Read on Twitter
Alright so here's my Twitter Rant about DTC brands. Few things to keep in mind: I own/operate a design + dev studio and we work with *wonderful* people who operate these brands.
@helena @richiemashiko @BrandonWaselnuk @markdchou @mattahertz hold onto your butts.
@helena @richiemashiko @BrandonWaselnuk @markdchou @mattahertz hold onto your butts.
Here are some thoughts (and suggestions) on how those DTC brands can better utilize their, usually, *only* channel for sales/brand engagement/whatever else. Basically here's how they can make their own website better.
1. Learn how to use your site CMS. The amount of times clients have asked us to update stuff because they don't know how to do it is...a lot. Yes, certain brand team members may not have access or exposure daily but learn it. The more you can self-serve the better.
2. Your website is a brands *other* product. Take care of it. Nurture it and don't throw a bunch of "apps" on it. They slow you down and create an inconsistent experience.
3. Have a plan and/or strategy. You have a BFCM plan right? Plan out site features, changes & shifts for your website. Do weekly/quarterly performance tests. Enable on-going usability testing. Just cause you did it once before launch doesn't mean user behaviors can't change.
4. Acessibility will be the one thing that kills smaller-but-growing DTC brands faster than anything else.
DTC brands won't die because people with impairments/disabilities can't use their site, but some shitty law firm will sue them and destroy cash flow. So again...plan your site, test your site, make changes over time.
Another note - there are a few tools that are plug-and-play accessibility fixers. These are great stop-gaps but should not be long-term solutions.
5. If its not already obvious, a website is much like our bodies, our homes, or anything else that we invest a ton of time/money into and we have to maintain over time. It's also 2020, shit ain't hard.
6. Invest in great team members to manage your sites. Great teammates are hard to come by and may cost a pretty penny. This could be in-house or a partner. Either way, invest in the people/team that invest in your business and you'll be rewarded handsomely.
7. Headless...ugh headless. This is gonna be a long one.
Headless is cool as hell and the direction Shopify is going with their lack of dev support and increasing interest towards APIs (something Big Commerce has done for a while).
Headless is cool as hell and the direction Shopify is going with their lack of dev support and increasing interest towards APIs (something Big Commerce has done for a while).
It's becoming clear that Headless will be the future for many brands. HOWEVER it aint for everyone. If a studio or engineer is pumping you up on it take a step back and ask why.
Ask what about long-term cost will be. Ask about overall management and maintenance for a headless site. Ask about limitations for feature sets (ie - Shopify Apps don't often support it).
Shit, ask them what their on-going rates are. Does your brand want to hire an engineer/team? Does your brand want to engage with an external partner? If either is yes, Headless may work.
If the answer is no...don't do Headless. I've seen a few brands literally cripple their feature set and momentum forward due to a limiting tech stack that Headless creates.
Your site/tech stack becomes the catalyst for growth vs the brand.
Your site/tech stack becomes the catalyst for growth vs the brand.
We love headless as a company but realize it will only help our clients succeed if they plan for supporting it, whether through partnering with us long-term or hiring technical teams in-house.
8. Lastly, if you're still reading (hi, mom)...I had white chicken chili for lunch today and it was delicious and thank you for reading.
If you have any questions ping me more than happy to help in any way I can. Second lastly, my name is not Chad Farthouse, it's Patrick, but I think Chad Farthouse is funny so I put it as my name.
