What do Bombas, Scrub Daddy, and Squatty Potty have in common? And no, not that they got investments from Sharks.
How about Spanx, Crocs, Pura Vida, or even a non-product brand like Dave’s Hot Chicken? Poo-Pourri, Harry’s, Dollar Shave Club, Peleton, Ruggable, MVMT?
What do these brands have in common? They’re all known for something. And they’re known for something because they started with ONE product. And in some cases, they still only sell ONE product in different variations.
I’m sure you can think of a handful of other brands that fit this description too.
There are a lot of reasons why only selling one or just a handful of products is a good idea from the ease of sourcing & production, to shipping, scalability, and a whole lot more. But the best thing we can learn from one-product brands? How to market our eCommerce stores!
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Why You Should Consider a One-Product Marketing Sales Funnel
In how to create an omnichannel marketing campaign I talked about how for each campaign to pick one or two top products to focus your marketing messaging on.
In last week’s episode, what to do when business feels hard, I shared how I recommended my biz friend create a marketing funnel specifically for one of the products she sells, all the way from ads to an email welcome sequence.
So, why do we want to do this in the first place? The short answer… because it’s so much easier to market your business in an impactful way.
Let me give you an example. A Lounge member, I talked about her either on the podcast, or maybe it was just on Instagram… I can’t remember.
She developed a line of clinically formulated clean skincare for mature women. She only has a handful of products, but there are two that really set her apart from all the skincare brands on the Internet. One is a vaginal moisturizer and the other is a natural deodorant that actually works.
Now, will the same customer buy both of these products? Sure. But the reasons WHY they would seek these products out and ultimately make a purchase are VERY different; so marketing them together is really hard. I mean, considering my background I’m sure I could come up with something… but it would probably be pretty cringe, right?!
Instead of trying to market a line of clinically formulated clean skincare for mature women… because while great it doesn’t set her apart… she can market a natural deodorant that actually works.
Which one of those sounds more powerful to you?
How to Choose Which Products or Collections to Focus On
Okay, so the trick with this method, is that you can’t do it for every single product you sell. Well, if you only sell a handful you could… but to really do this well you first have to identify your top products so you can focus your efforts.
If you’re a boutique, a jewelry brand, a home decor store… or any other type of store that sells a lot of products, think of it from a collection level. When I had my boutique, it was jeans and going-out tops. A jewelry client of mine has a mix-and-match collection of letter jewelry. For you it might be the dinnerware you sell.
Dig through your data and figure out what are the top 2-3 sellers in your assortment.
And of course, there are going to be some nuances here depending on what you sell. For instance, last year, I did a biz bite episode on how to deal with conflicting advice from experts. On that episode, I talked about a Lounge Member who designed and sold wall art for nurseries.
In her case, it’s not the wall art itself that’s the product, it’s the actual print she created. If you think about how most parents decorate a baby’s nursery, it’s in a theme, right? So if they want her print in wall art they probably want it in bed sheets and maybe even wallpaper too?
I have another client who puts clever phrases on t-shirts. She has two that outperform all the rest so she puts them on other products like hats, stickers, and pins.
Again, this episode is not about whether or not you should shrink or expand your product line. But I always try and give you as many examples as I can so you can see how these concepts apply to your business.
Understanding Why Someone Buys Your Products
Alright, now that you’ve identified them, I want you to ask yourself WHY would someone buy each of these products or categories?
Like the vaginal moisturizer and deodorant example, the reasons are likely very different.
Taking it back to my biz friend I talked about last week. She has 2 main products. One for Mom and one for daughter. In both cases, Mom is the one making the buying decision… but the reasons why are completely different.
Once you identify what motivates their buying decision you can create a sales funnel that speaks directly to that and only that. From your organic content to your paid ads, and even the follow-up email sequence you send when you get them on your email list.
How to Sell the Rest of Your Products
Doesn’t that feel so much easier? To just focus on selling ONE product.
It doesn’t mean you won’t sell your other products or that you’re going to miss out on revenue. When I go to Dave’s Hot Chicken, I get a side. People who buy crocs by charms. If you’re going to buy one pair of Bombas socks you’ll probably buy two.
The point is that instead of confusing your customer trying to talk to them about all the things… you draw them in by speaking to the exact thing they’re looking for and then sell them more once they’re there through an optimized website, cross-sells, bundles, subscriptions, repeat purchases, etc.
Even in a brick-and-mortar store. You don’t put everything you sell in the window, right? You draw them in with the best of the best. And then sell them more once they’re inside.
Running Your Funnel Alongside Your Other Marketing Campaigns
And look, does this mean you abandon all the other marketing you’re doing and stop talking about every other product you sell? Not unless you want to.
This can be an evergreen marketing campaign that runs in the backend of your business alongside everything else you’re doing.
Let’s use the clinical skincare line example again, with the natural deodorant. So in her day-to-day she can continue to educate on skincare ingredients, marketing her entire line to her existing audience, and create mini-marketing campaigns throughout the year as I explained in the omnichannel episode.
But, alongside all of that, she can build up a campaign specifically for the natural deodorant. What does that look like? It could be running ads to a blog post, with an offer to sign up for her email list where they go through a specific flow designed to sell that deodorant. She could layer in some influencer and affiliate marketing, she could do some collaborations featuring that product, and maybe even giveaways. It might even be putting that one product on another sales channel like Amazon, starting wholesale, or even private label if she wants.
How to Decide the Best Way to Implement a One-Product Funnel for Your Business?
Ultimately, what exactly you implement is going to depend on so many different factors. And there are of course tons of podcast episodes that can help you determine what’s right for your business.
The real takeaway for today though is to focus your efforts and get more intentional about how you market your business and the message you’re putting out there.
Don’t be afraid to get specific. Don’t try and be everything to everyone. Be the perfect solution to the customer who needs what you sell.
And again, how exactly this looks in your business is going to be different than someone else. There are definitely some nuances here.
For some, it will be about creating an evergreen campaign, for others it will be about slashing your product assortment and going all in. It just depends and there’s no way for me to say which is right for you specifically without taking a deeper dive into your business. If you need help sorting that out, a strategy call is a great way to get that clarity. I’ll put a link in the show notes for you to get more information about those. If you’re part of the Lounge, remember you have your members-only velvet rope calls that you can take advantage of.
No matter which direction makes sense for you I hope you see how narrowing down your focus will actually make it easier to reach the ultimate goals you have for your business.
Listen to this Episode
Episodes Mentioned
197. What to Do When Business Feels Hard
160. How to Deal with Conflicting Advice from “Experts”
