Faceless eCommerce is Dead (Shopify Tutorial 3/20)

Hey, Ezra here, and in video we’re going to talk about mission, story, and purpose. The reason we’re going to talk about that is because the faceless e-commerce store is dead, and I want you to be successful with your e-commerce brand. What you have to understand is that the days of like slapping up a store with a bunch of random products and not having a story about who you are and who your brand is are over. You have to connect with people and you have to tell a story about who you are. You have to know your differentiator, you have to tell your customers who you are, and you have to have a core story that you tell about your brand. That comes down to branding, tagline, and ethos. I’m going to give you some examples for your brand that you can kind of use as inspiration.
How do you come across to your customers? Do you know what aesthetic appeals you your market? Do you have a tagline that tells your story in one sentence. Do you know what emotional response that you want to elicit? I’m going to give some examples, and then I want you to put this together for us brand.
Everlane.com. They’re a phenomenal fashion brand. They’re online only. Their differentiator, so the thing that they do different, is that they offer high fashion at transparent prices. You have to know what are you doing different than your competitors. Who they are and who they’re targeting is sort of young, hip, techie disruptors, you know? Their story is radical transparency. That’s the story that they’re telling is like, “Hey, we’re being super transparent about where this stuff comes from and its cost.” The aesthetic that they have for their brand is sort of pared down, simple, clean, elegant, and their tagline really kind of tells their story in one sentence. “Know your factories. Know your costs. Always ask why.” The emotional response that they’re trying to elicit in their customers is that of revolution, join a cause.
Now, Boom! By Cindy Joseph is my brand. Our differentiator is pro-age messaging. Everyone else is telling an anti-age story about how age is bad. We take a different approach, so we’ve got a different message than everyone else in the marketplace. Who we’re targeting I women over 40. Our story is actually a personal story about the public figure behind the brand. The story of our brand is Cindy Joseph. It’s a great way to do a brand is to have it be based around someone’s experience. Our aesthetic is also pared down, simple, clean, elegant. Our tagline tells the story of our brand in one sentence, “It’s about women. It’s about beauty. It’s about time.” The emotional response that we’re trying to elicit is also revolution.
Now, the next example is Coyuchi. They’re a online furniture, and they sell like bedding and stuff like that. Their differentiator is that they’re green, they’re eco-friendly, and that their products are minimally processed. Who they’re targeting is environmentally conscious women. Their story is nature to home, and their aesthetic is kind of forest, handmade, pure, clean. That’s kind of what they’re going for and how they look online. The tagline says, “Nature comes home.” That like tells their story. It’s one sentence. It tells their story in one sentence. The emotional response they’re trying to elicit is mindfulness.
Have this baseline content about your brand together. It’s going to affect kind of your ad copy. It’s going to affect the images that you create. It’s going to create your product offer page, and we’re going to be getting into things like product offer pages shortly before we get into actually how to advertise our brand. But you have to understand what your differentiator is as a brand, who you’re trying to target, what your story is, what your aesthetic is, what your tagline is, and then kind of emotional response you want to elicit in a prospect. Make sure that you’ve got this list down and that you’re kind of working with it as you create your store, and as you create your brand, and as you create your messaging. Thanks for watching. I’ll see you in the next video.