Why Direct-To-Consumer Advertising Is Booming

Why Direct-To-Consumer Advertising Is Booming

If you’ve ever ordered apparel directly from a brand’s website or used an Uber, then you’re part of the burgeoning direct-to-consumer (DTC) economy, like hundreds of millions of others.

According to research from MediaRadar, DTC advertising is up across almost every product category. In the apparel industry, for instance, DTC spending rose by $100 million from 2014 to 2018. And that’s just one segment of the industry.

 

So why is DTC advertising so hot? With DTC you can:

1. Talk directly to your customers.
2. Focus on your brand.
3. Position yourself to appeal to younger customers.
4. Allow for product specialization.
5. Stress quality and experience over price.

 

E-commerce and DTC marketing is definitely the place to be for youth-oriented brands. By taking a non-traditional route to market, businesses bypass the middleman and go straight to the source, focusing directly on their customers and providing them with an exceptional and streamlined experience.

 

You can also build your brand to target the customers who are going to love your products. You won’t waste time, money or expense on the others. DTC also provides a way to live and breathe your company values. A great example of this is Bombas socks. They not only offer easy returns, but clean returned socks are donated to shelters and the homeless – folks who really need them. This company policy is the kind of consumer focused business value that thrives in today’s DTC marketplace.

 

In addition to Bombas socks, successful early adopters of DTC include these readily recognized brands:

• Warby Parker (valued at $1.75 billion)
• Dollar Shave Club (acquired by Unilever for $1 billion)
• Casper Mattress company (worth $750 million)
• BarkBox (valued at $150-$200 million)

 

It’s safe to say the DTC marketing model is here to stay. So how do you know if using it for your business makes sense?

 

Good question, says FocalPoint CEO Brien Richmond. “We can help you wrestle with that. Even though DTC means your business can market directly to customers, agencies such as FocalPoint are providing access ways to market smart in addition to creative. So we can help get everything right for the market you want to reach, from content creation to placement optimization. We also provide cross-platform data measurement — so you can see how and where your message works best.”

 

Let’s talk Direct to Consumer.