How to Make Your Ecommerce Brand Stand Out in a Crowded Market

Unfortunately, while the internet has made it easier for entrepreneurs to get their start in the world, it’s also making it harder for companies to stand out. After all, when there’s a swarm of companies that offer the same products and services that you do, how do you convince your customers that they should keep coming to you?

If you’re wondering how you can foster loyalty and growth in an increasingly crowded world, then you’ve come to the right place. Here, we’re going to look at the ways that you can make even the most crowded of niche industries work for your business.

1. Create Something New

The most obvious way to make your business stand out from the crowd is to create something that your marketplace has never seen before. Just because your industry is saturated, doesn’t mean that there isn’t still room for innovation if you know where to look. For instance, look at the Dollar Shave Club. This simple brand jumped into an industry “shaving and beauty” that was already packed full of alternatives like Gillette and Wilkinson Sword.

The reason that Dollar Shave Club ended up becoming so popular is that they didn’t try to follow in the footsteps of their competitors. They took an alternative route to business, by offering customers not a unique selling proposition. Dollar Shave Club provides cheap razors that are delivered straight to their customer’s door – this makes them different to the other companies on the market offering similar shaving products.

Innovation doesn’t have to mean reinventing the wheel. Creating something new with your eCommerce brand can be easier than you think.

2. Solve Genuine Customer Problems

A good way to do something different and make sure that you’re still appealing to your target audience is to begin with something called a “user persona.” When you create a user persona, you look at the characteristics of your ideal customer, including their:

• Age
• Location
• Buying power
• Preferences
• Pain points

Examining these factors helps you to understand what your customers are looking for from your brand. That means that you don’t just end up offering the same product that they can already access in your niche. Instead, you create a product or service that’s been missing from their lives. Analyzing pain points not only helps you to create a great USP, but it also ensures that you build a stronger business brand, by showing your customers that you understand them.

3. Build a Powerful Online Presence

When it comes to creating an unforgettable company in a crowded niche, there are few things more important to your business than a compelling web design. The right website gives depth to your brand identity and shows your audience that they can trust your organization. Think of it this way, if you were looking for a business who could help you to solve your most pressing problems, would you be more likely to trust a company with a fantastic website, or someone who looks like their site was created 10 years ago?

Having the right image means a lot in today’s overwhelmed marketplace. Your audience still judges you by the way you look, and your website acts like your digital storefront, convincing people that you have what it takes to serve their needs. Make sure that your website looks incredible and performs well too. It should be easy to navigate and packed with enticing graphics. Additionally, remember how important it is to make sure that your website has a simple checkout process.

For example, many ecommerce agencies only design websites on Shopify to make the eCommerce journey as streamlined as possible.

4. Get the Branding Right

If you think that your online presence and your eCommerce brand are the same things – then think again. Your brand is a lot more than what your company looks like. A brand can encompass everything from your tone of voice in marketing to your logo.

Although a lot of companies still look at branding as just another aspect of their advertising strategy, the truth is that it’s so much more than that. Your brand is your reputation in the online and offline world, and it’s how you can start to develop relationships with your target audience. A great brand shows your customers that you share your values and that you’re dedicated to delivering a fantastic experience. Some things to think about when you’re working on your brand include:

• Your logo and brand photography
• Your brand colours (you’ll use these on your website)
• The tone of voice you use in your marketing
• Your website
• Your marketing and content campaigns

5. Deliver an Unforgettable Customer Service

Experience is probably the most important differentiating factor in today’s marketing world. Customers from all backgrounds are looking not for the company that can give them the lowest prices or the most innovative products – but the business that can deliver a great experience.

There are plenty of ways that you can deliver a great experience on your eCommerce store, from getting the checkout process right, to designing a fantastic website. However, while the site that you produce makes a big difference in the way your customers feel about your brand, don’t overlook the importance of building an efficient and dedicated service team too.

An engaged team who believes in your products and goes above and beyond to serve your customers will always be at the front line when it comes to unforgettable customer experiences. Make sure that your staff is timely, well-trained, and ready to answer any questions your customers might have.

6. Build on Social Proof

If you’re successful in delivering a fantastic experience to your customers, then you’ll see a number of benefits for your brand as a result. Great experiences lead to repeat customers, brand ambassadors, and all-important social proof too.

Social proof comes in the form of reviews and testimonials that customers leave about your company to help convince other people that they should buy from you in the future. Today, a lot of people take reviews seriously when they’re deciding whether they should buy from a certain brand. If you’re having trouble gaining social proof from your audience, you could try working with a PEO service to boost your testimonial power.

A PEO – or a professional employer organization – can not only help to enhance your customer service team with HR support and productivity tracking tools, they can also give you the guidance you need to build on your customer experience strategy and generate better feedback from your clients. The more positive testimonials you get, the more likely you will be to stand out in your chosen niche.

7. Embrace Company Values

Another way to convince your audience that you’re not just another dime-a-dozen company in a crowded niche is to show them that you care about the same things that matter to them. Today’s customers prefer to buy from brands that they can make a connection with. This means that if your audience is particularly passionate about a certain cause or charity, you should be too!

Partnering up with charities or local communities in your area shows your customers that you’re in business for more than just making a profit. Although your main goals as a company might be to make money, you need to convince your customers that you have values and missions too.

Look at how you can set yourself apart from the rest of the crowd in your space by supporting something that matters to your target market.

8. Keep Experimenting

Finally, remember that the key to standing out in today’s crazy marketing world is to continue experimenting with new ideas. The more you learn about your target audience, your chosen niche, and the world around you, the more you’ll be able to develop your promotional ideas and grow as a company. Look at the latest digital marketing trends, experiment with guerrilla advertising, or even work with influencers to give your brand reputation a boost.

The more you try out new campaigns and measure your results, the more you’ll begin to learn about the things that work for your target audience.

Make Your Crowded Niche Work for You

The truth is that no niche is ever too crowded for the right marketer. All you need to do is make sure that you have the right strategy in place to facilitate success. Explore new ideas, build a website that will help you to appeal to your target audience, and keep building your way towards a brighter tomorrow.

Remember that crowded niches got that way for a reason – they have value. If you can work on your brand and create something that your audience remembers, then you’ll be on track to a successful eCommerce company.