how to use social media to help your retail launch

HOWDY FOLKS!

It’s been a few slow weeks over here of getting the newsie in a good spot given the craziness of life, but we are so back. I finally move next week so please send tasty treats and drinks you’re loving that I should be stocking the kitchen with.

In the last few weeks, I…

• ran the longest I have have pain-free!! 5 miles of blasting the new Charli XCX album does great things for the soul.

• started working with some new clients (more coming soon!)

• realized i love 32 degree ice baths and that the mind works in some crazy ways

• finally saw Chappell Roan live and now need to see her approximately 18 more times

• decided to randomly get Invisalign (any tips if you have had/currently have???)

As always, I spent way too much money at Whole Foods (the sales this week are great!) like it’s my job. I guess it kind of is???

This is the perfect segway because this week we’re chatting retail launches and how to leverage them on your brand’s social media and using influencers to help push awareness. Most brands I work with and/or audit who are in retail do one thing very often. They don’t talk about the shelves that they are on frequently or at all.

So, today that changes! Let’s get into it.

BTW if you’re new here, I love learning about everyone who reads so please hit “reply” and tell me more about yourself or shoot over any questions you want answered in future newsletters.

BUT BEFORE WE GET INTO IT…

I’m am so excited to say that this newsletter is sponsored by HUMMINGBIRDS!!!!!!!!! If you don’t know what Hummingbirds is and you’re a brand with retail presence that is especially trying to play more in creator space to help with velocity in certain states, cities, or regions, you’re heavily missing out.

If you’re a brand looking to:

• drive more user-generated content for specific retailers in local towns or bigger retailers (Target, Walmart, etc) in specific cities like Austin, Texas

• work with more talented female creators, especially parents, to champion your product and brand experience

• drive more velocity offline to create repeat shopping behaviors and drive overall brand awareness at these specific retailers

Hummingbirds could be your solution to unlocking local influence and producing more content to support your retail announcements and internal initiatives. Brands like Olipop, Goodles, Vacation (which is saving me from an awful farmer’s tan so far) and more utilize the “birds” as part of their ongoing internal iniatives to support retail, expand in the “momfluencer” demographic, and improve their awareness in cities and spaces where many may not (yet) be familiar.

Now, what has me buzzin’ about Hummingbirds?

First of all, getting local and dedicated support for a brand can be a bit difficult these days unless you’re investing a ton into a sourcing tool. Currently, Emily and the team have upwards of 16 cities where you can find creators ranging from Columbus, Ohio to ATX (launching this week!) to St. Louis, Missouri and knowing that they are actually located there and that their audiences aren’t in other places where the content won’t have a full impact.

Second, the parent category is massive and when you mix the power of the 25-45 year old female demographic + repeat shopping behaviors shown on the internet, a lot of beautiful things can happen. Brands that have used the birds have seen up to 16X in some retailers during active campaigns, but have continued to sustain that level for months after as a result of the content created.

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING TO SEE CONTENT MADE FOR BRANDS LIKE MUDDY BITES, OLIPOP, and ALEC’S ICE CREAM (a past client of mine!).

Looking to leverage the content once it’s live? That’s super easy. If you’re a brand, you have organic usage on the creator’s content to be able to leverage it for your own owned social channels. If you want to go the extra mile and look into whitelisting or using the creative for your paid media, you get that usage as part of your campaign.

If you just want to chat with the team, tell them I sent you right here.

Now, let’s get into some unfiltered thoughts, shall we?

SO, YOUR BRAND IS ABOUT TO LAUNCH IN A MAJOR RETAILER…

Whether you’re a brand launching in Whole Foods, HEB, Costco, or “smaller/concentrated” stores like Fresh Market, you cannot assume that your audience will just be walking in all the time to these stores and say “omg wow x brand is here.” Similar to how old content is probably never going to be seen by newer followers, that applies to retail. You need to keep reminding them.

There are three ways I am going to break up my thought process of how to integrate influencers and your organic (and some of your paid) social into helping awareness and velocity: Pre-Launch Preparation, Launch Time, and Post-Launch/Ongoing Support.

1. Stage 1: Pre-Launch (~1 month out)

• Organic Social: Content Brainstorming! Production takes time and being ahead if a nice feeling. I would be brainstorming what I want the “launch” (example) post to be across platforms. This is where I would also want to plan if I want to “tease” the retailer that the brand is going into to help boost engagement going into the announcement. Simiarly, I would want to dump any ideas for after we announce so that production can go into

• Influencer: If you’re a product that can be easily shipping to creators, I would be planning a specific seeding out to creator affiliated with that specific store. For example, despite talking about Whole Foods, retailers like Costco have insane influencer communities of dedicated accounts (example) that cover the newest additions to Costco or highlighting specific brands. Ideally, if you’re launching nationwide, you can plan a specific product seeding that may have a few more special aspects inside the box such as a custom insert that celebrates your launch, a gift card to that retailer, etc. If you’re launching in a specific region first, well that’s where a company like Hummingbirds can be super duper helpful to save the guessing work for you, but you can also leverage your existing creators in those areas to help product content for the brand.

  • Paid Influencer: If you’re a brand with budget and this retail launch is a major deal, you should be wanting to creator support from those dedicated accounts or creators who focus on grocery store hauls and such part of your strategy to get dedicated in-feed posts to help with awareness, leverage for paid media, and more.

    • You can see an example here of when I worked with HoneyMamas for their Costco Roadshow here.

2. Stage 2: Launch

   • Social: It’s time to announce your launch on social! What should it cover? Well, it should of course announce with store you are in (and tagging them), if you’re only in a specific region and what states, and driving them to a store locator to be able to find the product near them.

     • The Creative: When it comes to the creative, you can either follow the known-to-work approach of product + the signage of the location (example from Hu Kitchen) or get creative with it like how I did with Graza’s Whole Foods Nationwide Announcement (it’s still one of my faves) or with more teamwork like the SideDish team did with this great reel of pairing a trend with an announcement. You can also do simple text treatments that get the point across super clearly like how HoneyMamas did here.

     • The Channels: I usually focus on Instagram, Tiktok, Twitter/Threads (note: I know the latter aren’t super active/worth the time for some brands!). I always like having an In-Feed IG Post, IG Story Sequence (with a link to store locator), and a dedicated Tiktok. Lately, I have been finding a lot of success of repurposing UGC about a retailer on Tiktok.

   • Influencer: When it comes to the influencer side, ideally the packages from the seeding above are landing the day of the announcement or in waves throughout the month after the “launch” day to keep the good word spreading. I would like to have a dedicated paid and collaborative influencer post where I can within a few days of the launch to gain instant validity and

2. Stage 3: Post-Launch

Now, that the word is out, it’s the hardest part for most brands to remember. You have to keep reminding people that you’re in that retailer. This can be done through dedicated content of you on the shelves, by creating content in a retailer that many can recognize (but the content not calling out the retailer), through leveraging platforms that can help with an evergreen approach to getting UGC out through others around you being on shelf.

Social: As mentioned above, you can still go on to create content around the specific retailer or just inside so that people recognize it, showing you on shelves (ideally you have standout branding) teaming up with brands in that specific retailer to create collaborative recipe content (if you’re a food brand) or collaborative educational/entertaining content if you’re in beauty, too.

Influencer: Despite the one seeding you may have done, I like to have an evergreen approach to extending the word around specific retailers as more dedicated accounts pop up who are associated with that retailer or trying to just seed to more creators in a specific region that you’re trying to earn a name in.

• Paid Influencer: If you’re paying creators, I would ideally have a post going live per week for a few weeks after the launch to keep the announcement coming up in waves vs. a one stop shop type of announcement. One company who I love with their ongoing approach is Toom, a garlic spread company with placements in Costco, Whole Foods and more. They do a great job at collaborating with creators across different niches to introduce their audiences to the spread.

BRAND OF THE WEEK: OTHERSHIP

BOTW is a section where I just tell you about things you love because I think you’ll love them too. Isn’t that fun?

This week’s fave brand is Othership, the ultimate relaxation destination made to meet new people while getting a nice sweat in their insane performance saunas or chilling out in their ice baths. It’s all about the true experience.

I first met the CEO, Robbie, through a Mentorpass sessions a few years back and I just remember wish they had a location in NYC. Well, the day has come and it’s opening in a few weeks. I had the lucky opportunity to visit their new Flatiron location early and I need to go back ASAP.

The space is GORG. But, the experience was memorable. You can either choose to “free flow” and do your own thing, but they also host a ton of classes and social activities in the 90-person sauna. Yes, like comedy shows in the sauna.

I also now learned that with the right breathing I can finally handle an ice bath at 32 degrees F. Woo.

You can learn more here about them (they also have an app!), but they will definitely be my go-to for relaxation.

LOGGING OFF FOR NOW

Well, that is the end of this week’s edition. As always, I deeply appreciate you reading this and letting me be in your inbox when you probably get 39434 emails every single day.

If you enjoyed this edition or have any questions, don’t hesitate to hit the “reply” button.

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Ok, it’s time for watch last night’s Love Island USA episode and handle the packing bins that are taking up my entire living room.

Peace, love, and KPI’s,

KD

P.S. If you saw any typos or grammatical errors, no you didn’t.

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