Al is exciting, confusing and if we’re being candid—it can be unsettling at times. In a recent survey conducted by DSN, 50 direct selling companies shared their thoughts on Al in their business.

We’d love to know what Al tools are game‑changers for you and your team right now. Email or text us at 469.971.3845 to share what Al tools are making a mark in your organization.

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Direct-to-consumer (DTC) companies succeed at the crossroads of agility, loyalty and authenticity. That’s why their content strategy focuses on building genuine relationships with customers who truly want to be part of the brand.

Today’s customers are used to buying directly from brands without the middleman of mass retail stores. The customer feels more catered to because they are. DTC companies can bypass the traditional PR firms and media gatekeepers and talk directly to customers. They turn push marketing into attraction marketing. They have complete control of telling their own story, and they can tell it many different ways through multiple channels.

“The benefits of DTC marketing are clear: through this direct relationship, these companies are creating strong relationships with their consumers, understanding them better and reaching a more specific, appropriate audience,” says Hubspot. “DTC brands eliminate the hassle of researching, browsing and choosing from hundreds of options, making shopping practically effortless.”

Building loyalty can require a multi-faceted content strategy focused on relationships, education and authenticity. Here are six effective approaches to glean from DTC brands.

1. Authentic Behind-the-Scenes Videos

Being genuine is the name of the game with behind-the-scenes (BTS) videos. These peel back the curtain and invite customers into intimate parts of the business, making them feel part of the brand. Successful BTS videos are more informal, personable and are often funny and humble—many often reveal some genuine struggles. These can include product manufacturing and teasing new releases; messages from founders and CEOs; casual in-office activities; live tours; and on-the-spot employee interviews. The raw nature of BTS videos creates a more authentic connection between DTC businesses and their customers.

Origin USA, co-founded by former Navy Seal and leadership trainer Jocko Willink, produces martial arts uniforms and durable workwear such as boots and jeans. Everything is sourced and made in America. Their motto is “Made in America. No compromise.” The company’s videos focus on accomplishments with sourcing and manufacturing high-quality products by American workers. They are often short, personable and to the point, showing the impact on local community and reactions to the quality of the products. Company executives and employees are featured in videos talking about the importance of revitalizing American manufacturing.

As a Marketing Revolution article pointed out, “You need to be authentic in what you promise customers. This means stating a clear mission, then following through on that mission. This will help customers feel like they’re not just buying a product but working toward a greater goal.” BTS videos are highly effective at communicating that message.

2. An Omnichannel Strategy

It’s never been easier to publish content in multiple forms to speak to different audiences. It just takes commitment to a strategy. Successful DTC companies often repurpose the same message or campaign for multiple platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. Each channel has its unique way of attracting followers and encouraging interaction. Tagging products in Facebook and Instagram posts is still an effective approach for many DTC businesses, especially when the content is more natural and less “sales-y.” This strategy also helps companies focus on building the brand and connecting with customers instead of pushing products.

“An omnichannel presence ensures that when your target consumers choose to engage with branded messaging, your product or service is readily available in the moment; regardless of channel,” shared Marketing Revolution. “In addition to being available, marketers need to build connections with consumers through branding efforts that create lasting, loyal customers. This is why we have seen a shift in campaigns to emphasize brand over products.”

Another growing trend is being a guest or sponsor on podcasts. These typically have targeted, captivated and highly loyal audiences who trust the podcasters. It’s a great way for company founders and leaders to tell their story and attract customers. Many podcasters only allow sponsors from products and services they use themselves, increasing the authenticity of the relationship.

3. Be a Storyteller

One of the best ways to build a brand is the tried-and-true strategy of telling compelling stories. DTC companies have the flexibility to tell their own stories without going through the traditional public relations channels and media gatekeepers.

Away, a luxury luggage company, took preorders before launching and combined the strategy with the release of an inspirational book titled The Places We Return To. Founders Steph Korey and Jen Rubio interviewed more than 40 creatives for the book such as writers, artists and photographers about their travel experiences. It was sold along with a gift card redeemable for a suitcase. The initial product line was sold out before it released, and the company reached $12 million in sales in the first year.

“Storytelling is a central part of our marketing strategy,” Korey said in a Shopify blog. “We think about what stories we can feed to the press and to social media—things that make people take notice, things people want to share and talk about. You don’t push your product. You create things that are fun to talk about, to write about, to share.”

The company leverages social media to encourage travel or posting funny scenarios instead of directly promoting products. For example, asking followers to post a GIF of their favorite movie to watch on a flight, or a tweet explaining why you need 17 pairs of underwear for a four-day trip.

4. Short, Vertical Videos

Even with the growing trend of longform podcasts that can run for one to two hours or more, the most popular and engaging online videos are getting shorter and shorter. With the rise of TikTok and Instagram Reels, people are more used to watching vertically oriented videos on their mobile device. Behind-the-scenes, employee profiles, product demos and various user-generated content are some of the most effective for DTC companies. Combining videos with a short music clip or voiceover adds to the appeal.

Bombas is a social impact company that began selling socks and matching donations to the homeless and underprivileged communities. They have grown to include other essentials such as underwear and T-shirts. The company’s short social media videos include a “Three Good Things” monthly message focusing on accomplishments and the people positively impacted. Employee shoutouts highlight volunteer hours, and other videos even teach followers how to make their own “care kits” out of sandwich bags and travel-size personal hygiene products.

The mission is woven into the message of the content. Videos are authentic and unpolished, as if you took out your phone and started recording what you saw. They are in the moment, inviting and show their commitment to the mission.

5. Leverage Customer Content

No matter what business you’re in, your customers are online every day letting you know what they want by the posts they make and the content they engage with. Leveraging customer content takes the guesswork out of what you should create and builds stronger relationships with customers who are proud to represent your brand.

Popular customer content for DTC brands includes unboxing videos; product reviews; trying on products; encouraging hashtags to increase brand awareness; and sharing customer posts to continue the conversation.

“One of the tactics is to allow customers to test new products and then share their experience on social media before committing to a purchase,” according to an article by Profitwell.com.

Well-known DTC company Warby Parker noticed customers were taking pictures and videos of their eyewear, asking friends how they looked. The company started asking customers to post the content on social media with the hashtag #WarbyHomeTryon. Participating customers were paired with an online personal stylist. The company discovered that customers who shared content online were 50 percent more likely to purchase.

6. A Text Will Do Ya

According to Tech Jury, 75 percent of clients want to receive offers via SMS text, and Mobile Monkey says nine in 10 people open their text messages. Savvy DTC brands are utilizing texts more and more to send exclusive offers, welcome new customers or even send an impromptu thank you. Texts are often limited to 160 characters, so they’re simple to consume, and they make for a seamless mobile shopping experience. To enhance and entertain, consider adding images, GIFs or short video clips. Even restaurants are beginning to take orders via text.

Some DTC websites offer SMS as a lead-capture option, and customers are often sent a first-time purchase discount. The focus is on quick access to a discount or enrolling in a rewards club—no need to fill out a lot of forms asking for a bunch of personal information. Not all texts are offer-based. Some are personalized such as wishing customers happy birthday; thanking them for their recent order; and updating them on items they are interested in.

From the May 2023 issue of Direct Selling News magazine.

The post Magnetic Content first appeared on Direct Selling News.

70% percent of online shoppers add a product to their cart then leave without purchasing. Will they come back? Why did they leave? How do you stop it?

The ever-evolving online shopping experience continues to present new challenges, even in the direct sales industry where business is still mostly done through building and leveraging relationships. But challenges also bring opportunities for solutions and innovations. That’s exactly what’s happening with the cart abandonment issue so many ecommerce businesses grapple with.

According to Shopify, brands lose an estimated $18 billion in revenue due to cart abandonment, reminding businesses that shopping is not the same as buying. In some ways, adding products to an online cart and then leaving is the online version of a customer saying “thanks, but I’m just looking.” The bright side: customers who abandon their carts at least are interested and taking some action.

“Consumers don’t throw items into their shopping cart at random,” says an article by Wiplash. “If they’re choosing to put a product in their cart, it’s because they have an interest in it.”

Why Do Customers Abandon Their Cart?

Before we dive into solutions, it helps to know why people leave their carts. According to research by Baymard Institute, the number one reason—by far—is that extra costs such as shipping, taxes, handling and other fees are too high. Seeing that final price update in front of your eyes can be off-putting. If there’s a free shipping offer for orders above a certain amount, many shoppers will add products to their cart just to reach the threshold needed for free shipping. It’s somewhat of an experiment. So, adding products to a cart is not a commitment. It’s just not the same as taking products to a store register and checking out with a live person.

Other top reasons why shoppers leave include having to create a customer account; not enough payment options; long delivery times; a complicated checkout process; and not trusting the website with personal and credit card information. All these challenges have been met with some effective and innovative solutions, particularly with direct-to-consumer brands. We’ll look at four of these solutions that are perfectly adaptable to the direct sales channel.

1. Subscriptions are on the Rise

From coffee to vitamins to pet food, today’s consumer is getting more everyday items shipped to them on a subscription basis. This model allows for higher customer retention, relationship building, rewards programs and more. Of course, it eliminates the need for customers to constantly return and place individual orders. Subscriptions essentially bypass the cart abandonment problem altogether. According to a study by PipeCandy, 75 percent of direct-to-consumer businesses were expected to offer subscriptions to their customers in 2023.

“You’re seeing a lot of interesting subscriptions these days,” shared Noah Westerlund, President at Now Tech, which markets a direct selling app to simplify and streamline ecommerce purchases. “They’re also very positive for our channel because it means that the consumer is no longer afraid of the idea of an auto-ship.”

2. Simplify Your Checkout Process

According to Drip.com, the average online checkout flow has 23.5 form elements and 15 form fields. That can be a headache to navigate. A complicated checkout process is the enemy of mobile experiences, as mobile users abandon carts 85.7 percent more than desktop users. The site also says checkout optimization can increase conversions by 35.6 percent.

In an era of one-click purchasing, less is more, according to Nirav Sheth, the creator of Awesome Checkout. “If shoppers have committed to buying a product, your job is to get them through checkout as swiftly as possible. To do so, ask as little of them as possible,” he explained.

Forcing customers to create an account is one of the biggest turnoffs. The Baymard Institute says 24 percent of U.S. online shoppers abandon one or more shopping carts due solely to forced account creation. Including a guest checkout should be an option—and perhaps the default one. Baymard also found that 47 percent of companies do not make guest checkout the most prominent option. This is especially important for first-time buyers.

“Brands lose an estimated $18 billion in revenue due to cart abandonment, reminding businesses that shopping is not the same as buying.

The payment experience of the checkout process can be an issue of its own. Watching tax and shipping costs increase the total price in front of your eyes is unique to online shopping. Some direct sales companies are opting to include a flat-rate shipping cost baked into their product pricing. But even with free shipping, customers expect quick delivery. According to a Supply Chain Quarterly report, 62 percent of shoppers expect their orders to arrive in less than three business days when choosing free shipping.

Customers also want more payment options. Using third-party platforms such as PayPal, Apple Pay and Amazon Pay, and even allowing some crypto currency options, gives customers a more customized experience. These options don’t require them to keep entering sensitive payment information. They’re also more friendly for international shoppers. It’s much smoother when you can buy with just a few clicks.

3. Utilize Targeted Landing Pages

Many direct selling websites are falling behind ecommerce trends because of one main reason: the online shopping experience often includes the entire product inventory. It requires a lot of clicking and searching. People get lost or overwhelmed. The experience can cause them to just give up, even if they’ve added products to their cart. Some companies are incorporating more targeted landing pages marketing individual products. And because these have individual URLs, it’s easy for distributors to share those links.

“It’s a single product, super easy to purchase,” Westerlund said about the effectiveness of landing pages. “When you go to the landing page, there’s just an offer around that, and there might be a sale after you purchase. That’s what consumers have become used to when getting introduced to a product. I click the link and go to a page where the decision is: to buy or not to buy.”

While the average conversion rate of a website is between 2 and 5 percent, Growth Marketing Pro says the average conversion rate for a landing page is 9.7 percent. According to KhrisDigital, longform landing pages can generate up to 220 percent more leads than a typical website. Targeted landing pages help tell a larger story and market a single product in multiple ways, whether it’s through videos, customer reviews, testimonials, countdown clocks or tutorials. They’re more highly focused on how the featured product solves specific problems. Using videos on landing pages can improve conversions by 86 percent. Another benefit: the checkout process is streamlined. “On a local landing page, you enter your name, your payment—and boom—you’re done. You’re out the door and on your way,” Westerlund added.

All these factors make a landing page a more effective purchasing experience instead of a traditional shopping experience. In short: your website might be for shopping, but a targeted landing page is for purchasing.

4. The Secret Weapon of Remarketing

Remarketing is one of the most dynamic cart abandonment solutions being implemented right now. Simple strategies include follow-up emails with a limited-time discount to complete the purchase or various communication channels reminding you that you “left something in your cart.” Savvy customers familiar with these types of discounts intentionally abandon their carts just to test promotional offers. But more sophisticated and effective methods are evolving the online customer experience.

Remarketing is a much more targeted experience than traditional online shopping. Current technologies tell companies who landed on a page, where they scrolled to, how long they stayed, if they started the checkout process and can send follow-up offers or up-sells. Online tracking pixels from ads “follow” users online for a certain time as they use social platforms and websites, showing different versions of an ad or even marketing related products.

“If you look at all these network marketing companies, they’re all still using a full-blown shopping experience,” Westerlund shared. “They could get leads and distribute those to individual distributors and let them follow up. But the most powerful thing would be giving a distributor access to the longform landing pages and then provide remarketing activities to the distributor.”

Distributors could follow up with a one-time coupon code, product combo offer, additional product info—whatever best fits the action the potential customer took. The credit, and commission, is still tied to the individual distributor.

“Build these acquisition and remarketing systems with attribution in mind,” Westerlund explained. “You’re working hand-in-hand with the distributor. You’re going to gain trust. You’re going to drive sales. And you’re going to take advantage of the benefits of network marketing rather than get held back by them.”

From the April 2023 issue of Direct Selling News magazine.

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