7 personal branding tips to kickstart your dropshipping website

Branding is a powerful tool for making your dropshipping website stand out. The internet is a vast place, and it's easy to get lost in the ocean of other eCommerce sites. Instead of waiting for customers to chance upon what you have to sell, you need to help your customers find you.

First of all, let's define branding. Branding is the reputation of your business. It is the message you send, the products you put out, the culture of your business, and how you treat your customers. A brand image becomes the customer's gut feeling about a product, service, or company.

It is easy to confuse branding with the way your company's logo and tagline are designed. However, understanding some simple branding ideas can make a big difference in your sales revenue. Customers will trust and buy from you if they have a positive impression of your company. We will show you 7 personal branding tips to kickstart your dropshipping website.

We will show you 7 personal branding tips to kickstart your dropshipping website.

1. Stand out from the competition

Make yourself stand out from the crowd by providing a one-of-a-kind service. Even if two companies sell the same product, you can influence customers to choose you. For example, McDonald's and Burger King offer very similar fast food, however, there is a big difference in how they are perceived by customers that enjoy burgers. Both burger chains have their way of branding and differentiating themselves.

To decide how you can differentiate, ask yourself these 3 questions:

1. Who are you, exactly?

Who are the founders, what's their passion, what's the vision of the company, what's the purpose of the business beyond making money?

2. What do you do?

Identify the playing field that you are on, what is your industry, and what category does your product fit into.

3. What difference does it make?

Customers have to see your business as different in some important way. Why are you the best in your category, in your playing field?

Select a niche

Narrow down your customers by specializing in a niche. Your niche could be defined by the type of product you sell, the price you charge, the level of service you provide, or your company's philosophy. By dropshipping with vidaXL, you can choose to specialize in selling only one category of products. This might be bicycle parts, children's toys, or pet supplies.

Example

If you're selling pet supplies, your website can be dedicated to small dog breeds. Select products only suitable for these dogs, post an informative blog about caring for Yorkshire terriers, dachshunds, and pugs. To narrow your focus even more, you could only feature budget-friendly or high-end pet supplies.

2. Research your customers

Know how to sell your products by getting to know your customers better. Determine the type of individual who will buy from you. Instagram is a great starting point. Find influencers that fit your style and already use or would likely use the products you're selling by searching hashtags linked to the products you'll be selling.

Write down what you notice from your research. Answer these questions about your target customers:

1. What is their personality like? Are they educated, impatient, impulsive, thoughtful?

2. What hobbies do they have?

3. Where do they live, is it a house or flat?

4. Do they appreciate the finer things in life?

This is part of your competitive positioning strategy.

Example

Imagine we go back to the business idea of selling pet supplies to small dogs owners. Do they live in the city or in a rural village? Do they own other pets? Have they given their dogs a luxurious lifestyle? Are the small dogs living in a flat or a big house?

3. Targeting your audience

Once you know your customer, you can build your image and message around them. Think about how you will engage with your target audience, will your website include a lot of information or does your customer want a quick shopping experience?

Consider these points:

1. When and where do they normally buy their products?

2. Which social media platforms do they use?

3. Which products are they most interested in purchasing?

4. What tone of voice will you use to speak to them?

4. Cohesion

Once you have written down some core ideas and values about your company, and the target audience, this is your branding strategy to stick to. Be consistent with the tone of your brand - how you speak to customers, the content on your eCommerce shop, your social media posts, your email marketing.

If your brand voice is formal and polite, stay consistent with this style. If your brand voice is witty and friendly, your customers will expect to keep hearing you in this manner. A company is like a person, we get used to the way someone acts and speaks. If your company adopts a new personality every week, your customers will be confused and lose trust.

Think about creating a key branding document to keep track of exactly how you will stay consistent and have cohesion across all your channels.

5. Connect through emotion

This is key to developing loyalty. Your customers are human and we are wired to respond to communication on an emotional level. We become loyal to a company when we feel a connection to it. This is the result of our long-term interactions with it, as well as the company's own portrayal.

For example, a McDonald's advertising campaign from 2012 features a man starting his first day at a new corporate job. After a stressful morning completing paperwork and an overwhelming induction, he goes to McDonald's for lunch. The brand's comforting familiarity and positive vibes were exactly what he needed to brighten his day.

6. Be recognisable

Become instantly recognisable to your customers. This means keeping your eCommerce shop, social media profiles, and other media channels visually the same. Use the same logo, the same tagline, the same colour palette, and the same marketing messages.

A simple tip but sometimes overlooked, this will prevent your customers from being confused when following your channels or looking for you online.

7. Invest in your visual content

Your visual identity, such as your logo and the creative graphics that go along with your marketing strategy, have a significant impact. Customers expect a high degree of quality from the company they buy from, and so websites are becoming more impressive all the time.

The quality of your website design, the ease of the user experience, the design of your logo, and beautiful, impressive photos on your social media, are what consumers see every day. Instagram users, for example, expect professional standard photography, with creative, and entertaining content from brands. Regardless of the size of your company, your customers want to see content that will impress, that follows the latest trends online and well-curated photos.

With the rise of TikTok, Youtube, and Instagram reels, social media users don't have time for low-quality or outdated content. Hire a photographer, designer, social media freelancer, or marketing specialist if you want to kickstart your dropshipping business. If taking the creative wheel yourself, use free stock images, or invest your time in learning how to take amazing photos and videos. Make sure to use a good quality DSLR camera or a smartphone with excellent camera specs.