Beyond Conversion: Building Better eCommerce Brands
The real challenge in eCommerce marketing is not simply moving somebody from product page to checkout. Platforms have become remarkably good at solving that part. The harder job is creating enough desire to make somebody want to begin the journey in the first place.
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There is a version of eCommerce that looks increasingly familiar. The announcement bar. The oversized headline. The product grid. The discount pop-up arriving before you have decided whether you even like the product. Technically, it works. Commercially, that is no longer enough. The challenge for eCommerce marketing is not simply getting somebody from product page to checkout. Platforms have become remarkably good at solving that part. The harder job is creating enough desire to make somebody want to begin the journey in the first place.
There is a version of eCommerce that looks increasingly familiar.
The announcement bar. The oversized headline. The product grid. The discount pop-up arriving before you have decided whether you even like the product.
Technically, it works.
Commercially, that is no longer enough.
The challenge for eCommerce marketing is not simply getting somebody from product page to checkout. Platforms have become remarkably good at solving that part. The harder job is creating enough desire to make somebody want to begin the journey in the first place.
BRAND BEFORE PERFORMANCE
There is a strange habit in eCommerce marketing of separating brand and performance, as though one creates nice things while the other creates revenue.
The separation is artificial.
Performance advertising works harder when the proposition is memorable. Retargeting works harder when somebody remembers the first impression. Email works harder when the brand has a voice worth hearing from.
Creative is not decoration placed around the conversion strategy.
It is part of the conversion strategy.
This matters because comparison online is effortless. Your customer has another tab open. Probably several.
Products become similar. Delivery promises become similar. Promotional mechanics become similar. Even entire website structures begin to look interchangeable.
Brand is one of the few things competitors cannot instantly copy.
The strongest eCommerce businesses therefore build systems rather than individual assets: recognisable photography, a clear tone of voice, distinctive campaign structures and enough flexibility to remain interesting.
Optimisation can then do its job.
Because optimisation is powerful, but it can only optimise what already exists.
A forgettable brand with an immaculate checkout is still forgettable.
The cart is where the transaction happens.
The brand is why anybody put something in it.
Building an eCommerce brand that needs to do more than simply exist online? i313 creates eCommerce marketing, advertising, design and websites that give people a reason to stop, remember and buy.
