Even if physical demos are available, the level of sophistication that Social Nature provides in terms of targeting and communication with customers is virtually impossible for a small brand like ours to replicate outside this platform.
Impact at a glance
Hyper-targeting the right consumers
The Social Nature community is the fastest-growing better-for-you shopping community in North America.
To help Sweet Nothings hyper-target the right consumers and support their retail launch, pre-trial survey questions were carefully designed with the help of the Customer Success team. These survey questions pre-qualify and determine which of Sweet Nothings’ product attributes were most compelling in converting new consumers to try their products.
This data can be applied to support new consumer acquisition and product positioning by aligning the most compelling attributes across key communication channels.
Geo-targeting was also critical to ensure the right audience was sent to the right stores where Sweet Nothings products were distributed. In this way, the propensity to drive repeat purchases would be highest. To qualify for an invitation to pick up a free product to try, consumers must match all three points:
Targeting criteria determined by Sweet Nothings
A current shopper at that specific retailer banner
Live within six miles of the target store list
Leveraging feedback and reviews
Reviews offer social proof to influence purchases for new and existing customers.
Some of our best endorsements on our website are from the Social Nature product reviews, which has been extremely helpful in giving new customers a picture of what the product tastes like and how it could fit into their everyday life.
Positive impact at retail
As a young brand, growing in retail is a constant endeavor. Sweet Nothings used Social Nature’s consumer insights and product reviews to validate how the product’s innovative format and positioning could help drive incremental dollars to support new retail listings.
Kroger is now doubling Sweet Nothings business to from a 7-division pilot to a 15 division roll-out, many in new geographies. Being able to use the Social Nature platform to give core customer targets a free sample as their introduction to the brand is a crucial mechanism to build brand awareness, drive trial, and encourage loyalty.
We have not found a program with a better ROI for learning directly from our customers. We have gained a much deeper understanding of who our customer is, what they care about, and how to best communicate our value proposition.