Harbor Marketing Agency Partners with our 3PL Company to Help Business Owners Like You!
Subscription boxes are surging in popularity, especially as more and more people opt to shop from home. So if you’ve come up with a spectacular subscription box idea, you’re in excellent company.
In the competitive market of subscription boxes, it can be hard to break through. But if you know you have a great, in-demand idea, with a bit of ingenuity and strategic digital marketing, you can make major waves with your target demographic!
Steve Krakower, CEO and founder of Harbor Marketing Agency, a direct response and ecommerce firm, sat down with us to answer the big questions people starting a new subscription box might have on their mind.
Let’s start with the million-dollar question! What’s the secret to marketing a subscription box?
Steve: You have to put a lot of time and energy into a product offering and the right business idea. You have to have a compelling offer to bring to the market. Half the battle is getting the right product out there.
Let’s say you have a compelling offer, and you’re ready to make sales. What’s the first marketing tactic a business owner should employ?
Steve: First, set up a website, and make sure you’ve consulted with professionals to build one. They know all the intricacies of user experience, conversion best practices, search engine optimization, and good design principles. Do it right the first time to lay a strong foundation for success.
Once that’s done, your first place to start is a Facebook ads campaign. Choose one that will help you build brand awareness and get some page likes.
Recognize that results will be slow in the beginning. Facebook ads aren’t a magic bullet.
What kind of expectations should someone have in the beginning of launching their business, then?
Steve: Go in with the right expectations. It rarely happens that you’d crush it right out of the gate.
Let’s go back to websites. You mentioned user experience. What aspects of website user experience should be at the forefront?
Steve: Make sure your website is set up correctly and easy to navigate. The path of least resistance to check out always wins. That means you don’t want your customers to have to click through lots of screens to make a purchase.
Should a subscription box website look a certain way? Or is function the most important thing?
Steve: A well-designed website is important, too. You’ll want to include quality photos of your products – both lifestyle imagery and regular shots. Video demonstrations are also a great idea.
And definitely hire a professional copywriter to craft compelling website copy. Place a high focus on creative. Your copy and imagery must be good for your target audience to be receptive.
Creative and messaging really matters, and it does make an impact.
What other digital marketing tactics might a new subscription box company use?
Steve: A lot of people go wrong by only focusing on direct response marketing, like Facebook and Instagram ads. They’re really valuable, but top-of-funnel channels that aren’t trackable are valuable, too.
When should a subscription box business owner consult with a marketing agency?
Steve: When first starting out, most subscription box business owners may not have the funds to pay for professional marketing services. At that point, take free online courses, talk to people who have successfully scaled ecommerce businesses, and network.
When you gain traction and start having money to reinvest in the business, then you can contact a marketing agency.
Or, if you’ve been trying really hard for a long time, a marketing agency can provide you with an audit to help you identify your sticking point — what’s blocking you from succeeding.
It sounds like a marketing agency could take some of the responsibility off of a business owner starting a new subscription box.
Steve: That’s exactly right. It frees up time to work on big picture aspects of the business.
Another great way to free up your time to focus on business development is partnering with Shipping Pilot, a third-party shipping logistics company that does so much more!
We can help you by handling many aspects of building a subscription box, including warehousing, kitting, and shipping logistics.
We’re experts because we’ve built our own successful subscription boxes and are driven to see others succeed in the market.
Request a free discovery call on our website, or call us at 1-505-SHIP-NOW to see how we can help you succeed in the competitive world of subscription boxes and ecommerce.
