Introduction to eCommerce Brand Assets
Most businesses begin with a product or service that they hope will sell. But it’s not enough to just have a product or service—you also need to have brand assets in place after some time operating. For an e-commerce business, these assets include things like email lists, website contents, domains, logos, ad creatives, audience insights, and more. If you want to build long-term value into your business and make sure it grows over time, then you need to have strong brand assets in place from the beginning!
Value-Driven Brand Assets
Brand assets are a way to create value for your online business, encourage customers to remember you, create “buzz” about you and come back for more. We all know that great branding can help your business succeed. But how can you create an awesome brand image and quick recognition for your business? Brand assets are one way to do this.
Branding is something that will last forever because it helps customers remember and come back time after time. That’s why it’s important to build up a strong presence when building out your brand assets so people will keep returning.
Why Is Branding Important to an Online Business?
Branding is important for an e-commerce business because it helps foster a cohesive brand experience. Brand assets specifically for branding include things like logo, color palette, and fonts. They help to establish the identity of a brand, allowing customers to recognize it when they see it. A consistent visual identity across all of your marketing channels will help you build trust with your audience and improve customer retention rates, and naturally, LTV.
Here are examples of brand assets investors look for when searching for online businesses for sale. These assets are bonuses that will help the new owner of an eCommerce store succeed when the operation is handed over.
1. A Strong Email List
The email list is the most valuable asset of any online business. It’s the most direct way for you to communicate with your customers and build relationships, as well as get feedback from them. Your email list is an opportunity to receive customer feedback, who are more likely to give you honest answers than anonymous comments on social media or forums.
The value of an email list can’t be overstated—it’s a goldmine of information that provides insights into what your customers want, how they feel about their experience buying from you, and what their biggest pain points are when interacting with your brand or business.
An email list is valuable to a brand also because it allows you to reach your target audience at the right time, with the right message.
When you have an email list, you can send out newsletters, updates, and other types of marketing content that are relevant to your customers. You can also send them coupons or discounts on their favorite products or services. These emails can be sent out as often as you like! They’re a great way to stay connected with your audience without being pushy about it.
And when customers sign up for an email list? They’re more likely to buy from you in the future because they feel that they know you better than any other company—and they trust that you’ll treat them well if they give you their contact info.
2. Online Store, Website, Content & Site Files
Your brand website is a central piece of your business identity and should be treated as such. Not only does it serve as your storefront, but it’s also the place where customers will find out about you and learn what makes you different from other companies in the same or similar market(s). In order to effectively communicate with your audience and generate leads, it’s important that your website:
- Is easy to navigate through;
- Has a clear call-to-action (CTA) at all times;
- Is mobile friendly;
- Has a blog or similar feature so visitors can gain insight into the products or services being sold on site and your expertise in your particular sector
- Enables social media integration for easy sharing of your content
3.Recognizable Logo
Your logo is the visual identity of your company, and it should be easily recognizable and consistent across all of your products and services. In addition to being simple in design, your logo should also represent what you do and who you are as an organization. For example, if you’re an online store selling cat toys, it would be inappropriate for your logo to feature dogs or mice.
There are many factors that go into creating a great logo:
- It should be memorable — so much so that people can draw it from memory or recognize it from a very small image (for example, on a business card).
- It should be appropriate for the type of business concerned
4. Established Product or Service That People Love
When you have a proven-to-sell product or service that people love, then you have an asset. Brand assets are the elements of your business that make it stand out in the minds of consumers. They’re what creates a spark of interest and excitement in potential customers, and they can be anything from new products or services to technology.
Products that are already established and proven to sell well are a great asset to a brand (particularly an eCommerce store). A trusted and aged supplier with an already-established relationship is another plus.
5. Bundled Products or Services (Extra Value)
An eCommerce bundle is a way to offer extra value to the customers. It can be used to upsell and cross-sell, or to provide freebies. Bundles help increase customer loyalty, as well as building your brand.
There are many ways you can use bundles in your online store:
- Upselling: Upselling is when you sell one product at a higher price than usual because it includes another complementary one (e.g., iPad + Apple Pencil).
- Cross-selling: Cross-selling is when you sell multiple products together for less than the price of buying them separately (e.g., iPhone XS Max + Apple Watch Series 4).
- Freebie: Giving away something for free with an order works great if it’s worth more than $X amount (meeting an order threshold)
6. Existing Satisfied Customers/Testimonials
A customer list is a valuable brand asset because it provides you with a detailed picture of your customers’ needs and preferences. This information can help you craft a more specific and effective marketing strategy, which in turn will lead to greater brand engagement and loyalty.
A customer list (and consumer testimonials) can also be used to create better products and services. With insight into what your customers want, you can tailor your offerings to meet their needs better than ever before!
7. Consistent & Clear Branded Mission Statement.
Branding is the process of creating a unique identity for your business. It’s what people see, hear and remember about your company, whether it’s an online store or brick-and-mortar location. You should have a consistent and clear branding and mission statement that is evident on every marketing channel you use.
The main purpose of branding is to create an image in consumers’ minds that differentiates you from competitors. Your brand should be memorable because brand recall is critical to success in eCommerce; people need to remember where they saw a product (or saw someone else use the product) before they can purchase it themselves.
8. Social Media Presence & Engagement
Social media is a great way to interact with customers, build trust, and build relationships. Social media also provides an opportunity to listen to what people are saying about your brand. By listening on social media, you can learn what customers like, dislike or need more of in order to have a better experience buying from you. You may also discover opportunities to provide value-added services that would make it easier for customers to buy from you.
It’s important that eCommerce businesses create content that will resonate with their audience and tailor content for different viewing platforms. Content marketing is one way of doing this.
You can use social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter for customer service purposes as well as marketing messages.
You can use TikTok to grow an audience quickly and potentially have your brand go viral. Having established social media accounts in place will increase your brand’s value.
9. Established Well-Performing Marketing Creatives in Place
The exact purpose of each asset depends on what it’s being used for — an ad on Facebook might need an image or video — but all must convey the same message about who you are and what you sell in order to attract buyers and keep them interested long enough to make a purchase.
If a brand already has marketing creatives in place that have proven to perform well in the past, that’s a huge plus! Many brands and online businesses starting out have to test thousands of dollars on social media advertising before finding a “winning” ad campaign and ad creative.
Pre-built and already tested marketing creatives are a brand asset because they reduce the time needed to spend creating new marketing content, allowing the owner to focus on other aspects of the online business. This will help you achieve your goals faster.
Established Brand Assets In a Nutshell
The more established brand assets you have, the better valuation your business will have (and the happier you’ll be!). You know how people like to tell you that “content is king”? Well, it turns out that they’re right. If you want to build a successful online business, it’s not enough to have high-quality products and services—you also need to have a strong brand asset strategy in place for your eCommerce site or online business of any kind.
The good news is that this doesn’t have to be hard or expensive! There are plenty of ways for small businesses to build their brand assets without spending much on them. It just takes time, experience, and the analysis of data from your online business.
Final Words
There are some things that you don’t want to skimp on when it comes to your brand’s assets. If you’re going to put in the time and effort into building them up, make sure they’re worth your while! We hope this article has shed light onto how strong branding and growing assets can help increase your business’ long-term value.
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