You’ve heard of B2B. And of B2C. Perhaps you’ve also heard of D2C. If you haven’t, though, you won’t be the only one. So many of us in marketing and business go through life and work without recognizing the nuances of our everyday business operations. D2C or direct to consumer is a business model. To learn more about it and how D2C marketing works, we invited Bernie Fussenegger, the founder and consumer strategist of the digital marketing brand, B2The7 to our weekly #TwitterSmarter chat. Here’s a summary of our conversation.
Guest: Bernie Fussenegger
Topic: Direct to Consumer (D2C) marketing on Twitter
Format: Eight questions directed at the guest. Everyone’s welcome to share.
D2C or Direct to Consumer is a business model where a manufacturer directly sells their products to their customers, unlike B2B where a business sells to another business or B2C where a business (a retailer or wholesaler) sells a product to the consumer. The D2C model, as our guest pointed out, eliminates the intermediary in a business transaction.
A1: Director to Consumer Marketing is exactly how it sounds…we are selling products or services directly to customers without using a third party. We are bypassing the middlemen of wholesalers and retailers. #TwitterSmarter
— Bernie Fussenegger (@B2the7) February 17, 2022
Janet put it clearly. Think of an artist or a brand that sells its merchandise through an e-commerce store. That’s D2C selling. D2C marketing is just like any marketing—educating customers, promoting your products, and enabling salespeople.
A1. Using an example; a brand with it's own e-commerce site selling products to the customers without a middleman. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/bDmnJKf1rG
— Janet Machuka (@janetmachuka_) February 17, 2022
Bernie told us about brands like Dollar Shave Club, Warby Parker, Away, and Birchbox for D2C brands.
A2: Some D2C brands on Twitter are @DollarShaveClub @WarbyParker @away @birchbox @Chubbies @DlyHarvest #TwitterSmarter
— Bernie Fussenegger (@B2the7) February 17, 2022
As Madalyn explained, hosting a Twitter Spaces session is a good B2C marketing activity for brands. By showing up consistently, not only do you get to learn about your audience and their preferences, but you also get to position yourself as a leader in your field.
A2a: Twitter Spaces is a good example of D2C marketing on Twitter because it allows you to reach your target audience, while also providing an opportunity to add value and position yourself as an expert in your field. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/Lrw7K8feOj
— MadalynSklar.eth Digital Marketing since 1996 (@MadalynSklar) February 17, 2022
There are no seriously classified types of D2C marketing. However, there are different ways to do D2C marketing, including offering personalized services, engaging on social media, and running performance-based campaigns based on your audience’s preferences.
A3: Some of the types of D2C marketing include personalized experiences, social engagement, performance campaigns and in what channel your target audiences lives and engages. #TwitterSmarter
— Bernie Fussenegger (@B2the7) February 17, 2022
As our friends from GiveWP added, all kinds of advertising—whether it’s out-of-home (OOH) or online—can be D2C. So can SEO and content marketing that directly aim to attract and convert potential customers.
A3) OOH + all ads, social media, content, paid social, SEO, engagement, etc. #TwitterSmarter
— GiveWP (@GiveWP) February 17, 2022
Consumer strategy is defined by the channels you communicate with. D2C marketing intends to reduce or remove reliance on external distribution sources and instead rely on your own efforts like social media and direct advertising. This way, you get to control the message, the imagery, and your reputation.
A4: The goal of D2C is to bypass the traditional distribution channels – the strategy is centered around the channels, experiences and messages that you control – social media, video, websites etc. #TwitterSmarter
— Bernie Fussenegger (@B2the7) February 17, 2022
A consumer strategy is also crucial in D2C marketing because, as Christine put it, the product and the brand are entwined more closely than buying the product from a retailer. It’s like buying your vegetables from the farmer rather than the supermarket–the farmer knows and cares so much more about the produce than the person behind the supermarket counter. That’s why it’s important to build a strong relationship with your customer and community. People buy from the farmer because they like getting to know the farmer and hearing about their challenges and successes.
A4.
Since the product and brand are more intimately tied than when there’s the additional layer of a retailer, developing a direct relationship with your community is exponentially more urgent.#TwitterSmarter— Christine Gritmon ❤️ #ChatAboutBrand (@cgritmon) February 17, 2022
The basics of a consumer strategy are your purpose/goals, channels you’ll use to achieve those goals, and how you’ll measure the impacts of your activities.
A5a: Define what you are solving for (goals/mission), determine how you are solving (what channels/tactics) and then how are you going to measure the results. #TwitterSmarter
— Bernie Fussenegger (@B2the7) February 17, 2022
Once you’ve addressed these three requirements, you’ll realize that your data, analytics, and marketing activities will, together, form your customer strategy.
A5b: A consumer strategy has the following working together – Data, insights & analytics supported with tactics from media, web, creative, SEO and social for the experiences and engagement. #TwitterSmarter
— Bernie Fussenegger (@B2the7) February 17, 2022
And of course, as Julia from NOW Marketing Group reminded us, it’s essential to also incorporate care and empathy into your consumer strategy.
A5: incorporating CARE into every step of the process is definitely one! – JJS #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/wPDK9PPVmF
— NOW Marketing Group #SMWL21 (@NOWMG) February 17, 2022
It’s much similar to the B2B and B2C processes. Though we don’t often describe it so, many B2B businesses are also D2C. Understand who your audience is, where they are, what they want, and then craft your message accordingly at every stage of the funnel.
A6: With the marketing funnel, it is understanding the customer journey of where the are in the funnel, who the audience is, what the message should be, what channel to deliver and how you are going to measure. Not much different than a B2B or B2C. #TwitterSmarter
— Bernie Fussenegger (@B2the7) February 17, 2022
Madalyn listed some ways to engage with your audience at every stage. Generate awareness through content channels like YouTube, blogs, and social media. Then, nurture your audience through the consideration phrase using email campaigns, support portals, workshops, and webinars.
A6: You’ll want to generate awareness through consistent content creation on platforms such as a blog, YouTube, podcast, and social media. Then, you can focus on nurturing your leads through email marketing and begin pitching information on your offerings. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/JcPd2oNRFp
— MadalynSklar.eth Digital Marketing since 1996 (@MadalynSklar) February 17, 2022
Start by creating your unique brand identity. Use data and observations to drive your decisions, cultivate trust by being available to your audience, and personalize customer experiences to convert customers into advocates. Most importantly, explore both online and offline sources to establish your brand.
A7a: Many ways but create a unique brand identity, use data to drive decisions, use social media, be accessible to your audience, personalize the experiences, utilize both online and offline. #TwitterSmarter
— Bernie Fussenegger (@B2the7) February 17, 2022
All that said, branding takes planning. Lots of it. So consider it like a project—make goals, identify your tasks, set roadmaps, setup goal trackers, and measure the results of each activity.
A7b: Going more specific – Defined goals, roadmaps/tactic/channels to support the goals, project tracking for status and success and then reporting to understand the results – optimize and adjust as needed. #TwitterSmarter
— Bernie Fussenegger (@B2the7) February 17, 2022
Bernie’s best tip is to observe what successful brands are doing and learn from their practices. He suggested Dollar Shave Club, Warby Parker, Away, Birchbox, Chubbies, and Daily Harvest.
A8a: Resources that I use for D2C is to follow the leading brands such as @DollarShaveClub @WarbyParker @away @birchbox @Chubbies @DlyHarvest to see what they are doing, how they engage, how they marketing, how they connect & I also fall back on my B2C background #TwitterSmarter
— Bernie Fussenegger (@B2the7) February 17, 2022
As you watch these brands, work on your goals as well. Relate what you learn with your own brand—ask questions about how those brands engage with you and how you engage with your audience. How can you replicate the successes of those brands in your own activities? Learn by doing.
A8b: Go back to the basics…define your goals, how you are going to support and then measure. Ask questions, follow others. Think about how these brands engage with you, your experience with then and what is imporant as a customer or consumer. #TwitterSmarter
— Bernie Fussenegger (@B2the7) February 17, 2022
That’s all from me this week. Thanks a lot for reading through. For more great insights from our chat with Bernie, have a look at this Twitter Moment that Joana put together. If you think this summary is pretty good, you’ll love the real-time chat. Join us every Thursday at 1pm ET on #TwitterSmarter. Afterward, we also hang out on Twitter Spaces at 5pm ET to continue our chat. Catch you there!
About me, Narmadhaa:
I write all the things—marketing stuff for the bills; haiku and short stories for the soul. A social media enthusiast, I hang out with the #TwitterSmarter chat crew, and am always happy to take on writing gigs.
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