By Adam Goodrich
Blog V in a series illustrating how marketing informs stories. This blog uses the following article to form a perspective, Helix: A D2C Uncovers the ROI of CRM and LTV, by Steve Smith.
In the article by Steve Smith and published by MediaPost, Helix: A D2C Uncovers the ROI of CRM and LTV, we learn about a D2C (Direct to Consumer) brand that has shifted the focus of their marketing and growth strategy on building relationships with those who have purchased their products, and away from acquiring new customers. Helix is a mattress startup, and their new brand AllForm is a stand alone project they hope will form two separate vertical growth opportunities. As Covid forced consumers to shop online for products like mattresses and sofas Helix saw an uptick in business. The shift to relationship based marketing helped the company navigate supply chain delays and mitigate people of the ‘Prime’ mentality expecting their orders within 2-5 days, while increasing sales.
My interpretation of this article is a company’s parlay of smart marketing and customer service to stay balanced on a tightrope withstanding a sustained gale. Covid increased online shopping at an exponential rate. Companies like Helix likely did not have ‘global pandemic’ in their SWOT analysis as an ‘O’ (opportunity). Nevertheless online shoppers for mattresses and sofas turned up the sales volume at Helix and AllForm and the brand had to respond.
Shipping delays due to Covid became a major pain point for Helix and AllForm. The article highlights the shift to relationship based marketing and maximizing LTV (Lifetime Value) as a growth factor, which it appears it was (is), but not mentioned was that it was a gigantic bandaid over their injured supply chain. Let’s be honest we’ve all ordered something (since March) that was either delayed or cancelled due to the distributor or the shipping company and in the age of Amazon, that is simply not acceptable… let me clarify that it is absolutely acceptable, just that we are now programmed to think whether we order a toothbrush, sofa, or new car it will be at our door within the week.
Helix started managing and massaging their customer’s expectations with strategic, transparent, one-to-one style, conversational emails. This allowed the company to explain the shipping delays with full disclosure, and also build trust to lay the the path for marketing AllForm products. Helix then added SMS to complement their email marketing and relationship building. After a brief learning curve the SMS soon became a parallel communication medium to email and a thriving new sales channel.
The lesson here is that a ‘less than prime’ supply chain can be mitigated by use of the human conversational touch. Relationship based marketing and looking at data management from a customer level can help a company differentiate and be competitive through product and customer excellence, and avoid an operational pitfall such as pandemic-induced supply chain pain. With that said, next time your order is delayed, please hear them out.