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Why shouldn’t babies sleep as comfortably as we do? Today we meet Chief Marketing Officer of Newton Baby, Aaron Zagha.
Founded in 2015 by Michael Rothbard, Newton Baby was inspired by concern for his two kids, who weren’t sleeping well. Rothbard decided to look deeper into the making of crib mattresses, which are usually thin, flimsy, and poorly manufactured. With a background in the bedding industry to fall back on, he saw an opportunity and decided to do something about it.
Newton Baby created an innovative baby mattress that is breathable and washable and quickly established the company as the leading luxury crib mattress on the market. With a differentiated product and higher price point than traditional run-of-the-mill baby mattresses on the market, their early customers tended to be affluent parents who wanted the very best of everything for their baby. But that has since changed.
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The intersection of creative marketing and a more well-researched and discerning customer has helped Newton Baby expand beyond their early affluent customers to a more mainstream demographic. Aaron discusses how they used a variety of marketing channels and tactics, such as social media, influencer marketing, and email marketing, to effectively tell their story and expand their target market.
“We had to get a little more creative. Instead of just showing scientific data and charts, we had to tell the story in a more relatable and understandable way to make sure that we were more accessible to the mass market. We did that primarily through video ads and paid social, and influencers especially.”
Aaron also discusses the challenge many ecommerce businesses face: customer retention. Newton Baby has a unique challenge in that their customers have a limited shelf life—after all, babies grow. To double the impact, because of the high quality of the product, they are often handed down from one child to the next. Aaron sheds some light on this challenge and how they drive repeat sales—and a whole lot more.
Main discussion points
- The customer retention challenge. Newton Baby’s customer base naturally outgrows the product—when they do, the product is of such high quality that it would be handed down. How did they approach this natural lack of repeat customers?
- Aaron speaks about the challenge of scaling up on paid channels—and even breaks down how they approach new channels like TikTok to reach customers where they are.
- Making sure that the social ads are in the right ‘voice.’ Aaron prefers that the younger members of his team take care of social content because they are more familiar with the tone that most resonates. This leads to Aaron’s lessons learned on being a leader, including his insights on hiring for ecommerce positions, and the kind of attitudes and personalities that best suit our industry.
- The importance of analytics and reports. Aaron thrives on deep analytics of the performance of his marketing efforts, appreciating especially how it helps to inform the creative side with effective content that is differentiated. These aspects are often seen as antithetical, but Aaron believes that they are far more intertwined than people think.
- Advice for expansion. Aaron discusses his experiences as an advisor to ecommerce startups, why he believes there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to ecommerce marketing and a more industry/niche-specific approach is essential. He also shares his tips for marketing knowledge resources, including books, podcasts, and vendor email newsletters.
Listen to the full story on the Cart Insiders Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever else you listen to podcasts.
