How do you stay on top of the crowded eCommerce landscape when millions of online stores launch every year? The sheer volume of competition and the flood of options consumers face every day have made it harder for brands to get noticed.
Yet some brands seem to effortlessly manage to cut through the noise and rise to the top, having people talk about them all over social media. At the same time, others remain in complete obscurity.
What makes the difference?
This article will try to answer this question and, backed up by experts in social media management from London, it’ll try to help you get the brand visibility you deserve.
The Power of Branding & Differentiation
Just like an impressive person steals the show in a crowded room, so can a strong brand identity capture the attention in a flooded marketplace. Branding is not just a quirky logo, some colours, and a catchy slogan. It is a unique presence that you adopt across platforms and touchpoints. A presence that resonates with your target audience and sets you apart from competitors. With such a successful branding strategy, your customers will recognise you in the crowd and connect with you instantly.
Differentiation is what your brand needs, however, to cut through the noise. Without it, it will risk remaining just another voice among many. Do you have something unique to offer? Something your customers can’t find anywhere else? Find it. Use it. It will help you stand out in the customer’s mind, driving recognition, loyalty and visibility.
Paid Advertising: Smart Investment vs Wasteful Spending
Online marketplaces that succeed invest in paid advertising. It can be a powerful tool to make yourself known to your target and drive traffic to your eCommerce site. And if done correctly, it will allow you to target potential customers right when they’re searching for your products or browsing on social media platforms.
However, with underperforming creatives, poor targeting, and without a clear objective, paid ads can become a pitfall. Brands that go for them win, but they do so with continuous optimisation, testing creatives, and adjusting targets.
It may sound like a lot of work, but if done properly, it cuts through the noise.
SEO: The Foundation of Visibility
With a brand that steals the show, you also need a solid SEO strategy to maintain long-term visibility. It helps your business appear in relevant search results, get noticed by your target and drive organic traffic over time.
Unlike paid ads, where traffic stops when the budget runs out, with good search engine optimisation, you get sustainable growth.
Educate & Engage with Content Marketing
A solid brand that has invested in well-thought-through paid socials and SEO content is already well ahead. But there’s something more it can do to attract customers and secure those already interested: build its content marketing strategy.
With blogs, videos, and guides, a brand can educate its audience and build brand authority – another key factor to stay above the noise. When a business strives to provide valuable information, it establishes itself as the expert. And experts attract attention.
Some examples of successful content strategies include Sephora and REI:
- Sephora has built a beauty insider community that shares tutorials and expert tips. It is content that the audience trusts and goes back to.
- REI has a blog that offers outdoor advice and sustainability tips, positioning the brand as a trusted expert.
Additionally, content marketing deals with storytelling, using it to connect emotionally to customers and incite them to engage with the brand and make purchases.
With an effective content strategy, you can build a loyal community that trusts you, engages with you, and will spread the word about your brand, helping your visibility as well.
Social Media & Influencer Partnerships
An eCommerce brand that makes it is one that leverages all that social media has to offer: to connect with its customers, build communities, drive traffic, and ensure the brand stays on top of the minds of its consumers.
If you add influencers and brand ambassadors to the mix, you can amplify the reach. It’s a chance to authentically promote products to followers, gain access to new audiences and increase engagement.
Businesses that are present for their customers through answering comments and polls, hosting live sessions, and sharing valuable, emotional, and relatable content may not always have the best strategy, but they’ll definitely secure a loyal pool of customers and increase traffic to their marketplace.
The Key to Long-Term Visibility
Consistency. This is the cornerstone that will keep your eCommerce brand on top of the crowd. A steady presence across all digital channels through content and ads will help reinforce your brand recognition and build trust, which will secure a loyal audience.
To make planning easier, you can stick to an editorial calendar, with the help of which you can plan and execute your messaging in a way that is structured and resonates with the right people at the right time.
Of course, all of this will be pointless without regular monitoring and optimisation of your campaigns. It is only in this way that you can make sure your strategy is working and you are aware of real-time data, customer behaviours, and insights.
Once you’ve implemented the above key factors that will make you stand out from the crowd, you need to implement consistency, planning and continuous analysis. This is how you stay on top, get noticed, and drive loyalty and growth in this ever-changing competitive market.
