“Your brand is a story unfolding across all customer touch points.”- Jonah Sachs
In today’s age of the ever-growing importance of online shopping, Amazon is a key player in the field with its massive customer base and many sellers. It offers a myriad of products and services which makes it essential for sellers to take various business decisions to stay ahead of the competition.
When the competition is so high, only the basic practices of optimizing listing images, creating better descriptions and bullet points, etc. do not cut it all the time. To succeed, you’ll need a thriving brand identity both in and outside the marketplace. An easily recognizable brand can control various factors like repeat rate, product perception, pricing, etc. better than a generic seller.
Branding is not only about your trademarks and/or visual consistency, there are various subjects at play here. Let’s take a look:
What is brand strategy
A brand strategy is the way a business tries to describe and relate itself to a customer. One can use several elements to do so, including purpose, mission, identity, values, voice, story, uniqueness, emotion, visual and written communication, etc. A good brand strategy aims to communicate its core values so the buyers have something unique and noteworthy to identify with.
To create a strong brand identity, work on your mission statement first. It is like the lifeblood of your business, an essential set of values effective through the overall presence and tone of the branding initiatives. Let’s assume there is a seller of vintage records who has this mission statement:
“Curating rare sonic gems from the past, we forge a legacy of musical heritage for the true connoisseurs of vinyl records”
Now the brand can develop its visual identity through photography, video, illustrations, etc. based on the tone and theme of the mission. It also provides a good benchmark while making decisions as the pre-set theme doesn’t let the marketing and Amazon PPC optimization veer away too much from its original goal.
Building a robust brand identity comes with many more upsides such as:
1) Customer loyalty
A great brand attracts loyalty from consumers as they tend to trust brands with a consistent identity. Loyal customers also frequently repeat their purchases and create word-of-mouth buzz. A strong customer base also acts as an effective marketing channel to create awareness and User Generated Content for social media.
2) Pricing
Large brands keep doing great business even if their products cost more than those of rival sellers. By making your brand presence stronger, you can position your products higher than similar products. The customer will perceive your products more as a feeling than as simple utility.
Competing with low-priced products is difficult especially when there are not many differentiators, but when your products are part of a brand that stands above the chaos of generic sellers, customers will be ready to pay the premium. But remember this is not something to do when you start selling. Work on creating a strong brand first and then manage the pricing around that.
3) Outperforming the rivals
A robust brand identity ensures consistency on the Amazon SERP resulting in a more frequent clickthrough rate. When looking for a certain generic product name on Amazon, the top 5 results are more likely to be from reputed brands. This factor builds overall trust which results in repeated purchases.
4) Related purchases
If your customers trust you, they are more likely to buy different products from your brand. Yes! A good brand has better cross-selling opportunities than mediocre ones.
5) Bypassing the generic trap
When you have a strong brand with good visibility, customers will search for the name of the brand rather than the generic product keyword. Which makes it easier for you to show up at the top of the SERP and outperform the generic competitors.
How to build a brand on Amazon?
Now that we are aware of what branding can contribute to the business, let’s take a look at how we can create a brand that captures customers’ attention.
A good brand can never work selling a mediocre or bad product no matter how much money you spend on Amazon marketing services. Your customer primarily identifies you through the product. If your product does not provide the user experience your brand promises, your brand will seem phony.
#1: Always put customers first
After you have a competent catalog of products, you need to work on the factor that keeps a brand alive, the customers. While researching your product you must also research your potential customers to get a hang of the behaviors, buying patterns, etc. so you can position your brand accordingly.
#2: Find your brand’s uniqueness and appeal
It is next to impossible to sell your products to everybody. Brands often aim to work on a specific niche for growth.
Suppose you are a premium technology brand focused on gaming. Your products mainly target the youth, mainly boys and men from age 12 to 35. The group is very aware of the technological nitty-gritty and is ready to pay a premium for high-quality, cutting-edge gadgets and tech accessories.
With this data, you can develop a brand image that attracts the mentioned group, you can utilize sleek, high-tech imagery, information about superior technology, and premium design appealing to the gamer subculture to build confidence in the customer. Teaming up with relevant influencers from the same subculture can help the brand image even further and create buzz.
#3: Create your brand’s message
When doing Amazon product listing optimization, it’s crucial to convey what sets your products apart. Showcase the unique attributes that make your product stand out from competitors. This can range from the materials, and/or the cutting-edge technology, to unique features not found otherwise. Describe the practical benefits of your products. Explain how they solve the problems of the buyers, making their lives easier.
But the emotional benefits are just as important. Create a lore around your product that resonates with your customers, making them feel positive and confident about their choices. This story should connect on a personal level, showing that you care for their needs and aspirations.
Distill these elements into a potent brand message – the spark! This should hold the essence of your product, merging both its functionality and emotional appeal. How it leaves a noteworthy impact, so your product lingers in their minds long after they’ve finished reading about it. This blend of unique product features, practical benefits, emotional connections, and a compelling message will make your product listings stand out and resonate deeply with potential buyers.
#4: Keep your listing in top shape
With good products, you’ll need properly optimized, high-quality product listings to ensure conversion.
- Make sure to use high-resolution images and graphics in your listings, stores, and brand stories. You can avail of eStore Factory’s Amazon photo editing services for such needs.
- Conduct thorough keyword research with a specialized Amazon keyword tool to find out the high search volume, and relevant keywords that can attract the right customers to your listings. You can use eStore Factory’s Amazon keyword research service for this.
- You can implement these keywords into your product title, bullet points, and product descriptions to make them Amazon SEO-friendly. eStore Factory’s effective Amazon product optimization services can come in handy for this.
- Make good use of the backend search terms by applying your keywords. Backend search terms help accommodate the relevant keywords you somehow could not use otherwise in the listing.
#5: Register your brand with Amazon
After you get your trademark, register your brand at the Amazon Brand Registry:
- Once you have a Seller Central or Vendor Central account, sign up at the Amazon Brand Registry portal.
- Fill in the required fields (country of origin, manufacturing information, GTINs, UPCs, or EANs) in the portal to register your brand name and business details.
- After 2-10 days of waiting, Amazon verifies your business and sends a code to your registered trademark office, after you submit the code back, your Brand Registry account will be running in a couple of days.
#6: Invest in creating an Amazon storefront
A well-designed online store effectively conveys your brand’s value and message. Sellers under Amazon’s Brand Registry can easily create sleek, customizable storefronts to exhibit all their products in one place to enhance customer experience. Very different from the SERP, the Amazon seller storefront is a virtual place where the customer experiences your products only. It is a place free from the ever-competing sellers and other interferences.
The storefronts offer you various tools like a customizable interface, and accommodation of elements like infographics, video, and shopping modules that combine to create a coherent narrative about your brand’s story.
Amazon storefronts also come with marketing scopes like Sponsored Brand and Display ads. They can help shoppers land directly at your storefront bypassing the long, slow process of going through different listings.
#7: Create attractive packaging
Unboxing the product is like a gateway for the customer, an entry point to the amazing experience your brand promises to deliver. But sellers don’t take care of this part as much as they should. Opening the package and revealing the product inside should create a domino effect of emotions in the customer.
To nurture such a positive feeling associated with the brand, focus more on the design, and material of the package. A well-designed package conveys a premium feel about the brand.
#8: Focus on customer feedback
Most of us check the reviews before hitting that coveted ‘add to cart/shop now’ button! A wide range of data also points in the same direction, that sellers with numerous good reviews and ratings tend to gain more customers and higher conversion rates.
Keeping that in mind, always strive to provide good products and delightful customer service so the customer’s feelings stay positive for you, and build a brand image around those positive feelings. But be careful, Amazon is notoriously strict with its guidelines, and soliciting reviews is a grave offense in its book. Dabble in organics feedback only. Utilize the Early Reviewer program and Vine program to achieve good word-of-mouth from the buyers.
#9: Create an extensive and expansive marketing strategy
Adapting an all-encompassing approach to the brand’s marketing is a great step to take. No matter how big a platform Amazon is, relying solely on it for your business may prove hindering in the long run. Instead, using a full-funnel strategy with programs like Amazon DSP and Sponsored Display ads can prove beneficial in creating a brand presence both in and outside Amazon.
Such a strategy helps create a loyal customer base all around. People tend to see your brand in places other than Amazon and start perceiving it as a more trustworthy choice. This strategy also helps generate significantly more sales. Amazon states that sellers with a full-funnel brand strategy often experience greater new-to-brand sales and month-on-month sales boosts than sellers solely relying on Sponsored Products or Sponsored Brand ads. It also increases brand awareness and consideration among buyers as you can easily attract customers who visited your listing earlier to your store with Sponsored Display Ads.
#10: Focus on social media engagements
Social media engagement is an effective way to reach your customers outside Amazon. A massive portion of the population decides to buy a product after they watch it somewhere on their social media feed. To sharpen your marketing efforts even more, you can work with influencers related to your niche to promote your products.
Social media marketing is very cost-effective in comparison to traditional branding and marketing channels. But being such an important part of the modern lifestyle, it works best to create a brand image and awareness among the targeted group.
Conclusion
We are at the end of this enriching journey now – building your Amazon brand might take some time and some effort! But remember, you’re not doing it all by yourself.
eStore Factory’s Amazon consulting service is here to back you up every step of the way, helping your brand grow and thrive. Our team of e-commerce experts and top-notch marketing tools have already guided hundreds of sellers to success on Amazon. Don’t wait any longer to kickstart your Amazon journey. Let’s get your brand soaring to new heights together!