How new parents shop for their babies is unlike how anyone shops for anything else. I know, I’ve been there. You’re anxious, you’re thinking about all the things your baby will need, but you’re also thinking in stages of what you’ll need three months from now when your baby is in a completely different stage of development. It’s overwhelming and the brands in the baby market are mostly just selling products, and not selling how to have a better experience as a parent. Lalo is one of the unique brands that is putting the parent’s experience first, and that strategy has helped the company quickly grow into a favorite brand among moms and dads everywhere.

On this episode of Up Next in Commerce, I chatted with Michael Wieder, the co-founder of Lalo, about what it was like to create a new kind of shopping experience for parents, and how a little bit of light stalking went a long way to help Lalo figure out exactly what parents want and need. We talked about what it takes to bring a product to market with organic and authentic connections with influencers and consumers alike, and we got deep in the weeds of what strategies Lalo used to communicate with current and potential customers in order to improve not just the products, but the entire experience of buying products for your kids. Plus, we talked a bit about how Lalo has approached fundraising, which is a little bit controversial these days. 

Enjoy the episode!

Main Takeaways:

• Influencers Are People, Not A Marketing Channel: You have to tap into an influencer’s psychology and why they would actually love a brand, rather than paying them to market your product just because they are popular. Reach out to people who you know you can connect with, and ship them product to help them fall in love with the product first, then partner with you later. Not only does that form more authentic relationships, it saves you from wasting product and time on potential influencer relationships that won’t work.
• Keep it 100: How you communicate with customers should be all about keeping it real. Think about how you would want to be communicated with, and treat your customers in that same way. And in order to deliver the right messages that also lead to actual sales, you have to focus on a few key pillars: technical, functional and emotional benefit.
• Get on My Level: Hiring the right people is the biggest challenge to growth. Not everyone will care as much as a founder, but you need to find people who do truly care and buy into the mission of the company and will fight to help it become better. You can also tap into the people who love your brand most to bring them on as advisors.

For an in-depth look at this episode, check out the full transcript here: https://bit.ly/3zTMJOt

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For a full transcript of this interview, click here.