The massive personalization opportunity in direct-to-consumer sales — thanks to first-party data

As consumer brands continue looking for ways to market their products to consumers, they must find ways to capture the essential customer data that fuels that marketing engine. Most brands tend to use intermediaries like online marketplaces and retail stores to deliver their products, particularly if their brand struggles with low visibility, meaning they have little experience building direct-to-consumer (DTC) relationships. For that reason, they might hesitate to set up a branded e-commerce channel, or may fail to think about how to properly reach today’s omnichannel consumer.

Let’s look at some of the ins and outs of DTC marketing and how smart personalization can be the difference-maker in finding success.

What is direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing?

Direct-to-consumer marketing allows brands to bypass regular distribution channels. Instead, they assume responsibility for getting their products into the hands of consumers. That means they’re not relying on retailers for sales and distribution. While taking on that responsibility may seem daunting, brands don’t have to cut a discount to retailers and maintain complete control over marketing in this scenario, so it’s a popular option.

Thanks to the growth of the internet and consumers’ growing comfort with online shopping, DTC marketing has become more viable for up-and-coming brands. Other benefits of DTC marketing include:

• Gaining a better understanding of customers
• The ability to quickly products to market more quickly
• Higher profit margins
• Improved ROI due to personalization and relevance

The trade-off to gaining more control is that brands become more reliant on marketing power. That means focusing on what happens at the top of the sales funnel to help get products off the ground and ensure ongoing growth.

How can personalization help brands stand out?

The biggest problem for most brands is failing to effectively use the data they have on hand. That information represents a big opportunity for brands to establish more personalized contacts with their target audience.

For example, if you run a beauty brand and have customers who regularly shop for a specific moisturizer, you should send them recommendations on complementary products like eye creams. You can do that if you’re using your data to map out personas for different customers. After that, brands can create personalized DTC marketing channels to appeal to diverse audiences.

4 Tips for creating personalized DTC experiences

Once brands understand the power of personalized DTC channels, they can begin implementing marketing tactics that connect with customers.

1. Study customer journeys

Avoid blind spots about what your customers want by looking closely at what they experience during each stage of the purchasing process. What is it that seems to move them along the channel? What roadblocks pop up that seem to derail their interest?

With the right technology, brands can learn to adjust consumers’ online journeys to fit their individual needs. In addition, a platform like Lytics makes it possible to view information within a single portal. That way, you can easily keep up with customer data like:

• Buying history
• Sentiment toward a brand
• Order status
• Preferred communication channels

2. Collect first-party data

Collect and review information about customers from the moment they contact a brand. First-party information is critical to helping brands understand their customers in a deeper way and may help with insights such as which products rank high with consumers and where they may need to fill in feedback loop gaps.

With Lytics, companies have a way to execute around-the-clock data collection on consumers in a way that’s consent-positive and privacy-first.

3. Curate products to fit customer needs

Brands should use customer data to make personalized recommendations that fit their buying habits and preferences. It’s an excellent way to help brands establish themselves as the top choice in the minds of consumers.

Lytics helps by bringing consumer data collected from different channels into a centralized location —by making use of a resource companies already have at their disposal: their data warehouse. Brands can filter the information to create user profiles for customers to use when developing marketing and personalization strategies.

4. Set up loyalty programs

Brands can take personalization to a new level by setting up programs that reward customers for their continued loyalty. Lytics provides brands with a way to organize data that allows brands to send out the kind of personalized messaging required for setting up highly targeted marketing. From there, they can figure out the most ideal way to generate outreach based on a customer’s preferences.

Optimizing your data for better personalization

Lytics makes personalization a simple process for brands selling direct-to-consumer: whether for a long time or newly pivoting toward a consumer-centric business model. Our platform brings customer data together from various sources so companies can truly understand what consumers desire. Learn more about how the power of Lytics can become a game-changer for DTC brands by testing out a free trial of Lytics Decision Engine.