What’s next for ecommerce?
Where’s the future headed for physical product sellers and online brands in general?
I asked Lindsay Marder, the Co-Founder of DigitalStrategyBootCamps.com.
She predicts that over the next 3 years, the fastest growing ecom brands will dominate with a content strategy that adds personality to their businesses and creates a brand voice that attracts customers.
Lindsay Marder on the Future of Ecom
“I see ecommerce trends in the next 3 years going to personality and voice behind the product…
You need to give a face and personality to the product to give them a reason to trust you and buy.”
As business owners, we can already sense it: Customers today want to know the story behind a product and who’s selling it to them.
Just look at my 8-figure ecommerce store: It’s essentially an influencer skincare brand built on the story of a 60-year-old model.
These days, a good brand story can be one of your greatest selling propositions.
What the Heck is “Goodwill Marketing?”
According to Lindsay, a lot of marketers neglect the balance between direct-response selling and value-driven content that she calls “goodwill marketing.”
You can think of goodwill marketing as the story-telling side of your brand.
It’s content created for the sole purpose of building a relationship and proving you have value to offer beyond the products in your store.
And yeah, you guessed it — this very blog post is a kind of goodwill content. (Hey, this strategy works and it’s fun!)
But this personality-driven content strategy isn’t new…
It’s been popular in the info-product space for years. Think of the major players like Zig Zigler, Oprah, Tony Robbins, and Grant Cardone, just to name a few…
All of them built devoted followings (and sold millions) by creating charismatic personas that reached beyond their products.
And now, Lindsay’s predicting the same trend will shape which ecommerce brands win (or lose) over the next 3 years.
How do I Add Personality to My Brand?
For Lindsay, adding personality to your marketing isn’t complicated. It just takes a little bit of ad spend:
“It’s really all about goodwill and value…
Write something up that shares your platform, your mission, your thoughts, and then use some of your ad dollars to boost that.
Run an ad to get that in front of people and show them that there’s more to your business than just a product…
There’s personality and there’s value and there’s mission.”
I don’t doubt that your business has a story, but do your customers know what it is?
If you’re out there trying to do good in the world — and I’m sure you are — then maybe it’s time to make that mission a greater part of your selling proposition.
After all, your brand story is a lot harder to copy than your product.
Thanks for reading!
Highlights:
0:01 Ecommerce trends in the next 3 years will go towards personality and voice
0:15 You need to give a face and a personality to the product
0:32 Deliver value and content that allows your prospect to get to know you
0:53 Show people that there is more to your business than just a product
Click Here For Video Transcript
I think an amazing balance that people neglect a lot of times between direct response and selling is the goodwill aspect, so delivering value and content that allows your prospect to get to know you. People want to learn who’s behind the product, who’s selling to them, so it’s really all about goodwill and value. It’s fine to write something up, share your platform, share your missions, share your thoughts. Use some of your ad dollars to boost that, to run an ad, to get that in front of people. Show them that there’s more to your business than just the product. There’s personality, and there’s mission, and there’s value, and there’s drive. So, I really think that people would go a lot further with their dollar spend and their results if they incorporated more goodwill into their direct response.
