Online shopping and ecommerce has exploded since the pandemic hit, and savvy entrepreneurs have been riding the wave and carving out the space for their own ecommerce empire.
What though, is an empire that falls as fast as it rises? And what is real success if it relies on a specific trend to be in season? While anybody can build an online store selling trendy trinkets, creating an entity -an iconic brand- with its own style, voice, and community that rallies around it while, offering value to the world is a powerful and rewarding process that can change lives, and is how you can stand out from the competition around you.
April Hardy knows a thing or two about creating iconic brands. With over 6 years experience as a designer and Brand Strategist, as well as firsthand experience creating, growing and selling her own 6-figure skincare label, April offers both the expert skill set and sage experience for creating and scaling iconic brands for ecommerce and service-based businesses. Her holistic design and branding agency ByApril.co specializes in ‘designing with a difference‘, creating iconic brands and websites that wow through the power of intuitive visual design, strategic branding and websites that show off the creativity of their clients.
April has joined us to share some of her best advice for digital entrepreneurs looking to get in on the ecommerce space and create their own iconic brands around Shopify stores.
Painting (and investing in) the whole picture
A successful brand is all-in on the entire brand experience from the get-go. You need to spend the time and energy to learn about your audience, your competition and what makes them tick. Your branding should be unique, relevant to your audience’s niche and should carry itself in a way that conveys to its audience that they’re heard, understood, and can relate to your brand. To create the strong foundations of a brand identity that will cover all these functions, you’ll most likely need a team of people to cover the following areas
-Brand Designer – Brand aesthetic, Branding, and Brand Strategy
-Copywriter – Brand’s consistent ‘tone of voice’ used in engaging with its audience and the world.
-Photographer – Whether it’s a product or service, photography is a key aspect of expressing your brand’s story and identity
Your role as the business owner is also vital, because it’s through you that all these moving parts will come together and interface. It’s also up to you to understand your brand’s vision and maintain the consistency of your brand through all touchpoints, customer experiences and platforms. If you’re not confident in juggling these balls on a day-to-day basis, consider hiring a Social Media Manager or Virtual Assistant who are experienced in handling brands that can help lighten the load.
Don’t get swept up in the tide of trends
What separates a powerful brand from a flimsy cash-grab? Consistency. While some entrepreneurs might be able to get in on a trend quick, flip some products and get out, they’re relying on the power of the trend rather than the power of their own brand; something that a brand will cultivate as they spend more time engaging their audience and providing their services. As an iconic brand, everything from your aesthetics to your tone of voice were intentionally crafted with longevity and recognizability in mind, so when a loyal follower notices a brand taking a weird pivot, it can be a jarring experience for them and your brand might lose its appeal and value. People tend to value predictability and reliability with their brands and may not be too receptive to a change that looks like it was made to follow a trend. If you’re deciding whether or not to alter your vision or expand your offerings to include a trendy item, you have to ask yourself if it relates enough to your brand identity, or if it dilutes your vision too much.
Value the power of relationships
Staying connected with your audience and valuing the people behind the screens is the key to creating loyal followers that will engage with your brand long-term and potentially even do your work for you, sharing your brand for others to see. Inspiring emotion and being authentic within the customer/brand connection are the keys to cultivating a following as well as retaining loyalty. A highly successful brand knows the inside and out of what their customers want, and if they don’t, they seek the data, opinions and feedback to create the environment their audience wants to engage in. This is the area where giant multinationals are pouring millions of dollars into just to try and emulate the authentic relationships you can have with your audience. If you continue to return back to your “why” for creating your brand, you should see your customers and clients at the centre of that heartfelt “why“, benefitting from the value you’ve created for them.
If you’re looking to create an iconic brand that will stand out, cut through the noise & engage impactfully, connect with April Hardy of ByApril.co through her website or her Instagram and Facebook social media pages. April’s proven ability of crafting powerful brands for soul-centred entrepreneurs will help you elevate your online presence and confidently connect with your audience.