Standing Out in the Era of Creative Commerce

As e-commerce has rapidly accelerated, so have consumer expectations surrounding online brand experiences. Shopping has become an extension of everyday life; every moment is now an opportunity for discovery and connection. As a result, consumers are being more spontaneous in their purchases, making brand loyalty suffer and competition rise. The average person is estimated to encounter between 6,000 and 10,000 brand advertisements every single day. So how can brands stand out in this new, highly competitive age of commerce? The answer lies in creative e-commerce experiences that evoke emotion and put power into the hands of the consumer.

Drive Genuine Brand Experiences at Every Stage of the Funnel

Consumers are craving more connection from brands and expect emotional values to be reflected in e-commerce experiences. The key to acquiring customers, and holding on to them, is creating genuine two-way connections that provide value throughout the customer lifecycle. Brands should nurture customers from discovery to advocacy. On marketing channels, this looks like leveraging user-generated content (UGC), asking customers questions, and crowdsourcing campaigns to drive authentic discovery and connection. Lower in the funnel, personalization is key, be it through bespoke product finders, interactive customer service experiences, or thank-you emails from the brand founder post-purchase. It's more important than ever for brands to know their customers inside and out, and proactively deliver the right messages to the right people at the right time.

Deliver Quality Content Over Quantity

It's not enough to push the right products — brands need to inspire, educate and entertain across key digital touchpoints. When it comes to content, it's about quality over quantity and driving as much relevancy as possible. Pushing out the same content everywhere can alienate audiences and limit the effectiveness of creativity. To stand out, brands need to create more purposeful content that embraces the nuances, trends and audiences of each channel. Producing quality content doesn’t necessarily mean high production and high cost. In fact, lo-fi content often outperforms on social as it feels more organic. With the rise of TikTok, the value of quality over quantity becomes highly evident; brands can go viral by getting just one piece of content right, and it’s usually shot on an iPhone.

Leverage Barriers and Motivators to Amplify Reach

Creative can be a highly strategic tool in diversifying audiences. Social algorithms are strong enough to show customers the right content. Brands should use this to their advantage. With new tracking limitations, brands need to use creative as a means of expanding reach. Everyone purchases for a different reason and motivators can range from price point to fit to quality, and beyond. Brands should understand their customers' barriers to entry, choose four or five of the highest value motivators, and create content that speaks directly to them. If price point is a barrier to entry, speaking to quality can turn that barrier into a purchase. If lack of brand awareness or trust is an issue, leveraging reviews can be key. If brands diversify creative in this way, they'll see that instead of speaking to one customer they're now speaking to many.

Conclusion

E-commerce marketing is becoming more and more of an art than a science. It's imperative that brands embrace the human element they can offer to their customers by focusing on creative solutions that deliver emotional connection and value at every stage of the funnel. Driving authentic two-way experiences, focusing on quality over quantity, and diversifying creative are overarching strategies that can help brands stand out in this era of commerce when creativity truly is king.

Emily Fontana is the head of digital marketing at One Rockwell, a leading e-commerce agency experienced in creative design and technical solutions.