How Kōv Essentials Hit $1M in Year One With Zero Paid Ads

0:00Chelsea Branch:I got nearly 2 million views on this video, so that really forced me to figure out when and how we were going to launch. Going viral on social media isn't the unlock you might think it is, because views don't automatically translate to sales. My guest today, Chelsea Branch, is no stranger to creating epic content and growing organically on socials, but she also captured intentional customers and figured out product development and logistics that scale. I lacked the conversation about sample lead times, and it's something that has been a bit more difficult on our end. Her brand, CovEssentials, is known for inclusive hair clips and accessories made for any and all hair types.

0:38They generated over a million dollars in sales in the first year with zero paid customer acquisition. Chelsea's here now to break down the content strategy that actually converts and everything she wishes she did before growing her online community. Algorithms changing and things don't go viral the same way that they used to. I'm your host Serena Smith and welcome to Shopify Masters, your companion for starting and scaling a business. Chelsea, thanks so much for being here. Hi, thank you so much. I'm so excited. My fellow Canadian. I know, right? Okay, so this in many ways begins with a viral TikTok video five-ish years ago.

1:13It now has more than 350 ,000 likes on it.

1:18Chelsea Branch:What was it and what happened? And it's such a funny story because I feel like there should be so much more intention behind it. But we were in the late stages of sampling and I was young, just out of university, living at home. And I saw an opportunity as like TikTok was really trending at the time. And I asked my mom to come to a local field, literally a field with me, and to film me putting my hair in one of our final samples. And I was like, you know what, I'm just going to post it, see what comes from it and hope for the best. And I posted it. I woke up the next morning and my notifications were literally blowing up.

1:57Chelsea Branch:And it really, really snowballed from there. Isn't it so crazy? I feel like in everybody's story of virality, there's always that moment where they're like, and I woke up the next day and I looked at my phone and I was like, what is happening? No, literally never in a million years could I have expected that response. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's always kind of a mysterious thing. And obviously, the algorithm is constantly changing. But like looking back, is there something that you credit with that kind of virality? yeah that's a difficult question I feel like virality has so many unknowns around it but one thing that I would say that really helps when it comes to organic socials is I love the saying done is better than perfect I think if you just have an idea you run with it you post it it's also about I guess timing is very important when it comes to socials as well at that point not as much because it wasn't a trend but at the same time I just posted it I went off on a whim I posted it.

2:55Chelsea Branch:And that's kind of what we saw over the years of building Cove on socials is that going out on a whim and posting things that you feel confident about have such a better payoff than those more curated, intentional, well thought through videos when it comes to TikTok specifically. Is that the content strategy and the approach to socials that you've continued to take over the last five years, like favoring a little bit more lo-fi, unpolished, impromptu content over the more heavily produced stuff? Yeah, I would say our content strategy has definitely evolved as algorithms have evolved. I mean, a lot has changed as of recent, but when it comes down to looking at things from a high level, we do really take a lo-fi approach to specifically TikTok.

3:38Chelsea Branch:Instagram, we allow it to be a bit more of a curated feed. I think that that's really, in Instagram, it's the key of balancing aesthetic and aspirational content with brand building. Whereas TikTok, we're really trying to humanize the brand. And I think that lo-fi content in general is really what moves the needle for us on there. From like a practical perspective, what kinds of things have you found best connect with your audience? Like, are there certain kinds of formats that you tend to repeat over and over again? If I'm being so honest, whenever it is me talking to the camera, that is the content that outperforms usually anything.

4:12Chelsea Branch:I mean, we try to balance different, we call them content buckets internally. But looking at different types of content that we can push out on our feed, whether for us that's hair tutorials and styling and advice on that front, or whether it's building the brand in public and me being in front of the camera and connecting with our audience or showing behind the scenes moments from being on set. there's a lot of different things that we try to prioritize. But at the end of the day, when it's a video and I am just talking to our customers, whether it's sample unboxing, whatever it might be, those tend to always perform the best.

4:45Chelsea Branch:And I think that really pulls things back to the importance of building in public and humanizing the brand. And I just think that that resonates so much more on these platforms. Right. It seems like more than ever, people want to have a personal connection with these brands and with the founders. And it has this beautiful effect for you also of creating, I would imagine, loyalty that lasts potentially beyond just that first sale. No, it's truly incredible. When we have in-person events and activations, and we really do prioritize our Toronto community when it comes to that, just every time that there is an opportunity to pull our community into a space in public, it's incredible how much they connect with us.

5:31Chelsea Branch:because they feel that that connection almost started online, right? And it's like, if you've ever like become friends with someone online, it's like meeting them in person for the first time. Like, it's so fun. I see these people in my comments. It's this different form of connection with your community that you can foster through channels. I want to talk about that in real life component and the importance of building community outside of the digital universe in a minute. But I want to go back to that initial video. You said you were sampling your clip, meaning you were already in the development process, but you had not yet gone to market.

6:07Chelsea Branch:No, we had not gone to market. And to be transparent, that video kind of really, really put some fire beneath me. And it forced us to very quickly come up with a go-to-market plan. There was nothing really in the works yet because I think that a lot of early phase entrepreneurs, even like pre-launch or in the development phases, we lack confidence at times. And so while I had these samples and I was confident in the product, I wasn't confident that someone would buy it. I hadn't developed a go-to-market plan. I didn't know when we would launch, how we would launch. But when I saw overnight, essentially, I got nearly 2 million views on this video, I knew that there were so many women out there who resonated with the same issue that I was having, that I was solving with this product.

6:52Chelsea Branch:So that really forced me to figure out when and how we were going to launch. But essentially, the next day, I made an e-com store, I opened up our email list so that people could sign up to be first to know when we do go live. I could not tell you how I even figured that out. To be honest, I think that's just the scrappy nature of entrepreneurship. But it really allowed us to build the momentum very quickly and very rapidly. And collecting those emails was also very important in our launch performance. No time to get lost in perfectionism and overthinking in a moment like that, right? You're like, you'll lose the moment.

7:31Chelsea Branch:Exactly. Yeah. That's why I say done is better than perfect because had I'd waited and made sure everything was perfect, we wouldn't be where we are today. Are there moments since then where as the company has grown and the stakes have changed a little bit where you have found yourself wanting to take a more deliberate approach or even finding yourself kind of like getting stuck in the cycle of overthinking and perfectionism? 100%. It's something I definitely really struggle with. I am myself, I'm very type A, very controlling, very, very big on perfectionism. And I also recognize that while that may be a strength, it's also my weakness.

8:11Chelsea Branch:And I really try to listen to my own advice when I say like, just do it. Like it's better to have it done than not. But I think that as we grow and establish ourselves as a brand, it's also important at this point that we understand that we are brand building at the same time. So we can take those core values from when I started and what I learned from kind of kicking things off in a more scrappy way. And we can build on those and somehow find a place where that also aligns with how we're trying to build brand. So I think for me, when I look at that now, I'm more over taking that approach when it comes to the nitty gritty and the finer details.

8:49Chelsea Branch:I'm a bit more particular when it comes to overall concept and whether that be campaign imagery, copy, email strategy, paid strategy, whatever it might be. I have that being a little bit more deliberate, but then looking at the final stages of everything coming together, as long as I know I have this overarching plan, I know from those early days that what we're doing is good and And we're going to get a response because it's based on customer feedback. And we have it based on so much, I guess, knowledge that we've developed about our consumer over the years that there are little places here and there where we can let things be imperfect as hard as that is to even like say and do.

9:25It's so hard. Lifelong perfectionist over here been attempting to reform for a great many years, like somewhat, somewhat successfully. It's tough. I mean, and I think one of the hardest things is that initial jump off the cliff, right? After that, you're in free fall. Some of the other stuff starts to get a little bit easier. Do you have any advice for people who are trying to start in terms of taking that first step?

9:52Chelsea Branch:Whatever you are feeling, trust your instinct and trust your gut and be confident. I think that's the biggest thing that it comes down to. I mean, personally, when I look back and even though I was confident in the product, not being confident in the market fit, it was such a silly thought at the time. I'm not the only person with this problem. And I knew that. And so I think just stop second guessing yourself and be confident in what you're doing. What was the problem that you were solving? Okay. So personally, I have so much hair and I feel like so many women in my life, so much hair. It was just like, it was this, this sweet spot of claw clips really starting to trend again.

10:29Chelsea Branch:And obviously, they were a big thing in the 90s. I mean, my mom would not stop talking when we were launching about how claw clips were her thing. And that was a thing back in the day. And they were really starting to resurface. And I feel like I couldn't find anything that worked on my hair. And nothing would work on my hair, period. But anything on the market, it was just not very intentional. There was not much thought behind the design. And so I saw a space in the market where I could build something that worked on varying hair types and also was very intentional in design. And so it was just making something, I guess, making an ordinary object a little bit more special.

11:04You launched at a higher price point than many other claw clips that are out there. What do you think got people to buy it for the first time and what's kept them coming back?

11:14Chelsea Branch:I think that there is a lot that we really prioritize as a brand. Understanding, I'm the first person to say, I know our clips are expensive and I understand that. but I do think when you have it in your hand and you can feel it and you can try it on you really do understand it there's a difference in our product and yes I'm biased but we also have a community of hundreds of thousands of people who have tried our product and loved it and I think there's a few main facets that are really have allowed us to communicate that value a few of them just off the top of my head being community first I think we're always developing products, listening to feedback.

11:53Chelsea Branch:We're always, always, always designing with our community in mind because at the end of the day, that's the most insightful feedback that you can get. On top of that, we prioritize our value proposition. So ensuring that we can hold all hair types, we really prioritize durability. Those key pieces really come through in every new product that we do release. And I think more important than the sale itself is following the sale. So yes, someone might decide to finally purchase your product. And there's a lot of brands. Or at least if I look back to when I was first building, I probably would have overlooked this component if I hadn't been more deliberate.

12:28Chelsea Branch:But I think after the purchase is a really big opportunity to continue building that relationship with your customer. And one way that we do that is we have a warranty. So our clips, if it does happen to break on you, we send you a new one, just easy as that you reach out, you send photos, and you get a new one. And I think that really, it snowballs the excitement around the brand when a customer purchases. It also inspires a kind of trust, right? Especially in this universe where we've all gotten got on social media. You buy something and it shows up and it's not as intended and then you can't get a response from customer service.

13:09So that added element of people knowing that their purchase is protected, I'm sure is meaningful. How else, you said you design with your community in mind, how else are you generally gleaning those kinds of insights?

13:22Chelsea Branch:Honestly, it's primarily through TikTok. It's something that we've been doing since the early days when we launched our product. Our main, I guess like our hero clip is our daily clip. And when we launched, we only had, we went through a few different naming conventions of it. But where we are now, we have our daily clip in size of small, medium, large, and extra large. when we launched we only had sizes small and medium which is so interesting to look back on because I have like videos and pictures of like those sampling days and I was asking my friends if the size of the clip was insane like if it was just like so out of the norm it felt out of place and that now is our medium and now we have a large and extra large and those were really built based on community feedback and that really comes down to yes I have a lot of hair but there's women who have more hair than me and I was initially designing out of my own problem but how can we turn to our community in what they're commenting what they're dming us and genuinely pull them into that process so receiving samples putting my phone up recording a tiktok and saying like this is what the sample is like do you like the design are there things that we need to change about it it has even come down to um I think we were building out one of our other styles we were way too big for my hair.

14:36Chelsea Branch:So we pulled in a test group of customers to try it out and give us their honest feedback on our first sample round. So I think little pieces like that also allow, it's so much excitement for everyone. It's excitement for us. It's excitement for the customer. It builds a lot of anticipation about a launch. So there's a lot of opportunity there to connect with your audience on TikTok as well. I keep saying TikTok, I'm like their biggest fan. It's worked for you. Right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, but I think like, you know, there are flip sides to everything, right? And clearly this moment of virality was transformative for you and you were able to parlay that into launching your business and getting it off the ground.

15:16You had more than a million dollars in revenue that first year, which is incredible. But there's a downside to this also, right? Like, looking back, what were the upsides and what were the downsides to going viral and then, you know, maybe being on that hamster wheel of chasing that?

15:37Chelsea Branch:there's definitely there definitely are a lot of downsides um you have to have thick skin to be especially um as a founder being very present um there's that whole component which i think a lot of people who are on socials can really understand that but at the same time there is this chronic pressure to chase that high and to have another moment of virality but i think that as a brand who's come from that place and partially due to algorithms changing and things don't go viral the same way that they used to. And if they do go viral, they don't lead to the same conversions that they necessarily used to.

16:12Chelsea Branch:I think that in conjunction with changing, I guess, our evolving brand strategy, we've come to realize that virality is great, but I think that there is space to balance that with more long-term building. So those viral peaks are great for overexposure and awareness, but I think that nurturing the relationship comes from more value-add content over time. So what does that look like for you in terms of the evolution in your content strategy? I mean, I think probably most specifically with TikTok. Yeah, I would say we used to really hone in on a few styles that would be proven to go viral for us, but we balance that instead of like okay this is viral I'm going to iterate on this the next day and the next day and the next day we kind of work in a piece that we know might get more views on a less frequent basis so maybe those viral concepts for us that we can really trust we push them in once a month and then between that period those new followers were focusing on nurturing them so it's more about I guess like phases of content strategy rather than specifically looking to different concepts themselves.

17:27You spoke to the mental health piece of this a moment ago and sort of like the obsession that it can breed. And I think, you know, in a way that people don't always necessarily talk about, like it can really get tied to your sense of identity and sense of personal value. It seems like you've moved beyond that, but were there things that you had to do on a personal level to sort of get you out of that mindset?

17:54Chelsea Branch:I would say, well, yes, I've moved beyond it. There's still a part of me that gets caught up in it. And I think that you'll never really be able to escape that. I think that as a founder, there's such an emotional connection to your brand, whether that be chasing the viral moment or getting customer feedback or the pressures of developing new products in time or meeting deadlines or retail part. I could go on and on. There's so many different aspects of owning a business that can really affect your mental health and your mental state. And I think you can talk to any founder and they'll tell you that they're up all night thinking about things, coming up with ideas.

18:30but I think it's really important to work in I guess moments of reset where you genuinely don't

18:37Chelsea Branch:allow yourself to work and it's something that's really helped me recently whether that be blocking the TikTok app where I can't even go on it if it's if I'm scrolling my own feed because at the end of the day if I'm doing that I still am somehow like my mind is pulling it back to work in some way so I think it's about those little moments of finding things that you love to do and fully allowing yourself to lock out of work. And that's honestly what has really helped me in just having a little bit of balance. I know there's never going to be like a true full balance, but as best as we can get.

19:08Some sense of boundaries. Yeah. A little bit more and a little bit more over time. You were saying that, you know, part of what has made the meaningful difference is that like when people get the clip, they can tell that there's just this difference in quality and it's doing something different from their hair than other versions on the market that might be less expensive. That's predicated on like really having a strong relationship with your manufacturing partners. Can you talk a little bit about the journey to finding the right partner and if you landed on the right manufacturer on the first go?

19:46Yeah, we did actually land on the right

19:48Chelsea Branch:manufacturer on the first go, which is lucky. It's crazy to say. But I really think that when it comes down to relationships with your manufacturing partners, it's important to have a relationship that extends beyond business. And that's something that I really prioritized as we were building these relationships. I became friends with my suppliers and they would send me my favorite tea from China where we produce. And they would send me pictures of their family when they go home for Chinese New Year. And so I think that was such an incredible way that we could build together and to have them have a bit more, I don't want to say skin in the game, but more of a connection to the products that they're also making.

20:28Chelsea Branch:So I think looking beyond business relationships is really important in just developing a long-term partnership. You've since expanded into other categories, other kinds of hair accessories, sunglasses. Are you using the same manufacturer for everything? No. So we have a few different manufacturers because we really like to specialize in materials. So for example, our clips, they're made of cellulose acetate. So we focus on a manufacturer that is really, really experienced in that material. On the flip, our silk hair ties and silk scrunchies, we went with a manufacturer that's really skilled in silk production and silk sourcing.

21:05And then when it comes to our

21:07Chelsea Branch:metal accessories. So we really group based on material because quality is such an important piece for us. So we want to ensure that we're getting specialists within each grouping. Are there any questions that you would recommend people ask when they are trying to find the right manufacturing partner to ensure that they're getting into the right kind of relationship? There's a million questions. I mean, obviously everyone's always asking minimums, price ranges, obviously you can't get costs until you're further in the sampling phase. I would say that one thing that has been really, I guess, like if I look back to when I was developing these relationships that I wish I would have looked into was sample lead times.

21:51Chelsea Branch:Yes, you talk about production lead times, but I lacked the conversation about sample lead times. And it's something that has been a bit more difficult on our end as of recent, because our factories take a little bit longer than ideal when it comes to samples. And if we can't hit it on the first revision round, we have a whole nother round that sets us back even further. So I think everyone's so excited off the bat about production and minimums and all that, but really talk to what that initial sampling phase looks like and how that looks in the future as well. You're talking about just getting that initial sort of like prototype that you can take a look at and feel and play around with and give feedback on.

22:31Chelsea Branch:Exactly. And I think it obviously depends your product and your industry, but for us, we are very, very particular in our product. And so some of our clips, I think our Demi clip went through 14 rounds of sampling, which is insane, like absolutely insane. And so it took years to develop because every time that you're sending back revisions and pending the new sample, and it's a lot, a lot. And so it's a really lengthy process. So that's why I say that sampling can be so important. There's that perfectionist. I know. But at the end of the day, it comes with a product that everyone loves. Totally.