281. Why Owning Your Customers Beats Targeting Them

0:00Welcome to day nine, how to convert your dream customers into raving fans. If you want your brand to be unshakable, if you want predictable, profitable growth, then you must internalize one truth. You need to own your customers. They are your most valuable asset. Not the distributor, not the retailer, not the algorithm, not the broker. Your customer, your community, your tribe. They are the engine behind your sales, your innovation, your brand story, and your runway. When you build a thriving, connected community around your brand, one that you engage, nurture, and celebrate, you transform occasional shoppers into loyal evangelists.

0:38Today's episode is about mastering that transformation. Why traditional consumer targeting is failing most brands? Big brands and generic solution providers treat customers as one-dimensional segments. The health-conscious shopper, the value shopper, the busy mom, the young professional. It's surface level. It's simplistic. It misses everything that makes your consumer, your consumer. There's how mainstream thinking defines a health-conscious shopper. They eat less processed foods and exercise regularly. You and I both know that's not enough. In our world, mission-driven, natural, better-for-you brands, your core customer, also cares deeply about the environmental impact, reads every ingredient label, avoids additives they can't pronounce, supports mission-driven brands, seeks out sustainable packaging.

1:29Thinks about the world they want their kids to inherit. Buys intentionally, not impossibly. Builds premium baskets across multiple departments. This isn't a persona. This is a living, breathing human whose value is aligned with your why. Your customer goes out of the way to buy your product. They pay a premium. They support your mission. And when you unlock this relationship, they become exponentially more valuable to retailers. This is where true brand building begins. What happens when you don't know your customer? Let me paint you a picture. If I walk into a store and buy your product, you'll learn nothing about me, why I bought it, how I use it, what problem I need solved, what else I buy with it, how I talk about it to friends, whether I'm in love with the brand or just curious.

2:17In that scenario, you can't nurture me, you can't tailor your messaging, you can't invite me deeper into your ecosystem, You can't differentiate yourself beyond price. What happens next? Most brands try to compensate by offering deep discounts, but promotions don't build loyalty. They build churn. They attract price shoppers. They train people to chase deals. They do nothing to convert anyone into a raving fan. Let's fix that. The future-proof strategy, build your own community. Here's the reality no one talks about. When your product sits on a retailer shelf, whether in-store or online, you're renting that space.

2:56You don't own it. You don't control access to it. You don't control who sees it. And you can lose it at any time. The way to reduce that risk is to build your own thriving community online, a tribe you connect with, nurture, and support directly. This is not an either-or strategy. This is an and strategy. So wherever your customer shops, but build your relationship inside your home. Here's how. Number one, don't rely on social platforms you don't own. An algorithm change can wipe out your reach overnight. Number two, use retail plus social to invite people into your community. This is where the long-term value is built.

3:36Number three, capture email addresses and create a member space on your website. This is your home base. Number four, build a connected, supportive community. People don't want more brands. They want connection and meaning. When you do this well, you begin to truly own your customer, and that changes everything. Why your tribe is better than any focus group. Brands spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on consumer research only to get generic feedback. Opinions from people who don't represent your true customers. misleading insights and innovation recommendations that miss the mark. Why?

4:14Because the participants aren't your ideal customers. But your tribe is. Your community, self-identified as your target customer, understands your mission, shares your values, wants you to succeed, has a vested interest in your innovation, gives honest, relevant feedback, becomes your unofficial R &D. Imagine walking into retail with a new product innovation that's already validated and eagerly anticipated by your loyal community. That's next level leverage. Your idea customer is you, just a few steps behind. This is one of the most important lessons in brand building. Your idea customer is often you before you created your brand.

4:54Think about your journey. What problem were you trying to solve? What frustrations did you face? What breakthrough moment led you to your brand? What transformation did you seek? Your customers are walking that same path. That's why your why resonates so deeply with them. When you share your story authentically, they see themselves in you. They trust you. They feel understood. They stay. They advocate. That's how occasional customers become raving fans. Traditional marketing reacquires the same customer over and over again. This is one of the costless mistakes brands make. Most marketing systems are designed to acquire a customer, lose them, try to reacquire them, lose them again, repeat forever.

5:39It's expensive, it's inefficient, and it's not sustainable. But when you nurture customers into a loyal tribe, acquisition costs drop, lifetime value increases, word of mouth accelerates, retailers see strong performance, innovation becomes easier, price competition becomes irrelevant. This is how you future-proof your brand. This is how you build something retailers can't ignore. This is how you gain an unfair competitive advantage. Day 9 action item. Build a first layer of your community strategy. Today, answer these questions. 1. Who is your ideal customer? Describe them as if they were a close friend.

6:172. Where does your community live online today? Email, social, retail, events. 3. What platform will you own long term? Your website, a membership area, a private group? Number four, what value can you give them weekly? Tips, stories, coupons, recipes, support, behind-the-scenes access. Number five, how will you invite customers into your tribe? Shelf messaging, QR codes, email sign-up, package inserts. Start small. Start authentically. Start now. Your community is your moat. It's your runway. It's your growth engine. In closing, raving fans build raving brands. When you own your customer, when you know them deeply, when you nurture them intentionally, when you make them feel seen, valued, and understood, they reward you with loyalty, advocacy, higher basket value, valuable feedback, brand evangelism, category leadership.

7:13Tomorrow in episode 282, we'll dive into how to influence retailers by leveraging the power of your unique shopper so you can go into every retail meeting with insights no competitor can offer. Make sure you subscribe. Share this episode with a founder who needs to shift from chasing customers to cultivating a tribe and download today's guide. Your tribe is waiting. Let's start inviting them in. For additional inspiration, listen to the follow podcast episodes. Episode 151, Sales Success Customer First Strategies for Brands with Mike Forbes with Alter Ego. Unlock sales success with customer first strategies.

7:52Learn how to align brand values that enhance trade marketing effectiveness. Mike Forbes, CEO of AlterEgo, emphasizes the importance of leveraging strategies from mainstream CPG to help natural brands. This begins with always putting your customer first. Then listen to episode 135, Marketing Success Strategies for Building Trust, with Megan from Good Billy. Unlock your brand's potential with effective marketing success strategies that prioritize customer relationships and authentic communication. Megan discusses the importance of brands understanding their core customer space. Megan, with experience in advertising and brand management, highlights the significance of customer insights and building brand equity in developing effective marketing strategies.

8:38And then listen to episode six, brand strategies that empower today's brands with Bill Bishop with Brick Mixed Click. The reality is that customers don't pick up your brand. They buy your brand the way they used to buy it several years ago. Now they look at the brand beyond the four corners of your package. They learn about your brand. This is what we've been talking about. Instead of going into a store and buying your brand because they're used to buying it, now they're going into the store. They look at your brand and try to understand a little bit about you, the owner, where the ingredients come from, how transparent you are in terms of putting together the product, etc.

9:14This is why it's so critically important to develop a strategy to bring customers into your ecosystem, to bring them into your community, to better understand how they use your product and how they share it with their friends and family. Tip of the day, you need to own your customers. They're your most valuable asset. Build a thriving, connected community to engage and nurture them. How you convert your dream customers into loyal evangelists. Thank you for listening. This episode has accompanied video with illustrations and additional information that I can share in an audio podcast. You can watch it at retailsolved.com slash 30-day challenge.

9:50You can get the show notes for this episode by going to retailsolved.com slash session 281. Tomorrow's episode is how to create a thriving, engaged community today. This episode will build on today's conversation. Want more sales? How to profitably scale a food business today, tomorrow, and beyond. Here's this week's free downloadable guide. The 30-Day to Prosperity Workbook is a companion to the 30-Day Challenge. This Retail Solve Blueprint will teach you what you need to know to confidently grow and scale your brand, build a connected community of loyal evangelists, and multiply your brand's impact, sales, and profits.

10:25Every slight improvement means more runway for sales growth, higher brand evaluations, better terms when negotiating with investors, fuel for more innovation, greater support for mission-based causes, and much more. Thanks for joining us today. Please reach out and share your most pressing questions, and I'll do my best to get you the answers that you need on future episodes, including expert advice from CEOs and industry thought leaders. Comment, leave your questions, and get this week's free downloadable guide and the show notes at retailsolved.com slash session 281.