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The great thing about Shopify is that anyone can get a store up and running in a matter of hours. That’s the downside though also. It means there’s more competition and noise to cut through. You have to fight to get people’s attention.

You can’t simply start a store on Shopify and expect people to flock to it.

You need to build a brand on Shopify.

In this guide we’ll talk through what a brand is, why it’s so important, and how you can build your brand on Shopify.

What is Shopify?

Your brand is the essence of who you are as a company. It’s not just a logo or a website or cool content. Your brand is the complete experience that customers have with your company.

Some of the biggest companies in the world have built their businesses on strong brands. Coca-Cola, Nike, and Apple are just a few examples. A strong brand can make a small company appear larger than it is and give it an outsize impact in its industry.

A brand is more than just a name or logo. A strong brand has a clear purpose and message. It stands for something in the hearts and minds of its customers. When customers think of your brand, specific thoughts and feelings should come to them. They should have an emotional connection to your brand.

What’s The Difference Between Your Brand and Store?

It’s important to note that your brand is different from your Shopify store. Your store is part of your brand, but your brand is much larger. Your brand is the complete experience that customers have with your company, and your store is just one part of that.

When customers visit your store, they should see and feel your brand come to life. Your store should reflect your brand’s values, message, and personality. It should be an extension of your brand, not a separate entity.

Think of it this way: your brand is the sun, and your store is one of the planets orbiting around it. Your brand is the central source of light and heat, and your store revolves around it.

Why Should You Build Your Brand?

You may be thinking, Why should I go to all this effort to build a brand on Shopify? Can’t I just run my Shopify store and let people purchase from me?

The answer is yes, you can run a Shopify store without a brand. But if you want to create a long-term, successful business, you need to build a brand that’s bigger than your Shopify ecommerce store.

A brand will help you:

Stand out from the competition: In any given industry, there are always going to be other companies selling similar products or services as you. A strong brand will help you stand out from the competition and be more recognizable to potential customers.

Attract and retain customers: Building a strong Shopify brand will help you attract new customers and keep the ones you already have. It will create that sense of trust and loyalty with your customers.

Build trust with customers: Customers are more likely to buy from a company they know, like, and trust. A strong brand will help you build trust with customers and create an emotional connection with them.

Command higher prices: If customers trust and believe in your brand, they’ll be more likely to pay higher prices for your products. A strong brand can help you command premium prices for your products and increase your profits.

Attract top talent: A strong brand will help you attract the best employees to your company. Top talent wants to work for companies with strong brands that they can be proud of.

Drive word-of-mouth marketing: A strong brand will inspire customers to tell their friends about your company and products. This word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most powerful marketing tools you can have.

How to Build Your Brand on Shopify

1. Determine Your Brand’s Purpose

The first step in building your brand is to determine its purpose. What is your brand’s reason for existing? What problem are you solving for your customers?

Your Shopify brand’s purpose should be much more than just making money with your Shopify store. It should be something that inspires and drives you and your team. It should be something that gets you out of bed in the morning and gets you excited to work on your business.

To determine your Shopify brand’s purpose, ask yourself these questions:

What need does my product or service meet?
How does my product or service make my customers’ lives better?
What would the world be like without my product or service?
How is my product or service different from what’s already out there?
What values do I want my brand to stand for?

Answering these questions will help you determine your brand’s purpose. Once you know your brand’s purpose, you can start to build the rest of your brand around it.

2. Choose Your Brand Name

After you’ve determined your brand’s purpose, it’s time to choose a name. Your brand name is one of the most important aspects of your brand because it’s what customers will associate with your company.

When choosing a brand name, you want to make sure it’s:

Memorable: A good brand name should be easy to remember and pronounce.

Relevant: Your brand name should be relevant to your industry and what you sell.

Short: A shorter brand name is easier to remember than a long one.

Unique: Your brand name should be unique so it stands out from the competition.

You also want to make sure that your domain name is available and that you can get the social media handles for your brand name.

3. Define Your Target Audience

Another important step in building your brand is to define your target audience. You can’t build a successful brand if you don’t know who you’re trying to reach. You need to know who you’re selling to and what makes them tick. You can’t reach everyone with your brand.

To define your target audience, ask yourself these questions:

Who are my ideal customers?
What demographics do they belong to?
What psychographics do they have?
What does their buyer’s journey look like?
What pain points are they trying to solve?
What goals are they trying to achieve?
What social media platforms do they use?

Answering these questions will help you zero in on your target audience. Once you know who you’re trying to reach, you can start to build your brand around them.

4. Research Your Target Audience

After you’ve defined your target audience, it’s time to do some research. You need to find out what your target audience cares about and what their needs are. The best way to do this is to talk to them directly.

You can reach out to your target audience through surveys, interviews, focus groups, or even just one-on-one conversations. You can also look for research that’s already been done on your target audience.

You can also use social media to understand your customer better. Look at what they’re saying about your industry and what they’re talking about. What are their concerns? Their pains? Their desires?

Gathering this information will help you understand your target audience better and build a brand that appeals to them.

5. Analyze the Competition

Once you’ve gathered information about your target audience, it’s time to take a look at the competition. You need to understand what your competitors are doing and how they’re positioned in the market.

To do this, start by creating a competitive analysis. Look at your top three competitors and compare their:

Brand purpose
Brand name
Target audience
Positioning
Marketing strategy

You also may want to perform a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of the competitive landscape. Not only will this help you understand your competition better, it will also help you identify ways you be better than your competitors.

6. Develop A Unique Brand Voice and Visual Style

Now it’s time to start developing your brand. One of the first things you need to do is develop a unique brand voice. This is the tone and personality of your brand. It should be consistent across all of your marketing materials.

Think about some of the most unique brand voices and how they resonate with you. For example, Dollar Shave Club is sarcastic, irreverent, and speaks in the voice of 20-something guys. Lexus communicates both seriousness and luxury. Timex is all about reliability.

Tone is important, but so is word choice. You want to make sure you’re using the right language to reach your target audience. If you’re targeting older consumers, you’ll want to use different language than if you’re targeting millennials.

Once you’ve developed your brand voice, it’s time to start thinking about your visual style. This includes your logo, color scheme, and overall aesthetic. You want your visuals to reinforce your brand voice.

For example, if you’re going for a luxury feel, you’ll want to use a more sophisticated color scheme and font choices. If you’re going for a fun, youthful brand, you might want to use brighter colors and a more playful logo.

Your visual style should be consistent across all of your marketing materials, from your website to your social media accounts to your print ads.

If you’re having trouble coming up with a logo, Shopify has a free logo generator that can help you come up with one in a matter of minutes. Tools like Canva also make it very easy to create a professional looking logo for your Shopify store.

7. Create a Brand Positioning Statement

Once you’ve developed your brand voice and visual style, it’s time to start putting it all together. One of the best ways to do this is to create a brand positioning statement.

A brand positioning statement is a concise description of your target market and how you want them to perceive your brand. It’s not a tagline or slogan, but it should be short and to the point.

For example, Nike’s brand positioning statement is “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.”

Once you’ve created your brand positioning statement, use it as a guide for all of your future marketing decisions. It should inform everything from the images you use to the language you use to the products you sell.

If something doesn’t fit with your brand positioning statement, it doesn’t belong in your marketing.

8. Create Compelling Content

It’s finally time to start promoting your brand to the world. And there’s no better way to do that than with compelling content.

Your content should be interesting, informative, and engaging. But most importantly, it should be relevant to your target audience. Remember, you’re trying to reach a specific group of people with your content, so make sure it’s something they would actually want to read or watch.

There are a number of different types of content you can create, including:

Blog posts
Videos
Podcasts
Infographics
eBooks
Whitepapers
Guides
Case studies
Product reviews
How-to articles
Interviews
User generated content

When you’re first starting out, you won’t have the resources to create all of these types of content. That’s why it’s important to focus on the types of content that are most likely to reach your target audience.

For example, if you’re targeting millennials, you might want to focus on creating videos and social media posts. If you’re targeting older consumers, you might want to focus on creating blog posts and eBooks.

Once you’ve created your content, promote it through your website and social media channels. You can also submit it to relevant online publications and directories.

9. Build a Community Around Your Brand

Another way to build a successful brand is to create a community around it. This can be done in a number of ways, including:

Creating a Facebook group
Hosting events
Attending trade shows and conferences
Engaging with customers on social media
Starting a blog

A brand community gives your customers a place to connect with each other and with your company. It’s a great way to build loyalty and create advocates for your brand.

To build a successful community, you need to provide value to your members. This can be done by sharing exclusive deals, offering customer support, or simply providing a place for people to connect with each other.

You also need to be active in the community, engaging with members and responding to their questions and concerns. The more you can do to make your community a valuable resource, the more successful it will be.

10. Invest in Paid Advertising

At some point, you’re going to want to invest in paid advertising for your brand. This is a great way to reach a larger audience and promote your brand to people who might not be familiar with it.

When you’re first starting out, you can use social media advertising to reach your target audience. Facebook and Instagram are both great platforms for this. You can also use Google AdWords to reach people who are searching for keywords related to your business.

Paid advertising can be a great way to generate leads and sales for your business. But it’s important to remember that it’s not a magic bullet. You still need to create compelling content and offer a great product or service if you want people to buy from you.

11. Build Great Relationships with Customers

Ultimately, your Shopify brand will rise or fall based on how you treat your customers. If you want to build a successful brand, you need to focus on creating great relationships with your customers.

There are a number of ways to do this, including:

Offering excellent customer service
Building a loyalty program
Making it easy for customers to contact you
Responding to customer feedback
Sending thank-you notes
Dealing with problems quickly
Being transparent with your customers

The better you treat your customers, the more likely they are to become loyal advocates for your brand. Your loyal advocates are your brand ambassadors. They’re the people who will spread the word about your business and help you grow.

Treating your customers well is one of the most important things you can do to build a successful brand. If you take care of your customers, they’ll take care of you.

Written by Casey Botticello

Founder, Blogging Guide

Conclusion

Building a powerful brand on Shopify isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. A strong brand can help you attract new customers, build loyalty among your existing customers, and charge more for your products or services.

Ultimately, a strong brand results in your customers having a superior experience every time they interact with your brand. This, in turn, leads to more sales and more customers.

So if you’re serious about building a successful Shopify brand, start by following the tips in this article. Invest time and effort into your brand, and you’ll be rewarded with a powerful competitive advantage.

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