What do they offer you as a brand?
In my last blog post, I talked about the challenges ahead in 2023 and finding a balance between building your brand and delivering sales targets to fulfill full-funnel marketing. Where does the marketplace take its place in this marketing funnel?
A case study by Retailx showed that 'the rise of the marketplace has been driven by the convenience that they offer consumers'. How does your brand stand out in this competitive marketplace, as the variety of sellers is exceptionally wide and especially during Black Friday or Christmas time?
To stand out in this competitive offering we should start by understanding where the marketplace claims its spot within the customer journey. If we apply the model of Google (STDC); See, Think, Do, Care then it clearly claims its place in the 'Do' phase as it is related directly to your sales. In the customer journey map of the company Colombia Road we see similar phases; Awareness, Consideration, Decision, Delivery & Use, Loyalty & Advocacy. Through this model, we also see that the marketplace is claiming its position in the 'Decision' phase.
In both models, it showed that the customer is searching his/her way through the internet or offline to your product. Claiming interest in your brand in the first phase can influence your potential customer before purchasing and converting to your product.
Optimizing your marketplace SEA and the content is normally quite intense because of the high competition. You also need to play it smart to make the investment profitable. Why wouldn't you spend your money in the first phase of the customer journey and put your brand in the spotlight?
Instead of maximizing the ROI within the marketplace through SEA you already can build your brand outside the marketplace and take advantage to communicate sooner with your customer. This can have a positive effect when the customer searches within the marketplace for your product. Because the price is driving the decision to purchase as well.
It's obvious to say that the marketplace sits in the lower tier of the funnel when the customer is more concerned about the price and the delivery costs. However, does brand experience grabs the attention of the customer before they purchase your product, and what are the consequences? Investing in brand awareness is not directly related to conversions because you use different KPIs, however, the majority speaks about long-term investment.
For brands, it is challenging when working with different sales channels. The focus is on the sales funnel and less on building the brand. A recent case study of Airbnb by 'Candid Group' showed the relevance of building your brand assuring long-term business growth. As long as your performance marketing is predominantly showing profitable results brand building is giving an uplift to your brand experience when using the right balance between both of them.
To stimulate brand experience your brand should be visible in other paid media channels outside the marketplace. Inevitably brand marketing uses different KPIs and enables long-term growth, whereas performance marketing sits in the lower funnel and is able to drive sales. It takes a combination of both in order for growth to stand out of the crowd, so you don't have to choose just one. By the end of the day, it's all about driving business results and making sure you are exceeding consumer expectations. By creating a brand experience you are connecting with your audience which enables long-term loyalty.