The legendary success demonstrated by the world’s online marketplace leaders motivates hundreds and thousands of entrepreneurs worldwide to start their own journey in this direction. All these specialists may either have experience in the eCommerce field or not; they may see their plan clearly or just have a simple idea without understanding how to implement it. Fortunately, there are professionals ready to help with marketplace development.
Though the industry looks quite promising, only some of these business owners will grow viable businesses and succeed. At the very beginning, you as an eCommerce business starter will face 2 key common challenges:
- Empty customer base;
- Intensive competition in the market.
No doubts, you will work hard to acquire your customers and clients; and of course, you will employ tried-and-tested tips to outrun your potential competitors. But along with that, you should keep in mind one crucial fact: if you don’t grow your brand, nothing will work for you the way you want it to work.
What are the main features of a good brand? First of all, your brand should be strong, recognizable, memorable and trustworthy. The years of experience in marketplace development for successful businesses helped us to put together this list of best tips. Here, you will find out how to build a brand that will bring you money.
9 rewarding tips to build your marketplace brand
Building your online marketplace, keep in mind these tips and develop a remarkable brand:
1. Use the perks of advertising
Advertising is an important element of a business engine. With its help, you can work with your target audience and acquire first marketplace visitors. It may be helpful even before your marketplace is up and running: catchy ads attract potential users’ attention and inform the audience about your marketplace and brand before it is born.
2. Start an informative blog
There is no better way to demonstrate your professionalism and contribute to your brand development than start a blog with profound articles and insights. People that come to your website for valuable information will eventually pay the attention to the products and services you offer. Thus, you will get an opportunity to build trustworthy relations with users who are already aware of your professionalism.
3. Talk to your customers on social media
Social media channels are the fathomless source of opportunities for brand development. Share stories, use cases and photos on your company’s profile on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter; show that your business is alive and user-oriented. Talk to former and potential users of your marketplace, engage them with giveaways, discounts and special offers. People spend more than 2 hours daily browsing social media, so why not to use it for your brand development?
A great tip is to win local bloggers’ preference. It can be paid cooperation or a win-win deal: you send some great products to a blogger, and he or she recommends your eCommerce company on the pages of a popular blog. Quite convenient; quite effective.
4. Email campaigns can help you
If you already know how to produce informative and useful content, you may have considered ways to improve your brand with an email campaign. Email is a great method to stay in touch with users. It allows discovering the reasons why customers abandon their shopping carts, why they leave your website without making a purchase, or what issues they may have faced. The point is to develop a campaign that won’t discontent or irritate a recipient.
5. Build partnerships with other brands
You can augment your business with the products and services offered by other companies. This is another splendid method of win-win cooperation: both companies can attract new customers and enjoy the results of cross-selling without additional investments. Besides, if your partner is a well-known company, beneficial cooperation may increase your brand’s popularity.
6. Packaging as a tool for brand development
Many marketplace owners forget that packaging is a tool for brand promotion. This is a chance for you to demonstrate your brand’s exclusiveness and increase customers’ satisfaction. Hire an experienced designer or dedicate your own time and creative skills to packaging. Add something special to each parcel and make your customers tell their friends about your brand!
7. Serve your customers well
Provide needed support every time they need it. Train your call center specialists to answer in a professional but friendly tone; answer customers’ questions on your website and social media. Do your best to turn each website’s visitor to a satisfied customer. It is very likely that unsatisfied customers will not complain but they will tell their friends about a negative experience. Ans this will harm your brand.
8. Ask for reviews
And do it everywhere. Let your customers tell about their experience on the pages of your website, let them describe the impressions of using certain products and collect photo and video reviews on social media. This will provide you with 2 significant outcomes:
- Potential customers will find out more about the marketplace they’d like to purchase at;
- You will get information about the things your customers don’t like, about the inconvenience they have dealt with or issues that have appeared.
Potential users and clients will trust your marketplace more, and you’ll get a precious opportunity to fix any tiny problem. Even the most laconic review may contribute to your brand development.
9. Always say “Thank You”
These are human relations that your potential customers will appreciate. Taking into account an intensive competition in the eCommerce market, this is a stroke of great luck that a certain buyer has come to your website. And we believe it costs you much time and efforts to acquire each of them. So don’t miss a chance to show your gratitude and openness. Send personalized Thank You messages and watch how positively it impacts your business.
In conclusion
Here at Clockwise Software, we have dedicated much time and attention to develop this list. We have analyzed the best practices both qualitatively and quantitively; we have watched successful eCommerce businesses to employ them and increase their profit. Thus, we are sure these tips will help you to achieve your goals.
To reach the expected results, it is required to follow all the tips presented here daily. No exceptions, no simplifications. Focus on your brand development and keep in mind the most useful things to strengthen it!
