over the long term. Using elements from other companies to create a brand identity may result in a misleading image in the minds of consumers. Copying other firms instead of creating a unique and attention-grabbing identity is another major mistake.
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Don’t Think Short-Term Do you want your brand to have a short or long lifespan? If you aim for a short-lived brand, you can start with short-term plans in the branding process. However, these plans, while potentially beneficial in the short term, can bring many negatives to your brand in the long run.
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Don’t Make Constant Changes Branding is a journey to establish a place in the consumer’s mind. Therefore, constantly changing the elements of your brand can cause confusion in the minds of consumers. When you look at century-old companies, you’ll notice a common feature: they have maintained certain details since day one. Elements like logos, tastes, and perceptions of durability are aspects of branding that should remain unchanged.
Managing the branding process in e-commerce requires both a well-functioning system and meticulous management of consumer relationships. Comwize offers not only the infrastructure needed for e-commerce but also various services to help you manage customer relationships effectively.
