Marketing strategies and tactics are dominating the marketing world day by day. Every single person in the marketing world wants to dominate in this area. Even brands and businesses have marketing standards for their products and strive to create competitively superior strategies that go beyond the expectations of both their customers and their competitors.
Hence in this ocean full of sharks, every business needs unique marketing strategies to prove its standards.
In this case, direct-to-consumer marketing(DTC) is one of the tactics that is booming and aiding both businesses and brands. Moreover, brands become masters of their own through DTC. The third-party exemption aspect of DTC is a core factor that draws many corporations to it.
What is Direct-to-consumer (DTC) Marketing?
DTC marketing is the marketing strategy in which there is no third wheel for advertising to selling. In this strategy, brands or businesses only need to entertain the customer. Moreover, brands do not even need to interact with marketing agencies or use other tactics for marketing.
Additionally, Businesses do not feel the extra burden of extra work because they directly solve the queries of their customers about their products. Further, people also prefer DTC brands over others.
According to Research, that claims between 6 to 10 customers prefer the DTC brand in the US.
Benefits of DTC Marketing
If we go through the benefits of DTC, it becomes an extended list of perks of DTC, so we only mention the core pros of DTC.
Moreover, People first take note of the advantages of a specific choice.
- Businesses benefit significantly from DTC because it regulates brand sales through their websites.
- You can get a high margin through DTC.
- Via DTC, there is no need to advertise your brand through other marketing agencies. You can also promote your brand through your website or any social media platform by your brand name.
- In DTC marketing, advanced personalization is always possible.
- The core perk you have is that you have complete control over your products and the prices of your products according to your customers.
Brands Employ DTC Marketing
Here are some brands employing DTC marketing to get the hype.
- Smile Direct Club
- Misfits Market
- Lovevery
- By Humankind
- The Farmerโs Dog
- Knot Standard
- Away.
- Casper.
- Dollar Shave Club.
- Glossier.
- Harry’s
- Hims & Hers.
- Rent the Runway.
Examples of Brands
Here is the descriptive introduction of some brands using DTC marketing.
Allbirds
Allbirds offers a variety of merino wool items, including footwear.
Their startup year was 2014. They produce eco-friendly products and use DTC marketing for branding.
Moreover, they also modified their website based on the choices and interests of the consumers. You can say it is the pure use of the DTC marketing strategy.
Stitch Fix
Stitch Fix is a shopping brand where you can select your outfits through its customized website. It is also the best example of DTC marketing. They categorized their brand according to men, women, and kids. Even maternity outfits are also available on their website.
They directly deal with their customers.
Oura
Oura is a wearable rings brand that tells people about their body health matrices. It is a brand from Finland. Additionally, these rings provide real-time feedback on how your body feels and what it requires. You will know when you need more sleep when you could get sick when to challenge yourself, and more.
They also use their website for marketing and directly deal with customers.
Top Direct-to-Consumer Marketing Channels
Several DTC marketing brands use different platforms to persist in the grace and glory of their marketing strategies. Furthermore, many B2B businesses manage the marketing process using a professional platform like LinkedIn.
The same goes for DTC marketing. DTC marketing also uses many platforms to continue the process of marketing.
Here are some channels where DTC marketing has grown its claws.
1. Social Media Marketing Platforms
Currently, social media is an essential component of DTC marketing.
According to Statista, 99.1% of marketers used social media in 2021.
The most dominating social media platforms that are on the list of the top are;
- Tiktok
- YouTube
- Snapchat
2. Email Marketing
The particular platform for DTC marketing is email marketing. Sometimes, you depend on some marketing strategies beneficial for your business to engage your audience. Moreover, multiple email marketing tools specifically boost your business.
Even brands use email newsletters to promote their businesses. These tactics count in DTC marketing.
Here are some examples of brands that send email newsletters:
3. SMS Marketing
DTC marketing is directly connected to SMS marketing. SMS marketing leads to different marketing purposes, like sending promotional messages. SMS marketing takes care of the neglected advertising area. Therefore, it is also regarded as a DTC marketing strategy.
Here are some examples of brands embracing SMS marketing;
- IKEA
- Delta airline
- Starbucks
- Lord & Taylor
- Facebook (A marketing platform with a big marketplace)
- Best Buy (Large electronics and appliances retailer)
- Kylie Cosmetics
- Express (American fashion retailer)
- The Home Depot
- CNN
- Reebok
4. Influencer Marketing
Nowadays, influencer marketing is one of the core marketing for many brands. Moreover, many DTC brands use influencer marketing to engage their audience. Even brands hunt for influencers to increase the buzz surrounding their products. Moreover, this typically happens when users get heavily impacted by these influencers on social media, and even micro-influencers do the same to promote these products.
5. User-Generated content (UGC)
UGC has become the latest trend in the marketing industry. Once a trend slips in the market, people go crazy over this trend. The exception is giving their time to other things on social media. From there, brands use these marketing trends to customize their brands.
The most effective method for demonstrating the sincerity of your brand is to use customer evaluations and testimonials. Hence, UGC is directly or indirectly related to DTC.
In UGC, brands have a direct relationship with customers. Therefore, you can also consider it as a DTC marketing strategy.
Conclusion
DTC marketing is a type of marketing in which businesses directly sell to consumers without a third-party marketing agency. DTC marketing has several benefits, including controlling sales, high margins, and direct customer interaction.
This type of marketing can be very effective, but it can also be expensive and time-consuming. Further, to decide if DTC marketing is right for your business, you consider your goals, budget, and audience. It could be a terrific approach to expand your audience and create brand awareness if you have the resources to dedicate to a long-term DTC marketing campaign.
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