Last week, one of my clients released a new podcast episode with one of our B2B brand owners, named Emma.
She supplies her products to our site, and we sell them to our thousands upon thousands of not only satisfied customers, but loyal-to-the-bones types.
Before diving in, it’s important to mention that my client’s customers weren’t always this loyal. In fact, when we started working together in the tailend of 2019, his business was holding on for dear life by a thin thread.
Why?
Well, there were a bunch of reasons:
1. His email marketing engine was completely offline: Emails he sent out prior to working together almost never even sniffed 10% open rates. They had even more abysmal sales rates.
2. Google updated their algorithm in 2015, and tanked my clients 150,000+ monthly organic views down to only 20,000 (or fewer)
3. Facebook banned his advertising accounts, and he couldn’t figure out a way to get them back, or try another advertising medium that worked.
And there were plenty of more examples of why his once prosperous business wasn’t making as much as it did in the past. For example, since the average age of our customers is pretty high, there’s a good chance many folks on his email list were no longer here.
Well, that’s something that changed immediately and dramatically when we started working together:
First, we saw emails climb above 10% opens. (Today, they average between 35-45%.)
Then, we saw our revenue from email skyrocket—to the point where he now works with a Facebook advertising agency who set up a new ad account for him.
Next, we saw our list grow and grow and grow. Today, our engaged list has about 35k members.
And, perhaps most important of all, we’ve created loyal customers:
Back to the main story of today’s email…
Throughout the pandemic, Emma’s products literally saved our customers’ lives. Why? Well, without spilling all the beans, they help deliver oxygen to one’s body: Something that was mightily important during the pandemic.
More:
The more customers bought and used these novel products, the more use cases they discovered. A “hidden” benefit of loyal customers is that they get creative with your products (which make for not only more use cases, but for more personal, impactful, and authentic reviews too).
And while Emma was busy crafting up new ways to use this superior form of oxygen, she discovered that it was helpful to a myriad of eye health problems.
But since she only tested it on herself, she didn't know two crucial things:
1. If these benefits would carry over to others
2. If the benefits did carry over, she didn’t know whether an eye health product was something folks would be interested in—and she didn't want to waste her time creating something that sat in her warehouse for years.
And so, Emma called on my client for help (which really means she called on me since I handle everything email marketing related).
Her ask?
She wanted to put together an anecdotal study, looking at people with serious eye problems and seeing if her new product idea could help.
During the interview with my client, she expressed that her ultimate hope from working with us on this was to get 12 participants.
She didn't realize how loyal our customers are or how eager they are to do our bidding…
I sent out an email asking the army if’n they’d like to help.
Our response?
We got more than 200—and mayhap closer to 300—participants from something she would’ve considered an absolute win to get only 12 participants.
Such is the power of a loyal customer base.
Not only did the study come much quicker and more reliable because of all the extra participants, but the product came to market sooner, and it made more moolah than Emma ever expected.
And you know what?
None of this would’ve been possible had my client not said “yes” to working together back in 2019. You can’t build a loyal customer overnight.
Which reminds me…
If you dream about having customers so loyal that they actively help you scale your business, and even become “unpaid interns,” the sooner you hit reply, the sooner I can start working my magic.
John
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