How to grow your D2C audience
The Business of Food
by Jennifer Barney
How to grow your D2C
2-min read
I said to wait on selling into retail until you’re ready. Grow an audience first.
Many of you argue that your products need to be seen – that you lack awareness – and getting on retail shelves will solve that. What I will tell you is retail is not the place to build an audience. It is the place to drive trial once you’ve gained an audience and mastered the retail game.
The retail game is a tough nut to crack, as explained. D2C is not easy either, but it’s attainable with a small team and a small budget.
Here are the steps
Build an email list (it can be very small to start)
Invest in really great owned content and make a social media calendar
Get a consistent flow and permission to use user generated content (UGC)
Learn how to advertise (you don’t have to pay an agency to do it)
Track your activity, rank your top opens and clicks, adjust your content and ad targeting accordingly
Do giveaways with other brands that align with your target consumer (not necessarily food + bev)
Rinse and repeat
Growing an audience starts by working out the kinks in the above process, then using your existing following, as tiny as it may be, to really engage with you. You can then find people who look like them (lookalikes) to target as you feel more confident and able to invest more ad dollars.
For further success in D2C, keep UX in mind. Make sure the conversion is seamless (few clicks) and you are all buttoned up on your Shopify site and Amazon site with the right offerings, in stock, and at the right price. Product descriptions and reviews should be stellar.
Here are my picks for the best help:
Klaviyo – email integrations
Attentive – SMS ecommerce
Later – Facebook/Instagram
Amplify Goods– Amazon management
When you are ready to integrate all your data, including Shopify, and need help getting around Apple’s privacy settings, look at Elevar.
All my best,
Jennifer
Despite a soaring equity market, food IPOs are underperforming - only 4 of the last 17 are trading above opening price -- Forbes' Chloe Sorvino
I'd love to hear from you - get in touch at jennifer@3rdandbroadway.com