282. Why Brands Without Community Always Lose

0:00Welcome to Day 10, how to create a thriving, engaged community today. If you want your brand to grow predictably, profitably, and sustainably, you need more than a great product on a retail shelf. You need a community, a living ecosystem of people who know you, trust you, love you, and advocate for you. But here's the truth. The brands that win in the future are the brands that own the relationship with their customer today. Welcoming shoppers into your community, embracing them, making them feel seen, heard, and valued. That's how you convert casual interest into deep loyalty. And loyalty is the engine behind every thriving natural brand.

0:38Let's dig deeper. Why putting your product on the store shelf isn't enough. In the previous episodes, I made one critical point. If I buy your product in a store, you still know nothing about me. You don't know why I bought it. You don't know how I use it. You don't know what problem it solves for me. You don't know when I buy it or who I share it with. That means you can't market to me effectively. You can't nurture me. You can't retain me. You can't turn me into an evangelist. This is one of the biggest reasons promotional spending is so ineffective. You're essentially shouting into the void, hoping your message reaches someone at the right time.

1:16Future-proofing your brand requires a different approach. The better you get to know your customer, the easier it is to grow. When you build a relationship with your customer outside of retail through email, community spaces, memberships, texts, events, and groups, you unlock insights most brands never gain access to. You begin to understand what they buy, why they buy, when they buy, and how they use your product, which other products they pair yours with, what pain points they haven't articulated yet, what they wish existed in the category. This is where true innovation comes from. This is where profitable marketing comes from.

1:55This is how similar shoppers find you organically. And this is far more cost-effective and accurate strategy than relying on traditional marketing or consumer research. A real example, how customer insight transformed a brand. Our one podcast episode, I shared the story of a struggling oatmeal brand. They marketed their product as a traditional hot cereal. But when they finally surveyed their customers, they learned that most of them were using it as a baby food. Once they knew this, everything changed. Their messaging shifted, their packaging evolved, their content changed. Their marketing aligned with actionable usage.

2:32Sales exploded. This is why knowing your customer on an intimate level will change your entire business. When you understand your customer, your selling store becomes clearer, your innovation becomes sharper, and your retail strategy becomes more effective. Speak their language, even if they haven't found the words yet. Let's imagine a future customer. They're struggling with bloating, low energy, and achy joints. They're frustrated. They've tried everything. They can't articulate the problem, but you can. In your messaging, you say, feeling achy, tired, or bloating? You might have overlooked a hidden sensitivity, one that thousands of people struggle with but rarely identify.

3:12Now they're curious. Now they feel seen. Now you've spoken directly to their unspoken pain. You didn't come in saying, hey, we're gluten-free, buy our stuff. You started where they are, confused, frustrated, searching. This builds trust, this builds connection, and this builds loyalty. You've solved a problem they didn't know how to name. That's how brands win hearts, not just carts. This is exact information retailers need and can't get from anyone else. Leveraging the power of your unique shopper is how you can go into every retailer meeting with insights no competitor can offer. Make sure you're subscribed.

3:51Share this episode with the founder looking for more loyal shoppers and download today's guide. Your tribe is waiting. Let's invite them in. For additional inspiration, listen to the follow podcast episodes. Episode 210, Fixing Our Broken Food System by Embracing Nature with Chloe Salvino with Forbes. Explore fixing our broken food system with a focus on nature and local solutions for sustainable future. Chloe, a Forbes writer, discusses her journey into food and agricultural and journalism, highlighting her passion for food and gardening. She emphasizes the importance of understanding the complexities of the food supply chain from farm to table.

4:30Chloe also touches on the inequities of the broken food system and the need for greater awareness about the true cost of our food. And then listen to episode 205, the impact of regenerative organic on sales growth with Matthew with Chai's Organic. Chai's Organic is a regenerative organic brand. This is a great episode because Matthew talks a lot about how he leverages a lot of the strategies that we're talking about here. In this episode, Matthew talks about how he's developed a relationship with his customers and how he nurtures them and keeps them coming back again and again. His customers are extremely loyal to their brand and more importantly, his brand is connected to the community where the products are made, Sri Lanka.

5:12His customers understand and love the impact that they're making on organic farming. Matthew shares his story about how his brand is making an impact, a lasting impact on helping farmers around the world, about how his product resonates with customers, and how he's using his story to help customers find his brand. And then listen to episode 75, A Disruptive Startup Reviving a Dying Category Strategy, with Joel Clark with Kodiak Cakes. Discover how a destructive startup revived a dying category through innovation and understanding customer needs. Kodiak Cakes, a whole grain pancake mix, experienced significant growth after introducing a protein-infused mix in 2014.

5:54The brand's success highlights the potential for innovation in stagnant categories and the value consumers place on healthier, high-quality products. And Lynn listed episode 223, How to Boost Shopper engagement and explode sales effectively with Ollie Bridge with Bonjuro. Explore effective strategies to boost shopper engagement and explode sales without relying on expensive promotions. Bonjuro, a tool for personalizing video communication, helps business connects with their customers, increases engagement, and drives sales. It integrates with other tools based on consumer actions, fostering loyalty and providing valuable insights.

6:32Tip of the day, welcome shoppers in your community. Embrace them. Tell you how much you appreciate them. Invite them to co-create your products and become part of your brand. Thank you for listening. This episode has a company video with illustrations and information I can't share in an audio podcast. You can watch it at retailsolve.com slash 30-day challenge. You can get the show notes for this episode by going to retailsolve.com slash session 282. Tomorrow's episode is how to become a great storyteller and connect with customers. This episode will build our today's conversation. Want more sales?

7:08How 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. Every 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.

7:39Thanks 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 RetailSolve.com slash session 282.