19 Brand Examples of How to Create and Mobilize Your Superfans to Drive Fast Growth
Dive into real-world examples of brands creating and mobilizing Superfans, offering practical insights and strategies applicable across various industries.
Oct 4, 2024 | 17 minute read
Megan Wenzl
Content Marketing Manager
In today’s dynamic ecommerce environment, the role of Superfans – customers who are highly engaged with the brand and carry significant lifetime value and social influence – is more critical than ever. These brand advocates are instrumental in driving sustainable growth, particularly in a market where customer acquisition and retention have become increasingly challenging due to shifts in advertising and economic landscapes.
The concept of Superfans is at the forefront of strategic brand growth. Leveraging tools like Okendo Reviews, Quizzes, Loyalty, Referrals, and Surveys, brands can effectively build and engage these crucial customer communities. This article delves into real-world examples of brands creating and mobilizing Superfans, offering practical insights and strategies applicable across various industries.
Vegamour
Vegamour is a beauty brand dedicated to hair wellness, employing a holistic approach with clinically tested plant-based ingredients. They prioritize natural solutions to promote healthy, beautiful hair, ensuring their products are free from harmful chemicals. With a focus on long-term hair health, Vegamour has established itself as a leader in harnessing the power of nature for hair care solutions.
Leveraging Superfans
After transitioning from Yotpo to Okendo Reviews, Vegamour saw a remarkable 277% increase in conversions, attributing 21% of its revenue to the effective use of Okendo’s features. The integration with Klaviyo enabled Vegamour to send personalized email campaigns and timely review requests depending on how long the customer has used the product, thereby deepening customer relationships and fostering a community of Superfans.
These Superfans are showcased on the brand’s PDP’s by displaying reviews and powerful user-generated content (UGC) that highlights the benefits of the product. This includes reviews complete with detailed customer attributes such as hair type, hair length, and age range, as well as before and after photos showcasing real results from the products. These photos provide social proof and allow potential customers to make more informed purchasing decisions.
Boody
Boody is a lifestyle brand that offers an extensive range of eco-friendly apparel for men, women, and babies. Their products, ranging from underwear and bras to activewear and baby essentials, are crafted with a focus on sustainable practices and the use of bamboo viscose. Boody’s ethos revolves around comfort, both in the sense of their product’s feel and environmental impact. They are committed to reducing waste, avoiding pesticides, and promoting mindful consumption.
Building a Global Superfan Community
Boody has skillfully built a global community of Superfans, deeply resonating with CEO Shaun Greenblo’s strategy of relying on products that “speak for themselves.” By prioritizing an extraordinary customer experience and harnessing insights from their Superfans, Boody has managed to syndicate reviews across international storefronts.
As Shaun says, “I think that we’ve had to rely on Superfans since day 1 because of the nature of our product — We’re a basics brand.”
This strategy has significantly bolstered global customer trust, evident in a 268% increase in conversion rates and a 5% growth in average order value. The Reviews Carousel on their homepage is a testament to their commitment to engaging with Superfans and listening to their feedback, aligning perfectly with Greenblo’s ethos: “Listen to your customers. Make them feel heard.” This approach demonstrates Boody’s effectiveness in building a resilient brand recognized globally.
Soylent
Soylent started with the simple idea that complete nutrition shouldn’t be difficult to find or expensive. The company was founded by software engineers who met working under the same roof in Silicon Valley. Living off unhealthy meals, they came up with the hypothesis that food can be simplified for the better. Soylent provides complete plant protein that is science-based and sustainable.
Creating Superfans through Surveys
Soylent’s shift to Okendo has led to a high 20% survey response rate, revealing that 30-40% of their customers first discover their products in retail stores using post-purchase attribution surveys. Soylent also uses surveys to help inform product strategy. In one survey, customers were asked, “What flavor would you like to see from Soylent?” The team found that none of the flavors they provided in the survey response resonated with customers, revealing critical data for their product direction.
In addition to Surveys, by leveraging Okendo’s PDP review widget and review filters, Soylent personalizes post-purchase email campaigns, enhancing the customer experience. The brand leverages review filters to allow users to search for reviews based on why customers like Soylent, such as “tastes great”, “affordable” and more. They also display why customers like the product and what customers use Soylent for, empowering potential customers with the ability to make more informed purchases.
SKIMS
SKIMS, founded as a solutions-oriented brand, is revolutionizing the world of underwear, loungewear, and shapewear by creating products that cater to every body type. The brand stands out for its innovative approach to design, focusing on technically constructed garments that not only enhance natural curves but also offer exceptional comfort and fit. Their products range from shapewear that beautifully contours the body to underwear with impressive stretchability, accommodating a diverse range of sizes and shapes.
Brand Consistency in Review Requests
SKIMS incorporates its distinct brand identity into every aspect of customer interaction, especially when requesting reviews. By embedding their neutral color palette and recognizable logo into review request emails, SKIMS ensures instant brand recognition. This consistency in branding across all communications fosters a cohesive and authentic customer experience, further cementing customer trust and loyalty.
SKIMS does an excellent job of leveraging Superfans through their PDP widget by displaying dynamic reviews that include UGC and important product attributes about their products – something that is extremely important for apparel brands.
Love Wellness
Love Wellness is a brand dedicated to providing effective and safe wellness products, focusing on areas often neglected or stigmatized in women’s health. The brand stands out for its commitment to creating non-toxic, non-irritating products, free from harmful chemicals like parabens, phthalates, and fragrances, ensuring safety and efficacy.
Capturing Customer Sentiments Throughout the Journey
Love Wellness effectively uses Okendo to gather and utilize customer feedback throughout various stages of the customer journey. Amanda Kwasniewicz, VP of Customer Experience at Love Wellness, emphasizes the importance of understanding customer satisfaction not just after the first purchase, but over an extended period.
This approach has led to a near doubling of their order-to-review rate since adopting Okendo. Kwasniewicz praises Okendo’s seamless integration with their website, noting its speed and ease of use both on the front and back end. This continuous engagement strategy has been pivotal in creating and leveraging their Superfans, significantly enhancing customer experience and brand loyalty.
Slate Milk
Slate Milk has reformulated a classic favorite into a health-focused drink that appeals to the modern, health-conscious consumer. Their all-natural, lactose-free chocolate milks boast an impressive 20g of protein and 0g of added sugar, enriched with essential vitamins and electrolytes. The secret behind their better-tasting formula lies in the ultra-filtration process, which concentrates the milk proteins while removing lactose sugars, resulting in a blend that’s both nutritious and delicious, sweetened naturally with allulose and stevia.
Engaging with Superfans Through Personalized Interaction
Slate Milk harnessed Okendo’s capabilities to overcome SKU variant challenges in reviews. This fine-tuning enabled customers to provide feedback specific to each flavor, enriching Slate Milk’s customer data. Their integration with Klaviyo facilitated segmented email campaigns based on these preferences, creating a highly personalized customer experience.
This strategy of leveraging user-generated content and zero-party data significantly enhanced customer engagement, proving the effectiveness of tailored interactions in building brand loyalty. The brand’s Q&A feature helps create Superfans because the brand is engaging with the customer while also providing shoppers with the information they need to make purchasing decisions about a product.
Born Primitive
Born Primitive is an apparel brand specializing in workout gear for athletes of all levels. Their products are designed to excel in crucial moments, supporting athletes in both victory and defeat. Recognizing the value of their community’s active lifestyle, Born Primitive focuses on harnessing customer-created content to enhance their marketing strategies, demonstrating how their apparel performs in real-life athletic scenarios. Their commitment to showcasing genuine user experiences has been central to their approach, resonating with a customer base dedicated to health and fitness.
Harnessing Superfan Engagement
Born Primitive leveraged Okendo to achieve a significant 74% increase in user-generated content, enhancing engagement on their PDPs. The integration with Foursixty allowed for a seamless showcase of customer content and Instagram product ratings, leading to a 60% reduction in tech costs and a stronger connection with their Superfans.
When users visit the brand’s PDP they are greeted with reviews and UGC from customers that include helpful details about the product, such as quality, comfort level, and sizing, body type and what the customer normally uses the gear for.
Cyclone Pods
Cyclone Pods is a nicotine-free vaping company whose goal is to help people addicted to tobacco and nicotine find an effective solution to help them quit with a line of nicotine-free vapor products. The brand is committed to supporting its customers on their toward a happier and healthier life.
Personalized Quizzes to help Create Superfans
Cyclone Pods uses Okendo Quizzes to offer personalized shopping experiences that help create Superfans.
This interactive feature has led to a 60% decrease in product-related inquiries, easing the customer’s decision-making process. The successful implementation of these quizzes resulted in 147x ROI and a 19% conversion rate.
Dreamland Baby
Dreamland Baby, founded by Tara Williams, was inspired by a personal need for better sleep solutions for her fourth baby, Luke. Since its inception in September 2019, Dreamland Baby has expanded its product line to include weighted blankets and a variety of sleep essentials, emphasizing eco-friendly practices and female empowerment.
Building Trust with Personalized Reviews
Dreamland Baby excels in nurturing a community of Superfans by prioritizing trust and personalization in their customer journey. With Okendo Reviews, they actively seek customer feedback and encourage user-generated content. This approach allows them to gather crucial zero-party data, including specific details like a baby’s age and sleeping preferences.
Such detailed insights are instrumental for Dreamland Baby in refining product development and crafting marketing strategies that resonate deeply with their audience. Dreamland Baby showcases reviews to help shoppers with their needs, displaying attributes in high-quality reviews, such as the baby’s age, how they sleep, and whether or not it’s their first child. These attributes help shoppers make the right purchase for them. Dreamland Baby also enhances product relevance among shoppers and fosters strong, lasting relationships with their Superfans by asking for feedback in reviews.
Krave Beauty
KraveBeauty, founded in 2017 by skincare enthusiast and YouTube veteran Liah Yoo, emerged from a quest to simplify skincare routines and combat the overwhelm caused by the plethora of skincare products and trends. The brand’s philosophy, encapsulated in its slogan “#PressReset,” focuses on helping users streamline their skincare to what truly benefits their skin, rather than following overwhelming routines or chasing miracle products.
Customized PDP Widget for Enhanced Customer Matchmaking
Krave Beauty has effectively harnessed the power of the Okendo Reviews Widget, a tool that’s particularly advantageous for beauty brands. This customized widget is designed to showcase reviews and user-generated content (UGC), which is crucial in the beauty sector where peer recommendations and visual cues play a significant role in purchasing decisions. By displaying specific attributes like skin type and concerns, Krave Beauty’s widget aids customers in finding products that have been positively reviewed by others with similar skin profiles. This approach not only assists in better product matchmaking but also fosters the creation of Superfans.
Andy Chiu, General Manager at Krave Beauty said, “This year, we’ve done a reformulation of sunscreen, and a reformulation of our matcha cleanser. We used the reviews to think about how we wanted to reformulate the products. Reviews have also been guiding our new product development and reformulations in general.”
By leveraging the insights gleaned from customer feedback, Krave Beauty continually improves its products, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. This strategy underscores the importance of personalization in the beauty industry, where understanding and catering to specific customer needs can significantly amplify brand loyalty and growth.
Grace & Lace
One of Founder Melissa Hinnant’s greatest passions is sewing. Starting with one pair of lacey boot socks in the fall of 2011, Melissa’s passion and skill created a consumer demand that rapidly surpassed what she could handle alone. Her entrepreneurial endeavors ultimately led to what is now Grace and Lace — a full-scale women’s apparel company with hundreds of offered products and a loyal customer community.
Turning Loyal Customers into Superfans
Grace and Lace’s goal: Create a community of Superfans.
The team gives customers a simple process to leave feedback in the form of reviews with Okendo. They send customers personalized review requests and capture reviews from customers who purchased with the brand in the past. Because of how easy it is to use Okendo’s review capture form, Grace and Lace increased user-generated content (UGC) by 21% and increased review completion rate to 80%.
Grace & Lace also uses Okendo’s customer marketing platform to seamlessly connect Reviews and Referrals. The team asks their most loyal customers — their 4- and 5-star reviewers — to recommend the brand to friends and family. This is one way Grace and Lace leverages their Superfans to increase customer acquisition at low cost, all while retaining customers loyal to their brand by showing appreciation with a referral incentive.
Drool by Dr. Chris Brown
Drool, founded by Dr. Chris Brown, is a brand dedicated to improving the lives of pets through high-quality, insightful products. With over 20 years of experience in veterinary care and a popular pet blog, Dr. Brown has established a trusted platform for pet owners seeking reliable tips and advice. Drool represents his passion and commitment to enhancing pet health, with each product reflecting the culmination of extensive knowledge and care. The brand emphasizes integrity, quality, and honesty, aiming to offer the best solution.
Tailoring Experiences for Pet Owners
Drool by Dr. Chris Brown leverages the Okendo PDP widget to showcase reviews that highlight specific attributes of pets. This targeted approach assists pet owners in finding products that cater to their pets’ unique needs, fostering a community of informed and satisfied customers. The brand also does a fantastic job of responding to customer reviews, building trust and transforming happy customers into Superfans.
The different attributes displayed are pet age, pet breed, health concerns, and “the thing they do that always makes you laugh.”
ILIA
ILIA Beauty, founded by Sasha Plavsic in Vancouver, is a brand that merges skincare and makeup, focusing on clean, skin-centric beauty. The brand emphasizes the importance of active skincare ingredients in its products, particularly advocating for SPF to protect and enhance these ingredients. ILIA Beauty’s philosophy revolves around vibrant, fuss-free makeup that revitalizes the skin, with many products offering multi-use functionality for on-the-go application.
Showcasing Superfans Through a Media Grid
ILIA Beauty enhances its customer engagement and trust-building strategies by utilizing the Okendo Media Grid feature on its website. This tool allows the brand to showcase UGC-like photos and videos from Superfan customers, offering a dynamic and interactive experience for store visitors. By highlighting authentic customer experiences focused on how products are used in real life, potential buyers gain valuable insights into the products’ effectiveness, quality, and overall satisfaction levels.
This not only aids in informed purchasing decisions but also fosters a sense of community among users. The media grid serves as a platform for customers to share their personal stories and results, further endorsing the brand’s commitment to transparency and customer satisfaction. This approach not only strengthens the credibility of ILIA Beauty but also cultivates a loyal customer base that feels heard and valued, turning them into passionate Superfans.
To further the creation of the Superfans, Marnie Werth, Senior Manager, Customer Experience, says ILIA has seen amazing results with the Okendo-Gorgias integration.
She notes, “We used to toggle between multiple applications in order to respond to reviews. Now, our workflow is extremely efficient–we’ve decreased response time by 59%. Our customers feel valued when their voices are heard and acknowledged so quickly. Nothing is more important to us.”
Dixxon
Founder and CEO Danny Dreyer launched Dixxon in 2013, initially selling flannel shirts from his trunk. He aimed to create comfortable, stylish, and durable shirts reflecting his counter-culture roots. Today, Dixxon is a globally recognized brand for its high-quality flannel shirts, intentional design, and exclusive limited releases. With unique collaborations, Dixxon flannel shirts are a favorite for those seeking style and durability.
A Customized VIP-Tiered Loyalty Program
Dixxon uses Okendo Loyalty to engage their customers with and create Superfans. How did they do it? They designed a program specifically for their customer base with Okendo Loyalty. To engage their customers even more, they creatively named their tiered loyalty program the Dixxon Insider Loyalty Fam (DILF). With the help of Okendo’s strategic services team, they added a 4th VIP tier to their program, called the “Hall of Fame” tier to reflect the exclusivity feel of the brand.
Jordan Craig
Jordan Craig is an elite streetwear brand with a mission to produce premium clothing.
A “Cool” Loyalty Program to Engage Superfans
Jordan Craig’s loyalty program took only one hour to setup with Okendo Loyalty. The streetwear brand describes itself as “cool,” so the program resembles a cool vibe that resonates with their customer base.
Consisting of three tiers — Pros, Stars, and Legends, members of Jordan Craig’s loyalty program hope to become Legends by earning Clout–the brand’s name for points. Customers in the Legends tier are Jordan Craig’s Superfans.
Beauty of Joseon
Beauty of Joseon uses traditional methods to create clean and effective skincare products for a global customer base. They ship to 40 countries, with plans to expand further.
Personalized and Engaging Experience with an Easy-to-Use Platform
Beauty of Joseon created a Skin Quiz with Okendo Quizzes. The quiz asks about customers’ lifestyle, skin type, and concerns. Products such as cleanser, toner, serum, moisturizer, and sunscreen are then recommended to complete a fully personalized skincare regimen, providing a shopping experience that gets customers to convert. The brand created the quiz in partnership with global marketing agency Beyond Borders Inc.
Oh Polly
Established from charitable beginnings, Oh Polly is a fast-growing fashion brand that sells women’s clothing internationally.
Personalizing the Dress Shopping Experience
Oh Polly enhances the shopping experience by using Okendo Quizzes to guide customers in finding their perfect dress. They ask customers questions such as preferred garment length and preferred sleeve length, with images to help the customer choose the best answer for them. The quiz provides personal shopping experiences, so first-time customers’ impression of the brand is positive, helping form long-term customer relationships.
The Collagen Co.
Through the transformative power of cCollagen, The Collagen Co. is on a mission to help customers feel confident, radiant, and unstoppable.
Customer Acquisition at Low Cost
The Collagen Co. easily turns loyal customers into Superfans by asking them for referrals through Okendo Referrals. The team seamlessly sends referral requests to these customers, offering a $25 reward if they successfully refer a friend or family member.
By customizing their referral requests to match the look and feel of their program, they were able to provide a consistent and positive customer experience for their Superfans. The Collagen Co. saw a 9.7% conversion rate, along with a 20x ROI in the first 90 days of launching the referral program.
Kat the Label
Kat the Label’s vision is to elevate customers’ everyday with lingerie, creating products to make customers feel beautiful and confident.
A Loyalty Program with a Secret
Can you keep a secret? Kat the Label created a secret VIP tier in their loyalty program with Okendo Loyalty to further engage their unique customer base.
This exclusive tier, reserved for the brand’s Superfans, or VVIPs, offers an array of special perks and benefits. These dedicated customers are granted access to exclusive events, early access to product launches and sales, and secret perks, ensuring their Superfans feel valued and appreciated as part of the Kat the Label’s Sunday Society loyalty program.
Conclusion
The brands discussed exemplify the strategic mobilization of Superfans through Okendo’s products. From personalized quizzes to tailored review requests, each brand has uniquely engaged their Superfans, resulting in measurable growth and enhanced customer loyalty. As these examples show, understanding and leveraging the power of Superfans is crucial for any brand aiming for rapid and sustainable growth in the ecommerce space.
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