So many DTC brands often forget about their most valuable marketing tool – their own customers! In today’s competitive DTC market, it’s more important than ever to forge strong relationships with your customers, and find ways to meet their needs and exceed their expectations.
We’ve picked out our top 3 methods on how to best work alongside your customers this year, for you to boost your exposure, sell more products, and increase brand loyalty.
Let’s get started.
Giveaways
Running competitions on social media is a great way to use your own audience to expand your reach and attract new customers. When people see that your brand is giving away free products, they’re likely to check out your website or social media page to learn more about who you are and what you sell.
You can even take it a step further and double the exposure by hosting a joint giveaway with another brand! Giveaways tend to be an ideal partnership for brands that have low order values or samples. You and your brand partner can announce a joint contest on your social media accounts, where your followers can enter to win a prize made up of both of your products.
Top tip: Make the prize a big one so that your customers want to win
The more shares, comments and likes, the further your post will go. Everyone loves the chance to win something, and if a giveaway is being heavily promoted or has a limited time frame, it can create a sense of urgency and encourage your audience to take action ASAP.
Competitions and giveaways are also a fantastic way to build customer loyalty. If your audience feels like they have a good chance of winning some of your products, they’re more likely to engage with your brand and follow you on social media. This can help to build a community of loyal customers who support your brand even after the competition has ended!
Freebies
Who doesn’t love free stuff?
Freebies or gift with purchase works best for brands that have low order value products or samples. It’s all about getting your physical product into potential customers’ hands! Simply include a free sample of a different product in your customers’ orders for them to try out. This can be a great way to introduce the launch of new products and generate some buzz around them. People are far more likely to purchase something knowing they’ve already tried it and had a good experience with it, since it takes any risk out of the purchase for them. We all know there’s nothing worse than buying a full-sized product only to find out it doesn’t work for you!
If it’s a particularly sought after gift – add a minimum spend on your site to encourage your customers to spend more so that they can receive their freebie.
It’s also a particularly great strategy to use when partnering with another brand. Send over some of your products to your partner brand, so that they can include them as a gift with their customers’ future orders, and vice versa!
The science behind why freebies and giveaways are so effective is because of something called ‘reciprocity’. Essentially, people tend to give back what they receive, so by giving away a free product to your customers, it’s likely that in return they’ll come back to buy something else from your business, and increase your sales and brand awareness.
Referral Schemes
DTC brands often rely on word-of-mouth to attract new customers, and a referral scheme can help to give your brand an extra boost by encouraging your customers to spread the word about your brand and to share your products with their friends and family. By referring them, they’re essentially giving your brand a personal recommendation, which helps to build trust and credibility for your brand before your new customers have even made a purchase from you.
You can offer freebies, VIP treatment, and perks to anyone who gets their friends to shop from your site! Your customers are basically doing the work for you and they get a treat in return – it’s a win-win situation.
Referral schemes can also help to foster your customer loyalty, which is hugely important for a lot of DTC brands since repeat business is what sustains their growth. By rewarding your customers for their advocacy, you’re creating a sense of community and encouraging your customers to continue to support your brand!
It’s also one of the more cost-effective ways for smaller DTC brands to acquire new customers and is much cheaper than traditional marketing methods. Since you’re relying on existing customers to bring in new customers, there’s far less risk involved and far more reward!
