Tag: growth

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D2C Marketing

Building your Amazon Flywheel

Arindam Paul is Founding Member and Head, Marketing & Strategy at Atomberg. He is an amazing marketer and an exponential player in the D2C game, helping fellow founders and marketers scale their business profitably.

When you launch a product, you want people to know about it. You want them to look for you, get to know your products, and make a purchase. 

But, you just created a website and most of your target audience are not even aware of it. So, where are all your customers? Where and how can they find you?

This is where Marketplaces come into play. A place where your buyers are ready to buy exactly what you are offering. Amazon is one of the biggest marketplaces with over 100 million registered users making it one of the hotspots for every D2C Founder. But with the huge customer base, also comes the pressure of heavy competition.

So, how to build your Amazon Flywheel to make your mark in this pool of unending opportunities?

We were lucky to have Mr. Arindam Paul, Founding Member and Head, Marketing & Strategy, Atomberg Technologies as our expert on “Building your Amazon Flywheel”. 

From sharing his journey at Atomberg & explaining the mechanics of Amazon to putting forth real niche thought starters for our members, he helped our cohort to set a clear idea about their future marketplace listings.

The Marketplace Flywheel

What is the starting point on the Marketplace Flywheel? No one is aware of your product when you first launch it. 

In that case, it is necessary to hold paid campaigns on social media platforms so as to spread awareness about the category and the brand. That will cause your audiences to visit the marketplaces and search for your product, thus leading to organic discovery. This will get you “Product Page Views”.

Once more people start visiting your product page, gradually your will start making Sales, thus reaching the second step of the flywheel. 

 From these sales, you build your Reviews and Ratings which is a key component for every business. Good reviews can give you an amazing hike in your sales whereas bad reviews can take it down significantly. 

As your listing history starts to get more pronounced, you start getting discovered organically on generic keywords as well. You will reach the stage where you will also start getting customers from Organic Discovery and not just the paid ads. This is when the Flywheel starts moving

Next comes your Brand. Now that people are starting to discover your product, it’s time to introduce them to your brand. On-platform advertisements like sponsored product ads & product listing ads on social platforms will increase your website traffic. Knowing your brand better now, they will come back to Amazon and search for it, which will again lead to more product page views, sales and reviews and ratings thus keeping the flywheel moving. 

As a result of this accelerating cycle, your dependence on ads keeps decreasing. You will start getting 60-70% of your conversions organically, reducing your expenditure on ads significantly. 

How to Increase Your Sales on Marketplace?

Sales = Traffic on Product Page * Conversion Rate

So, when you say your sales are reducing, it is either a traffic issue or a conversion issue. It is very important to first figure out the problem before starting to work on it. 

TIP: Start keeping a track of your traffic and conversion rates on a daily basis. It is a very straightforward but very powerful hack to understand the nature of the issue. 

Levers to Increase Traffic:

Organic

a) Rank on top in Generic Searches – This is one of the dream possibilities for any D2C Founder. It takes time but when you start appearing on top, it will grow your sales very significantly. 

b) Brand Searches ( Function of Off-Platform spends, repeats, WOM, etc) – When someone searches for a very specific product that exactly replicates what you are selling, it will bring very high-rated conversion traffic to your website. 

All the off-platform spending that you do will translate into “Brand Searches” for the platform. Tracking brand searches is very important because when it will start diminishing after a certain point in time, you won’t be able to scale profitably.

c) Get discovered on Category/Deal Pages 

Paid

a) Search Ads ( Generic, Competition) 

b) Display Ads ( Custom Intent, Product Display)

Levers to Improve Conversions:

  1. Listing Quality:
  • Hero Image – Whenever we are creating content, we make it on the desktop thus making it suitable only for website searches and not app searches. 

But it was noticed that 70-80% of the purchases from Amazon were made on apps. As the interface of the ads and the website are different, the most significant feature that you can add is images. Amazon showcases the lists of products in the form of scrollable images making it easy for customers to browse. 

  • SKU Name 
  • Other Images and Videos ( Most Important when purchase happens through the app)
  • A+ Content – This comprises the content you present to your customers. A customer would always be interested to know what are the benefits he will get from your product. 

      So, instead of focusing your piece on the technicalities of your product, including how it will help the customer. 

  • Bullets 
  • Question and Answers – Q/A gives you an insight into the customer’s thought process that will help you in understanding what are their issues and what do they want. Answering these questions is a very good way to stay in touch with your customers and let them know that you care about them. 
  1. Operations: 
  •  Fulfillment ( Has to be FBA/FBF) 
  • Regional Replication (This ensures time to delivery is minimum)
  1. Reviews and Ratings
  • Seller-Central Mails
  • Packaging Inserts
  • Product Seeding with Influencers and Reviewers ( Not very common yet)
  1. Deals and Discounts: Deals and Discounts are also an effective way to increase sales and acquire customers, but overdoing them is never a good idea! Overdoing discounts on the marketplace makes it the reference price and customers will refrain from purchasing from your website at a higher price.

Marketplaces to Focus On

There are so many marketplaces present for every category that it becomes difficult to pick the ones that will actually be profitable or fit for your industry. 2 Parameters you should consider while taking this decision are:

  1. Current share and future Outlook towards the category –  

How to do:

  • Talking to Category Managers – Customers prefer marketplaces where there are options. So, if a particular category in a marketplace has a very deep set of options, it is a good match.
  • Performance on generic searches on Google – Search for very generic terms on Google and check which marketplaces are bidding on them. If a marketplace is bidding on those keywords or ranking high on them, that means it has a strong focus on that category.
  • The current selection available in the marketplace
  1. Marketplace-TG Match with Product/Brand – This is a very important parameter to consider before listing your products. You need to understand if the marketplace you chose has the right kind of customers you are looking for. 

At some places, the prices may be too much for your target group but the other marketplaces might work wonders for you. 

Newer/Upcoming Marketplaces

  1. Relationship Driven – Newer marketplaces are generally relationship-driven, thus wanting to create a level of trust among its customers.
  1. Chance to be a first-mover – You can get to be a first-mover in these marketplaces and capture the market share faster.

Evaluate newer marketplaces on the only parameter, “ Can they generate incremental sales for the brand”?

Key Metrics to Track

Platform Wise

  • Sales Volume and Value
  • Returns
  • Marketshare
  • Ratings and Reviews( Volume as well as Quality)
  • Platform wise Ads Effectiveness ( Total ad spends in the platform/Total sales due to ads in the platform)
  • Percentage of Order from Platform Ads

Overall E-Commerce

Total digital spends( On+off platform)/Total e-commerce sales ( Hardest metric to track and improve).

We would like to thank our expert for this very insightful session! All the learnings and experiences that he shared with our cohort was very valuable. 

Want to be a part of his next session and many more like this?

Join our next cohort: 

https://www.xpert.chat/d2cmarketing.php

. 

Categories
D2C Marketing

The organic way to grow your D2C brand.

You must have heard of Bewakoof.com , right?

Launched by IITians Prabhkiran Singh and Siddharth Munot, Bewakoof’s quirky, funny, out-of-the-box Tshirt, phone covers etc.  with messaging inspired by regional Indian language references saw it establishing an instant connect with the young India.

If anything, its organic following of 5.7 million fans across Facebook and Instagram that it enjoys today is a direct indication of the popularity that the brand enjoys with its target audience.

Bewakoof is aiming to increase its total subscribers, which is currently reported to be 150,000, to 1 million in the next 2 years. Furthermore, it is also looking to achieve sales worth Rs 2,000 crores in the next 4 years.

What is the secret to this growth?!

Their website attracts a huge traffic -around 2.5 million a month- and  around 37 percent  of that comes from direct traffic of the brand and the rest( the majority)  is organic !

What do we mean by this organic traffic?

 It is basically the  number of visitors coming from search engine results (as opposed to a paid source of traffic).

What does this coveted  organic traffic mean for your brand? I mean why bother about it?

If anyone tries to tell you building organic traffic is easy, don’t listen to them. With that being said, it’s also the greatest investment of time and effort you can make.

Basketball Wives Growth GIF by VH1

In the days of Facebook promoted posts and Google AdWords, the instant gratification of shelling out a few bucks for immediate traffic is highly appealing. But it’s not sustainable. You’ll get traffic now, but what happens when you stop paying? Will your content ever be found again?

Organic traffic means the content you put on your website today will drive traffic tomorrow, next month, next year, and probably even several years from now. That’s why it’s worth the effort.

The most obvious benefit of organic search traffic is a cost advantage. Pay-per-click ads are guaranteed to put your company’s links in front of potential site visitors. But over time, the amount of cash you’ll spend on click-throughs can add up. Once you have implemented sound SEO principles, the cost-per-click for organic search traffic is zero, giving your company an edge over competitors who are trapped in a pay-per-click universe.

Organic traffic is also important because it is targeted. Users visiting your website from a search engine’s organic results have a very specific intent and if you can provide them with a solution or answer to their question, they are more likely to convert.

But how do we make organic traffic work for your brand?

Here are a few things to keep in mind-

  1. Build Epic Cornerstone Content
Grow Black Lives Matter GIF by Shalita Grant

When we say quality content, we aren’t talking hastily-written, 100-word blog posts, either. Instead, we’re talking go-to, epic content that stands head and shoulders above your competition.

  1. Scope Out the Competition

Epic content is epic for a reason: it’s the best of the best of the best! But you won’t be able to create the go-to resource for your topic if you aren’t able to answer the following questions:

  • What resources already exist?
  • What do they cover?
  • And most importantly, can you create something better?

The easiest way to answer these questions is to scope out the competition. 

social media followers GIF by The Orchard Films
  1. Use the power of social media-

If you’re relying solely on search engine optimization (SEO) tactics to help you boost organic traffic, you’re missing out on other valuable methods that will help you drive more traffic. Social media marketing provides another great opportunity to drive users to your site by linking to blog posts or article pages.

Bewakoof and many other D2C brands are using the power of organic traffic to scale .

Improving your organic traffic to acquire customers doesn’t have to be A Challenge.

There is of course much more to decode when it comes to organic traffic growth and D2C marketing.

Which is why we have gotten top experts from leading D2C brands – mamaearth,wakefit,man matters and so on – to help you scale at your org!

Apply to be on the waitlist for our next D2C marketing cohort and leverage their insights for boosting your career! 

Categories
D2C Marketing

Perfecting Branding at your D2C Company.

When we meet someone in real life, we ask for their name and ask questions to get to know them better. We listen to their anecdotes, ideas, opinions, and beliefs. We try to unearth their story, and to tell our own.The end goal is to connect. 

In D2C marketing and business, the rules don’t really change. Telling your story is a critical part of building your brand. It helps to shape how people view you and enables consumers to begin forging a connection with you and your company. Do it right, and you’ll put building blocks in place that allow you to develop a thriving brand with an equally thriving future, one that people buy from simply because they love what you do, what you stand for, and the stories you share.

Starting with the basics-

A great brand name is not just something that looks cool on your business card or is fun to say. And it isn’t great because you like it. It’s great because it communicates something to customers.

As branding pro Marty Neuemier says in The Brand Gap, “The need for good brand names originates with customers, and customers will always want convenient ways of identifying, remembering, discussing, and comparing brands. The right name can be a brand’s most valuable asset, driving differentiation and speeding acceptance.”

But choosing the right brand name can be exhausting, infuriating, and thrilling. The D2C Giant Warby Parker’s Cofounder Neil Blumenthal says it took his team six months and 2,000+ options to find the perfect name.

Fist Pump Success GIF

To set your brand up for long-term success, you need the right brand name. 

Follow our simple guide to find yours quickly and easily.While there is no magic formula, there are common traits that make a brand name easier for you to use and easier for other people to remember. 

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind according to experts who have been there, done that –

  1. It should be easy to pronounce,identify and memorize
  • Like Snackible- it’s crisp and catchy !
  1. It should give an idea about the product’s benefits and qualities.
  1. Ensure domain name for the same is available.
  1. It should suggest product/service category.

Nike. Coca Cola. Levis. Disney. AirBnB.

These brand names alone conjure vivid images of who they are and what they stand for—and these brands all have incredibly passionate audiences to boot.

That’s in part because each of these companies has a genuine brand story. A brand story conveys the history, purpose, and values of a business in a narrative that resonates with consumers and makes audiences feel emotionally connected.

John Stamos Wtf GIF by Lifetime

So,naming your brand is just the tip of the iceberg .

Lets stick to the D2C Giant- Warby Parker

The Warby Parker catalog may only include two main categories – eyeglasses and sunglasses – but they’ve become an ecommerce success in the nine years since they debuted because of the stories they tell.

Their self-proclaimed lofty objective? “To offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially-conscious businesses.” That’s practically a story unto itself. And they share plenty of other stories that lay bare exactly how they’re doing it.

Mother Earth World GIF by eyedesyn

Their “How Warby Parker glasses are made” page offers a behind-the-scenes peek at a pair of glasses from design through manufacturing, including background on supplies and suppliers.

The main material? Plant-based cellulose acetate.

The personal touch? Every pair is assembled and polished by hand.

A socially-conscious business? For every pair of Warby Parker glasses sold, they give a pair to someone in need via charitable partners around the globe. To date, they’ve given away more than 5 million pairs.

That’s a story we can all feel good about supporting.

It’s no secret that consumers are looking online for many of their shopping needs. With the click of a mouse, anyone can have a car delivered straight to their home, groceries stocked in their refrigerator shelves, and more. Direct-to-consumer brands are continuing to innovate and evolve to attract and retain loyal customers. Despite the latest trends, one thing remains true: brand storytelling is a constant part of the D2C marketing evolution.

Marketers are aware of the power of branding and storytelling; however, they’re still grasping at straws when it comes to it. 

That’s why at Xpert we have got India’s top growth experts from leading companies to help you learn and decode growth strategies for your D2C brand!

Apply to be on the waitlist for our next D2C Marketing Bootcamp and get to learn from leading experts from successful D2C brands like MyGlamm,WakeFit and so on!

Categories
D2C Marketing

THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP FOR STARTING YOUR D2C JOURNEY!

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP FOR STARTING YOUR D2C JOURNEY?

FINDING THE RIGHT PRODUCT AND NICHE!

Episode 1 Mind Blown GIF by The Office

This is the very first and, quite obviously, the most important step when starting out on your D2C journey.

No matter how long you’ve been an entrepreneur, launching a business has never been more difficult. Here’s a quick look at the 2020 online landscape:

  • Competition is fierce,
  • Product markets are saturated, and
  • Consumers are demanding convenience more than ever before.

That is where the D2C business model comes to the rescue and helps make the most of this.

 But before you begin to brainstorm the design and experience of your D2C brand, or even your company’s name, you’ll need to choose what products to sell and create your own niche!

This is definitely not the hardest thing to check off on your to-do list compared to the others. One of the bigger lessons the Internet has taught us is that a ‘niche’ is a lot bigger than anyone ever thought.

Heard of the Bombay Shaving Company ?

Selling a shaving kit to men for Rs.3000 was unheard of until the Bombay Shaving Company, a D2C startup, disrupted the market.

They definitely got the finding your niche bit right. The company specializes in men’s grooming, personal care, shaving, beard grooming, skincare, and handmade soaps and mainly cater to men. This D2C startup took a seemingly everyday product and a mundane ritual like shaving and transformed it into a niche that is unique!

But it’s okay if you don’t hit the product jackpot right away. The beauty of D2C is that you can go wrong a few times and experiment till you finally land on your product, target audience, marketing strategy and so on !

And the beauty of the Internet is there’s a niche market for everything, and if you can focus on it, you can build a sustainable and viable business of it.

So how can we approach this crucial decision that every entrepreneur has to make?

  1. Identify or create a product that solves a very specific problem. 

Wakefit is a great example. This D2C startup offers premium mattresses at affordable prices to solve all your sleep issues.

When the founder ,Ankit Garg, experienced the journey of buying a mattress through the traditional business model, he realized that there was no innovation in the product that was being sold; it was highly overpriced and the sales representatives of retail stores had no knowledge of the science of sleep. This sparked the drive to change the way Indians accessed sleep products in the country.

The Daily Show Lol GIF by The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

And now they are on track to clock a revenue of Rs 410 crore in FY21!

  1. Fall back on what you are passionate about or have enough knowledge about.

Tip- You can even look at the products you have bought as a consumer in the last 6 months.

This is what happened for Mamaearth, yet another huge D2C success story.When Ghazal Alagh and Varun Alagh, the founders, were expecting their baby, they wanted to ensure that they could do everything to keep their baby safe. Like any other caring parent, the two browsed the internet, searching for do’s and don’ts for the little one and also what products they can buy to pamper their bundle of joy.

But they were shocked to see the results. Not a single product was available in the market that matched the safety standards – driving the duo to create a brand by a parent for a parent: Mamaearth.

  1. Hop on trends, viral product categories and figure out a differentiator in your idea. 

Like mCaffeine- India’s first hair and skin care brand with caffeine-infused products.The founder says that the reason they chose personal care was that there weren’t many new age brands for younger consumers today. And now they are eyeing Rs. 700 Cr in revenue in FY2024!

MCaffeine opts for simplest and basic influencer marketing strategy to promote new product range

Also think about why should a consumer purchase your product over your competitors ?

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind –

1.Finding a product that solves a problem is not the only hurdle to cross , you also have to make it either exciting or affordable.

2. Add a feature to it that your competitors lack.

3. You can simplify choice –  lower selection may seem counterintuitive but for the initial launch narrow down on the 1-5 key product offerings  & focus on launching that.
It will help you save on manufacturing costs as well as optimize marketing and get focused about your USP to consumers !

Found this interesting?

Then apply to be on the waitlist for our next D2C Marketing Bootcamp and get to learn from leading growth experts at successful D2C brands like MamaEarth, MyGlamm,WakeFit and so on!

Categories
D2C Marketing

Man Matters – India’s first Digital Health Clinic for Men

Man Matters – India’s first Digital Health Clinic for Men

Who do you go to, to talk about your wellness problems? 

Who does a man go to when he starts losing hair?

Losing sleep? Losing confidence?

dog day afternoon sigh GIF

When the men behind Man Matters asked themselves these questions, they found no answer.

And neither did millions of other men. 

This seemed quite unacceptable. Men rarely speak about their health and learn to live with their issues instead of dealing with them. It’s not that they don’t care. But talking about personal health, wellness can be difficult and often embarrassing for many still. And the people at ManMatters get that!

This epiphany led to the creation of a Mumbai based wellness platform for men that has been changing the way men approach health and their own holistic wellness!

& then Man Matters Was Created…

Man Matters - Home | Facebook

The founders took ‘matters’ into their own hands; and created a place for all matters of man. Hair, skin, weight, sleep, sex and much more. A wellness platform focused on men. If it matters to man or it’s matters of man, it matters to this up and coming D2C brand. 

So what is this wellness platform all about ?!

A DOCTOR LED TELEHEALTH PLATFORM FOR MEN?

Now,that’s something India has never heard of!

They boast of a premium set of products for each and every problem  under the sun which a man can face ,which are all certified under their respective industries.

But…

The team realized that to make the science behind wellness more accessible to all, they had to have the experts to guide them on this journey. And a genius move was that they joined hands with a set of medical experts and doctors who were passionate about changing male health habits and cared deeply about their craft.

This is the most unique feature that man matters offers – they have expert doctors on board to guide and fix your problems

These doctors provide free consultations to ensure that the products that your purchase off man matters are right for you .

Hair Matters by Man Matters - Home | Facebook

What’s more, the brand also follows up with you over time to check in on your progress monthly and doctors continue to give advice and guide you on what’s the best way to achieve and keep improving on your wellness goals!

Quality has turned into an obsession for this brand.While there are companies that may have the same ingredients, the quality of ingredients can be vastly different. Man Matters sources their ingredients from the regions where they are known to be highly efficacious, which in turn results in the products giving you better results.

The team behind Man Matters consists of consumers of personal care and supplements themselves, and hence they are super particular about the safety and quality of the products they consume and produce. 

With regimen focussed products , Man Matters also believes that solving problems like hair loss or quality of sleep is often not a one product solution but a holistic one. Thus they provide regimens to follow which ensure that the body and mind are getting targeted as a whole.

Right from the premium ,regimen based products delivered to your doorstep to specialised doctors available for problems which men might have otherwise felt uncomfortable to discuss, this startup has mastered the art of customer retention to the T !

MAN MATTERS Products Have Got You Covered With All Men Issues - dealivana blog

So it makes sense why we have Marmik Mankodi, AVP Marketing @ Man Matters as a part of our D2C marketing Bootcamp!

Apply to be on the waitlist for our next cohort and learn to identify key growth levers, driving repeats & cross-ordering, Identifying payback periods & customer lifetime value…

Also explore building a purchase experience optimized for discovery & trust building for your D2C brand.Leverage insights and experience of industry experts from top companies and understand  how you too can scale delivery, manage returns & logistics successfully to drive customer delight.

Categories
D2C Marketing

Rs. 100 Crore in 4 years:

How MamaEarth became India’s fastest growing D2C brand.

MamaEarth case study

Unless you are living under a rock, you must have heard about Mamaearth -Asia’s first personal care brand with MadeSafe certified, toxin-free products for mothers and children…

And then you must also be familiar with its rapid growth – according to a report published by the investment bank, Jefferies, the company may cross Rs 500 crore mark in FY21!

Pay Me Kim Kardashian GIF by GQ

But what is the story behind this brand  that is revolutionizing the personal care space…

Let’s dive in a bit!

A personal challenge for Ghazal and Varun Alagh, the founders led this husband-wife duo to launch Gurugram-based baby and mother care startup Mamaearth-the first company in Asia that has been certified by Made Safe – a US-based non-profit organisation that provides a comprehensive human health-focussed certification for making non-toxic products.

Every mother wishes to extend unconditional love and care to her child. She wants to shower all her affection and make sure she can protect her offspring in every way–every day.

When Ghazal Alagh and Varun Alagh were expecting their baby, they wanted to ensure that they could do everything to keep their baby safe. Like any other caring parent, the two browsed the internet, searching for do’s and don’ts for the little one and also what products they can buy to pamper their bundle of joy.

But they were shocked to see the results. Not a single product was available in the market that matched the safety standards. Every product they saw contained chemicals harmful to their newborn – driving the duo to create a brand by a parent for a parent: Mamaearth.

Finally in 2016, the couple launched the brand under the parent company Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd, in Gurugram using the best available ingredients – natural, plant-based or manmade, which are both certified safe as well as effective. The ingredients are procured from the best sources around the world, which are ISO, GMP and Non-GMO compliant.

“The brand’s proposition and the dire need for toxin-free products in the baby care segment made us reach where we are today. ‘Jahan chah hai wahan raha hai’ (where there is a will, there is a way). We believed that we will be able to fill the vacuum in the industry and with love and luck we made it happen.”-the founders shared in an interview. 

The Mamaearth team believes in mum-power and decided to directly target mothers. The founders were confident that once the customers used Mamaearth products, word of mouth publicity would work wonders for the company.The primary strategy was to resonate with like-minded parents who wanted nothing but the best for their babies.

In just four years, Mamaearth became Asia’s first brand to get the MadeSafe certification for its toxin-free products. The company is aiming at reducing parental stress and is continually improving and innovating to make the world a safer place for both the babies and their parents.

Started with six products in the baby care range, Mamaearth has now diversified into skin and hair care products for men and women across 80 SKUs as well as products designed specially for pregnant women. The natural and toxin-free products are used by over 1.5 million Indian consumers across 500 cities.

Mamaearth witnessed a growth in its operating revenue, which jumped to Rs 110 crores in FY20 from Rs 16.8 crores at the end of FY19. And according to a report published by the investment bank, Jefferies, the company may cross Rs 500 crore mark in FY21!

When a brand does something that helps them achieve what they are looking for,like in this case, then the mind behind this is their marketing team.

Here are a few things which the founders think set their marketing game plan apart from the rest-

  1. Brand Message -According to the founders,Ghazal and Varun Alagh ,having a purpose led brand really helped them scale the company from scratch. Being part of the target audience themselves , they understood and heard  the consumers’ needs and innovated accordingly to give solutions through their products! They also made sure to keep the message precise, clear, and engaging as it presents your brand in a nutshell. The brand’s mission and slogan are “Goodness Inside.”-ensuring that the brand should not jeopardize the consumers’ wellbeing.
Social Media Marketing GIF by Trazoz
  1. Enhancing Customer Base – It is critical to learn that by the time you have to enhance your customer base you can’t be limited, the world is your oyster. If we follow the pattern Apple started from the CPU then personal computer then iPhones, iPods, and much more. All this time they tried to grow. The same goes with Mamaearth, initially, they started out to be the company of mothers and babies, however, it gradually began to grow its client base. The company has now branched out into skincare. It offers bathing ingredients, skincare serums and ointments, face wash, moisturizers, hair oils, and a variety of other items. The greatest thing is that none of these items contain any chemicals which was and is their brand’s original and sole purpose !
  1. Concentrating on Digital Platforms first – This helped them to reach a  wider base of customers in a short time all over India. All brands and companies know the value of digital platforms. We are in the digitalization era so we can’t overlook this factor, Mamaearth knows it very well.
  1. Word of Mouth – Now this technique might seem vague, odd, old school and sham to some of you but it was the game plan for these parent turned founders! You might have heard that the words spread faster than air and it is actually true. When you hear something from someone you know, you believe what they say with zero doubts and this is exactly what Mamaearth planned. They start approaching the Mom bloggers and the customers who have a huge fan base and asked them to write their experience about the product.  Since the company trusts its products, they took the risk of channeling the  influence of mothers. It opted for a word-of-mouth approach in which mothers can inform people about the company and how it provides the best product for their children.

There are obviously heaps of more such strategies that helped MamaEarth reach where it stands today. And here at Xpert we think that the best way to learn is from the experts who have actually engineered those results. 

Want to explore growth strategies with Abhishek , the VP of Growth at MamaEarth?

Then apply to be on the waitlist for our next D2C Marketing Bootcamp and get to learn from leading experts from successful D2C brands like MyGlamm,WakeFit and so on!

Categories
Growth Marketing

Identifying your Company’s North Star Metric

Heard of Spotify, right?

It has been in the music business for a while, but they have also started pushing into the growing podcast space. 

For driving growth for this new “product”, they focussed on “average # of followed podcasts”. This metric would look at how many podcasts a user follows, which has an assumption that following a podcast is a stronger show of interest than simply playing an episode.

While for their music, they would focus on “Time Spent Listening”

This metric that organisations focus on for growth is nothing but your NORTH STAR METRIC.

It is the PRIMARY OUTCOME that HAS to grow to call our growth strategies a success.

Airbnb’s North Star Metric is “nights booked”. This captures value delivered to both guests and hosts. Facebook’s NSM is “Daily Active Users”. With more users on the Facebook platform, the team is able to optimize everyone’s feed to deliver more value to users.

Optimizing your efforts to grow this metric is key to driving sustainable growth across your full customer base. It helps teams move beyond driving fleeting, surface-level growth to instead focus on generating long-term retained customer growth.

So North Star Metric or NSM is the single metric that best captures the core value that your product delivers to customers.

But there could be many of these for your org. How do we know our NSM is THE metric to focus on for growth?

  • Your NSM should ideally impact your entire funnel. It should focus on all growth levers-Acquisition, Activation,Retention and Monetisation.
  • If it’s just increasing the numbers for your acquisition team, its not the best NSM for you.

But there is more to it.

Let’s take the case of an online learning platform that has, say, identified “No. of Daily Live Classes” as their North Star Metric. They focussed all efforts on driving this number up.

Impact-

Acquisition: More organic views because of longer time duration, multiple instances, etc

Activation: More sign-ups as more branding will occur

Retention: More people will retain as due to engagement churn rate will drop

Monetization: More visibility of paid offers

But this approach to North Star Metric is still incomplete…

It misses the measurement of three elements:

  • Value your consumers get (Core Value Prop)
  • Quality of Value
  • Frequency of Value

Now consider the NSM- 

Number of Daily Classes Taken Per Member Per Week

This is a good NSM for the org as it measures all the 3 elements-

  • Value consumers get (Core Value Prop) – Number of Classes Taken Per Member
  • Quality of Value – Classes taken /Per Member
  • Frequency of Value – Per Week

Obviously, there is more to this concept than this. 

Want to explore further and decode more growth strategies with experts at leading companies and startups in India?

Then, you are a perfect fit for our next cohort.

Here’s more info about the program, if you’re curious :

https://www.xpert.chat/growth-marketing-bootcamp-update.php

Harneet Bhalla, Program Director at Xpert
He leads Growth at Glance|ex-1mg. He has empowered more than 5 Fortune 500 companies, multiple start-ups, celebrities and thousands of others through his growth marketing insights. Has been an active speaker at various forums and conferences including TEDx GLAU and IIT Bombay. Featured on a number of podcasts across USA, UK, Canada and India.
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Growth Marketing

Powering your retention tactics with customer engagement

Why do you think Amazon shows you recommendations of exactly what you might need, based on your past purchases, right when you open their app?

Hint-It drives existing customers to the products that they are most likely to want, need and buy.

Fun Fact: 35% of Amazon’s revenue comes from its recommendation engine.

Why do you think Starbucks came up with their rewards programs that help customers earn free food and drinks, place and pay for their orders, and receive personalized offers? 

Hint-It encourages customers to return by giving them discounts, exclusive access, or special offers.

Why do you think Hubspot came up with Hubspot Academy or Canva came up with Canva Design School?

Hint-They provide resources, how-to guides, and step-by-step videos that help customers use their product as well as hone their skills.

In short, all these are tactics used by organisations to RETAIN USERS. 

Because guess what’s better than acquiring one new customer?

It sounds like a trick question, but the answer isn’t “acquiring two customers.” It’s actually retaining an existing customer.

HERE’s WHY, 

  • Retaining a customer is 10 times cheaper than acquiring a new customer. 
  • However, increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can boost your profits by 25% to 95%! 
  • Existing customers are 50% more likely than new customers to try new products

As a growth guy, you know that encouraging customers to return is easier said than done.

Here are few things to keep in mind when framing a sound retention strategy –

  • One of the keys to improving your customer retention rate is understanding the underlying metrics. And the only metric you should focus on is ENGAGEMENT-as it is what drives Retention, not the other way round. 
  • This is why Swiggy sends you push notifications at 5pm for an evening cuppa …their goal is to keep you ENGAGED!
  • All your retention levers are ULTIMATELY your engagement levers.

Then HOW can we improve ENGAGEMENT?

  1. ADD USE CASES

The best companies with infrequent use cases develop other, more frequent use cases to stay top of your mind.

Why do you think KFC came up with the Wednesday offers? Or BookMyShow came out with their streaming feature in the pandemic?

  1. INCREASE INTENSITY OF EACH USE CASE

Why do you think Amazon has the Frequently Bought together feature?

  1. INCREASE FREQUENCY OF CURRENT USE CASE

Uber does so by notifying you whenever prices are low for rides so that you don’t consider other options.

  1. INCREASE FEATURE USAGE 

Orgs can have multiple feature offerings. Amazon has fresh, prime, alexa….Not all amazon customers use all these, but they keep you engaged by connecting all their features to each other. Amazon Music on alexa…alexa ad once you open amazon and so on.

Found this exciting?

Want to decode more growth strategies with experts at leading companies and startups of India?

Then, you are a perfect fit for our next cohort.

Apply now to be on the waitlist and join our Growth Marketing Bootcamp with an exclusive, growing community of marketers and professionals like you.

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Harneet Bhalla, Program Director at Xpert
He leads Growth at Glance|ex-1mg. He has empowered more than 5 Fortune 500 companies, multiple start-ups, celebrities and thousands of others through his growth marketing insights. Has been an active speaker at various forums and conferences including TEDx GLAU and IIT Bombay. Featured on a number of podcasts across USA, UK, Canada and India.
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Growth Marketing

Breaking down Positioning

Why do you think a cup of coffee at Starbucks can rob you of 300 rupees while you wouldn’t pay more than Rs. 30 for probably much better tasting cuppa at the nearest street shop even in your wildest dream?

Alos, thinking of exclusivity, luxury and elegance in technology?

Apple immediately comes to mind, doesn’t it ? 

This is where positioning comes in.Positioning equals setting the context for the product. It basically defines how your product is a leader at delivering something that a well defined set of customers cares a lot about.

 It should provide the customer clues to the following imminent questions-

·       What is the product?

·       Who is it for?

·       Why should they even care for it?

Let’s also explore what positioning is NOT about. And this might make the MBA peeps furious.

1.    Tag Line

2.    Point of View

3.    Vision

4.    Brand

5.    Messaging

6.    “Marketing”

7.    GTM Strategy

Positioning is not just a marketing or sales strategy; positioning is a business strategy. It identifies what market segment you’re competing in and the customer expectations in that segment, which will help you develop your best go-to-market strategy.

It is simply a process of how to best communicate your organization’s unique attributes to your target customers based on their needs and to counter competitive pressures.

It means making your already happy customers even happier!

Speaking of happiness…when talking about positioning, Coca-Cola is a pioneer.No wonder that the company has been able to survive for more than 125 years. The brand has always tried to bring out the value of happiness, friendship, joy, and sharing to position itself in the market. This has helped to promote engagement in consumers and in turn encouraged them to share happy experiences and moments.

How do we go about positioning, then?

It is clearly an important task for engineering growth. Here is how you can approach it –

1. Figure out your competitive alternatives

If you didn’t exist, what would your customers use?

2.    Find your unique attributes.

What features do you have that your competitors lack?

3.    Discover the value you are unlocking.

What value do the identified attributes enable for the customers?

4.    Identify the customers who care.

Who will appreciate the value that you are adding?

5.    Decide on the market segment you want to win over.

What context makes your value obvious to the target customers?

Here is a glimpse of what Harneet Bhalla, Senior Manager Growth Marketing at Glance, had to say on overcoming positioning in an org-

 Most of the time you’re in the middle of the org and not at the CEO level. 

So there is an existing point of view on positioning and a growth model. To bring in change and growth,here is how you can start off in order to influence leadership to factor in your goals-

  •  Ask questions to the leadership–what do they feel could be a positioning statement
  •  Arrange qualitative interviews with customers–ask them what they use your product for, who they feel are your competitors.
  • Use the gap between the answers from the leadership and the consumers to start a conversation about why the take on positioning needs to be revised.
  • Then you can pitch how you want to bridge the gap .

This is just a snippet of what you can learn by joining our growth marketing bootcamp .

Apply now to join the upcoming cohort & talk with leading experts from top companies, decode growth strategies and allow those conversations to boost your career in the right direction!

apply to the growth marketing cohort program
Harneet Bhalla, Program Director at Xpert
He leads Growth at Glance|ex-1mg. He has empowered more than 5 Fortune 500 companies, multiple start-ups, celebrities and thousands of others through his growth marketing insights. Has been an active speaker at various forums and conferences including TEDx GLAU and IIT Bombay. Featured on a number of podcasts across USA, UK, Canada and India.
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Growth Marketing

Are you missing User Activation in the process of Growth?

Think about the time when you signed up for LinkedIn. 

Didn’t they push you continuously to keep adding contacts to your profile, fill in the about section, the achievements column, grow your network and so on for “making your profile more visible to recruiters”?

Or think back on when you finally gave in and downloaded the Zomato App… And “get 50 percent off on the first order” made you order the pizza even if you didn’t want it!

As a growth marketer, your job isn’t just acquiring customers and getting them to visit your website/download the app, your Job Description goes beyond that.

It also includes activating your users – which is taking a user from downloading your app/visiting your website to actually consuming the value of your product.

Clearly, while Activation may sound like simply activating a user account, it’s a lot more than just clicking a link in a confirmation email.

Go back to the old adage- 

20% of your customers are responsible for 80% of your sales.

Following this statement, you might feel like you are ignoring something- because YOU ARE. You are focusing on that 20% set majorly. For this 20%, your customer activation strategy must be prim and proper.

Now, a lot of organisations struggle with activation because they don’t have focused activation efforts in place.

They mostly have teams optimizing acquisition and retention, and the activation in between remains forgotten. But Successful growth marketers don’t just grow a larger user base; they build a highly engaged audience that will help to reduce churn, as well as increase the lifetime value of each individual user.

Then, when can we be positive that we have an ACTIVATED user?

What is the moment where you can say that the user is now ACTIVATED?

Let’s use a few examples.

Consider these 3 milestones: 

  1. Set up moment

The stage where you collect whatever information is necessary to make your user experience your product.

If we take 1Mg or Netmeds, for instance, the setup moment would be the first order which gives you the details of your consumer- address, preferences, etc.

(Yes, the first order is NOT equal to an activated user!)

  1. Aha moment

Place where your buyer suddenly sees the benefit they get from using your product, and says to themselves, “Wow! This is great!”. It’s also the moment where you have converted them into a fan who is likely to buy.

  • This Aha moment is often not a feature. But what that feature makes possible.
  • It conveys much more value than effort required – (i.e. they are Low Effort, High Value, or LEHV, activities)

Say for 1Mg – Aha moment could be when the medicines are delivered within 24 hours and your user didn’t have to step out. Or when one needs a particular painkiller urgently that is unavailable in the local pharmacies, but 1Mg has it.

For Naukri.com – it could be a call from a recruiter within 24 hours of your user signing up.

COMMON MISTAKE
Define your AHA moment very carefully as you are competing with a lot of such AHA moments in the market.

  • Say for 1Mg,  the local chemist can deliver the medicines within an hour.
  • So choose wisely and decode how you want to deliver that AHA moment.

 This is a defining step in the Activation process and ensures you can deliver your AHA moment!

  1. Habit moment 

Think about how you immediately rush to the Amazon app on your phone when you need a random product…

Wanted medicines? Opened 1Mg immediately?

This is the stage where your product is a part of the user’s life.

For example – Calm,a meditation and mindfulness app, knew their product’s core value was helping people to learn and build a meditation practice.

 When they proactively prompted new users to set a daily reminder after completing their first meditation session, Calm saw a 3x increase in daily retention. They increased the success of their product by making it easier for their users to remember to use the app for its core product value and making it their HABIT.

If you make web or mobile products, you’re actually in the business of task management. You’re counting on your product to become a recurring part of your customers’ lives. In order to accomplish that, motivate your users to build a new habit.

After crossing these three milestones, you ultimately have an ENGAGED and ACTIVATED user for your organisations !

There is obviously much more to explore on this topic.

To do so and decode more such growth strategies for your org with leading experts at top companies-

Apply now to be in the waitlist for our next cohort!

And join our bootcamp with other marketers eager to learn together and boost their careers in GROWTH.

apply to the growth marketing cohort program
Harneet Bhalla, Program Director at Xpert
He leads Growth at Glance|ex-1mg. He has empowered more than 5 Fortune 500 companies, multiple start-ups, celebrities and thousands of others through his growth marketing insights. Has been an active speaker at various forums and conferences including TEDx GLAU and IIT Bombay. Featured on a number of podcasts across USA, UK, Canada and India.