Solving the Challenges of Brand Disconnect

Small and niche brands have it tough in today’s saturated marketplace.

Not only do small businesses have to compete against the big box brick-and-mortar retailers that dominate the shopping landscape, but niche brands also have to compete against the giants of e-commerce, like Amazon. ‍

While the Amazons, Chewys, and other third-party resellers and online marketplaces are often a critical component to the success of small businesses in today’s online world, niche brands frequently get lost in the shuffle on these mega-platforms. Small businesses must fight for customer attention and brand recognition on these sites and often fail at establishing a true connection with customers.‍

Here at Blustream, we call this brand disconnect. Niche businesses want to connect with their customers, but in major marketplaces like Amazon, that often feels impossible.

The challenges with brand disconnect

No one today would argue against the importance of selling on Amazon or other major sites. But, many niche brands struggle to establish a relationship with a customer beyond that initial sale. There are several consequences to that lack of connection, including the inability to reach customers, failure to capture repeat business, and losing out on building brand trust and loyalty.‍

Frequently, brands that rely on selling through marketplaces lack the data needed to directly reach their customers post-sale. Traditional means, like signing up for a rewards card at a storefront or opting into a newsletter on a brand’s page, just aren’t possible on third-party reseller sites. That means niche brands lack the means to establish a connection with customers and send useful offers, new product information, or personalized tips and information.‍

Without an opportunity to create a customer connection, there’s no chance of repeat business. But for small or niche brands, repeat business is the key to continued longevity and success.‍

Another issue with brand disconnect? Not only do niche businesses on mega-retail platforms miss out on the chance to create loyal customers, these mega-platforms just want repeat customers, no matter the brand. ‍

After all, what’s to distinguish your brand from the twenty others selling gluten-free dog food, or 5-string banjos, or any other highly specific product?‍

The issue of brand disconnect is real for small and niche brands. However, despite these common and frustrating challenges, small businesses and niche brands do have an incredible tool to connect with customers and form long-term relationships.

How to bridge the gap

In order to create a connection with customers and establish a brand identity that stands out on the most crowded platforms, smaller brands must leverage technology to better understand their customers. ‍

One of the best ways to do this today is with SMS messaging. Today, most traditional SMS messaging tools are not built for long-term product success, but for promotion.‍

For small businesses, that means SMS messaging could be an excellent opportunity to create a dynamic dialogue and conversation about your products with the right messaging platform. ‍

What makes for dynamic dialogue? Dynamic dialogue is timely, informative, and engaging. For customers, dynamic dialogue from a brand doesn’t feel like ads or nonstop messages about weekend sales. For customers, dynamic dialogue through SMS messaging is all about the delivery of useful content that positively impacts their lives or their product experience.‍

For brands, this kind of conversation and content delivery can turn a one-time customer on Amazon into a lifelong, loyal fan of your business.

The keys to dynamic dialogue through SMS messaging

In order to leverage SMS messaging to deliver timely, informative, and engaging communication to customers, capturing data by asking questions and logging responses is crucial. ‍

Understanding important data points on customers, whether it’s the age of their pet or their location, ensures brands can tailor SMS communication to specifically fit a customer’s needs. That kind of personalized experience is a major factor in building a connection with a customer and turning a product fan into a fanatic.‍

Additionally, another tactic for establishing a connection with customers through SMS messaging is to segment customers on their product usage, rather than their product behavior. By understanding the how, when, and why a customer uses a product, brands can further personalize communication. By crafting a marketing messaging journey that delivers the most helpful tips, tricks, and recommendations based on a customer’s specific product usage behavior, niche brands can build brand trust and create a brand identity that stands out from the pack on Amazon and other third-party resellers.

Establishing a dynamic dialogue with customers after an initial purchase on an e-commerce website can help small brands blast through brand disconnect and create lifelong customers.

Introducing after-sale product experience

Blustream builds active, ongoing connections between product companies and their customers using personalized product messages to drastically improve customer experience.‍

Our new after-sale product experience platform (APEX) creates personalized customer experiences and drives revenue by creating unmatched first impressions and ongoing support for the products your customers love.‍

Our product-centric platform is uniquely designed to provide your customers with unmatched first impressions and ongoing support throughout the lifecycle of your products.‍

Blustream provides a direct connection between you and your customers. If you’re ready to blast through brand disconnect and stand out on major platforms like Amazon, it’s time to try Blustream.

Get started with Blustream

Ready to connect with your customers? ‍Get started with Blustream today: https://getstarted.blustream.io/blustream-schedule-a-demo-landing-page