EP.165/ STYLEFOX
Trade Shows, Tech, and Transparency: StyleFox’s Retention Playbook
Mariah Parsons hosts the "Retention Chronicles" podcast, sponsored by Malomo, which helps brands enhance post-purchase experiences through branded order tracking. She discusses with Desiree Rabuse, founder of Style Fox, the importance of customer retention and acquisition strategies. Desiree emphasizes the value of being curious and innovative, maintaining personal connections with customers, and leveraging trade shows for brand discovery. She also highlights the significance of sustainable practices, such as using vegan ingredients and recyclable packaging, and the effectiveness of personalized customer service and tech integrations like HubSpot and Endless for influencer outreach.
EP. 165
DESIREE RABUSE
Episode Timestamps:
Introduction to Retention Chronicles and Malomo 0:00
Mariah Parsons introduces the podcast, Retention Chronicles, focusing on customer retention strategies for e-commerce marketers.
Mariah highlights the importance of a good post-purchase experience, noting that 84% of shoppers won't return if they have a bad shipping experience.
She explains how Malomo helps brands turn transactional shipping emails and SMS into powerful marketing tools by adding cross-selling, educational content, and social media links.
Mariah encourages listeners to visit go.malomo.com to learn more about leveraging order notifications as a marketing channel.
Desiree Robus' Background and Style Fox 2:52
Desiree Robus introduces herself as the founder of Style Fox, a women's lifestyle site that includes skincare, topical devices, and light therapy devices.
Desiree shares her background in magazines, working as an editor and writer in New York City before launching her own site.
She discusses the transition from magazine work to founding Style Fox, focusing on content that helps improve women's lives, such as how to make high heels more comfortable.
Desiree describes the initial development of Style Fox while working full-time and attending school, eventually launching and bootstrapping the site.
Insights into the Magazine Industry 3:21
Desiree compares her experience working at a cool, artsy lifestyle magazine in New York City to the more pretentious environments at Conde Nast.
She acknowledges the mixed bag of experiences in the fashion world, with both positive and negative encounters.
Desiree shares her love for the creative industry and the challenges of low-paid work for new writers, emphasizing the need to love the work to succeed.
Mariah and Desiree discuss the similarities between working in magazines and being a founder, including the need for hard work, hustle, and passion.
Style Fox's Purpose-Driven Brand 5:04
Desiree explains the purpose behind Style Fox, focusing on content that helps women's lives and moving away from celebrity noise.
She highlights the brand's commitment to eco-conscious practices, using vegan ingredients, recyclable packaging, and donating to carbon-neutral companies.
Desiree shares her efforts to grow pollinator gardens and the launch of the Flowers for the Planet skincare line, which benefits pollinators.
She discusses the importance of differentiating the brand through unique products and sustainable practices, attracting customers who value these aspects.
Customer Acquisition Strategies 9:09
Desiree emphasizes the importance of being curious and staying ahead of trends to find and retain customers.
She shares her success with innovative products like the powder face masks and the NAD+ resveratrol skin booster, which have gained significant customer interest.
Desiree advises focusing on trade shows, especially those with one-on-one meeting formats, to discover new customers and build relationships.
She suggests starting with local boutiques and growing gradually, rather than aiming for immediate expansion into big box stores like Target.
Effective Trade Show Participation 28:41
Desiree discusses her approach to trade shows, including attending events like Shop Talk and New York Now for discovery and networking.
She highlights the benefits of one-on-one meetings at trade shows, where mutual interest in meeting each other creates valuable connections.
Desiree shares her strategy of walking the floor with samples in transparent bags to attract attention and start conversations.
She emphasizes the importance of business cards with QR codes for easy access to catalogs and social media, making them memorable and effective.
Customer Retention and Personal Engagement 28:54
Desiree stresses the importance of personal engagement with customers, responding to feedback and building loyalty through direct interactions.
She shares examples of how she personally manages social media and customer service, creating a personal connection with her brand.
Desiree discusses the use of AI for automated emailing and text messaging, but insists on staying involved in the brand's interactions.
She mentions the use of gamified advertising and loyalty programs to enhance customer retention and engagement.
Balancing Founder Involvement and Technology 29:06
Desiree talks about the importance of balancing founder involvement with the use of technology to manage tasks efficiently.
She focuses most of her time on product development and the creative side of the brand, while outsourcing customer service and automated messaging.
Desiree highlights the benefits of using platforms like HubSpot and Endless for influencer programs and automating messaging.
She emphasizes the value of in-person meetings at trade shows for discovering and building relationships with tech companies and partners.
Final Thoughts and Shoutouts 36:30
Desiree shares her appreciation for the value of trade shows in discovering new tech and building relationships with potential partners.
She mentions the importance of staying curious and open to new technologies and methods to improve the brand and customer experience.
Mariah thanks Desiree for her time and insights, expressing gratitude for the knowledge shared during the conversation.
The episode concludes with a shoutout to Malomo, the podcast's sponsor, and an invitation for listeners to subscribe and follow the podcast on social media.
TRANSCRIPT
This transcript was completed by an automated system, please forgive any grammatical errors.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
customer retention, e-commerce, order tracking, Malomo, shipping experience, transactional emails, customer feedback, product development, sustainable packaging, trade shows, customer experience, tech integration, influencer program, brand differentiation, customer loyalty
SPEAKERS
Mariah Parsons, Desiree Rabuse
Mariah Parsons 00:00
Foreign Hello and welcome to retention Chronicles, the customer retention podcast for E commerce marketers. I am your host and fellow e comm marketer, Mariah Parsons. Tune in as I speak with D to C, founders and operators about strategy that works and strategy that doesn't of course, we are able to have these conversations because of our podcast sponsor, Malomo. I have seen 1000s of brand operators power their order tracking with Malomo to make every single message count as a consumer, I personally have come to expect that brands have a phenomenal post purchase experience, or else I'm not really shopping with them again. And a lot of consumers are this way. 84% of shoppers won't return if they have a bad shipping experience. And it feels so important for E commerce brands to have a good pre purchase experience. You're trying to get that acquisition. Your customers are coming through the door. They're coming through your website, it is a very personalized experience. You have pop ups that are timed Well, you have customer testimonials that are easing fears. You have well timed car abandonment, emails, all of that stuff. And then you purchase with a brand, and sometimes there's no communication, and it leaves you wondering. It leaves you mad, maybe scared that you fell for a scam or something like that. And so I think it is such a smart decision to have your transactional shipping emails and SMS, not just be about only business. Malomo helps turn them into a powerful marketing tool. What does that look like? It means you can cross sell other products on that branded order tracking page. You can put educational content on that page. So if you have something that consumers will have to learn how to use for the first time, you can put that there. If you have recipes that they could you know, use your product for when they first get it. You can put that there, your social media, everything, frequently asked questions, whatever you want. You get the control back so that you're not sending your customers to a carrier tracking page, you're putting them right back on your website, and you're also keeping them informed about their order status. Why you do it? That's the beautiful thing about this platform. If you're ready to turn your order notifications into a marketing channel and join 1000s of E commerce brand operators in making their customers happier while also adding to your brand's profits. Visit go malomo.com that's G O M, a, l o m, o.com Hello everyone, and welcome back to retention Chronicles. I am stoked for our episode here today. Desiree, thank you so much for making the time. I am so excited to have you here on retention Chronicles. It's gonna be great. Share a little bit about yourself. Share why you are in this seat. What has you here today? All that fun stuff? Sure.
Desiree Rabuse 02:52
My name is Desiree Rabuse, the founder of style Fox. It's a women's love media site as well as we do products. So we have skincare, we have, you know, topical devices as well as, like, light therapy devices. My background is in magazines, so I came from, you know, being an editor and a writer in New York City for magazines, and then I eventually launched my own site, and that did really well. So yeah, that's where we are today. We did? We start with women's lifestyle content, very like, wellness, beauty, fashion, you know, career advice, that sort of thing. And then we moved on to products. And so now we have a full skincare line. I
Mariah Parsons 03:25
love it. So give me a little bit of like an insider scoop around working in the magazine world, because the only, I guess, vision of what it is like is The Devil Wears Prada. Like, that's all I have growing up, is like in the fashion world, like, that's just, like, tan, gentle, like, that's all I got. So give me a little bit of insider, like information. What was your experience like? Is it similar to, kind of your experience right now of being a founder of a brand? I think
Desiree Rabuse 03:52
it depends on what publication you work at. I worked at like, a really cool, like, artsy lifestyle New York City magazine, and I feel like the people were probably a little bit less pretentious and very cool. I've never worked for Conde Nast, so I can't speak to them. I've met some really nice people, and I've met some not so nice people. I think the fashion world is a mixed bag, so I don't want to, like, label anybody as this or that, but yeah, you definitely get those. There are those experiences, like The Devil Wears Prada, for sure. I think that book was based off, like, real experiences.
Mariah Parsons 04:23
Yes, yeah, read the I read the book as well, and it definitely, yes, definitely sounds like it is. That's what the author, you know, kind of says in the book. So
Desiree Rabuse 04:33
it's such a fun industry. It's, it's so creative. And people are I love the art world. I love creative people. So obviously, I love that side of it. I think people have sort of a fantasy on what it means to work for magazines, and it can be actually very grueling, like low paid work for a lot of the new writers. Yeah, you just have to really love it, because it's like anything else. It's very competitive. You really have to work super hard and hustle really hard to get your foot in there. And it is fun, though, for sure. It's very creative. Yeah,
Mariah Parsons 05:00
I mean, that all translates into being a founder, right? Of just, kind of just going everywhere, doing everything, having boots on the ground, all that fun stuff. So tell us a little bit more about, you know, why did you want to start style Fox tell our audience a little bit more about the brand, so that they have some context before we launch, you know, into the strategy side of the show. Sure
Desiree Rabuse 05:20
I wanted to. I really just wanted to cover content that I was passionate about and that I wanted to. I didn't want to worry about all this, like celebrity and noise. I wanted to really make content around helping people's lives become better, and helping women, just in general, with, I mean, anything from like, how did, like, one of our biggest articles was how to make high heels more comfortable. Because, you know, I would wear high heels a lot in the city going to events, and I was out, I'm like, Oh my God, my feet are killing me. So we did this whole article as one of our first viral articles called How to make high heels more comfortable. Really, just doing it's like solutions, focused content, moving away from the noise that I found to be very popular in magazines, and just doing helpful content to make women's lives better. So that's really where I got the idea, yeah, and I, and I just I started building the site while I was at my last job. And I would like work during the day, and then I was in school at the time. This is why I do my schoolwork for like three or four hours a night, and then I would work on style Fox. And I did that for like six months, and then I finally launched it and I bootstrapped it, and just kind of put it out there to see what people thought of it and if they liked it. And it started to pick up pretty quickly, yeah, just the inspired to do purposeful work that's important to me. I just wanted to do something that I felt like was purposeful.
Mariah Parsons 06:41
Yeah. Okay, so tangent, totally tangent. But how do you make heels comfortable? Because I need that article still up, because I'm gonna go pretty good. Yeah.
Desiree Rabuse 06:50
So a couple things that come to mind that are the, probably the quickest, easiest way to do it is to put a ball pad in the, you know, the toe of your, of your shoe, and also to do block heels. So instead of doing like a stiletto, you want like a wider, more block heel. And that in the little paddle in the front, I there are other, there's like, I think 20 tips in that article, but those two are probably the best ones that are just going to make your and usually you don't want to go over like a two or three inch heel, Max, okay,
Mariah Parsons 07:21
back on the I just know I couldn't continue on without knowing what your like, thought tips are for that. Okay, awesome. I love, like, purpose, driven. I can already tell that you're very passionate about the space, obviously. So walk us through a little bit about the brand itself. Like, what's your customer? Tell us a little bit about like, who loves shopping with you? Yeah, give us a little bit of those, like high level demographics, sure. So
Desiree Rabuse 07:45
our customers, women, based in the US, anywhere from 18 to probably early 40s. We really focus on making our products conscious. Eco conscious. Again, I'm very purpose driven in my work, so I work really hard to you know, only do vegan ingredients, so everything is plant based. Our all of our packaging is recyclable. We ship mostly with only recyclable compostable materials. We donate a portion of our proceeds to carbon neutral companies, which automatically goes when you shop with us, to those companies through our platform. And as well as that, like I was telling you earlier, we we did buy a farm about four years ago. So now I am growing pollinator gardens basically everywhere. I grow Dahlia, Zinnias, roses, Gladiolus, and we take the seeds and we send those out to our customers. Well, the whole, the whole idea behind the skincare brand, which you can see behind me, this is our flowers for the planet skincare line. So it's flower based, and it also benefits the pollinators. So we have, you know, our customers very much appreciate that about our brand. I think they're very drawn to that purpose driven. I think in a in a very crowded space like beauty is, and it is very crowded, I think you have to differentiate yourself, and not just your products, but in how you operate and how you feel about the things you're passionate about, and what what you do in those spaces. So I think people really appreciate that effort there. When we first launched, we launched with like, powder face masks, and basically we deconstructed a wet mask and made it a powder form so you could water activate it. And how I came up with that idea was that I have really sensitive skin, and so I didn't want to use anything that had fragrance or preservatives or any kind of ingredient it was gonna, like, irritate my skin. So I started playing around. And I started, you know, basically deconstructing, you know, a regular face mask, made the powder mask, and then we put those in compostable and recyclable packaging, like these very slim envelopes. And I don't have them here with me. But, you know, I think just being, we're really kind of on the the edge of that whole like clean beauty, but also concerned with the packaging trend. And I our first launch for these masks was in 2019 and you know, people really appreciated that about our brand. So I think our customers are very they like the ingredients. They like. But they also like our purpose behind it. They tend to be in, you know, coastal states. We have obviously a lot of customers in California, New York and Oregon and Washington. So people that are passionate about their environment also want to use high quality products.
Mariah Parsons 10:12
Yeah, yeah. That makes a lot of sense. As a consumer. I very much, and I love that a lot of brands are now, especially like with E commerce are now taking that into consideration of like, okay, what purpose does our brand serve? So I very much always respect people who are similar minded in wanting to make sure that their passions, like, are translated into their brand, and especially like on the sustainability front. So I love that. I'm really
Desiree Rabuse 10:40
glad to see that it's becoming more common, more more popular, and that makes me so happy. You know, it's great that you're doing something differentiate yourself, and it's great that it catches on as a trend, and then maybe we stay there, right? Maybe I've seen some incredible packaging inventions, like, I've seen this, like packaging, like a plastic alternative that's made of seaweed. So, I mean, I love that, that that's the direction we're going in. Because I feel like if you're going to put products out in the world, you have to do them as thoughtfully as possible. And and we really need the corporations small, you know, smaller businesses are usually kind of really passionate about that, but we really need the big corporations to go in and start making big efforts there, because they're the ones who are really putting a lot of pollutants out into the environment. So, you know, if they're if they're working on making much more sustainable packaging, then it really makes a huge difference. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Mariah Parsons 11:30
totally agreed. And it's the smaller businesses and consumers who will drive that change. So I love that we're aligned there. Okay, so tell me a little bit more about the acquisition side of things, right? Obviously, this podcast, we're very focused on customer retention, but to have retention, you have to have acquisition. So I always like to kind of tee us up for that retention conversation, talking about acquisition like, what works best for you guys, you know, from from the beginning all the way up until now. And how have you seen acquisition change, sure. So
Desiree Rabuse 12:01
I think I was thinking about this earlier. And I really think an important part of having a good brand is being very curious. And I think if you are curious, you're staying ahead of the trends, you're staying on top of what's happening and what works. And I think if you stay curious and you continue to innovate with what your products and what you're doing, you will find your customers, and you will retain them by continuing to innovate and be interesting and be be a bit different from competitors, right? And again, I think the purpose is so important. And when you're doing things with purpose, you will do just come up with a lot of things, and you can try all sorts of things, right? So you, you, you launch out small like, when we were first starting the skincare brand, I just launched a couple things out, like a test run, just to see how it would do. And then that, like, caught up fire. And then all of a sudden, overnight, we had, like, 10s of 1000s in orders. And I think that that came from being curious. I created that product because I was like, Well, what if we just start removing all this stuff like, what if we remove all the Can we make a mask that you just activate in water? And that was sort of like my, my curious invention. I think that you retain customers by by being curious and creating innovative brands and products and then continuing to do that over and over again, right? And not being afraid to fail and trying a new product and saying, hey, well, this one worked. So I think that as a as a baseline, and then as far as, like going and getting new customers, I think that I'm a big person on trade shows. I think that you go and you meet people, and you find your customers that way. I think a lot of brands are really focused on getting in big box stores, when they should be focused on boutiques. Though, a lot of our products are in boutiques, smaller, smaller stores. And I have, I got some great advice, because I think as a you know, you're always looking to grow your brand. And the goal for a lot of founders is, oh, I need to get into a target, or I need to get into the Sephora. And I think the problem with that is that sometimes you might grow too fast, and so now you are going into 200 and now you don't have, you, you your your brand isn't well known enough to sell that stuff, and now you're getting a bunch of returns. I got great advice from a Revenue Officer at Shop Talk. Actually, it was like, Yeah, you know, you don't want to go into too many doors at once. So sometimes you start and those local boutiques get your brand out there, and you gain your customers that way. It doesn't always have to, like, you know, you don't, you don't have to be Jeff Bezos overnight. I don't think that you need to go so aggressively. I know that people like her about blitz scaling and all these things in certain areas. I'm sure that works. But, you know, I think when you're growing a brand and you're trying to grow your customer base and retain those customers, that sometimes starting locally, is really smart and growing, growing and gaining that popularity within your local markets, and then expanding out, or even if you do go into a big box store, like Target started 20 doors instead of 200 you know,
Mariah Parsons 14:51
yes, yeah. And I, yeah. I very much. I very much think it's I've seen a lot on this podcast of or just heard a lot from founders. Is when you are really trying to get to that level of scaling, right? You've had, like, multiple years of business, you understand certain things about how your operations run, but you still haven't gotten to that point where you're ready for, like, going truly viral or anything like that. Even, like your infrastructure, like your back systems, oh yeah, back end systems, of like, can you even manage going into, say, 200 Target stores or something like that? Of like, if that demand is really there, is your team ready for that? And, like all the and I sit, of course, in the customer experience realm with Malomo of okay, you want to make sure that when you get that customer, because they have such an high acquisition cost, you retain them and give them a really good experience pre and post purchase, right? So it's like, if you are, you are getting to that point where you can you have that, like, a bunch of different markets that aren't just, you know, your local markets, or your your top, you know, five markets, or whatever, if you're getting to that point, and then you launch, and then a bunch of new customers come in the door, which is great, because you've acquired them, but then they have a bad experience that does not help your attention right, because they're right, that is going to be so much harder to convince them to shop with you again if they have that bad experience, because your brand or your team isn't ready for being at that scale. So I love, I love that call out, and I also think it's especially which I'd be curious to hear what you'd have to say, kind of seeing, like, right before COVID hit, and then after, of, like, trade shows. Like, I think that is something people are just now getting back into on a regular cadence, right, like, we've been going back to events for a couple of years now, but like, now it's like, okay, I'm seeing, like, every month, not just, like, a few big ones, you know, and like, what works for you, for working the floor? Like, are you sponsoring? Are you getting a booth? Like, what are you going into? Just like, really, really specific beauty trade shows, even though there's probably more right, like, competition. But how are you kind of thinking about, like, Okay, I'm deciding to go to this trade show versus this one or whatnot. So
Desiree Rabuse 17:00
I really like, the reason I went to shop talk is because I really like their format of the one on one meetings. I really like how they set those mutually, you know, mutually you mutually agree to go to it right, so you're both interested and want to meet each other. So I went to shop talk because I thought that format was amazing. I also did New York now, because New York now is obviously being from New York, and our brand being from New York, it's a great discovery show, and I think that there's a lot of buyers there that are looking to discover new brands. So if you're a new brand, focus on going to shows where there are people buyers there that are purposely looking to discover new brands. Because, yeah, you're right. If you go to a big beauty show, like Cosmo prof or like IBS show they have, you know, every major beauty brand there, you might get lost in the mix a little bit again. So I'm saying it's better to maybe shrink things down a little bit and try to find your local markets and your local buyers, and grow that way, then try to go in and immediately compete with like, the biggest brands who have millions and millions of dollars to buy the biggest booth and all of that. It's great. You could still go to those shows, and I would. I haven't done actual like, you know, exhibiting at one of those big shows, but it's there's nothing wrong with just getting a ticket and walking the floor and talking to people. I've done that a million times. In fact, most of the times I'm not exhibiting, I'm just working the floor, and I bring my sample back, I get these products, and I put them in a clear bag, and I walk around with it, and people stop me, and they go, what is that? And I go, these are my products. And guess what? Now I'm talking to people. So I think make your products very visible. Walk around in a clear container, and don't be afraid to do that. I think people get a little intimidated by trade shows. I go to them all by myself, and I'm not even, like a super extroverted person. I'm definitely an introvert, like in my regular life, like I spend my days, you know, growing flowers and going to bed at eight o'clock at night these days,
Mariah Parsons 18:50
that sounds like a great life. I mean,
Desiree Rabuse 18:53
then too, so, but no, I definitely, I love trade shows, because everybody is there to do that, and it feels a lot less intimidating than if you were like, you know, going door to door or something, which I've also done, you know, you make it happen. It's you got to do what you got to do. But at trade shows, everyone's there for that reason. So it feels like, okay, get your business cards ready. And definitely still get business cards, because people think that they're gonna take a picture of your of your business card, and they're, who knows what's going to happen to that picture? Or I like handing out business cards, and I have a little QR code on there, and they can look up the catalog, they can look up our Instagram have all my information on that business card. So I still do old school business cards, do what you want, but I think that they're still effective, because you can put the QR code for like your catalog, or what else you want to put on there, and also your logo, and just make it memorable. Make your business card kind of cool looking. So, yeah, I love trade shows. I'm a big proponent of trade shows. I tell everybody, go to trade shows. I don't care if your product isn't even launched. Get it out there. Put a demo up, put a Wix site, up a demo, and go walk around and start signing people up, like, just make it happen. You know. Yeah. Much.
Mariah Parsons 20:00
Yeah, I love the founder seeing, like the founder side of you. It's very fun. And I yeah, I do. I very much think that, like, the transparent bag. I just went to Expo West. I don't know if you've gone before, but that was the first trade show that I've gone to that had brands exhibiting. And like, the amount of transparent bags with product that it just catches your eye. And, you know, okay, I have something to like, talk to this person about, I think, yeah, when founders or operators are hesitant, or just anyone, right? Like, not even just in the E comm brand world, but anyone is hesitant about trade shows, it's like, naturally, you have to, like, find something to talk about, right? So it's like, if you're not naturally that extroverted person who will just like, go and talk to a wall, then it's some it's really hard. And even if you are extroverted, it's still like, I'm pretty extroverted, so I have to even still take like, a breath and be like, Okay, now go introduce yourself. Like, I'll put it on me. But a lot of the times, it's like, nerve wracking, because you're meeting all these people, and it's a lot, and it's draining for anyone, and there are multiple days and all that stuff. So I think having the just the little, little things, like having a transparent bag, or I always wear, like, a fun color at trade shows, because it's like, something to talk to people about, or like a fun pattern, and then, you know you you can just, like, talk to them about that, or, like,
Desiree Rabuse 21:23
do this clothes be at your very best, do something. I was even like, should I get like, a pink bobbed wig and walk around with that? Like, yes, yes, you should things differently. I think that's the best advice I can give anybody, actually, is don't worry about being cringe or just be different and have the audacity. Another thing is, I don't like okay, and this is okay. So I don't like how people want you to shrink yourself down so that you are consumable. Like, I don't like how people, especially for women, how if you are to this or to that, You're too much. You're like, no, have the audacity be too much always. That's
Mariah Parsons 22:02
gonna be the title of this episode. Is just have the audacity,
Desiree Rabuse 22:05
oh, quit trying to shrink yourself down or, Oh, I don't want to be too I don't want to be too this or that. No, have the audacity 100% I don't, I don't believe in that. Like, you know, being worried about people thinking you're too much of this or that. Post your post your stuff. Go post on Instagram. Do your tick tocks. Do whatever you need to do. Don't worry about what people are thinking of you. Don't worry about being cringe. Make it happen. Like I just, I wish I could teach that to people that like that. You know, the zero F's given attitude you have to have it like if you want to be if you want to start something from scratch and build it up, it's like, you have to have the audacity. Yeah,
Mariah Parsons 22:47
no, I love calling it out and saying having the audacity to do so, and I think that'll resonate with a lot of our listeners who are like, maybe haven't found that way to be audacious and putting themselves out there. And you just never know. Maybe they're like, You know what? Okay, Desiree Mariah were talking about it. I'm just gonna do it and take it out. It's nice sign. So I love that. Okay, so trade shows, that's like, huge acquisition channel for you just to, like, get out, get your branding, get networking in all that fun stuff, and then I'm assuming the normal, you know, like, socials, email, all that, all that great stuff, once you're meeting those people, putting them in the top of the funnel and then nurturing them from there, correct? So let's flip into the retention side of things. How do you view retention, especially as a consumable product? I would love to get kind of your rundown of your strategy.
Desiree Rabuse 23:35
So I think that again, as I was saying earlier, innovating and releasing new, interesting products. So you have your regulars that are always going to buy the product that they originally started with with you, right? But you have to continue to improve that product as well as add new, more interesting products to your line. So you always have something to reach out to them about, right? So it's not just like, Oh, here's the same old thing. It's it's really not just releasing a new product, releasing a very unique, interesting product. Like, whenever you're doing something, you have to be a little bit different. You cannot be like every other thing that's out there. Like, you know, when we were releasing the flowers for the planet skincare line, every single product that I did was very, very unique, especially in the regards to a product we have called the NAD plus resveratrol skin booster. That is like a combination you will not find in skincare. In fact, you won't even find it, really, hardly any skincare brands even putting NAD plus in their skincare. So I was like this, I feel like is going to be and guess what? That's one of our best sellers. Like, people want something different. They just want to try something different. And not everything works for everyone's skin. You have to really find out what works best on your skin. So I think in particular, you know, in my industry, particularly the differentiation of the ingredients that nobody else is really using, but also make sure those ingredients are research backed and science based, like I will only use clinical grade ingredients that are backed by research. So. So those two, that combo of NAD plus and resveratrol, cannot find it anywhere else except for our product, and it is a an amazing combination for your skin and research.
Mariah Parsons 25:09
Yeah, yeah. So that makes a lot of sense. I think that product development, like I always say on this show, is you people won't come back if you don't have a good product, right? Like that is like baseline. And so it makes a lot of sense that you are iterating on those products, making them better, and trying to obviously release new things that are enticing and unique. And so that's like, one lever, I think about of like, okay, retention. Product has to be good. Check it off the list. It's good. People are returning. Obviously a really good sign, if you have those regulars, like you said, who are buying the same product, you know you've probably tweaked it from a product standpoint, of like, okay, this is better for this reason, but if they keep returning with you for that product, you know that you're in a good spot. Another lever that I always think about is obviously customer experience. Like I said, that's where my expertise sits in. So walk us through how you think about customer retention with customer experience, like, what touch points do you have with people pre and post purchase? Typically, like, what's that? What's that cycle? Like, of, you know, timeline between repeat buys. Of like, okay, usually every month someone is returning, and that's how we like, keep this cadence going, or every six months, what is, what is the kind of customer journey look like?
Desiree Rabuse 26:24
So I am really, like, involved with my customers. I'll, I'll, like, chat with them on Instagram, on the D I love that one of them. I have a regular. She loves our super greens line, which is a mask and a facial spray. And she's like, This is so weird. Like, I don't ever like just talk to brands like this. She was giving me feedback on some things that she liked and didn't like, and she was like, you know, I just it's so I'm like, You know what? I really appreciate the feedback. Like, if there's something about the packaging you don't like, then let me know. Like, I'm not offended. I like feedback, because guess what? That makes my brand better. That makes me do a better job. I'm not offended by it. I don't have any ego about if someone doesn't like my product, I'll be like, Oh well, why don't you like my product? You know what I mean? So I think that taking that feedback and just being personal with your customers, like anybody that reaches out to me, I respond to them personally, you know what I mean. And I'll be like, Oh no, I'm the founder. This is they're like, really? And I'm like, Yeah, I talked to everybody, you know. Like, I don't have, you know, I don't think I'm too good for that. I just, I like being really approachable, and I like, I'm talking to my customers and letting them know there's a real person on the other side of this, and it's, it's my entire heart put into this brand and this product. So I think just like being really personal with your customers, it helps that retention, because they become very loyal to you, because they feel like they know you and and I don't be afraid to just, you know, have a chat on DM and tell them, hey, I'm the founder. Like, tell me, talk to your customers, you know, like, I don't know, get feedback. Oh, send, oh, I also, like sending little I'll send like, little cards and coupons, like, Hey, if you write a review, we'll give you 30% off. Or, you know, all you know, I'll just send out little, like, little snippets of stuff, like, also, like, little easter eggs. I put like, a little alien on our, like, we have a scalp mask, and I put like a little tiny alien on there. And I was, like, anybody that reaches out to me and mentions this alien, I'm gonna, like, send them a gift. So,
Mariah Parsons 28:11
I don't know, just, you know, that's really cute. Yeah, that's really cute. Yeah. And, and
Desiree Rabuse 28:16
I Gosh, what is the other advice? I think that, obviously, there's a lot of AI that's very helpful. Like, if you want to go to the tech side of things, that is going to send, you know, like, you know, abandoned cart things and SMS text messages. Those are really important. Having a bot on your website to chat, if necessary, with customers. And you can even have that pushed toward to your cell phone. So like, I'm over here, you know, I would have something pushed to my cell phone and just like, start chatting with somebody, so, I don't know, staying very involved in it. I think that we are a lot of the times, yeah, we're doing a lot as a founder, especially, you know, solo founder. So you're delegating, you can delegate some stuff to other people, but still stay involved in it, and still, you know, be very involved in your brand. Like Diane Von Furstenberg, for example, She's extremely involved in her brand still. And I think that's beautiful, because that's like a legacy brand, and she's still there. She's still on top of things every day, doing the designs. And I think that that is awesome. And, yeah, I think that, you know, on the tech side, I think SMS messaging is really effective, probably more so than email. There are some really, really cool loyalty programs out there. Now, I was talking to one company that they're doing, like, gamified advertising. So they're like, you know, gamifying the advertisements where you like, like, earn rewards, are playing little games, and they're doing it through, like, casinos. I thought that was pretty interesting, and actually something I might try. And then, yeah, I think that's, you know, that's kind of where, I keep my retention, yeah, yeah, that
Mariah Parsons 29:42
makes a lot of sense. And I like that you brought up the tech side, because that was going to be my follow up of, yeah, I think it's great to be involved as a founder in the brand, right? Like, you're still so, so heavily, you know, on the day to day, boots on the ground, yeah? But I also think sometimes bringing in Tech is a great idea. Idea for like, okay, maybe this is not the area that I need to be, like, directly, manually, doing myself. And so, like, you brought up Support Chat widgets of like, okay, maybe it gets directed to your phone. If it's not something that can be like, a like, a lower status, of like, Okay, where is my order or something like that, right? Where it's like, okay, well, chat bot can probably direct you to what's your name, account number, track your order. Here's your page, versus something that's more like customer feedback of like, Hey, I don't like this, or I like this, or blah, blah, blah. And you can kind of set those parameters, so yeah, kind of walk me through. Like, where do you I guess? I guess the best way to phrase it is like, where do you invest your own time versus where do you kind of say, like, okay, tech actually can, you know, I'm going to overlay this here, because that isn't jeopardizing you know, your strengths as a founder of like, where you can have those personable moment, moments with people, but like, still keep yourself sane in like, tech is going to help you, you know, accomplish certain things just and take things off your plate that need to be taken off because there's only so much time.
Desiree Rabuse 31:07
Yeah, so I kind of have to do a wear a lot of hats. I'd say I focus most of my time on the product development, the creative side of things. So very much in charge of the esthetic look of the products, the development of them, the ingredients that go into them. I mean, I'm very much involved in, like, every aspect. I always say, have a lot of automated emailing going on, and text messaging, customer service, you know, outsource that sort of thing. But again, like I said, everything gets kind of pushed to me, like on I still go. I'm still the one managing my social account. I manage the style Fox account. I'm in the DM so it's me, and I like doing it, though I like being involved in my brand. It's my baby. I've had it for, you know, like, for 10 years now, I guess, and I will always be very involved with it. I'm sort of like a helicopter parent with my brand. A lot
Mariah Parsons 31:55
of, I think a lot of founders are, yeah, yeah. It's
Desiree Rabuse 31:58
because it's, it is like my child, and so I, I'm really, I'm really concerned with, you know, the interactions that we have with our customers, and making sure that those are good interactions and that we're, you know, you know, sometimes someone's package doesn't come in, and that really sucks, because it's like, you know, you do your best as a founder to make sure everything is getting out and, you know, insured or whatever, and then it goes missing, and then The customer is mad at you, and you're like, I did my job. I'm so sorry, but I'm going to do my best to, like, reconcile this, you know, and that's just part of the business. But, yeah, you know, I like staying involved. And I like, again, like I you there's a lot of things you can now with technology, delegate out if you need more help marketing or whatever, there's, you know, if you need another marketing person, there's so many cool ways of getting, you know, remote workers, freelance or whatever. I mean, the freelance industry is incredible. I mean, I feel like there's just so much available now that wasn't there 10 years ago. Yeah, it's, there's a lot of help out there if you need it. And even if you're on a tight budget, it's there. Like, just, you have to go to trade shows again, like, I swear I discovered so much. I mean, that's how I met you guys, right? I've met so many great tech companies at the trade shows for stuff that I needed. Like, I was looking for a new affiliate program and a new influencer like program, and I found a great one. And I think that, you know, you just have to stay on top of things, and stay on top of the technology and be, again, curious about what's out there and how you can use that to improve and take a little load off of you get some help.
Mariah Parsons 33:28
Yeah, yeah, exactly right. Like, that that, like, it might be harder to admit, like, Okay, I need, I need someone to help me. Because, like, it's you go from having to bootstrap and do it all, and then, like, get to that point where, like, Oh God, I can't do it all like something's gotta budge, right? So I love, I love that honesty, and I always love to provide the space too. If you want to give any of those tech partners a shout out, because you've loved working with them, feel free, but no pressure, too.
Desiree Rabuse 33:52
What? What tech partners do? I like, I love HubSpot, great, and let's see the new influencer program that I'm testing out now. It's called endless,
Speaker 1 34:01
uh, okay, E, L,
Desiree Rabuse 34:05
S, S, and that's a it's really cool. I've already been digging around in it, and I'm like, this is very smart. It's very efficient. It automates a lot of the messaging. It automatically pulls up Instagram profiles, tick tock profiles. You can, you know, search by engagement rate. You can, like, it's just a pretty cool platform. So Max Maris, I think that's how you say his last name is the is the sales person I'm dealing with there. So shout out to endless.
Mariah Parsons 34:31
I love it. I love it so much. That's what we're all just trying to be here, helping each other, right? That's, that's what we're here for. Okay, well, I, I'm going to wrap us up with one last question, because we were just talking about retention and the best tech stacks for ecommerce brands and obviously doing a lot of research around what is worth it, what is not all that fun stuff. So where do you kind of turn to when you're at that point where, like, Okay, I'm ready to offload something like, I know I can't keep this on my plate. Where are you looking for those, you know, tech recommendations or freelance recommendations? Slack channels, social. Where are you turning?
Desiree Rabuse 35:02
Yeah, junkie, I have to go in person I was talking to, you know, again at Shop Talk. Again is an incredible trade show. Everybody should go to. If you can get anybody, if you have a business, you will get value out of that show because of the one on one meetings and the sheer number of tech companies there. And for me, I get spammed every single day by tech companies and all sorts of things. And so am I opening up those emails and looking at them? No, because they're usually ending up in spam, or I just don't have time, so they end up going on red and getting probably deleted at some point now, at a trade show, I am now having to go through all these companies like when they they match you up at shop shop talk that you have to go through and pick who you want to see, and you got to read about that company, understand what they're doing, and then they match you. And so I'm going through hundreds and hundreds of companies, tech companies, retailers, and getting matched that way. And then I'm going and meeting them in person and building a rapport I'm understanding their product, and that's how I'm buying tech now. I can't do it over email. I was, you know, it's just it's too much. I'm getting spammed every single day, dozens of spam emails on LinkedIn on and I just would rather meet in person. I'm a real, like face to face person with business. I like being, you know, talking to someone. And hey, I've made a ton of friends now on my tech friend, except for them who are also friends. So I love it, yeah,
Mariah Parsons 36:13
I wish we could be in person, like just talking some days. Desiree will get there, right? Well, this has been there. Yes, yes, yes, yes, please. Would love to Yes. There actually is a shop talk fall in Chicago. They started it last year. Yes, yeah, yeah. Okay, beautiful. Well, this has been so fun. Thank you again for making the time before we hopped on. You know, we were saying there's so many things in on your plate and that you're doing and everything. So it very, very, much. Leaves me with a lot of gratitude always after these calls. So thank
Desiree Rabuse 36:44
you, yeah, thank you for your time. It was great chatting. Good. I'm so glad. Yay. All right,
Mariah Parsons 36:55
thank you for listening to today's episode. These conversations bring so much knowledge to the table, and I'm so grateful for that. If you haven't already, please subscribe, follow us on social media and tell us who our next guest should be on our website. Let's give another shout out to our day one sponsor, Malomo. As you know, Malomo is an order tracking platform that enables Shopify brands to take control of their transactional email and SMS through branded order tracking pages. That means you can ditch those boring, all white carrier pages, you know the ones I'm talking about. Everyone has seen an ugly tracking page in their life, and you can swap it with a page that matches your brand. Customers like you and I obsessively check order tracking an average of 4.6 times per order. That's why leading Shopify brands are turning that engagement into customer loyalty and revenue through branded order tracking. Learn more about how to get ahead of shipping issues, brand your order tracking experience and reconvert customers while they wait for their package to arrive with Malomo. Visit go malomo.com that's g, O M, a, l, o m, o.com you.
