Why Direct-to-Consumer Brands Are Taking Marketing ‘Offline’

Direct-to-Consumer businesses face a never-ending stream of challenges in today’s environment… From inflation to competition, shipping strikes to surging ad prices.

But if you’ve been in this space for a while, you know this. It’s never been easy to sell an often-premium product. Low barriers to entry have always made competition in the space intense. The past five years have uncovered logistical challenges of all sorts, and the cost to reach a thousand views gets more expensive every day.

And you also know that success in this space was based on going left when your competition goes right. DTC companies disrupted their space by being unique and standing out. Today, everyone—including the companies you’ve disrupted—is online. Now more than ever, companies like yours have an opportunity to break the mold by going offline.

That’s what we hope to explore today. Over the next thousand or so words, we’re looking at the DTC market as it stands, exploring how we got to where we are, and discussing how some companies are making unexpected changes to make deeper connections with customers.

Digital Giveth… And Digital Taketh Away

The direct-to-consumer space is nothing new. It’s preexisted the catalog. It was birthed from word of mouth, flyers, and the Industrial Revolution. It found its footing with the birth of the internet—and survived dot-com bubbles and great recessions. Knowing this, DTC ecommerce really hit its stride with the rise of social media, cloud computing, and the podcast.

The Boom Days

Seemingly overnight, anyone with the capital to produce something had an affordable way to reach an audience, turn them into customers, process the transactions, and deliver the goods. A company pops up to take on the near monopoly on eyeglasses. A couple guys buy a German razor factory. And a bunch of companies set out to take the stress out of mattress shopping.

Everything took place online—and due to the nature of the model, goods were often cheaper than those sold through traditional channels.

Life was easy and conversions were cheap. Despite the proliferation of competing products (there were 175 different mattress-in-a-box sellers at the time of Casper’s IPO), there was, for the most part, a big enough pie for everyone to enjoy.

Then… Things Changed Overnight

Customer acquisition cost was already on the rise as we entered 2020. But nothing too extreme. The companies still had an edge—technologically, operationally, and logistically.

Then… everything changed.

Suddenly, there wasn’t much for consumers to do aside from sit in their houses, scroll social media, and think of all the great ways to spend that stimulus money. The companies disrupted by DTC darlings had little choice but to go online.

The pie might have been a bit larger—but there were a whole lot more mouths to feed.

Life in the ‘New Normal’ Wasn’t a Welcoming One for DTC Brands

2020 might have been bad. But the return to normalcy didn’t exactly give DTC marketers a reprieve. In fact, 2021 was worse—by Q4 2021, social media cost per thousand advertisement impressions (CPMs) and search cost per click (CPC) rose 22% and 23% respectively year on year, according to data from SKAI.

2022 continued the trend. And the next two years were better—but not by much. The combination between increasing spend volume, tightening privacy laws and regulations, and inflation made life harder for DTC marketers.

And as we approach the middle of the decade, everything is more challenging in the DTC world.

Both retailers and companies that rely on them have a mature DTC offering—with a much bigger war chest. Walmart has omnichannel down to a tee and Gillette’s direct-to-consumer operation works well. Competition is more intense than ever.

Barriers to entry remain low—but venture capital isn’t exactly raining down as it once did. As Neil Blumenthal, a co-founder of Warby Parker put it, “It’s never been cheaper to start a business, although I think it’s never been harder to scale a business.”

What’s Old Is New

Direct to consumer ecommerce continues to grow. But acquisition costs continue to do so as well. And as a result, companies in the DTC space have looked for alternatives.

Many have opened stores—leading to a purported retail renaissance in recent years.

A handful have pivoted towards a traditional distribution model—either embracing shop-in-shops or fighting for shelf space.

But even if that’s the path some have taken, there is logic in keeping the DTC model alive. After all, many elements of it remain a heck of a lot cheaper than opening a store or losing a healthy chunk of money to a distributor. It might just require you to change the tactics—without abandoning the business model.

This is why more and more are looking into another ‘traditional’ option—direct mail.

A Timeless Solution: Direct-to-Consumer Direct Mail

With the immense costs and moderate-at-best results being provided through digital channels, it pays to consider other ways to drive awareness and facilitate sales. One of these options is direct mail.

In an era of ad blockers and banner blindness, direct mail offers direct-to-consumer brands the ability to establish deeper, more meaningful connections with potential, current, or lost customers.

And there are a variety of reasons to consider it:

• Response Rates: An email might see half a percent of recipients take a desired action. 93 percent of retail organizations see at least a 6 percent response rates from direct mail.

• Shelf Life: A direct mail piece has a shelf life measured in days or weeks—not minutes or seconds.

• Trustworthiness: 82% of Millennials view direct mail messages as more trustworthy than online messages.

Automated Direct Mail by Sepire—The Right Solution for DTC Engagement

Modern direct mail empowers marketers seeking a true omnichannel experience to cut through the noise that plagues buyers in today’s distraction filled environment. This isn’t your bland, boring, run-of-the-mill direct mail, either. This is personalized, well-targeted, and built to work the way that you do.

And automated direct mail by Sepire takes everything you think you know about direct mail and goes even further. Our proprietary solution integrates with your marketing stack to automatically send mail individually or in batches when you need it. Every element can be customized around the information you have. Workflows are simplified, and results are tracked.

It can be as easy as an email—but a whole lot more effective.

Ready to learn more about direct mail for direct-to-consumer businesses? Click here to see what we can do for you, stay tuned for our upcoming article discussing even more of the benefits of direct mail, and drop us a line to get started.