The e-commerce landscape is quickly changing, which is not surprising since one of the needs of the modern consumer includes quick and convenient online shopping. Because of this, online business owners are constantly looking for ways to adapt to this fast-changing environment.
The good news is that entrepreneurs can rely on the increasingly important business model called direct-to-consumer (D2C). This strategy gives businesses greater flexibility and control over their marketing and branding. Thanks to D2C, you can go straight to the consumer and complete transactions with your customers. In addition, with D2C, you can create a sound e-commerce SEO strategy to raise brand awareness and grow an audience.
What exactly is D2C e-commerce? Why is this business model becoming so popular lately?
WHAT IS D2C E-COMMERCE IN SINGAPORE?
D2C e-commerce is the process of selling products directly to consumers online by cutting off the middleman. This business model is the opposite of traditional retail, where the manufacturer’s products will go through a wholesaler, distributor, retailers, then finally consumers.
To enhance your D2C marketing strategy, best pair it with e-commerce SEO in Singapore. It will allow you to improve your online presence, convert website visitors into customers, and, most importantly—boost sales.
Furthermore, D2C has become increasingly popular. Thanks to the Internet, sometimes there is no need for a middleman. With e-commerce, you can make the same amount of profits for lower costs. You can sell your products to customers more quickly and conveniently. It is a win-win for both parties.
When it comes to e-commerce SEO, D2C is one of the best marketing practices today. Here are a few reasons why:
- You have total control over your operations
- You can understand your customers even better
- Your business is more flexible and agile
- You can save money and boost sales
Combining D2C and e-commerce SEO is a great marketing tactic for companies. You can gain a better understanding of your customers and provide them with an exceptional online shopping experience.
Try to come up with digital marketing strategies that could enhance your D2C e-commerce business. Here are some e-commerce SEO tips that might help.
10 MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR D2C E-COMMERCE
1. FOCUS ON A CHANNEL OR PLATFORM
Most D2C e-commerce businesses use a specific channel or platform for engaging with consumers directly. Consider doing the same by looking for a platform that should help you get closer to your target audience.
Fortunately, there are many options for you to choose from, such as your website, marketplace, social media, email, mobile app, etc. Choose one or more platforms where you can reach out to your target audience.
RELATED: E-commerce Platform Vs Marketplace: Which Is Better For Small Businesses?
Whichever platform you choose, make sure it is user-friendly. Offer customers options that will personalise their experience.
For instance, by enhancing your e-commerce website, you can gather more customer data via web cookies to know about your customer’s preferences. It will help you discover the types of products your customers are looking for on your website. The next time they visit your website, your site’s search engine algorithms will cater to your customer’s specific needs and interests based on their previous website visit.
2. PROVIDING INCENTIVES UPON SIGNUP
Brand awareness is one of the challenges when switching to the D2C e-commerce business model, especially if you are focusing online. Besides ramping up e-commerce website development and design for better UI and UX, brands can also incentivize consumers who will spread the word.
To illustrate, after signing up, brands can encourage consumers to hook up their friends and family to sign up on the app or website. In return, the brand will reward consumers with gifts, such as a 10% discount voucher for every successful invite and signup.
This incentive-driven scheme will spread the word about your brand like wildfire among people. The brand can also garner hundreds and thousands of emails during signups.
3. CREATE HIGH-QUALITY CONTENT
High-quality content is the key to a successful relationship between your business and your customers. Whenever customers visit your website, they expect to see a ton of content that could provide them with more information about your business. Give them what they need by creating high-quality website content.
Quality content comes in many forms. For example, you could set up a blog on your website to share valuable information about topics related to your business. You can write tips, tricks, tutorials, and how-to articles. These types of content should attract interested readers and potential customers.
Make sure your content contains rich information and relevant keywords. Doing so should build your e-commerce website’s authority and boost its SEO rankings.
4. IMPLEMENT ON-PAGE SEO
Driving traffic to your e-commerce website is crucial when it comes to D2C marketing. You need to improve your SEO rankings and attract more potential customers. In that case, implement effective on-page SEO for your website.
Your e-commerce business can benefit from on-page SEO in many ways. Besides increasing your rankings, on-page SEO can help you convert customers and boost sales.
Here are some on-page SEO strategies for your e-commerce website:
- Use relevant keywords when creating website content
- Optimise your metadata (title tags and meta descriptions)
- Improve your website speed
- Insert internal links into your content to redirect visitors to other pages
For more tips and tricks regarding on-page SEO, check out this blog post.
5. MUTUALLY PROFIT WITH PARTNERS
If you are switching to a hybrid e-commerce business model in Singapore or the combination of the traditional and D2C e-commerce model, the challenge would be avoiding competition with your retail partners.
To illustrate, when a brand sells its products directly to consumers, they compete with its partner retailers that also sell the same products. Not only will it strain the brand’s relationship with its retail partner, but will also affect the brand’s product performance in its retailers.
What the brand can do is find a way where it can benefit from D2C e-commerce without affecting partner retailers. For example, instead of selling the same products as retailers, why not offer limited edition items that can only be bought directly from the manufacturer?
In this case, brands must prepare their e-commerce website development thoroughly. There are situations where high traffic crashes websites during the release of limited edition products.
6. ENRICH PRODUCT INSIGHT
Your product shares consumers’ attention with the other brands of the products they sell. It is where D2C e-commerce gets the upper hand. When a consumer directly buys from the manufacturers, they will only be exposed to the brand’s products alone.
Brands must leverage this advantage by providing consumers with informative insights about the brand and the products. Tell the product’s story, its history, how it is made, the design process, and who it is for. It will strike interest and inspiration among consumers. Some brands incorporate these strategies in their website content and e-commerce website design, while others apply these to their physical store.
7. CONNECT WITH CONSUMERS POST-SALE
Another way brands prevent competing against their partner retailer is by keeping their D2C business model online. However, the challenge with e-commerce in Singapore, in general, is retaining the consumer’s post-sale.
Brands must remain in touch with their consumers after purchase. It is where email marketing becomes handy. Rolling out email campaigns for new products, sale announcements, and discounts can help retain consumers post-sale.
Brands can also conduct online or phone surveys to determine the consumer’s sentiments regarding their products and service. Besides the promise of improving the product, validating the consumer’s opinion will make them feel valued, boosting customer experience.
8. INVEST IN INFLUENCER MARKETING
The goal of D2C is to build strong relationships with customers, so consider partnering with an influencer to gain your customer’s trust.
Influencer marketing is ideal for D2C e-commerce businesses that need to establish their credibility. It is a social media marketing strategy that uses content created by influencers to promote your brand.
Besides establishing your credibility, influencer marketing is perfect for boosting your e-commerce website’s SEO rankings. A social media influencer could drive more traffic to your website, thus improving your online presence.
READ MORE: Influencer Marketing: How Does It Work?
9. ENCOURAGE USER-GENERATED CONTENT
Another way to create noise about your D2C e-commerce brand is to encourage people to create content with their product. For example, the brand can roll out a hashtag campaign where consumers can upload pictures and videos of the product or use the product on social media, including the official hashtag in their captions.
They can also send packages to micro-influencers, who, in return, will make an unboxing video or honest review of the product. The user-generated content may appear to people’s queries on search engines, who, more often than not, have intent to buy the product. You can dominate search engines with UGC and website content with the help of SEO in Singapore.
RELATED: User-Generated Content: The Key To Successful SEO
10. OPTIMISE YOUR WEBSITE FOR VOICE SEARCH
The way people are shopping online is changing. Voice assistants, such as Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa, and Apple’s Siri, are becoming a part of many households globally. According to Oberlo, in the USA alone, approximately 51% of online shoppers used voice assistants to research products.
Brands should leverage these numbers by optimising their website for voice search. It is possible by focusing on local SEO and GPS search. SEO vendors can help you with these SEO strategies. Brands can also optimise their FAQ page since the majority of voice searches are in question form or start with ‘Who,’ ‘What,’ ‘Where’, and ‘How’. Make sure to up your e-commerce website design in Singapore as well.
LEARN MORE: How To Optimise Your Website For Voice-To-Text SEO?
FINAL REMARKS
Attract more customers to your e-commerce business and improve your SEO rankings in 2023 with these mentioned marketing strategies. If you need help, don’t be afraid to get in touch with our e-commerce SEO agency in Singapore.
Contact OOm for more information on digital marketing and SEO.
