Oftentimes, there seems as if there is only one way to do something. As a smart tech company, you probably feel that the only real way to get your products to market is to deal with distributors and retail outlets, which will in turn make contact with your customer base and deal with all retail sales.
But there is a different way to go about it! Many smart tech companies are now bypassing the ‘traditional’ route of using distributors to get their products and services to market, and are marketing their product direct to customers.
Are you aware of this new possibility? This direct approach has many benefits, and is simpler than you think!
How Does Direct To Consumer Marketing Work?
D2C marketing is different from traditional marketing strategies in that manufacturers cut out the middleman and market their products directly to their target market. While D2C marketing has been around for a good while, it has never been easier than in 2020, where online marketing and digital sales have never been so effortless and seamless.
eCommerce technology has given brands the opportunity to manage their online stores themselves, instead of having to rely on brick-and-mortar retail outlets, giving more control and advantages to the manufacturing brand.
The only thing that brands need to realise when deciding to take on a D2C approach is that there is a lot of work involved, especially in the beginning stages where you’ll need to strategise digital marketing campaigns and ways to connect with your target market to draw them to you directly instead of going through traditional routes and buying competitor products.
Successful D2C Marketing Strategies
- Performance Campaigns: Brands should already have a wealth of knowledge as to who exactly their ideal customer is. Appeal to your target market by providing high value offers such as free trials, discount codes and newsletter sign ups to gain interest and traction.
- Social Media Marketing: Social media marketing may not drive sales as well as other campaigns and strategies, but it is a very important element in creating a cohesive brand identity, engagement with consumers and ultimately brand loyalty. Being active and advertising on social media is essential in a good D2C marketing strategy.
- Providing Experiences: With all the content floating around on the internet these days, it can be difficult to stand out. But if you want your target market to feel compelled to use their spending power on your brand, you’ll need to provide some sort of experience. These experiences could come in many different forms, but could include engaging videos, personalised quizzes and product testing.
- Mobile Marketing: Ensure that all of the digital marketing you do to get your tech product to your ideal customer is mobile compatible! If you’re selling tech products, your customer base is most likely going to spend most of their web time on a mobile phone, so you need to make sure all your offers and pages are mobile compatible.
What You Need to Get Started
Changing over from traditional marketing to D2C marketing can be quite a dramatic change and you may want to ease into the process. You’ll need to meet with your marketing teams to strategise and shift over marketing budgets.
You’ll also want to hype up the changeover by advertising that your tech products will soon be available to be bought directly from your brand. Fortunately, this process happens commonly and customer bases are aware of what a change like this entails.
We highly recommend working directly with digital marketing experts to help smooth over this transition.
Massive Brands Are Going Direct
D2C marketing provides an amazing opportunity for smaller, local brands to compete with international household names, if they provide engaging and unique online content and great online service. Google Ads actually favours authentic, well-written ads over ads that pay more. So the opportunities are endless.
While D2C marketing is a fantastic, and affordable, route for small businesses to take, it is not just start-up companies that are turning to direct marketing. Almost all major brands are starting to take this trend seriously, with storefronts closing down all around the world and with the new focus being clearly on the digital sphere.
Why Going Direct Has Become So Popular
D2C marketing has become increasingly popular over recent years, with many brands choosing direct access to their customers. Some of the many benefits of D2C marketing include:
- Cutting Out The Middleman: Getting rid of the middleman means cutting down on costs that come with traditional retail marketing. Traditional marketing comes with many fees, and this budget cab now goes directly into online marketing or even back to your customers. The chances of messages getting lost in translation are also minimised.
- Customer Insight: A direct approach will give you full access to all marketing and sales, and you’ll be able to analyse this data in a way that will give you a deeper understanding of your customer. This information is vital for successful ad campaigns in the future.
- More To Time For A Digital Focus: Without having to spend time and energy managing a retail outlet, your brand will be able to focus on digital marketing and services, and ensure 24/7 online support for your customers. In this day and age, having a cohesive online identity, which is very responsive, is very important for any brand.
- More Control: If you purely concentrate on D2C marketing you will have far more control over data, analysis, and how your product is viewed by your customers. Having all team members in-house also gives additional control over your brand.
Need assistance in direct marketing strategies that best fit your business? At Direct Access Marketing, we can provide a full range of digital marketing services that can ease over your transition from traditional marketing to D2C marketing. We can’t wait to see your brand succeed in the digital sphere!
Visit directaccess.io for more information.
