Retention Chronicles

John Gross, Founder & CEO of Fat Earth Media, and Rose Eppensteiner, Senior Manager of Lifecycle Marketing at Fat Earth Media, join Retention Chronicles to discuss founding an agency to work with mission driven brands to help with paid media, lifecycle marketing, and marketing creative.  Making a pivot in his career from environmental sciences to marketing, John started by taking out ad space in Craigslist advertising his Google Ads consultancy. But, he didn’t just want to focus on media buying, he wanted to invest in lifecycle marketing. So, he built Fat Earth to serve mission driven brands and help with their marketing strategy.  John and Rose don’t just detail why lifecycle marketing is important, but also how it’s related to retention, and how to make lifetime value (LTV) higher than customer acquisition cost (CAC). Not only do they tell Mariah and Noah about how Shopify & Shopify Plus brands can achieve their goals year-round, but especially during the holidays.  Fat Earth Media makes sure that their clients are set up for success by creating strategic content planning to look at monthly and quarterly campaigns. Segmentation is a critical piece for Shopify/Shopify Plus brands’ success, and making sure their email and SMS sends make sense is a big step in strategy planning. To do this, all teams have to be aligned and connected.  Another area of expertise they focus on is design. An easy trap to fall into is to confuse complexity and effectiveness. A creative director may love an email, but if no one is clicking on it, it might be the best route to take. The Fat Earth Media team redesigns assets to make them better from every possible angle.  For our holiday tips portion of the podcast, the Fat Earth Media team shares that they advise their brands to assume the consumer is very smart and don’t try to trick or be inauthentic for the extra dollar. Consumers will shop with the brands they like and trust, and the brands who know and follow that will win.  This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands.  To see what your custom mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your custom design right to your inbox! Episode Timestamps: Lifecycle marketing and retention with industry experts. 0:04 Personal lives, adventures, and remote work culture. 1:39 Personal updates, background of Flat Earth founder, and current focus. 7:18 Career change and marketing strategy. 9:22 Marketing strategy and Google ads. 13:55 Marketing agency's mission-driven approach and impact on clients. 18:26 Marketing career paths and agency start-up. 22:15 Marketing agency growth and lifecycle marketing. 27:47 Retention marketing strategies for existing customers. 33:35 Email marketing planning and design for retention. 38:44 DTC brand marketing strategies for the holiday season. 45:30

Ryan Gresh, Founder & CEO of The Feel Good Lab, joins Retention Chronicles to discuss his journey in creating a natural pain relief cream to help their customers feel good and soothe chronic pain. If you’ve ever experienced searing pain, you know that the one thing you want is for that pain to be gone. But, common over the counter medicines, such as NSAIDs, are bad for your GI health if taken for long periods of time. That’s why Ryan and his father founded The Feel Good Lab to help people find hope through their products.  One of the things Ryan wanted to guarantee with their customers was that their solution had credibility and was FDA backed.  On the business side of things, Ryan talks about how the AOV is low for their pain relief cream because it’s a commoditized product, which can be hard to break even on. Which is why customer retention and the lifetime value of their business is so essential. Where The Feel Good Lab team wins is with their LTV and credibility with their customers. Their customers fall in love with the brand, and come back time and time again for that reason.  But not only do they fall in love with The Feel Good Lab brand, but the educational resources they provide. They educate their customers on the best way to use their products, such as right after a steaming shower because the product will absorb better.  Ryan also tells Mariah about how they make their packaging standout because none of their competitors were using clean, white packaging.  Knowing one’s ideal customer profile (ICP) is essential for accurate and successful marketing. Ryan dives deep into the 3 ICPs their 3 products market best with. It’s an interesting dynamic between the age groups and goals of their three customer profiles that you won’t want to miss out on.  This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands.  To see what your custom mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your custom design right to your inbox! Episode Timestamps: Chronic pain relief and the importance of hope. 1:13 Branding and marketing strategies for a direct-to-consumer wellness brand. 5:44 Building a successful brand through customer service and authenticity. 10:11 Customer service, product development, and branding. 16:12 Product development and packaging design. 19:47 Pain relief and natural remedies. 22:24 Wellness, pain management, and education. 28:36 Targeting different customer personas for a health and wellness brand. 33:43 Social media marketing for a wellness brand. 38:18 Marketing strategies for a health and wellness company. 42:39

Blake Imperl, former VP of Marketing at Carro and current VP of Marketing at Digioh, joins Retention Chronicles for episode 21 of season 4. Noah, Mariah, & Blake kick off the episode with Blake’s birthday running tradition, starting his career consulting for digital marketing, and working with paid media across multiple brands to drive $13 million in email & SMS retention marketing.  Now of course, we recognize the ecommerce community is probably very familiar with Blake Imperl, but if you’re not, we highly recommend you tune in to hear his opinions around how the Shopify & Shopify Plus ecosystem works and is constantly changing.  Blake shares how the Shopify & Shopify Plus ecosystem is currently seeking more of an emphasis on retention because now it’s difficult to be profitable whereas before, brands could make up the difference on the backend. Blake provides examples of how Carro helps brands increase LTV (lifetime value) and AOV (average order volume) while lowering CAC (customer acquisition cost) by getting in front of customers in a more efficient way.  Humanizing the shopping experience so there’s a deep connection with customers brings an element to DTC brands that retailers don’t often experience, and there’s a lot that goes into it. It might be a difficult thing to measure, but it’s worth pursuing. Blake shares how showing up in the social feed and having something interesting to say captivates a lot of attention, and it’s valuable attention.  We’re in the thick of the holiday season, so Blake shares his BFCM brand must-haves. He recommends brands set up their transactional emails and SMS marketing campaigns in a smart way. Don’t risk it all, SMS automations are expensive, so be intentional with your segmentation and design and don’t bombard your customers. Every unsubscribe in 2023 is lost revenue in 2024.  This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands.  To see what your custom mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your custom design right to your inbox! Episode Timestamps: Running, ultra-marathons, and personal limits: 4:07 Career path and e-commerce experience: 7:25 Unconventional career path in marketing and partnerships: 13:27 Applying b2c marketing strategies to b2b marketing: 16:29 Humanizing B2B content through authenticity and emotion: 22:01 Leveraging collaborative commerce platform to increase sales and reduce costs: 25:12 Using marketplace to drive sales and growth: 30:05 Using marketplaces to test new products and increase revenue: 32:55 E-commerce marketing strategies and customer retention: 40:25 Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing strategies: 43:53 LinkedIn strategy and content creation: 49:16

Anthony Ciavirella, Co-Founder of Manmade joins Retention Chronicles for episode 20 of season 4. Anthony and his three other co-founders started Manmade, a leading men’s essentials brand, after starting his career in banking. After a 10-month journey to designing the perfect boxer-brief, Manmade has over 120k orders with 400,000 boxers sold to 90k customers in 2 years.  For all our Shopify brands out there, do you have a sole-founder team or do you have a team of co-founders? Anthony details how their founding team of 4 is able to move at 4x speed with their collaboration.  Does exponential growth come from great product, great marketing, or both? Anthony shares his opinion on developing an incredible product alongside great marketing. With product development, it’s not so much about getting everything right the first time, because you most likely won’t, but it’s about listening to your customer feedback and iterating to make the best product you possibly can.  Content marketing is foundational to the Manmade team- Anthony and his team strive to bring customers along for the journey as they’re learning. The Manmade team believes that ecommerce shoppers like seeing the faces of founders, and they’ve fully embraced that marketing strategy. Also included in their marketing is a ton of attention to organic social growth. Meta is the driver of where Manmade gets new acquisitions, whether it’s through lots of PR and interviews, radio, newspaper articles, or social media. Gorilla marketing is their jam. Retention marketing is strong at Manmade, 35% come back in 3 months, 50% come back after 12 months. They credit that to their intentional site and post-purchase touchpoints. Listen today to hear more about the details! This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands.  To see what your custom mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your custom design right to your inbox! Episode Timestamps: Ecommerce brand retention strategies with industry leaders: 0:04 Founding a men's essentials brand with four finance professionals turned entrepreneurs: 1:21 Entrepreneurship, business ideas, and competitive pricing strategies: 6:05 Product quality, marketing, and iteration in business: 11:16 Branding, packaging, and marketing strategies for a men's underwear line: 15:59 Customer acquisition costs, retention, and post-purchase education for a men's apparel brand: 22:18 DTC underwear brand's use of authenticity and transparency in marketing: 26:47 Pinterest marketing for gift-giving season: 34:18 Retention strategies for an underwear brand: 37:36 Building a direct-to-consumer brand with a focus on customer experience: 42:54Entrepreneurship, business growth, and overcoming challenges: 48:08

Nikki Tooman, Founder & CEO of Sticky Digital joins Retention Chronicles and if hearing Noah and Nikki discuss Shoptalk 2022 isn’t enough incentive to listen in, then hearing Nikki’s perspective of the Shopify brand and partner ecosystem sure is! Nikki has been in the Shopify ecosystem since Shopify has been in the game, and learned the core of the ecosystem at one of the biggest agencies at the time.  For all our Shopify brands out there, do you know exactly what technology you should be using for your specific storefront? Nikki knows it all and shares it all so you’ll have to listen to hear all of her shoutouts, but we’ll break it down for you real quick- Loop, Recharge, Yotpo, Klaviyo, Okendo/Junip, Gorgias are table stakes for Nikki and her team.  Retention marketing (email, SMS) and conversion rate optimization (CRO) is her jam - she and her team at Sticky Digital excel working with Shopify brands.  What do you think the goal of partnerships is? Generating revenue, getting better discounts, relationship building? You’ll have to listen to hear what Nikki says about the industry and how to truly map a good partnership.  BFCM (Black Friday/Cyber Monday) is in full-swing for the ecommerce community and Nikki shares her BFCM tips for Shopify brands: 1) Start your efforts early, 2.) We need to figure out retention stuff set up today & 3.) Post-purchase survey for first time purchasers.  Did you know that 20% of your website traffic hits the order tracking experience? Turn all of that customer engagement into customer loyalty. Malomo helps you get ahead of shipping issues, brand your order tracking experience, and reconvert shoppers while they wait for their package to arrive.  To see what your custom mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your custom design right to your inbox!

On this week of Retention Chronicles, we’re joined by Garret Akerson, Co-Founder of Kindred Bravely. Garret tells Mariah about how they started Kindred Bravely as a fully remote company in 2015, testing their product by giving it to family and friends, gathering social proof in early stages, running social proof ads, selling on Amazon and Shopify, being customer experienced focused, having their customer care team be responsible for social media replies, launching in Target, having a clear message for ads and website experience, educating the market on correct intimates measurements, reducing returns with product education, the DTC space shifting in terms of who is charging for shipping & more.

On this episode of Retention Chronicles, we’re joined by Joe Vancena, CEO & Co-Founder of Status. Noah, Mariah, & Joe talk about having the confidence to start a business, discovering product market fit, asking why there is a consumer gap rather than discovering what the consumer gap is, how data scrambling policies make personalization harder, what’s working in retention this year, why consumers check out as guests, how Shopify is a word-of-mouth environment for apps, how Shopify brands can couple rewards and returns programs during BFCM & more. 

On this episode of Retention Chronicles, we’re joined by Cavelle Bieker, Marketing Manager at Pendleton. Our host Mariah Parsons and Cavelle talk about Pendleton’s history in retail, continued collaboration with the indigenous community, creating a timeless brand filled with heritage, the power of branding for the consumer, marketing multiple products in one image so consumers can see products in their home, how Facebook is the best revenue generator for them, generating leads from newsletters, and huge holiday giveaways!

On this week of Retention Chronicles, we’re joined by Brian Roisentul, Founder & CEO of BSR Digital. Noah, Mariah, & Brian discuss his background as a developer and how that led to a love of marketing, facebook ads and buying likes to boost posts, providing business results and leads, establishing 90 day goal plans to evaluate growth & access accountability, building email marketing for a 7 figure brand, helping a fashion brand double revenue in 6 months, performing a deep dive into the ICP of a brand, helping merchants build their own app, bringing back existing customers for BFCM promotions, & more!

On this episode of Retention Chronicles, Mariah Parsons is joined by Dr. Squatch teammates Emily Straus (Sr. Manager, Integrated Marketing) & Mason Montgomery (Associate Director, Product Development). Emily, Mason, Mariah discuss ​​the in’s and out’s of men's natural personal care brand Dr. Squatch such as bringing fragrance to life, establishing a go-to-market (GTM) strategy in the early stages of Dr. Squatch, what the cycle looks like for a new product, ad and AB testing in the R&D phase so changes can be made to the product, creating a marketing calendar to slot in big swings like seasonal and limited edition products, educating around your product to correct misconceptions and increase retention, optimizing product portfolio and sunsetting underperforming scents, brand community and customer engagement & more!To see what your custom mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your custom design right to your inbox!