Founder dies, machines deteriorate, inventories get old, technology becomes obsolete, what remains is the Brand. Know the branding tips for d2c entrepreneurs that will help you stand out from the competition and speed up your business growth.
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.
Pepperfry, a leading d2c brand in the furniture sector established with the goal to cut short the hassle in furniture delivery has been successful in achieving its aim with the help of a well defined d2c marketing strategy. With superior quality and variety of products and through a strong social media presence and innovative campaigns like Happy Furniture To You, the d2c strategies adopted has enabled the brand to make its position in the market in a short span of time.
This precisely explains how a definite and clear d2c branding plan can help your business reach new heights even in an already overcrowded market.
Table of Contents
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
Goods are manufactured in the factory but brands are made in mind. D2C Marketing can change how people perceive your d2c brand.
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.
Packaging is often a missed opportunity for d2c marketing and is much more than logos, colour palettes and slogans. Distinctive packaging has become a conversation starter with consumers and is a crucial medium to help your d2c brand stand out in the physical retail environment and online shelves. Packaging creates distinct brand imagery to drive distinction in crowded categories, which is the primary goal of d2c branding.
Consider the example of Bombay Sweet Shop, a d2c brand from Hunger Inc that aims to bring back the magic of mithai, celebrate the diversity of Indian desserts and craft new gifting traditions. Customers admire their sweets and the colourful and eye-catching boxes with beautiful illustrations. The mithai also has a distinct and unique shape that elevates the overall aesthetic appeal creating a wow unboxing experience.
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.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, economies have dwindled, consumer confidence has dripped (along with purchasing power) and customer loyalty has been put to test. At a time like this when d2c brands need to embrace a holistic, consumer-first d2c marketing strategy, influencer marketing on social media has come to the rescue. Over the last few years, the content generated by influencers is found to be more engaging and attracting more views than typical TV ads. Influencer marketing should be a part of d2c strategies as the social influencers have built up trust with their following and any recommendations by them serve as social proof to your brand potential customers. 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. As per a survey by TurnTo Networks, 90% of the customers say that user-generated content holds more influence over their buying decision than promotional emails and even search engine results.
This precisely explains the reason user-generated content is a crucial element for d2c branding that you cannot miss out on. 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. User-generated content campaigns are round-the-clock player in d2c marketing as people today don’t trust marketers, they believe in real people.
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
Remember, in d2c marketing, the biggest threat isn’t your competition but the back button. If the loading time of your website is slow, customers won’t wait. They will go elsewhere.
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.
Xpresslane makes checkout fast and easy. We help every small e-commerce merchant with a super optimized, personalized and 1-click checkout experience for their users. We help small business owners build their empire online by transforming the checkout experience.
Want to add Xpresslane Checkout to your e-commerce Store? Click here to get started!
Read more about
Payment Gateways vs Payment Aggregators: What’s the Difference?
How Xpresslane transforms the online shopping journey?
Start your Online E-Commerce Business with these Best Platforms
What is D2C and how is it gaining momentum?
Check out Xpresslane’s fast checkout plugin to increase sales.
