It is safe to say that these days, the ecommerce market is going through a massive surge. This ball was rolling for quite some time now, but it took the outbreak of COVID-19 and the clinical death of the retail sector to launch online trading right into the stratosphere.
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Be that as it may, the present-day ecommerce is very competitive and dense, so we see a whole slew of different strategies and business models designed to even the odds and give everyone a fighting chance. Selling products D2C (Direct-to-customers) through in-house channels and without reliance on wholesalers or middlemen definitely serves as one of the best and most effective examples of this trend.
Let us take a look then at a couple of D2C marketing tips that should help you to push this concept to its limit and put your business on the radar.
Promote brand qualities and motives
People are very emotional beings and as such, they make emotional purchase decisions. As a matter of fact, recent research indicates that as much as 95% of purchase decisions are coming directly from the subconscious mind. One of the most effective ways to use this fact to the benefit of your company comes in the form of emotional branding, or, more precisely, using your brand qualities, struggles, and motives as a focus of D2C marketing. Pitching the underdog stories, the struggle for higher sustainability, and the brand’s journey from zero to stardom to wider pubic can produce tremendously positive effects.
Optimizing the social media activity
Social media channels present an incredibly effective marketing asset. Speaking in terms of the D2C market the pressure on this sector becomes even harder which means that the companies striving for success need to use this valuable resource more creatively and effectively. Some of the strategies for creating very powerful short-term effects come in the form of various calls to action, challenges, and referral programs. However, your long-term goal should always be building a devoted and engaged community, so you really need to back these efforts up with a constant influx of quality content.
Leverage the power of penetration prices
If you are unfamiliar with the term, penetration prices present various discounts and special offers that are intended to bring new customers under your roof where the customer retention department takes care of further engagement and repeat purchases. So, if you, for instance, want to push the latest bottom mount fridge line, you should release the first series of devices at a discounted price and prepare the program for further engagement well in advance. Also, you should consider offering your users some sort of subscription-based services that are usually able to produce good consistency.
Provide solutions to specific problems
The branding solutions we have listed above should engage your audience on an emotional level. Now, it’s time to appeal to their rational senses and explain to them why they should choose your products over the products of your direct competitors. Here, most marketers make the mistake of simply listing the specs, features, and benefits that are, on their own very intangible and abstract. What you should do to make some of us of all these things is to explain what effect they have on people’s lives and how they make them better. While doing that, pay special attention to the D2C model and its benefits.
Provide excellent customer experience and use it as a tool
Your marketing campaigns may be telling your audience how great your company is but if you are not able to back these claims up with excellent real-life customer experience, they will soon feel betrayed and go out of the way to spread negative publicity. You need to take control of this situation, offer your clients a truly stellar customer experience and give them a proper incentive to spread the word. Take for example customer reviews that, if used properly can prove to be an incredibly effective asset. A recent survey says that 53% of young Americans check product reviews before making a purchase decision.
Start a professional and authoritative blog
Last but not least, let us quickly cover blogging which presents one of the most affordable, simple, and effective marketing strategies a D2C can hope for. First, putting out authoritative and engaging content is not that hard, but it dramatically raises the profile and credibility of your company as well as produces valuable fuel for your social media strategy. Second, this type of content tends to attract a very wide number of people who are not necessarily interested in your product or even aware of your niche market corner but like to research your industry. You leave the doors wide open for organic conversions.
So, these were the top six strategies you can use to put your D2C ecommerce on the map and make sure the customers you are aiming for take notice. These days, the ecommerce market may be growing at a relentless pace, but this growth is supported by an endless influx of new competitors. Therefore, you will have to work very hard to rise above this crowd and make cut yourself a corner of the market. Don’t worry, though, the strategies we have covered above should definitely nudge you in the right direction.