🤝 No growth hacking needed if you're genuine and authentic

Hey there, great people of the D2C community who are building fantastic things! This is your host Berkay writing.

Sooooo, where were we?

🌱 Christopher Di Grazia, Head of Marketing & Growth at Just Vertical

🎙️ In the first season of our podcast, we mainly interviewed founders of D2C companies. However, when we had Chris on an episode, it was the first time we spoke with someone actively involved in the day-to-day operations of a business.

I must admit, while founders are known for being hands-on, it was quite thrilling to have a conversation with a marketing and growth professional as a fellow growth enthusiast!

📈 So, about Chris. After spending many years working in various companies in marketing roles, Chris eventually joined Just Vertical to head their Marketing and Growth department. With responsibilities like managing monthly budgets exceeding $30,000 and leading the launch of their product in the US, it's evident that he brings a wealth of experience to his role.

In our conversation, we discussed how challenging it is to create a real and honest brand these days. And something he mentioned stuck with me:

“Everything is so productized and commoditized that, to be able to be genuine and authentic, you do have to be genuine and authentic. You can’t hack your way through this.”

So let’s delve into that now!

^{You can also listen to the episode on Spotify, Google, or Apple Podcast!}

And here are some highlights from our chat!

🌱 Just Vertical. Just Vertical specializes in indoor growing systems, offering a range of products suitable for homes, offices, garages, and basements. Their hydroponic technology allows year-round indoor cultivation, making it especially valuable in colder climates.

🟢 Sustainability is at the center of everything. Chris clarifies that they're not trying to change the world alone but are contributing to a solution. Just Vertical promotes sustainability by:
1. Cutting down food travel miles
2. Reducing the amount of plastic packaging
3. Tackling food waste.

🤝 Diversified sales channels. The company primarily focuses on online sales through platforms like Best Buy, Wayfair, Indigo, Amazon, and their own Shopify-based e-commerce store. They also target brick-and-mortar sales through specialty hydroponic growing stores and high-end furniture retailers.

🏄‍♂️ They are agile. By keeping an eye on how well each part of their advertising campaign is doing, they can make fast adjustments to discover the best-performing ad versions.

👩‍🎨 Being genuine and authentic. Chris mentioned that it's not enough to sit with a group of growth marketers and plan this; you need to offer something special and valuable to your customers.

This also applies to content creation. Many brands find it challenging to come up with original content. Chris admitted they face this challenge too, saying, “Connecting with people on social media is not easy. We also have struggled with it. And the reason for that is we’re a bit inauthentic.”

Sometimes, especially in larger organizations, there is a tendency to overestimate the strategy part of marketing and content, Chris says. “How do we hack this?” is generally the most frequently asked question. His philosophy as a marketer, on the other hand, involves being normal to his audience. No fancy spreadsheets and strategy meetings, no growth hacks whatsoever. “Let’s just try to be humans to these people. Let’s just try to be normal.”

🤖 Chatbot marketing. Chris believes chatbot marketing will become significant in the future. Just as we're working on improving our SEO, we'll also focus on enhancing our chatbot search strategy.

And you know, now ChatGPT can search the internet to give you up-to-date information, including direct links to sources with its latest updates. It can also access information beyond September 2021.

So we’ll see what the future will bring on this.

📝 THE ULTIMATE CMBF CHECKLIST

Hey hey hey. The CMBF period is just around the corner! And we all know it’s both a huuugee opportunity to boost sales and a huge challenge - to keep up with the pace. So here is a checklist for the upcoming CMBF season!

HERE IS THE LINK TO IT! 

Just create a copy for yourself and use it for your own operations!

Big thanks to Kathleen Sullivan Garman, the founder and CEO of SullyGarman & Associates. She has tons of experience in e-commerce consulting, specializing in supply chain, logistics, and order flow. really be helpful to your organization. If you need help with your supply and logistics, consider checking out her work!

🆇 TWEETS OF THE WEEK

1. The name of the game is continuous effort and perseverance 💪

2. And you're spending hours planning your ads 😅

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