insights! #57: Digital visibility: a MUST for manufacturers' success in direct sales

Great that you're here for a new episode of Insights. My name is Joubin Rahimi, and today it's about our fifth thesis from the D2C study. "Digital visibility is crucial to the success of direct sales. Yet here too manufacturers still need to catch up." We don't start with digitality, but with cross-channel strategy, that this is essential. Why? We can see why in the data: 42% of non-D2C buyers simply attach massive importance to bricks-and-mortar. But 91% of these buyers use online channels as a decisive source of information. And that's of course also a really important lever. That means, if I want to attract consumers as a D2C brand, I have to be capable digitally on the one hand, but also think about bricks-and-mortar and physical topics. That's why this cross-channel strategy is hugely important. And it isn't about saying I now have a new webshop, I have a new agency, I have new analytics, I have new UX, but rather the interplay of all these components is what makes the success. How do we, as people, search? And that's really important. We asked about that again in the study too.

And 38% of D2C buyers simply search primarily via search engines and become aware of manufacturers that way. Among under-30s it's 49%, and in future this will be pushed even more strongly via Instagram, TikTok and so on, using these channels to build awareness. But watch out, there people aren't searching, but rather the need is being created there. So our recommendation for action is this: with your digital presence you need to have a great story, and implement it brilliantly in SEO, not just technically but also in terms of content, so that not just generations my age, but especially the younger generations too, find it. Find it quickly. You can pump that further with AdWords and bring it forward and faster. But you need a great SEO strategy. Manufacturers aren't there yet, because manufacturers are often used to other buyers already knowing them in B2B sales. However, these direct sales are far more important.

70% of respondents in the study say that better visibility would be the be-all and end-all for buying there at all. Because even if I see something and I don't have a good web presence, I won't even buy it in-store. So our recommendation is: do yourselves a favour, put all products on there, and in very good quality with plenty of data. But manufacturers need to catch up. And by manufacturers we don't necessarily mean the big ones that everyone knows anyway, but imagine you're in a DIY store, you see a light bulb, a lamp, and you see a brand, is it good or not? You google it and find no information about it, no website, nothing about the manufacturer. Typical case. You probably won't reach for that lamp. But if there is something there, as with Brio for example, with basic information properly presented, you'll buy that lamp or light fitting directly in the DIY store. But had I already searched beforehand for a particular light fitting at a certain price point, then I wouldn't have gone to the DIY store at all, I'd have bought it beforehand. In this case I couldn't, though, because the SEO situation there didn't match the case. So, really think again about the stories and about the customer experience across the various touchpoints. Then you'll be successful too. And success doesn't come because you did one thing brilliantly, but because you work through many, many, many small things really well, one after another.

We have three further pieces of information.

Point 1, of course, the study. After providing your name, e-mail address and phone number. And yes, we'll call you too and look forward to a brief chat. Even if you're not interested or not our ideal customer, you'll receive all the data from this study that will then help you.

Point 2, the core of this study is customer experience. That means we've developed a maturity model showing where you stand with your customer experience. You get this by answering 7 questions, plus recommendations for action tailored to your situation.

Point 3 as a starter package with the ECC Next, the corresponding consulting arm of the Institute for Retail Research, and our specialists from strategic consulting, a starter offer to move forward on the topic quickly and efficiently without any waffle.