Not "besieged" by the platform, the big seller relied on the independent website to generate nearly 300 million in revenue in half a year!

"Nowadays, the commissions charged by third-party platforms are getting higher and higher, and the profits are getting lower and lower. DTC brand has become my only way out." A seller who has been deeply involved in third-party platforms cried on a social platform.

In the past, most sellers preferred to open stores on third-party platforms when going overseas. However, with the slowdown in the growth of the cross-border e-commerce industry and the increasing operating risks brought by a single platform, more and more sellers have begun to seek multi-channel development and branding.

DTC brands and independent websites are back in fashion. But going global is not easy. How to push a brand to consumers from 0 to 1 is a question that sellers are all thinking about. In this regard, E-En.com interviewed Ouyang Jingjing, the top seller of e-Bike and CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of Sanmai Smart Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.

With a half-year revenue of 280 million, the big-selling independent website is taking off

When talking about DTC brands going overseas, we must inevitably mention independent sites. In order to maintain their popularity and open online sales channels after going overseas, most brands will basically choose independent sites. Especially after experiencing the Amazon "account ban wave" that seriously damaged their vitality in 2021, cross-border sellers have a stronger sense of urgency for multi-channel layout.

Ouyang Jingjing said, " Because everyone has experienced the account blocking wave two years ago, I feel insecure working on the platform. "

Traditionally, many DTC brands reach consumers directly through their own official brand websites (i.e. independent sites), such as SHEIN and PatPat. However, many domestic DTC brands have started the concept of "pan-DTC", that is, they will open flagship stores on third-party platforms, and this concept has also extended to overseas, such as Leckey, Anker, etc.

Take Leckey as an example. It started selling its own brand through the M2C direct sales model and reached C-end customers through independent websites and online third-party platforms.

Although Amazon, a third-party platform, still accounts for the largest share of revenue, the revenue share of Leckey's independent station is increasing year by year. Its financial report shows that in the first half of 2022, Leckey's independent station revenue reached 280 million yuan, accounting for 18.36% of the main business revenue, an increase of 10.20% over the same period in 2021.

Today, Leckey's independent website business has long been in the first echelon among the global linear drive application product vertical independent e-commerce websites, and its independent website Flexispot continues to improve in Google search rankings and Alexa global rankings.

The super-selling Anker Innovations is also building its own DTC brand. Its financial report shows that in the first half of 2022, the independent station revenue of Anker Innovations' six major DTC brands (Anker, soundcore, eufy, Nebula, Anker Make, and AnkerWork) totaled 215 million yuan, an increase of 30.03% over the same period in 2021, and the proportion continued to increase.

Multi-channel layout and branding are increasingly becoming the pursuit of overseas companies, because this can not only greatly reduce the company's operating risks, but also reduce costs and establish a stable consumer group.

Compared with traditional sales models, the advantages of DTC brands are mainly reflected in making full use of the dual-channel advantages of online and offline.

Ouyang Jingjing shared her experience using TENWAYS as an example. "TENWAYS, an e-Bike brand invested heavily by Tencent and Hillhouse last year, is an online + offline model, but it started its development offline. They set up a sales headquarters in the Netherlands, Europe, and opened more than 200 physical stores. Currently, online sales are only their auxiliary channels, mainly for brand promotion, and the sales volume of this channel is not as good as offline sales."

So, do DTC brands have more advantages in going global through offline channels than online channels? The answer is probably no.

Ouyang Jingjing said, "Brands going overseas are in an unfamiliar situation. Online channels are relatively the most cost-effective channels. For brands going overseas, obtaining traffic is a headache for everyone. It is easier to open up the market online than offline because everyone cannot live without the Internet now."

“Even good wine needs a bush”, marketing is the key to brand overseas expansion

"This is an era where traffic is king, although products are the real core. But if there is no traffic, no one will be interested in any product, no matter how good it is." A seller lamented to Ennet earlier.

In conversations with multiple independent site sellers, Yien.com felt their anxiety, an anxiety about traffic.

With high traffic, high exposure, and products that are easier to search for, it is more difficult for DTC brands to start their own independent websites compared to third-party platforms, which already have a large user base, because they are too vertical, have unconcentrated traffic, and are not easy to acquire customers. Therefore, Ouyang Jingjing said, "DTC brands need to do marketing when going overseas. Without advertising, it will be very slow to build a brand."

However, different products have different choices of marketing channels.

Ouyang Jingjing said, "Generally speaking, Facebook is more suitable for products with a customer unit price of around tens of dollars, while Google is more suitable for high-priced products such as energy storage products, e-Bikes, and large furniture. Products above $200 can consider placing a larger proportion of Google ads. For sellers selling on Amazon, these are off-site channels, and there is little point in doing off-site. For most categories, grasping more Amazon's on-site traffic is enough to make the listing rank higher, and the GMV and gross profit data will also be very good."

As a big seller of e-Bike, Ouyang Jingjing believes that compared with other advertising platforms such as Facebook, the conversion effect of e -Bike on Google Ads will be better. In addition, she also mentioned that DTC brands going overseas need to cooperate with Google Ads and SEO .

“In fact, there is no direct relationship between the two. Good Google advertising will not lead to good organic traffic, and good Google advertising machine learning will not lead to good organic traffic. But from the perspective of the brand’s growth path and the short-term and long-term allocation ratio of marketing expenses, the two need to cooperate with each other.”

Ouyang Jingjing said, "In the early stage, when a brand goes overseas from 0 to 1, it has to rely on advertising to increase traffic, form a brand effect, accumulate a basic user group, and use SEO to assist. At a certain stage, the free traffic obtained through SEO can effectively reduce the overall marketing cost ratio of the brand, thereby effectively improving the overall profitability of the brand. If you rely solely on SEO, the time cost will be very high, and there are many uncontrollable factors; if you rely only on paid advertising, in the environment where CPC costs are getting higher and higher, there is limited room for reducing marketing costs. Therefore, free traffic and paid traffic should be combined, and SEO's free self-generated traffic can gradually reduce the overall marketing costs of the brand."

Of course, this does not mean that brands can only rely on Google Ads when going global. Ouyang Jingjing said, "In the early stages, you can see which channel the product is suitable for and focus on that channel. Once the brand is well-known, you can consider marketing on multiple platforms to enhance continuous exposure and allow the product to be engraved in the DNA of consumers."

Today, DTC brands going overseas are still in the rising stage of the market.

According to data from market research firm Insider Intelligence, 64% of consumers worldwide will purchase goods directly from brands in 2022, an increase of 15% from 2019. It is predicted that US DTC e-commerce sales will reach nearly US$213 billion in 2024, accounting for 16.6% of all e-commerce sales, an increase of more than double digits.

Although this track is releasing dividends, not everyone is suitable to enter.

Ouyang Jingjing said, " DTC brands have certain requirements for the operational capabilities, supply chain and funds of the operation team. Only a mature operation team, a stable supply chain and strong financial support as endorsement can promote the survival and development of DTC brands in the market. "

What kind of marketing strategy is suitable for DTC brands going global? How can Google Ads work with SEO to attract more traffic?

On April 12, at the 2023 Sixth Cross-border E-commerce Network Marketing Conference hosted by Ennet, Ouyang Jingjing, a senior seller who has been deeply involved in the field of brand overseas expansion for many years, will give a keynote speech on "Google Ads and SEO in conjunction with DTC brand overseas expansion". Scan the QR code below to sign up and participate in this discussion.

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