Your company is running smoothly and profitably. You have rising sales and highly trained staff, and manufacturing and logistics are ticking along. You could keep things going as they are, but you have big dreams and the time feels right to take the next step. If so, you’re probably priming for brand growth—ways you can strategically increase brand awareness and snag a larger piece of the pie in your industry.
Learn more about brand growth, and get insights on what brand-building tactics work best based on the experience of Sean Frank, CEO of wallet brand Ridge.
What is brand growth?
Brand growth is the process of increasing market share, spreading brand awareness, and fostering lasting relationships with your target audience. You can drive growth using new product development, expanding to new areas and channels, or tailoring marketing efforts to boost audience engagement. The goal is ultimately to attract new customers, increase sales, and nurture brand loyalty.
Brand growth strategies for ecommerce businesses
There are many ways you can drive brand growth. The following tactics can be part of a broader brand strategy for achieving sustained growth:
Create new products
One way to boost your brand is to create new products or offer new services, either in the same domain as your existing offerings or by expanding to a new category entirely. Research your target audience and competitors to better understand where the gaps in the market are and how you can deliver value.
On an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast, Ridge CEO Sean Frank offers guidance for expanding to new markets. “It’s way easier to capture a small part of a big growing market,” he says. “You want to choose a market that has natural growing demand.” Rather than trying to break into a market that’s already saturated, look for an area that’s trending up, then focus on an underserved niche within that market.
Sean identified a fast-growing demand for buying men’s rings online and jumped on it. This was a departure from the products Ridge was known for (metal wallets), yet it was aligned enough that the new product made sense as a strategy for brand growth.
Diversify your distribution channels
Another avenue for brand growth is to add outlets that sell your product. For example, you may decide you’re ready to convert your pop-up store into a permanent location, or that you want to sell on YouTube and Instagram in addition to TikTok.
While it may be tempting to scale as fast as possible, this does not always translate to long-term growth. It’s essential to understand what volumes your business can handle and whether you can deliver the amount of product to keep up with increasing demand. Sean explains what to look out for before diving into wholesale distribution: “Wholesale thinks about things in 12- to 24-month cycles, and they’re going to want to know what you’re making in 12 months, and you have to bring at least renders of that to the meeting,” he says.
Expand to new markets
Expanding to new geographical markets is another way to drive brand growth and bring in new customers. This is often easier said than done: You may need to tweak your product to suit cultural, social, or climate differences and adapt your web store and content. Localizing strategies can help you serve each of your demographic segments effectively, increasing your chances of gaining market share from competitors.
When Ridge started to expand into international markets, including Canada and Europe, it had to navigate translating product descriptions and web copy, currency conversions, and shipping logistics to successfully serve its audience. Sean suggests creating webshops with localized inventory and using apps like Weglot to accurately translate copy to other languages.
Experiment with pricing strategies
Your market research may reveal that your target audience is hesitant to buy your products because of the high price tag. Leveraging economies of scale to offer your product at a lower price point could be one way to make your brand accessible to a wider audience. You could also try strategies like product bundling or offering subscriptions to drive brand growth and bring in new customers.
Tailor your marketing to a broader audience
Establishing a presence where your audience spends time online can lead to a gradual rise in brand recognition over time. Use social channels that your target audience frequents, and use different content forms to serve different purposes. For example, a furniture brand’s audience may turn to Instagram and Pinterest for design inspiration, where the brand could post high-resolution studio photographs of its standing tables and modular office furniture. Longer how-to videos on YouTube could show the product in action and highlight all the bells and whistles.
To make it easy for potential customers to find your website and other content, use search engine optimization (SEO). Use relevant keywords for product descriptions and in your blog content, use title tags and meta descriptions, and invest time in creating quality backlinks. As you grow your brand, consider the interests a broader audience may have in your product, and adjust your web copy accordingly.
Partner with influencers
Successful influencers excel at creating an emotional connection with their audience and building authentic relationships that lead to loyal fans. You can use influencer marketing to expand your brand, either by running an influencer affiliate program or partnering with influencers directly. Connect with influencers who are a natural fit for your brand in terms of values and audience. Sean suggests starting small: “You should just choose 10 YouTubers you personally like and try to reach out to them.”
Brand growth FAQ
How do you drive brand growth?
Companies can drive brand growth by launching new products, expanding to new markets, adjusting pricing, or using more focused marketing strategies to reach their target audience and improve conversion rates.
How do you track brand growth?
You can track brand growth by monitoring your social media following, total revenue, web traffic, customer acquisition and retention, and marketing engagement. You can collect this data from your ecommerce shop and social channels and analyze it to ensure incremental growth.
Why is brand growth important for ecommerce businesses?
Brand growth is an important strategy for ecommerce businesses that leads to capturing market share from competition and developing products that cater to both existing and new consumers.
How do you measure your brand’s growth?
You can measure brand growth with data on market share gains in your sector, increased popularity on social media, and more web traffic. Setting clear KPIs geared toward each of these categories and monitoring progress will give you clear insight to growth over time.
