What Does It Mean To Take A Holistic Approach To Commerce?

First, let’s establish the definition of “holistic commerce” in this paper, and why it’s important. Taking a holistic approach to commerce means considering and developing an end-to-end strategy, from awareness to fulfillment, and optimizing options.

In broad strokes, this paper will explore three key considerations brands should take into account when crafting a holistic strategy for digital commerce:

• Brand strategy and messaging – Who is the brand targeting, and what does it want to say to them? Content creation – How should the brand best create content (type, format and author) so that its message is credible and engaging? Channel diversification – Which channels of communication are best suited to getting content to the desired target audience?

How To Start Crafting A Digital Brand Strategy And Cohesive Brand Message

For the vast majority of contemporary brands, awareness is generated through social media or another digital medium. It’s therefore imperative to first map out a digital awareness strategy that meets the customer where they’re likely to discover a brand digitally.

Crafting a strong integrated digital brand strategy starts with understanding how consumers engage with a brand online and identifying the key brand attributes that matter to them. By immersing themselves in data, brands can pinpoint the most pertinent channels while maintaining a holistic omnichannel approach. The data immersion also empowers brands to authentically connect with their target audiences and build a genuine and more impactful digital presence.

The first step, which is skipped by many brands, is to conduct a comprehensive market analysis. This analysis involves a meticulous examination of the market landscape, including pinning down the leading brands and an honest assessment of their strengths and weaknesses, dominant retail channels and the role they play in awareness and fulfillment, consumer behaviors and areas of unmet needs, and underserved communities and emerging trends. The goal is to best understand how a market works, who the key players are, how they operate, how they communicate (channel, language, tone), what they lack and exactly where opportunities exist.

The next step is to clearly demarcate a brand’s target customer within the market. This demarcation is critical as it provides a clear direction for orienting the brand’s offerings and messaging to a distinct group of consumers with shared characteristics, needs and preferences. Pinpointing the target customer helps to guide subsequent aspects of strategy, from the type and tone of content, to where content is posted and the call to action that will best drive engagement.

It’s essential that brand leaders take the time to really dig in, clearly define and understand exactly who constitutes their target customer and learn everything they can about that customer. Data will reveal what motivates a consumer and give the brand clearer insight into how to speak to its customer in an emotionally resonant way.

Once the target customer is demarcated, a brand must decide how it would like to be positioned with that target customer. This determination involves nailing down how the brand wants to be perceived in the minds of consumers in relation to competitors. Precise and differentiated positioning sets the stage for a unique value proposition that highlights the brand’s distinctive qualities.

With a holistic understanding of the market, target positioning and audience, a brand is poised to craft a cohesive message that resonates authentically. This message should encapsulate the brand’s core values, mission and unique selling points to effectively communicate why the target consumer should choose the brand over alternatives, including not using anything.

Some brands erroneously make assumptions about target consumers’ interests and perceptions. For example, an early-stage natural soap brand may concentrate its marketing endeavors on a presumed core demographic of moms who like yoga.

Without doing a proper market analysis and testing, it’s nearly impossible for a brand to discover what its consumer really cares about. In the example given above, it may not be yoga that resonates most deeply with the consumer after all. It could be that the consumer is exclusively interested in natural skincare or deeply concerned about sustainability.

Content Is Key

Content creation is a brand’s way of storytelling. Through its storytelling, a brand can develop an emotional connection with its customer. Beauty brands in particular have to take an iterative approach to their marketing content.

Unlike fashion brands, which create a new line each season, beauty brands typically need to focus a good portion of their marketing efforts on promoting evergreen and “hero” products. Creating fresh content is crucial to make the products feel exciting season after season.

A content strategy employs three questions:

• Format: What format serves the brand best for storytelling? What medium gives it the best chance of stopping a viewer from scrolling and engaging them quickly? Author: Who should author the content? Influencer partnerships and user-generated content can result in different outcomes. Discoverability: How discoverable is the content? Can someone easily find it in a sea of digital media?

Content can come in many forms: Still merchandise images, transformation videos, compelling customer review or an educational blog post digging into a product or ingredient. Each format has benefits, especially when tailored for a particular media channel.

Compelling, emotionally resonant content can become a 10X to 15X multiplier for a brand in metrics such as awareness, consideration and purchase. The content should feel fresh to gain a brand’s desired outcome.

In order to prevent content from feeling stale or incongruent with a particular channel, brands should invest in storytelling across various platforms and channels, and differentiate content for each platform.

In particular, engaging video content can be a boon for a brand, especially when the video is tailored to a particular platform. According to a study from the marketing agency Analytics Partners on the short- and long-term impact of various digital channels on consumers, video channels make an impact that lasts twice as long as the impact made by non-video platforms.

To effectively enhance their online presence, brands are encouraged to cultivate a diverse range of video content optimized for various platforms. This multifaceted approach ensures optimal engagement and resonance with different target audiences across the digital landscape.

For instance, brands can produce engaging 60-second video clips tailored for YouTube ads, capturing the attention of viewers with comprehensive content. Moreover, crafting succinct 15- to 30-second clips specifically designed for product detail page (PDP) carousels enables brands to deliver compelling narratives within a limited timeframe, ideal for driving conversions. Creating short-form 3- to 4-second clips tailored for platforms like TikTok and Instagram can effectively encapsulate key brand messages, spark curiosity and drive traffic to the brand’s profile or website.

By employing a strategic approach to video content creation, brands can harness the full potential of each platform, making their marketing efforts more impactful and be truly omnipresent.

Just as channel diversification is important, brands should diversify the means of getting their message out. The more places in which a customer is exposed to a brand, the more familiar that brand becomes to them.

Teaming up with content creators like micro-influencers expands channel diversity by bringing relatable content to various platforms, ultimately connecting with a wider audience.

Influencer marketing is growing. According to data from social media resource Influencer Marketing Hub, this newer form of marketing accounted for $16.4 billion of global advertising dollars in 2022.

Of course, not all influencer partnerships are created equal. The more authentic the connection is between an influencer and a brand, the more compelling the sponsored content will be.

Not all brands are innately suited for influencer collaborations. While a consumer brand might benefit from having an army of influencers singing its praises, professional brands should be particularly wary of partnering with an influencer who’s not authentically aligned with them.

Partnering with a misaligned influencer can damage a brand’s reputation. And there’s always a risk that influencers could do something untoward to damage their own reputation. It’s never advisable for a brand to tie too much of its promotional strategy to one influencer.

In general, it’s helpful for brands to have a guide to help them identify reputable parties who can speak about a brand and promote it in a way that feels authentic to its audience. Conducting thorough research before partnering with any influencer is recommended for beauty brands to ensure alignment of values, audience authenticity and brand resonance within the dynamic social media landscape.

Front Row provides this sort of guidance by meticulously analyzing and matching influencers to brands to ensure they associate with content creators who have a genuine and impactful influence on their target audience, maximizing the effectiveness of campaigns.

User-generated content (UGC), which can take the form of reviews, videos, images, podcasts and more, is more authentic than advertising. Even though it’s less glossy than paid influencer content, it has the capacity to make a product feel even more aspirational than paid content does.

UGC can do a good job of demonstrating how a customer’s life could be better with a certain product in it. It also tends to dive deep into the details of a particular product. Paid content generally does a less convincing job of providing a complex overview of a product. If it contains too much information, it runs the risk of seeming like an infomercial.

In collaboration with Ami Colé, a brand committed to celebrating diverse beauty and empowering individuals, Front Row harnessed the power of UGC to enhance the visibility of its Skin Enhancing Tint. Aimed at boosting sales and amplifying brand messaging, the content was geared toward spreading awareness and generating excitement about the product’s inclusive shade range.

By creating an interactive Shade Finder on its website and fueling it with UGC, Ami Colé empowered consumers to discover the right shades for them. The UGC strategy fueled sales, amplified Ami Colé’s dedication to inclusivity and lifted brand awareness.

Creating exceptional content isn’t enough. To ensure content reaches its intended audience, the strategic implementation of search engine optimization (SEO) is paramount to driving discoverability, engagement and success in today’s competitive digital landscape.

By implementing effective SEO strategies, beauty brands can enhance their visibility on search engines like Google, ensuring that their products and content surface prominently when users search for relevant keywords. Increased visibility translates into higher organic traffic to a brand’s website, creating valuable opportunities for conversions and customer engagement.

Social media platforms and Amazon have also become bustling marketplaces where beauty brands engage with their audiences. As beauty brands delve into social and digital commerce, they should understand that platforms like Instagram and TikTok function as more than visual platforms, they serve as search engines.

More than 6o% of American consumers’ product searches begin on Amazon, according to market analytics, inventory management and sales intelligence firm Jungle Scout. Optimizing profiles, posts, product description pages and content with keywords and hashtags heightens discoverability. A creative, yet data-driven SEO approach enhances post reach, engagement and resonance with both existing and potential customers actively seeking beauty solutions. Prioritizing keywords that address a problem like “anti-aging serum” can increase conversions, clickthrough rates and sales.

Channel Diversification And The Myth Of Cannibalization

For a brand that exists on multiple digital and IRL channels, there’s always the worry of cannibalization. Brands often wonder if, by marketing on more than one platform, are they reaching the same person twice or capturing new audience members? In the end, both results are beneficial.

It’s good for a brand to have multiple touchpoints. When, for example, a consumer sees a brand on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, the consumer is more likely to think of a brand. In fact, a brand usually needs five to seven interactions to be memorably recalled.

Since TikTok, Instagram and YouTube don’t have 100% audience overlap, a brand will reach new people by being active on all three platforms. Channel diversification has the dual benefit of delivering more messages to a single audience member and attracting new potential buyers.

While having a presence on multiple channels offers advantages, there can be potential drawbacks. Cannibalization may occur when different channels compete for the same audience, leading to diluted efforts and confusion.

Emerging brands should focus on a select few channels initially to ensure quality over quantity. This narrow focus allows for better resource allocation and a more cohesive brand message. On the other hand, for brands aiming to scale, diversifying across a broader range of channels can increase reach and customer engagement. Striking the right balance and aligning channel selection with business goals are crucial considerations for successful multichannel strategies.

Three white papers to follow will dive into one aspect of building a holistic digital brand. Topics include:

• Best practices for building a brand on Amazon and other third-party marketplaces.
• How to optimize e-commerce on a direct-to-consumer platform.
• How to build a strategy for social commerce (TikTok, Instagram, etc.).