Cusa Tea Founder Jim Lamancusa and Marketing Manager Robin Shelley recently sat down with NatchCom for an interview for NatchBytes, a newsletter dedicated to sharing marketing tips with brands in the Natural Grocery space.
To view the article, click here or continue reading our favorite parts below.
HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR ONLINE TO YOUR COMPANY’S STRATEGY?
We believe in an omni-channel approach, but online has been an important part of our business from the beginning. Not only is it the channel that helps us learn the most about our customers, it also delivers the best margins and the most control.
Coffee gets a lot of attention, but 50% of Americans drink tea! Who are they and how can we get them to buy Cusa Tea? We use various digital marketing tools and techniques to answer that, and make sure we’re delivering products they want to buy!
SO, HOW ARE YOU FOCUSING ON GROWING CUSTOMERS THAT YOU OWN?
We partner with other outdoor and healthy living companies both larger than us and similar in size to do promotions/giveaways. We ask for $30 worth of free product, handle the creative legwork (pictures), promote for signups, share the email list and try and convert as many customers as possible. It’s been a HUGE success for us.
While some companies do giveaways 2 times a year, we’re doing them 2 times a MONTH! We’re finding that by offering registrants coupon codes upon signup we’re converting them into customers quickly. The hope is they love Cusa Tea and become repeat customers.
TALK TO US ABOUT BRICK-AND-MORTAR, AND HOW YOU’RE LEVERAGING ONLINE TO GROW IN-STORE TRAFFIC AND PURCHASES.
We believe that consumers will continue to gravitate to online shopping and grocery delivery versus in-store. In-store will not go away, but the landscape and purchasing patterns will shift. That’s why having a large online presence is critical for us.
Our product lends itself to an omni-channel strategy and we wouldn’t do it any other way. We believe that online supports brick-and-mortar and vice versa. Today, we’re in 1,200 doors. Being in more and more B&M locations has helped create awareness: customers see us in a store first, look for us online, and continue to buy from us online.
