Do you own or want to start a direct-to-consumer distribution business? Then you need to think about the best ways to market your business.
A direct-to-consumer distribution business is cheaper to start and manage than a warehouse distribution, but both require a quick turn-around of products in order to operate efficiently and profitably.
The disadvantage of a direct-to-consumer distribution business is that all your profit has to come from product sales because you generally don't store other's products in your warehouse so you can't charge a warehousing fee. Thus, you have to market well, or you won't sell enough products to build a lucrative business.
Research Your Target Market
You first have to know who your potential customers are and the types of products that they will buy. Both are marketing decisions.
If you want to compete successfully in the distribution industry, you have to offer something different than the large distributors. You can't compete toe-to-toe with them. So you have to find a target market that has unmet needs and products that will meet those needs.
Identifying your target market is just the first phase in your research. Next you have to research the needs, wants, buying power, and expectations of the people in your target market.
Internet
You definitely want to consider the Internet as an option for marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business.
One Internet option is digital delivery of products. You can become an affiliate for publishers who sell information products and earn from 20 to 60 percent commissions on sales. The publishers do most of the work and carry most of the expenses. You basically just pre-sale their products and send your customers to their sales pages. Your customers can then immediately download their products without you having to do another thing.
Other Internet marketers work with drop shippers. They market and sell real products. The drop shippers are often the manufacturers who fulfill and ship each order. Then they send the marketer a commission check.
Internet marketing is similar and different to marketing through other media. The major difference is that Internet marketing requires more narrow target marketing than most media. These narrow target markets are often referred to as niche markets. They require that you learn even more information about the people in them in order to attract them to your site and sell them your products.
That's the only way that you'll be able to get enough traffic to sell enough to make a profit. Conversion rates range from 0 to 4 percent, with 4 percent considered excellent. So you can't expect to make more than 4 sales per 100 visitors to your site.
After doing your market research and setting up your web site, doing individual promotions through the Internet is the least expensive way of marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business.
Direct Mail
Direct mail is another relatively inexpensive way to market your direct-to-consumer distribution business. Just follow the steps below:
Focusing on a target market that can be identified by demographics and buying behavior,
Use a reputable list service to get addresses of target market members,
Producing a good direct mail package that will appeal to your target market members, and
Processing and order fulfillment.
Sales can be lost and your business ruined in any of the above steps. Even when you implement each step effectively, sales conversions for direct mail campaigns are only about 1 percent. Thus you have to do the math and know that you can make a profit if you only sell once for every 100 packages that you mail.
You can minimize your expense by using a two-step process. First you send your entire list a postcard with a number to call, a web site age to visit or an address to return the postcard. Then you send an entire direct mail package or in other ways sell to those who respond.
Direct mail is more expensive than individual Internet promotions, but cheaper than most other ways of marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business.
Conclusion
Two other good marketing tactics for marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business include selling by telephone and through infomercials.
A direct-to-consumer distribution business is cheaper to start and manage than a warehouse distribution, but both require a quick turn-around of products in order to operate efficiently and profitably.
The disadvantage of a direct-to-consumer distribution business is that all your profit has to come from product sales because you generally don't store other's products in your warehouse so you can't charge a warehousing fee. Thus, you have to market well, or you won't sell enough products to build a lucrative business.
Research Your Target Market
You first have to know who your potential customers are and the types of products that they will buy. Both are marketing decisions.
If you want to compete successfully in the distribution industry, you have to offer something different than the large distributors. You can't compete toe-to-toe with them. So you have to find a target market that has unmet needs and products that will meet those needs.
Identifying your target market is just the first phase in your research. Next you have to research the needs, wants, buying power, and expectations of the people in your target market.
Internet
You definitely want to consider the Internet as an option for marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business.
One Internet option is digital delivery of products. You can become an affiliate for publishers who sell information products and earn from 20 to 60 percent commissions on sales. The publishers do most of the work and carry most of the expenses. You basically just pre-sale their products and send your customers to their sales pages. Your customers can then immediately download their products without you having to do another thing.
Other Internet marketers work with drop shippers. They market and sell real products. The drop shippers are often the manufacturers who fulfill and ship each order. Then they send the marketer a commission check.
Internet marketing is similar and different to marketing through other media. The major difference is that Internet marketing requires more narrow target marketing than most media. These narrow target markets are often referred to as niche markets. They require that you learn even more information about the people in them in order to attract them to your site and sell them your products.
That's the only way that you'll be able to get enough traffic to sell enough to make a profit. Conversion rates range from 0 to 4 percent, with 4 percent considered excellent. So you can't expect to make more than 4 sales per 100 visitors to your site.
After doing your market research and setting up your web site, doing individual promotions through the Internet is the least expensive way of marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business.
Direct Mail
Direct mail is another relatively inexpensive way to market your direct-to-consumer distribution business. Just follow the steps below:
Focusing on a target market that can be identified by demographics and buying behavior,
Use a reputable list service to get addresses of target market members,
Producing a good direct mail package that will appeal to your target market members, and
Processing and order fulfillment.
Sales can be lost and your business ruined in any of the above steps. Even when you implement each step effectively, sales conversions for direct mail campaigns are only about 1 percent. Thus you have to do the math and know that you can make a profit if you only sell once for every 100 packages that you mail.
You can minimize your expense by using a two-step process. First you send your entire list a postcard with a number to call, a web site age to visit or an address to return the postcard. Then you send an entire direct mail package or in other ways sell to those who respond.
Direct mail is more expensive than individual Internet promotions, but cheaper than most other ways of marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business.
Conclusion
Two other good marketing tactics for marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business include selling by telephone and through infomercials.
About the Author:
Learn other tactics for your Direct To Consumer Distribution Business and link from there to related posts. Don't miss my free report: Marketing Your Small Business
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