DTC Marketers Share Their Messaging Secrets

Today’s consumers are swamped with marketing messages. Which means businesses need to think innovatively to implement fresh and meaningful DTC tactics that stand out from the crowd.

For small businesses in particular that are looking to strengthen their DTC strategy, it can help to explore what leading brands are doing to understand which innovative tactics are seeing success.

“We have to find ways to penetrate what would be a very crowded, noisy space relative to advertising. We look for unique and distinct methods [so] we can reach our audiences.”

— Andrew Rebhun, chief marketing officer of El Pollo Loco

To gain insight into how today’s marketers are cultivating one-to-one relationships, the United States Postal Service commissioned proprietary interviews with senior leaders at top consumer-facing companies across industries.^[1] Here are some of the direct marketing trends they shared:

Direct-to-Consumer Marketing Trends

The marketing professionals interviewed are employing a range of tactics to stand out from their competitors, including:

• Email Segmentation
• Social Media Connections
• Customer Loyalty Programs
• SMS Touchpoints
• More Event Presence
• Smart Direct Mail Plans
• Enhanced Online Shopping

“…at the end of the day, you must target the right customer with the right offer and be differentiated enough to appeal to them.”

— Frank Wanderski, general manager of Texas Power

How Brands Can Elevate Their DTC Marketing

Now is the time to explore outside your comfort zone! Just be sure the fresh DTC tactics you pursue are well thought out, authentic to your brand, and right for your target audience.

There are some common themes across what’s working that bring to light where marketers can push further to create deeper connections with consumers.

Personalization

The professionals interviewed highlighted the difference personal attention can make. It’s clear they believe that more “personal” personalization than just putting a name on an email or mailpiece will create stronger relationships going forward.

Community Connections

Brands are discovering the importance of connecting with communities and placing a genuine emphasis on social responsibility. When social causes are part of the marketing effort, brands are finding engagement rates to be much higher.

Approachability

The interviewees shared how bringing in more personality has been successful. By switching their tone to be more relatable and perhaps throwing in some unexpected humor, the brand became more approachable, complicated subjects became digestible, and sales and engagement flourished.

Tracking Direct to Consumer Advertising

ROI is king. According to the professionals interviewed, quantifying success is essential to allocating their ad spend.

But there are challenges. With new laws in place and changes to tracking techniques on major platforms, marketers are having to evaluate alternate channels and methods to collect data. Tracking can be disjointed, and multichannel touchpoints prevent accurate tracking. Omnichannel campaigns are proven achievers, but identifying which channel has been most effective at converting is tricky.

Marketers unanimously expressed a need for a way to easily track multiple channels at once and assign credit to the most effective. Teams also want an automated and comprehensive tool. Marketers are looking for a platform that brings all spend and reporting together to help optimize across and within channels.