How Direct-to-Customer Brands May Improve the Shopping Experience

Direct-to-consumer (D2C or DTC) brands and businesses continue to grow in the digital world. Many have even changed the very nature of relationships they build and maintain with their target audiences. While consumers now have a plethora of options, from designer wear to pet products to high-end jewelry, D2C brands need to up the ante by delivering great customer experiences if they wish to remain ahead of their competition. This is simply because most consumers in this day and age don’t just look for products and services; they seek good shopping experiences too.

Customer Experience in the D2C World

Building engagement and encouraging sharing are the cruses of any direct-to-consumer marketing strategy. Since feedback is typically one-to-one and near-instant, D2C brands get the means to offer even more personalized services. However, businesses need to take a close look at their consumers’ path to purchase and make use of all the information they gather to augment customer experience. Several D2C brands start by focusing on their core offerings by providing limited variety at first, while aiming to improve customer experience as effectively as possible.

Some of the practices that help increase visibility and improve customer experience include:

  • Offering ease of discovering products/services
  • Sharing through social media
  • User-generated content
  • Quick delivery
  • Great return policies

Making the Case for Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing has taken the online marketplace by storm. According to a MarketsandMarkets report, the global influencer marketing sector’s size stood at around $6 billion in 2020. It is expected to cross the $24 billion mark by 2025, marking a 32% compounding annual growth rate (CAGR).  Influencers use their widespread social networks to promote and increase brand awareness.

Bear in mind that consumers no longer trust what businesses tell them, even through celebrities, which is one main reason that influencers are increasing in numbers. By collaborating with influencers, direct-to-consumer brands may reach out to larger audiences, publicize their offerings, improve customer experiences, and increase sales.

Video Marketing – An Important Part of the Parcel

Video content has become a very important tool for creating and increasing brand awareness. Statistics shared by Elite Content Marketer highlight that 66% of consumers prefer watching short videos to find out about products/services, whereas only 18% would rather take the reading path. Further, 54% of consumers favor watching videos from the businesses they support over any other type of content.

The Way Forward

Scores of consumers now turn to social media, not just to learn about products and services, but also to make purchases, and the amalgamation between social media marketing, video marketing, and influencer marketing is plain to see.

One way in which direct-to-consumer businesses may improve customer experience is by simplifying the buying process.  This is fairly easy to accomplish by giving your customers the ability to shop directly within your videos. All that’s required is integrating your video content with different eCommerce platforms.

Providing valuable content through shopping videos helps consumers contextualize products better than they could through images, and they also get the ability to make purchases with ease. You may time in and time out multiple products throughout your interactive video and enable customers to use discount codes as well.

Conclusion

The direct-to-consumer concept has worked wonders for consumers as well as for several brands and businesses. However, given that competition continues to grow, D2C companies need to realize that offering great customer experiences is crucial if they wish to keep going. Fortunately, different social media platforms give you the ability to reach out to target audiences from across demographics, and video marketing gives you the means to build and foster long-term relationships with your audience.

Simplifying how your customers make purchases is the obvious way forward, and letting them do this even as they watch your videos is more effective than you might imagine. Consequently, partnering with a company that has expertise in offering video shopping solutions might be in your best interest.

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