d2c-marketing

D2C marketing (Direct to Consumer marketing) is a digital marketing strategy through which a product or service is directly sold to the consumer, in other words, to the end-user, without third-party intermediaries such as retailers, wholesalers. This can be a little confusing, especially for the ones interested in B2C marketing. So, let’s look at how the D2C marketing strategy emerged.

The birth of D2C

Many people apparently prefer online shopping rather than visiting physical stores in the digital age. A part of our lives for more than two years, the pandemic has certainly affected this. Yet, there are deep-rooted reasons in the present case. A consumer can buy products that are hard to find in the physical store from online stores with a single click today. Plus, they can view the products regardless of time and place. This enables brands to personalize their customer experience through visitor data collection. While doing so, they can increase profit margins by reducing advertising and marketing costs.

Furthermore, they can analyze all phases in the customer experience cycle. Based on cutting out the need for intermediaries between the brand and the target audience, the D2C marketing strategy enables brands to regain control of their customer relationships. This means building personalized relationships with their target audience as well. In this way, improving brand & customer loyalty becomes easier. So, more brands optimize their e-commerce websites and invest in direct sales. We must be ready even for more, according to research.

Market Realist states that D2C figures of $16 billion in 2020 are expected to grow by 250% in the next five years. Note that this figure was $6.6 billion only six years ago. We shouldn’t forget the sportswear giant Nike, of course. It doubled the direct sales through its D2C marketing strategy.

5 steps of D2C marketing

Everything seems pretty clear for us until now. Yet, let’s remind for the ones still in B2C marketing: If a customer prefers your product rather than your competitor’s and buys it from a retailer’s website, this means you have made another sale. Yet, this also means you miss the chance to build a relationship with your customer. Well, let’s take a look at the essential steps of the D2C marketing strategy and how you can take the opportunity to engage your customers.

1) Be sure of the technical background to support your D2C marketing strategy

A successful D2C marketing strategy needs technical background. An e-commerce system designed for the end-user is the foremost among others. Yet, e-commerce systems alone cannot provide insight into end-user behavior to speed up the decision-making process. What to do? First things first! Integrate a content management system and an analytics platform into your digital store’s website to track and understand user behavior.

2) Improve the digital experience of your customers

The digital experience must be designed to bridge the gap formed by the consumer indecision: To buy or not to buy? Well, what does it mean? Surfing on the Internet is actually equal to touching, feeling, and testing products. Of course, if you take the right steps. Make your graphic design incredibly attractive, give all the information your visitors need for a purchasing decision. Have a user-friendly interface definitely! By the way, make sure you check your page-load time. You know, no one has the patience to wait for longer times on these days!

3) Collect data

For many brands, the most challenging part of D2C is that it demands a vast amount of customer data collection as brands must understand all the data. However, the D2C marketing strategy is capable of capturing customer behaviors through data easily. So, what kind of strategy to follow? Collect the transactional data from all your channels and integrate them into your digital store if you want to improve the customer experience and build bilateral, strong & long-term relations.

4) Build customer support service teams

A technician is not a must for the abovementioned steps. Yet, if D2C marketing is in question, there must always be somebody to answer their questions since you directly contact customers. Perhaps, they need support especially for significant topics like shipping & logistics, although they can easily find everything in your digital store. This demands investing in customer service. The choice is yours — it can either be an AI or a customer support service team. But, keep in mind! You directly contact your customer now, no longer with your suppliers.

5) Be sure of seamless communication, keep track of the results

In the beginning, we also mentioned brand & customer loyalty for D2C marketing.

The bond your customers have with your brand and whether they want to knock on your door the next time rely on how effective your communication is. Direct communication with your customers is key to understanding them. Engaging in a direct and real interaction is what you need to do at this point. For example, you can design post-sales e-mail campaigns or learn their opinions through social media surveys. Measure your results so that you can obtain outputs that serve your purpose. Choose the right KPIs (Key Performance Indicator), customize your metrics. Don’t forget to leverage the data collected to improve your customer service standards continuously.