Find out how Brie Read has grown Snag to £2m per month in just 2 years (episode 265)
Brie Read is the CEO of Snag, selling tights to ladies of all sizes all around the world. Brie founded the business 2 years ago and now doing £2million per month.
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About Brie
Brie has been involved in eCommerce for a long time. She worked for an educational company selling online courses and for an online only, delivered diet company. She also worked in an agency specializing in Facebook Ads for eCommerce brands.
About the Business
- Incorporate Customers into all aspects of the business
- Uses Shopify
- Functions primarily from mobile phones
- Completely virtual team
- Focuses mainly on Facebook and Instagram to connect with customers
- Doesn’t use email marketing or do black Friday Sales
Going Her Own Way
Brie has made quite a few decisions that make other eCommerce professionals ‘low key freak out.’ These include not using email and not participating in Black Friday which is enough to make most eCommerce business owners squirm.
But perhaps her most masterful non eCommerce move of all was starting with a single web page, built by her partner in a pub in under two hours while she had a long, intense call. Their idea was that they would add the website slowly, adding new pages only as people asked for more information.
The best part is that it’s worked beautifully. The platform was, from the start, Shopify, and Brie calls it completely brilliant.
Connecting with Customers
Snag involves their customers in every decision they make. That is not an exaggeration or a typo. For every major decision they make, they actually ask their customers what they think.
This can be quite time consuming but at this point, Brie says it wouldn’t feel right to do it any other way. This has proven to be a bomb proof way to build something that the customers actually connect with and has informed the brands voice, look and feel.
Besides all the great qualitative data, Brie says they spend a lot of time understanding the behavior of their customers using quantitative data.
Pay Attention to What you Actually Sell
The education industry made Brie really aware of what she was actually selling. An online course for instance is selling skills and better job opportunities.
Snag, Brie says, sells tights, but what they really sell is self acceptance. Having a very clear idea in your mind of what you’re actually selling is the best way to get your marketing in tune with your customer.
It’s crucial to show customers how your product will make their lives better and there is no better way to do that than ask and observe their behavior.
Snag Ads
Brie uses Facebook and Instagram to run ads and says she is a big fan of finding marketing minutes in spaces where people are bored, not when and where they are doing something they really want to, like watching a movie.
Snag ads are a mixture of straight product and messaging, which changes along the customer journey. But Brie says that the most revolutionary thing they’ve done is use only real customers to create ads.
Refraining from the use of any models not only stops other marketers and business owners in their tracks, but makes for happy customers who appreciate their representation of real women in an industry that almost never represents real women.
When they recently ran ads on television, the Snag team asked their customers to make the ads. The response was incredible and Brie says they received back 11 videos that were stellar enough to run. For every creative project Snag does, Brie says they reach out to their community first.
The money they would have spent with agencies goes to the chosen customer to compensate them for their time.
An Economical Price Point and Shipping
To deal with the lower price point, Brie says they simply charge customers for the shipping of their product.
Brie says that Snag tights price their product as low as they can and still turn a good product and then are completely transparent about shipping with their customers. So far? It’s been 100% fine.
Running a Business from a Mobile
For Brie, freedom is important, which is why she does everything on her phone. She likes to stay connected with her customers in the real world and not be tied to a desktop.
She does own a laptop, but says she often goes for a whole week at a time without using it at all. The team is completely virtual and uses Whatsapp as their main communication method. Brie likes allowing people the flexibility to work when they are in the right frame of mind.
Having people contribute when they are at their best is an amazing way to work. The team is all around the world—from Australia, USA, Spain and more.
Self Acceptance
Snag’s brand is in part driven by Brie’s belief in the importance of creating a community based in self acceptance. Her own struggle with self acceptance inspired the strong brand image with Snag and says that the amount of self hatred she had about her weight took up all her head space.
When she ditched it, she was so happy to find how much room she had for amazing, beautiful ideas and experiences. Creating the Snag brand not only provides a community but offers a product that invites customers to allow themselves to simply show up as they are.
eCommerce Book Top Tip
- Dune by Frank Herbert
eCommerce Traffic Top Tip
- Simple Stuff on Facebook. Know who your audience are, create really good ads that people want to respond to
Tool Top Tip
- Team does all their Graphic Design on Over
Growth Top Tip
- Make sure you have the space to grow your product.. Identify your audience and make sure you have enough people to sustain your product
Interview Links
Related episodes
- Christine Nicholson explains why and how she closed eCommerce subscription business Divine Legs
- Doubling sales each year is all about building community with Micki Krimmel of Superfit Hero
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