Playing for Keeps

It’s more expensive than ever to acquire customers online, and in an increasingly competitive market, it takes a lot of grit and focus to stand out. Thing is, your acquisition funnel will only go so far without leaning into those customer relationships long-term.

ADMission experts Adrianne and Grant are leaders in the DTC space when it comes to increasing ROAS, but they’re also educators that help operators take charge of their paid advertising. This episode is all about connecting your acquisition and retention efforts for a stronger overall business.

So let’s talk about LTVs.

Codeless eComm platform Elliot is creating a lot of buzz in the eCommerce world right now, and with good reason. Co-founder and Head of Marketing, Marco Marandiz, is a veteran of the consumer tech space, and he’s all about using that experience to push the market into exciting, unexplored territory.

This conversation digs into the ways that commerce is revolutionizing right now. Kristen and Marco go deep on multichannel marketing, brand building, entering a vertical with really established competition, using social media channels natively, and so much more.

John Roman didn’t expect to become a key member of the Battlbox team. As an initial investor, it was really the astounding growth of the business that brought him into the fold as a full-time leader in the business.

John talks about discovering demand, testing new products with your community, and getting infected by the enthusiasm of your customers. Battlbox has amazingly invested fans and it all comes down to a top-notch brand experience and fantastic products.

Plus: how a Reddit-style forum can build up the conversation around the brand.

Kristen and Helena covered a lot of ground in their two-part conversation, and that means Kris and Val have their work cut out for them parsing through it all.

This special digest caps off a three-episode run, exploring everything from customer personas to developing markets; branding trends to organic growth strategies. If you’re still working through everything you’ve heard in the last couple episodes, this digest is everything you need to tie it all together.

Last episode we dug really deeply into the ways that Haus built out their space in the liquor market. This time, Kristen and Helena talk about one of the biggest strengths of Haus: retention and customer loyalty.

From their new subscription component to their in-person community events, it's a conversation loaded with tactics, tips, and storytelling.

Haus is one of the most exciting brands in the DTC space right now. Combining a product steeped in cultural tradition with a cutting edge 21st century approach to eCommerce, they’re working to reshape the ways that Americans consume alcohol.

Kristen’s conversation with founder Helena Price Hambrecht is all about the ways that Haus has both built their own market and disrupted a broader industry.

Part two coming soon.

We’re all struggling to figure out how COVID-19 is going to impact our businesses and our lives moving forward. There are no easy answers, but there are a lot of steps you can take to strengthen your brand in the long run.

This week’s PFK episode is all about navigating the crisis with a playbook from one of DTC’s best and brightest. From messaging to conversion optimization to increasing AOV, Allen and Kristen dig deep into the tactics that top brands are using to stay strong under pressure.

Personal touches, incredible experiences, following through on promises, and keeping things interesting: that’s the formula that Scratch Pet Food has used to disrupt their industry.

The results have been pretty amazing. Changing your dog’s food is a huge step, and trusting a new brand isn’t easy, but Scratch works hard to help their customers transition with confidence.

Kristen and co-founder Mike Halligan dig deep into relationship-building this episode, with a particular focus on the techniques businesses can use to really understand their customers.

As Strategic Partnership Manager at Shopify, Brian Peters is all about using 21st century technology to help merchants get to the next level. That said, at heart, his focus is still 100% on the people.

Brian talks to Kristen about VC funding and bootstrapping, building out a retention plan as acquisition costs grow, and navigating the rise of SMS in the DTC space. This week’s episode is all about long-term, sustainable growth and making plays that can pay off in the long run.

Blume’s focus on customer education goes way beyond their products. They’re all about helping teens and their parents navigate a really difficult time, and that makes for super engaged fans of the brand.

Thing is, they’ve built up a dedicated following among millennial customers as well. Blume is a brand that knows their ideal audience, but crafts amazing experiences that go way beyond a demographic.

Kristen and Blume's Head of Growth, Kristin Eberth, talk about the things that set Blume apart- from their incredible community work to their new loyalty program, Blumetopia.