Direct to Consumer: Why Conversation Matters

There’s no question that the growth of direct-to-consumer brands has been exponential in the last few years. But even in the wake of such massive growth, many brands struggle to learn how to scale. And finding ways to stand out in what has become one of the most competitive markets we’ve seen this decade has become a challenge. 

This article will show you how to stand out from the pack and scale seamlessly in your direct-to-consumer marketing using live chat.

User Experience Counts in Direct to Consumer

Many direct to consumer brands have products that are at the very heart of what they offer. Their products are their brand, and vice versa. With such a strong focus on beloved products, you need to have a user experience that matches the warmth and connection of your brand.

Also, we all know that first impressions count– but so do second ones as well. Your site can look great, and be laid perfectly, but what happens when the customer hits a friction point, can’t navigate your site, or has a specific question?

People know within seconds whether they’re going to connect with a brand or not. Use conversation to make that connection seamless and guaranteed (instead of hoping it happens from your static website). 

Live chat is your best way to make the perfect impression, turn curious visitors into brand advocates and drive revenues.

This isn’t like brick and mortar retail. You only get one shot, and once the customer’s gone, they’ve moved on and you’ve most likely lost their business for good. And that’s not even mentioning scalability, which can be challenging for companies of all sizes.

With live chat, you can move fast, and you can focus on experience and quality, allowing you to identify opportunities quickly, and innovate to meet them.

Customers Are Proactive, So You Need to Be

Customers are actively searching for what you offer. You spend a good deal of time making your website attractive, being precise on the language you use, and carefully crafting a user journey. 

So why leave the customer to make the first move? Proactive messaging is taking the first step to engage the customer in a way that a static website never could– no matter how well it’s designed.

The key to proactive messages is to be helpful and friendly, and avoid anything too sales-oriented. We’re not trying to go straight for the sale right away, we’re actually trying to build a connection, and help the customer find what they’re looking for.

Proactive messaging is one of the best ways to build a connection with your customers and be that helping hand– and that helping hand needs to be available on the customer’s schedule– which means 24/7. So how is that possible?

Your Brand Can’t Take Time Off

More than ever, your buyers are making their purchasing decisions during the times that are most convenient for them. This means off hours, weekends, even holidays. More purchases are made on the couch or around the dinner table than ever before. So if you’re not around to help them when they’re making the purchase, will they complete the sale?

Not only that, but direct to consumer sales is a global market for those who can capitlize on it. This means people all over the world are potentially shopping your site from different time zones at different hours. Are you meeting these demands, or losing sales?

Even if you have live chat, are you finding that your chat agents aren’t able to handle the volume? If you’re doing a marketing push, and are getting that traffic that you’re wanting, are you able to spend meaningful time with each prospect? Or are you wasting marketing dollars on missed opportunities due to a challenge scaling? 

Ultimately, if you don’t have the resources in place, you’re going to see poor results, and it will leave a negative impact for the people visiting your site. This will result in a less than stellar reputation for your brand, and missed sales opportunities. 

So what’s the solution? Data shows that using a mix of a streamlined, well-programmed chatbot as a first line of customer contact is a great way to be available 24/7. Couple that with a team of native-English speaking chat agents who are available around the clock, and you can scale with ease, give customers the experience they deserve, and increase sales. (FYI: The Chat Shop are experts in creating this exact chat flow.)

You Can Beat Basket Abandonment (Yes, Really)

There’s not a single, overarching reason that people abandon their baskets. It depends heavily on the person and the situation. So while there’s not a single silver bullet to eliminate it altogether, we can look at trends and patterns to ensure that it happens as little as possible. 

Often times, we never know why someone abandons their basket– and to make matters worse, the only way we have to follow up with them is maybe an email address (if we’ve managed to gather that information).

By using live chat and having a meaningful conversation with your prospects, we don’t have to take guesses as to why they’re abandoning their baskets. By engaging the user at critical points in the buying journey we can answer questions, overcome objections, and make them feel confident in the sale. 

There are other factors that commonly lead to basket abandonment, such as:

• Discount codes that aren’t working
• Shipping and delivery fees and timeframes unclear
• A broken link in your buying process

We even know how to identify patterns in site-visitor behavior to get in front of baskent abandonment before it happens– you just have to know what signals to look for.

Are you struggling with tactics to overcome basket abandonment? Take a look at these overlooked, practical examples you can implement to lower your basket abandonment rate in this blog. 

Taking on Amazon (Beating Big Competition)

When it comes to big eCommerce sites like Amazon, Walmart, and others, it can feel like a David vs. Goliath situation. And while it can feel intimidating, there are still ways you can outshine and outperform big competition where it counts. 

We aren’t going to downplay the fact that these megasites have the traffic and a trustworthy brand name going for them. And while these are critical parts of a direct to consumer sale, they aren’t the only important things when it comes to a direct to consumer sale. 

The challenges that Amazon and other massive eCommerce stores have is that their sellers all have to follow the same overall template, and it’s really difficult to stand out in any meaningful way. 

As a direct to consumer brand, it’s challenging to deliver a unique experience when everything is so uniform. Additionally, at the end of the day, you’re at the mercy of the platform. If they make any large changes (as we’ve seen happen with many sites in the last several years) your business could go from booming to nothing overnight, and there’s not much you can do about it. 

Customers are looking for a warm buying experience that they can trust. Let us show you a specific example of how you can get ahead of some of these large sites by using a human touch.

This is a real product name on Amazon: 

Neo Chair Office Computer Desk Chair Gaming-Ergonomic Mid Back Cushion Lumbar Support with Wheels Comfortable Blue Mesh Racing Seat Adjustable Swivel Rolling Home Executive (Black)

Notice that for this seller to stand out they’ve had to resort to cold, confusing SEO naming techniques for their chair? This mish mash of words doesn’t truly describe the chair, and doesn’t telegraph any sort of meaningful brand identity or quality.

By using real photos, carefully crafted descriptions, high quality products and live chat, you can make your site a place where customers find a true connection with your brand and trust their purchase. This warm, human approach is a way to capture market share that bigger sites never could.

Direct to Consumer Marketers: Ask Yourself This…

The question that you might want to consider is this: what type of experience do you want to deliver to your customers. 

What would it look like if a concierge bot greeted them and gave them a tailored experience, answering pre-loaded, common questions like “where’s my order?” and “how much is shipping?” And if things get more complex, there’s a live agent waiting to step in and help when needed. 

How would something like that change how your business operates? Let’s have a chat and talk through the possibilities.