Hey!
I want to tell you about the #1 strategy a fantastic new brand used to hit a new level of growth—and how you can follow their playbook to improve your marketing and drive more sales.
SweetFlexx is one of our clients at the Smart Marketer Agency, and we’re thrilled that we were able to help them grow from 6 to 8 figures in just two short years.
To give you an idea of what that kind of growth looks like, here’s a picture of SweetFlexx’s operation when their revenue was 6 figures:
I love the commitment from an owner who’s willing to ship products out of their home. But I think you’ll agree, their operation has scaled in a huge way just two years later.
These pictures are from when John and I visited SweetFlexx after their annual revenue had crossed 8 figures:
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Just look at all those labels they’re printing! And that warehouse—talk about a major business upgrade.
(If you look closely, you can also see co-founder McCullough “Mac” Shriver wearing his “Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit” sweater. Love to see it.)
Now, let’s dive in and see how made this massive jump.
Analysis of SweetFlexx: Branding & Positioning
SweetFlexx sells leggings with built-in resistance bands. The leggings not only look incredible—they also help you build strength and resilience while you’re going about your daily routine.
Now, let’s do a quick analysis of their branding and positioning.
- Tagline: “Explore activewear with built-in resistance and get more from every step.”
- Audience: It’s a very cool and novel idea that improves on a product (leggings) that millions of women already buy—which means that for a lot of people, upgrading to SweetFlexx for the added benefit is an easy decision.
- Price point: Their initial price point $75–$100. That’s great, because they’re not so expensive that it’s unaffordable for the average person, but expensive enough that it gives SweetFlexx some flexibility with their paid marketing.
The #1 Reason SweetFlexx’s Growth Exploded
I asked Mac this question:
“What is the one reason (if you had to pick just one) that you guys were able to grow so quickly?”
I expected him to say it was their product—because it really is a great product!—but nope. He surprised us all by saying this:
“We were so focused on the features—resistance bands, fabric quality. Then Smart Marketer said: ‘Why not focus on the benefits?’ Customers were saying their legs felt more toned, they had more energy, even better knee support. That shift in mindset changed everything—and that’s when our growth skyrocketed.”—Mac Shriver, Co-Founder of SweetFlexx |
Benefits.
Even with an amazing product, that’s what empowered SweetFlexx to really turn the corner in their company’s growth.
Features vs Benefits
Focusing on benefits is one of those fundamental marketing principles that we’ve all heard 1,000 times. Maybe that’s why it’s so easy to forget.
I always think back to this image, which is the first time I really understood the distinction of features vs benefits:
It’s so telling that even when you have a really unique product like the iPod or SweetFlexx leggings, you still need to remember to focus on how your product changes someone’s life.
(AKA, the benefits.)
Quiz Time: Which Ad Won?
To illustrate the difference between features and benefits, here are two SweetFlexx ads. One of them is a feature-focused, the another is benefit-focused.
Can you tell which is which?
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The answer? I think it’s pretty obvious: the ad on the right is benefit-focused.
The ad on the left actually worked pretty well for SweetFlexx, which I attribute to the fact that they have such a great product. (That type of ad would NOT work well for most products.)
But the ad on the right worked REALLY well, making it clear just how much more bang for your buck you can get when you focus on benefits.
Should We Just Forget About Features?
To be clear, there is a time and place for features. But that place is usually somewhere on your product page.
Why?
Because there are people who care about product details—like how much RAM a computer has or how long a course is. You want those details available somewhere, and if you put them on the product page the people who care will find them.
But those features are not what will initially generate the person’s interest. That’s why you want benefits to be front and center in your marketing.
Write From Your Avatar’s Perspective
So, how do you focus on benefits in your copy and creative?
When most of us sit down to write an ad, we have a tendency to put on our marketing hats and write very stiff, sales-y copy. But it’s important to resist that and instead, get inside our customers’ heads and write the copy that would appeal to them.
Or in the words of Attila, one of our amazing Growth Strategists:
One of the first things we did with SweetFlexx—and one of the first things we do with a lot of our clients at the Smart Marketer Agency—is to help them nail down their best avatars.
That way, not only can we speak to the product’s benefits, we can also speak to how those benefits will affect the avatars’ lives.
Notice that the winning ad above doesn’t just speak to benefits; it speaks to specific benefits for one of SweetFlexx’s avatars: busy moms who don’t have time to work out.
Ask These 4 Questions to Learn More About Your Customers
Understanding your customer is so, so important.
Mac, for instance, will take SweetFlexx leggings to Starbucks to give them away and ask people what they think. He’s not shy!
Not everyone can take their product to Starbucks, but everyone can find a way to ask some questions of their customers to find out more about who they are, what their problems are, and how your product helps improve their lives.
Here are 4 questions to ask your customers. When you use these questions, don’t change the wording! These are written in a very specific way to produce useful answers:
- How would you describe yourself? – Pay attention to how your customers describe themselves. This is where we get ideas for avatars.
- What was life like before you had our product? – What was life like before you had our product? This question sets people up to tell us the pain points they were experiencing before our product.
- What was life like after? – Notice that we don’t ask, “What did you like about our product?” No—we ask them about their lives. That will help us cut straight to the best benefits.
- If you recommended us to a friend, what would you say? – When you ask someone to sell your product to one of their friends, it gets them to go into casual mode—which is a great way to find out how your avatar would actually describe your product in a positive way.
Also, please do not use AI to generate this information.
You can use AI in a lot of creative ways to improve your marketing, but it will never replace the words of your actual customers.
Get this information from real people to learn what they really care about. Then, if you want, you can give it to AI for all sorts of things.
That’s it for this post—thanks for reading!
