If you dream of owning a direct-to-consumer distribution business, you have to market it effectively.
You can open a direct-to-consumer distribution business relatively inexpensively compared to a warehouse distribution business. You can also operate a direct-to-consumer distribution business easier, but you still have to turn your products around quickly to make a good profit.
However, warehouse distributors often charge a warehouse storage on products that they don't own. They serve as a middleman between manufacturers and retailers and charge for warehousing products. Direct-to-consumer distribution businesses generally receive no warehouse storage fees. So marketing is vital to their quick movement of products and ultimate success.
Research Your Target Market
Your first major marketing decision is what kinds of products you'll sell to what kind of customers.
Because the large warehouse and wholesale distributors already have the business of large volume products that are mass marked, the best approach for a direct-to-consumer distribution is to go after crumbs that fall from their table. In other words, find a product designed specifically for a target market, not presently being well served.
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.
Using The Internet To Market Your Direct-To-Consumer Distribution Business
You definitely want to consider the Internet as an option for marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business.
One way to market products over the Internet is to become an affiliate for e-publishers. Their products are mostly digitally delivered so you really don't have to distribute them. What you do have to do is attract potential customers, pre-sell them and send them to the e-publshers' sales letters.
You can also market real products online by working with drop shippers. These are often manufacturers of the products, but are sometimes warehouse distributors. Any way, all you have to do is sell the product and collect your commission checks. The drop shipper does the rest.
Regardless of the type of distribution, the key to success in any Internet business is offering a niche of people the products that they want. Without that focus, your business will be lost in a vast ocean of sites and Internet marketers. So if you choose to market over the Internet, you must define a narrow target market and discover the best appeals for its members.
Without knowing your niche target market really well, you won't know how to attract them to your site. You have to get at least 25 people to your site in order to make one sell, and for many sites, it requires 100 people to make a sell.
The biggest expense to Internet marketing setting up your web site and doing your market research. Once that's done, you'll find Internet marketing the least costly approach to marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business.
Direct Mail
Direct mail has long been a good marketing technique for direct-to-consumer distribution businesses. It requires the following steps:
Select potential customers that you can identify with demographics and buying preferences,
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
Process and send orders.
You have to execute each step effectively, or you'll loose sales. Even with the best execution, you can only expect to sell one out of every 100 people that you mail to. So be certain that you can make a profit converting only one percent of your list.
You can cut direct mail costs by using a one-two approach. First, send your mailing list a postcard requesting a response. Then follow-up with a complete package of sales materials.
There are other methods for marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business, but these are the least expensive. Internet marketing costs less than direct mail.
Synthesis
Besides the Internet and direct mail, other good ways of marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business include telephone sales and infomercials.
You can open a direct-to-consumer distribution business relatively inexpensively compared to a warehouse distribution business. You can also operate a direct-to-consumer distribution business easier, but you still have to turn your products around quickly to make a good profit.
However, warehouse distributors often charge a warehouse storage on products that they don't own. They serve as a middleman between manufacturers and retailers and charge for warehousing products. Direct-to-consumer distribution businesses generally receive no warehouse storage fees. So marketing is vital to their quick movement of products and ultimate success.
Research Your Target Market
Your first major marketing decision is what kinds of products you'll sell to what kind of customers.
Because the large warehouse and wholesale distributors already have the business of large volume products that are mass marked, the best approach for a direct-to-consumer distribution is to go after crumbs that fall from their table. In other words, find a product designed specifically for a target market, not presently being well served.
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.
Using The Internet To Market Your Direct-To-Consumer Distribution Business
You definitely want to consider the Internet as an option for marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business.
One way to market products over the Internet is to become an affiliate for e-publishers. Their products are mostly digitally delivered so you really don't have to distribute them. What you do have to do is attract potential customers, pre-sell them and send them to the e-publshers' sales letters.
You can also market real products online by working with drop shippers. These are often manufacturers of the products, but are sometimes warehouse distributors. Any way, all you have to do is sell the product and collect your commission checks. The drop shipper does the rest.
Regardless of the type of distribution, the key to success in any Internet business is offering a niche of people the products that they want. Without that focus, your business will be lost in a vast ocean of sites and Internet marketers. So if you choose to market over the Internet, you must define a narrow target market and discover the best appeals for its members.
Without knowing your niche target market really well, you won't know how to attract them to your site. You have to get at least 25 people to your site in order to make one sell, and for many sites, it requires 100 people to make a sell.
The biggest expense to Internet marketing setting up your web site and doing your market research. Once that's done, you'll find Internet marketing the least costly approach to marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business.
Direct Mail
Direct mail has long been a good marketing technique for direct-to-consumer distribution businesses. It requires the following steps:
Select potential customers that you can identify with demographics and buying preferences,
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
Process and send orders.
You have to execute each step effectively, or you'll loose sales. Even with the best execution, you can only expect to sell one out of every 100 people that you mail to. So be certain that you can make a profit converting only one percent of your list.
You can cut direct mail costs by using a one-two approach. First, send your mailing list a postcard requesting a response. Then follow-up with a complete package of sales materials.
There are other methods for marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business, but these are the least expensive. Internet marketing costs less than direct mail.
Synthesis
Besides the Internet and direct mail, other good ways of marketing your direct-to-consumer distribution business include telephone sales and 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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