Taking the D2C route and making it a business success may sound lucrative but you need to plan well to beat the tough competition prevalent in the market. You must have a D2C-specific branding strategy in place to reach and woo your target consumers by getting noticed and heard by them. Here are some branding tips that can help make your D2C model a success.

1.Establish a purpose for your brand

Irrespective of the vertical or what your brand is, there must exist a sense of purpose. But what is meant by brand purpose? In simple words, it’s a strong cause that the brand stands up for or represents. For your brand, it could be a field where it aspires to make a significant difference. An example could be how Mumbai-based Beco, a 100% eco-friendly and zero plastic company founded in 2019, has branded itself within a short period. The company offers an extensive range of household items made using cornstarch and bamboo that have no plastic components. By branding itself the right way, Beco has built a community of more than 1 lakh members and helped decrease 25% of plastic from their everyday routine.

It’s interesting to note that the average online transaction in the e-commerce market has gone up by 74% over the past year and the popularity of the D2C model has triggered heavy competition in the market. Setting up the brand purpose can help your brand to stand out.

2.Focus on marketing to build your brand and product

For your brand to exist and drive sales, it’s not enough just to have a quality product. You need to make people aware of your product with adequate marketing campaigns that will help establish your brand and let you reach your target market to acquire customers. Additionally, you should track the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns regularly to tweak them or replace them with newer, more suitable ones to meet your goals.

An example of marketing your brand and product the right way could be Chumbak. The brand has appealed to the Indian diaspora across the world by leveraging its social media presence and offline marketing campaigns. With vibrant visuals, consistency in its theme, loyalty programs, and high energy engagement – especially on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, Chumbak has expanded its community of loyalists significantly over the years.

3.Take advantage of influencer marketing

Social commerce or selling your products via social media channels is an essential part of the D2C business model in e-commerce. Over the last few years, the content generated by influencers is found to be more engaging and attracting more views than typical TV ads. Influencers also know the tricks to make their content go viral.

Thus, it’ll be prudent to engage influencers for your D2C model to make your fans and followers on social media likely to buy from you. You can learn how to do it right from SUGAR Cosmetics. The company has successfully leveraged social media influencers, largely beauty and fashion bloggers to build a strong brand in the crowded cosmetics category.

4.Focus on user-generated content

Popular as well as emerging brands can both benefit from user-generated content as it would help to boost their customer engagement. To create a buzz around your brand, you can encourage your customers to review your brand’s products on your website and social media as well as upload testimonials and feedback about their experience of using these products.

You can take a cue from Suta that creates handcrafted and hand-woven products. It gets photo reviews from women wearing Suta’s sarees to engage website visitors on the product page and thus they encourage potential customers into buying from them.

5.Enhance customer experience on your website

Successful D2C brands know how to delight their customers. You too should try to create a positive customer experience by making the buying process faster and simpler (such as no need of creating login ids or passwords), offering multiple payment methods at checkout (via multiple cards, UPI, wallets, etc.), and facilitating deferred payments (where your customers can buy now with a nominal down payment and pay the rest amount later via credit payment options).

With the above branding tips for D2C, you’ll surely achieve your desired goals.

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