EP.142/ ROMP STOMP
Rebranding and refining a valuable social media strategy for a DTC brand with Romp Stomp Founder Rebecca Mijares
Mariah Parsons hosts Rebecca 'Becca' Mijares, Founder of Romp Stomp, a brand that creates easy-to-wear shoes for toddlers. Becca shares her entrepreneurial journey, starting with a crappy website and Facebook ads during the early COVID-19 days. She discusses the rebranding from Memoir Kids to Romp Stomp, emphasizing bold colors and fun designs. Becca highlights the importance of customer feedback, especially via Instagram DMs, and the role of email and SMS marketing in retention. She also mentions the challenge of expanding their product line to serve customers longer. Becca recommends resources like Twitter and in-person networking for founders.
Episode Timestamps:
2:16 Becca Mijares's Background and Romp Stomp Brand Introduction
3:46 Challenges and Learning in Product Development
4:02 Product Development and Trends
4:18 Social Media Strategy and Community Building
30:17 Advertising and Retention Strategies
37:40 Future Plans and Resources for Founders
43:08 Final Thoughts and Promotions
EP. 142
REBECCA MIJARES
TRANSCRIPT
This transcript was completed by an automated system, please forgive any grammatical errors.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
e-commerce enlightenment, post purchase wizards, branded tracking, female founders retreat, toddler shoes, natural foot movement, crappy website, COVID wave, customer feedback, rebranding strategy, bold personalities, product development, social media feedback, community building, Shopify email marketing, post-purchase experience, ecommerce operations
SPEAKERS
Mariah Parsons, Rebecca Mijares
Mariah Parsons 00:05
Greetings and welcome to retention. Chronicles, the podcast with learnings from expert e commerce brands and partners. I'm your host. Mariah Parsons, if you're here, you're either on a quest for E commerce enlightenment or you accidentally click the wrong link. Either way, I am thrilled you stumbled into our corner of the internet, and I hope you'll stick around. We've got pearls of wisdom for everyone, whether you're running a multi million dollar business or simply just starting out on your entrepreneurial journey. Before we unleash the brilliance of today's guests, let's give a shout out to our podcast sponsor, Malomo. Malomo is so much more than just another Shopify app, their post purchase wizards, making beautiful and branded order tracking smoother than a jazz solo. So our amazing founders, like our guests, can keep their customers happy and up to date while they track their orders. So hit that subscribe button like it'll increase your LTV overnight and go listen to our other episodes at Go malomo.com that's G O M, a, l, o m, o.com Get ready for insights, chuckles and perhaps a profound realization or two with this newest episode of retention Chronicles. You Hello everyone, and welcome back to retention Chronicles. I'm psyched for our episode here today. Becca, thank you so much for joining me. I am so excited to dig into rom stomp with you. It's going to be a blast for our listeners. I like to give them a little bit of background on how we met, or how you know you ended up in the seat here with me today. So we met at female founders, a female founders only retreat, I guess I'll call it. It was a black friday Cyber Monday boot camp. Had a blast. I think we like hit it off early in the morning together, and then it was a whole day of, you know, strategy and activities and Q and A. So there's a lot to take away. And now we're sitting here today to have a little bit of a more one on one in depth, personal conversation. And I couldn't be more excited. So we'll start off with you saying hi to our listeners and giving a background of yourself.
Rebecca Mijares 02:13
Awesome. Well, first off, thanks for having me. This is super fun. Yeah. My name is Becca muharrath. I own a brand called Rock. We make other shoes that toddlers actually like to wear. So they're super easy to flip on. They slip on like socks, and then they have a rubber sole on the bottom that protects the little feet. But yeah, we're really focused on creating footwear that allows the natural movement of those little feet. And so, yeah, we I've been running the brand for about it'll be five years in January.
Mariah Parsons 02:49
Wow, I feel like five years is so long in the E comm world, but also nothing at all, where it's like you were five years ago. Did you envision starting this brand? Like, did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur? Tell our audience about what led you up to starting this brand five years ago?
Rebecca Mijares 03:11
Yeah, growing up, I was always thinking about different businesses I could start. I actually used to sell painted rock, love that at school and like, would get other, like my classmates, to paint the rocks for me, and then I would just sell them.
Mariah Parsons 03:27
Oh, you really had a full hustle. That is amazing. Weren't even you were selling off the work too.
Rebecca Mijares 03:32
Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, I was pretty influenced by my dad. He is an entrepreneur. He actually is a violin maker, so he has his own shop, and he repairs and makes instruments. So he was always really encouraging of me to, like, go out and hustle and do those things. Oh, that is
Mariah Parsons 03:55
so cool a violin shop. I think that's the first time we've had someone who is making their own instruments, or, I guess, related to it on this show, I love the violin. It is, I think, one of my favorite instruments to hear, like live. So it has a special place in my heart. And that's really cool that, you know you have that, I guess I don't want to say leadership, but I guess that guidance would be a better word for that of like, oh, this is what an entrepreneurial journey looks like, even if it isn't, you know, specific to e com, or, you know, specific to the industry that you're in, you get to see, like, the, I guess, the motivations and the things that it takes, I guess, like mentally and emotionally and like, more of the personal side of being an entrepreneur, even if it isn't like super the, you know, the same industry. So that's awesome. Oh yeah. So tell us about when you decided you wanted to create your brand. Tell us about why did you specifically want to go into creating a shoe. Toddlers that moves with them, that fits like the natural foot, tell us a little bit more about why you've honed your focus in there.
Rebecca Mijares 05:09
Yeah. So while I was growing up, my sister was actually quite a few years younger than me, I think, like eight years older than her. So um, but growing up, I just remember she hated wearing shoes and just absolutely refused to keep them on. And so I always thought like, hey, like kids need better shoes. They grow up for the first year of their lives not having to wear shoes, and then all of a sudden, when they start walking, they have to wear these, like, clunky things on their feet that they're totally not used to. So that was always in the back of my mind. I was taking a class at my university. I went to BYU, and it was all about e commerce and starting an E commerce business. And so I saw some like, stock shoe products. And I was like, hey, this would be awesome for, like, babies and kids and so kind of just threw up a crappy website, got some shoes. They were really crappy, but, like, kind of the the like concept of the sock shoe, and threw up some Facebook ads and just started selling them, and it just kind of blew up. We started right, like, in the beginning of COVID, and so kind of rode that E commerce wave. And, yeah, it was, it was really surprising, like, I sorry. Let me start over, just seeing that my sister hated wearing shoes and then having that connection, like, five years later, um, was really cool to see that solution. Come come about,
Mariah Parsons 06:52
yeah, yeah. That's funny. And I also I like that you like you, you kind of call out that it was like, crappy shoes, or that it was like, Okay, these are model one of something that you're trying to sell, and just seeing if there's even a market there. Because I feel like a lot of the times, one thing that could stop entrepreneurs, or people that want to be entrepreneur entrepreneurs is feeling like they have to have the perfect product, the perfect site, the perfect XYZ to launch, and just like never getting around to it, because something will never probably be perfect, or if you want it to be perfect, like, that's a lot of time and money up front for maybe not even knowing if there's a market there, if it's something that's newer, or, like, something that's innovative, or something that isn't, you know, typically seeing the market. And so I love the, I guess, honesty or candor, of being able to say, like, they were, you know, certain quality of shoes, but they took off anyways, and that really, I'm sure, in the moment, you were like, Oh God, like, this is a good investment of, if we can make it so that these shoes are of better quality, and we're learning and taking feedback from customers of what they want to change and what they'd like to see, then you can, you know, you can develop the product to be sitting at a place where you're like, Okay, these are great shoes now, and we have the, you know, the customers that are willing to buy them, and have a little bit of the lessons learned of having a website and running some ads on them. So I love that like and I think it's very relatable to our audience of entrepreneurs, who are, you know, either trying to be entrepreneurs, or are in the stages of starting it, or, you know, maybe their enterprise level, but they, I'm sure they recall the days of just being like, Okay, what product is good enough to launch, or what marketing site is Good enough to go live, you know, totally
Rebecca Mijares 08:41
Yeah, I, you know, I was a poor college student, so I was like, I just want to start testing as soon as possible and iterating on that. And so, yeah, I really, like, whenever people come to me and ask about, like, starting a business, I'm just like, there's so much power in just starting, and then, like, iterating from that, rather than overthinking, and like, being wrapped up in perfectionism, yes, yeah,
Mariah Parsons 09:09
totally agree. So let's talk about the actual branding, because this is something that I always love to hear the founders perspective on, because you're Anyone, anyone who's listening to this episode, I hope they'll go check out your Instagram or your website, because it's very cute. And of course, like all things baby and children, I find adorable. Maybe other people's don't, but I do, and so I will follow that line, but tell us about kind of the branding, like even down to, how are you choosing, you know, the colors and the name and the brand kit for something that is for kids, but you're marketing to, obviously, their parents. It's one of those, I guess, industries, right, like Baby, baby or kids, where you're specifically trying to you. Pull in the parents attention for their child. So I find it fun, because other industries, obviously, you're marketing directly to the consumer who's going to use your product. So I'd love to get your perspective on that.
Rebecca Mijares 10:13
Yeah, I like another testament to just like getting started, like I just started out with a different name. Actually. It was used to be memoir kids, and kind of just went with the typical baby branding that you might see, very like pastel, very like lots of cursive and just a lot of softness. And then last year, I just felt like we needed to have a refresh and stand out in the market, and so we did that through branding. So we changed the name to romp stomp. And the goal with the rebrand was to really kind of embrace the fun, bold personalities of toddlers. It's just such a fun age where they're really, like, getting the personality and just loud and crazy, and it's just such a fun spirit that we wanted to incorporate into the brand. And so that romp stomp name is kind of a nod to the like, kind of rowdiness, kind of craziness, but also stomp, like with this shoe, and, you know, with it's kind of fun, and then thinking about, like the brand kit, I actually worked with the designer to find that bold feeling that I was looking for, like I knew the feeling, but she was huge in helping us define those colors and the logo and the font to use, but then, yeah, we've just run with it. It was a huge project to rebrand everything, but I'm really happy with how it's turned out, and I really feel like our customers resonate better with our brand. Yeah,
Mariah Parsons 12:00
yeah, I remember you telling me that in the in person at the female founders only event, and that's why I wanted our listeners to hear because one, it's just such a great name, like the duality of, you know, a nod to toddlers being crazy and they will humble you even when they're not trying to, just because they, you know, it's that funny stage of life where you don't have the awareness, right, of, like, what is, quote, unquote, good or bad, or, you know, accessible or not, to say so I do. I love that, that element of a toddler, even if, as an adult, you're like, wow, I just got humbled by a toddler. But the also, though, like the business side of wanting, wanting the name and the brand kit to reflect a little bit more of the rowdiness that you don't typically get in, I guess, like, I'll call it logo, or, you know, like enterprise level, being brands that we've all grown up with and seen through the years. So it's, it's so interesting, and paralleling that with the brand, and developing as you're and changing as you're, you know, growing as a business, I would also love to hear how you're thinking about product development, because I think one of the things that makes what I love to see in like brands that I'm following is them choosing which product they're going to roll out, or, like, which pattern designs, which Color Waves. I think it's just from being in E commerce and being, you know, entrepreneurial myself, loving to kind of pick apart different decisions and see, like, Okay, why did you go with this color over this color, or, like the trends or the styles? So I'd love to hear your take on how you're deciding, you know, you have your shoe, but how are you adapting it, and, you know, changing it with with as you develop as a business?
Rebecca Mijares 13:58
Yeah, I think one thing again, just to, like, keep in mind is that, like, we're always trying to be better, and customer feedback is so valuable in that, like, when we're just talking about, like, the structural, like, components of the shoe, we're always working towards. You know, another variation that we can improve upon. And I love Instagram for that, just to have that like feedback of customers, like letting us know what colors they love, or if they're experiencing any type of issues, that's been super useful to have. I think, I don't know it's so tricky when you're coming out with different patterns and like color ways, like new new design, because you. It's a balance between kind of like being on trend as well as like, what customers actually want. And I've noticed that can be different. And so recently, I've been really trying to lean into the fact that, like, our shoes are like an article of clothing, and so we do need to be really tuned in with trends and like, coming out with new designs. When I first began, I was just so focused on, like, the functionality of the shoe, but like, people love to dress up their kids in cute outfits, right? And so, yeah, it's been a learning experience for me, and I don't think I've honed it at all, but, like, I love being able to launch like a small drop, like a small like, you know, a couple colors, but in small number of units, just to see how that does, and if that really resonates with people, we can build on top of that. So one example is our checkered shoes. That was kind of like a small launch that we did about two years ago, and people loved them. And so now we've iterated and come out with different colors with the checkered shoes. And so it's really just like experimenting. It's kind of hard because sometimes we will get like surveys, like, I'll ask people what they want, and then it doesn't really reflect in like, the like results of when we actually launch Um. So yeah, it's just you're always learning. And I think, like, my biggest piece of advice is to, like, start small and, like, just experiment on that, and then just keep, like, iterating. Yes,
Mariah Parsons 16:47
yeah, I love that. And so I think this would be a really valuable thing for our listeners to hear. Is when you say, like, launch small, how many like units specifically are you talking about per color wave? And I know I'm putting you on the spot. So if it's just, like, a generalization, that's okay. But I feel like this is one of those things where it's like perspective matter so much, because, like, small to one brand could be like 20 or 50, right? Or small to another brand could be 30,000 units. So I always like to try and see, you know, like, tactically, when you're looking at okay, colorway, then obviously it'll depend on the manufacturer, and you know what they can do and the price for all that. But for you, specifically, do you, do you know the range off the top of your head of like, when you're looking to maybe try, like, the checkered shoe or, like, a new color wave? How many orders you're actually ordering?
Rebecca Mijares 17:42
Yeah, I would like under 1000 units, kind of our, our number that we go for when we're testing something, yeah,
Mariah Parsons 17:51
okay, awesome. That's very helpful. And then when you're thinking about, like, looking at trends, like, I feel like, where I see a lot of the trends of where I'm like, Oh, that's really cute. Like, I would want to wear that. Or just like, for myself, I'm pretty heavily leaning on social media for that, um. And I feel like even before social media was like, fashion magazines, right? Like, more of the print printed like PR or printed media. And so I'd love to get your take or understand where you're pulling inspiration for something being, you know, quote, unquote, trendy. Are you looking at, you know, social media or pop culture, kind of similar to where, you know, I think a lot of consumers would be looking, are you looking to somewhere else, of like, trend predictors, or anything of that sort.
Rebecca Mijares 18:49
Yeah, I look at like, I honestly don't remember where it was, but like, I just pay attention a lot to the colors like and like, I'll look up, like, trending colors for 2025, or whatever, and like, it'll pop up. And I think it kind of pulls from like, you know, what's on the runway, like, and that kind of stuff. But also I just look at, I think our designs turn out better when I kind of just trust my gut. And I think it comes from like, just like, uh, social media, what I see on Pinterest and that kind of stuff. Um, so, yeah, I honestly feel like I haven't figured it out, and I've been trying to be a little more on trend and pay attention to that. But honestly, sometimes I'm just like, I'm gonna create what I think is good. And sometimes it totally hits the target. Sometimes it's totally off, yeah, and
Mariah Parsons 19:44
that's the gambling take. You know, I feel like that's what, like, Devil Wears Prada, right? Like, they like, that is a whole fashion industry, and they're trying to predict trends of, like, what will be on the obviously, like, in the upper echelon of fashion. Like, seeing what runway styles are going to be, and then how that translates down to consumer trends and all that stuff. So I don't think there's ever right, like, there's not a perfect science, which is fun, because people break the molds a lot of the time. Or, you know, can't predict things. Like, I would say this past summer because of Barbie, you know, hot pink is like, utmost trending, which maybe it would have been without the movie, or like, Taylor Swift as well, just all these different things in pop culture. But the, yeah, I think why it's fun for me to walk down that path of, like, how are you trying to navigate? It is because there's no simple answer to it. Like, if you just, you'd have, like, every single thing would be the same thing every every season. And that's not the case. So it's a fun, I guess I'll call it a fun thought experiment, to just be like, Okay, where are you even attempting to try and look? Yeah, I think following your gut is a great nod to, you know, sometimes it'll sometimes it'll hit, sometimes it won't, and that's just also part of being an entrepreneur and taking a gamble, right? Totally. Um, okay, so we've kind of talked about the like product development side, how you're coming about launching your brand, or how you came about launching your brand, and thinking about all the things behind it. And you mentioned you use Instagram specifically for customer feedback, which I think is really interesting, because I think a lot of brands would be scared to see, like, anything negative or even constructive on social media, just like in comments, because I think there's a sphere of like, oh my god, someone saw this one bad comment. So they're not that's gonna not demotivate or unmotivate, whatever the word is, they're not gonna purchase because of that one comment. And so I think it's interesting that you enjoy or you like seeing those comments, and I would love to wrap that into a conversation around acquisition and using social media, whether it's organic or paid to, you know, reach, reach your audience, because I haven't heard people using social Media for, I guess, customer feedback or product development and being, I guess, excited about it, or, like, enjoying it, I feel like a lot of the time, social media people are trying to mitigate, and that's understandable, because, like, nobody it's stressful to see negative things. So yeah, I'd love to get your take on that.
Rebecca Mijares 22:39
Yeah. I mean, like, I feel like people understand that nothing's going to be perfect in a brand, and to be able to see how a company responds to those imperfections is a huge trust builder. And so when we get those negative comments, I really do like to just respond and say, like, hey, we live. We care about this a lot, and want to find a solution for you, whatever it is, and then responding in that way, I think, really, yeah, just build that trust. Another reason I like to use social media for like product feedback is like just through messaging. So if someone leaves a comment about something we can improve on, I love to just message them and really have a conversation about it, and they'll really open up and talk about it. And again, that's just like building that relationship with customers, which is huge. So as for acquisition and like getting customers, I really feel like it's been I feel like organic social media is so hard to predictably acquire customers. So I really love to use Instagram for like community building rather than like acquisition. And then we use paid we use paid media for really reliably acquiring customers. So that's kind of how I view that, where I try not to focus so much on really selling the shoes as much in our organic social media, rather than just providing value, and like trying to build that community, it can be tricky, but that's kind of like my take on social media, yeah,
Mariah Parsons 24:44
yeah, that makes sense. And especially your social media is a lot of, like, DIY, or a lot of activities, like, a lot of things that aren't, like, specifically focused to your product. They're more just like, I guess. Circular, or what's auxiliary, or, like, just related to being a parent or having a kid, or, you know, just like, I guess being in that world of someone who would eventually, or is currently, a customer of yours. And so I feel like that fits really well, obviously, into community building and more like education or providing value, because assuming, you know, parents are going to be the ones who are following and engaging with your content. And that's exactly what you want, you know, finding, like new activities or new DIY ideas to kind of like draw them in and be like, Oh, what's this account that's posting about? You know how to make this specific toy at home or specific activity at home, and, like, Why? Why are they doing that? Um, so I love that approach. Like, I was, of course, stalking your Instagram, and was just like, This is so fun and such a creative way to obviously engage with your customers that isn't like, here's the top three reasons, you know we're rolling out this product. Or, you know, why your kid is going to love, love from. So the question for you in that is, where are you pulling the inspiration for those posts from? Because I know, like, I manage business social media accounts. I manage my own one, which is just funny to say, manage, but I think it sounds fun, so I use it with my personal account. And it is, you know, when you're trying to post daily or multiple times a day, inspiration sometimes can be lacking, whereas other times it's like hitting you, you know, like, ping, ping, ping, your brain is going off and has like, five ideas in one minute. So how are you like? Do you have any system, I guess, of how you think through content that you want to put on there, of like, oh, this would be a really fun activity to put on there, or you being inspired by like things around you. Is there any type of system that you have for trying to create that content?
Rebecca Mijares 27:06
Yeah, that's, it's tricky to be like posting consistently and having content for that. Um, I think one thing that I've kind of adopted is just feeling like, you know, one really good, valuable reel is worth more than five, like kind of crappy mid level reels, right? And so I really try and focus. It's hard, because you need to get the volume to see what really resonates with people. But I really try and focus on quality. And so that's one thing, so that we don't have to be coming out with like 10 new reels every week. But I love Pinterest. Pinterest is like, so good for just getting inspiration on activities specifically for like, young kids and I, whenever I get an idea, I just write it down in my notion. I use notion like religiously. You track of ideas. But another helpful resource is ask the public. I think it is I haven't heard of that. I'll explain. It. If I'm saying the name wrong, I don't remember it. But you can just type in like a search term, and then it comes up with like, questions that people have about that search term. So if you like, type in toddlers, then it'll, like, come up with searches that people search about toddlers. So one of them that did really well for us was like, what to do if your toddler is biting, like I would have never thought of like coming out with content about that, but like, I could see that people were searching that. And so we made a reel about that, and also like an email newsletter. And so using that to like kind of answer concerns or like questions that people already have is super useful. And then I love to recycle that content across all of our platforms so that you know you can work smarter, not harder there.
Mariah Parsons 29:23
Yes, yes. I know that on Tiktok too, they have, I just literally looked it up because I was like, I have not heard of this. How have I not heard of this? Anyways, on Tiktok, they have, like, searchable and I think is it answer the public Yes, okay, okay. Just wanted to make sure so our listeners can go, I'm sure they would find it, because I found it immediately. But Tiktok has, I forget the feature name, but you can basically go and search kind of similar of like, where's there a gap for content, and what are people searching for? And I was like, That is a brilliant move by Tiktok. I love graphics. Content creators out there who are really trying to, you know, understand what people are asking. So that's a really, really good piece of advice for trying to find something that's like circular content, or auxiliary content around specific keywords. And you surprise me, Becca, which is good because there's a lot of things that I've heard of in the marketing world, and that is not one of them. So kudos to you. Let's talk about real quick strategy around ads. Just because you've been in the space for five years, you know, you hit it off with ads working for you in the beginning, which is not a easy feat, if anyone you know, if anyone knows ads that is not, wouldn't pair ads and easy together. So talk to us about like, lessons learned in the beginning, what worked for you? Is it still working for you? Or have you had to adjust given, you know, e commerce is E commerce, boom, post COVID, you know, all that stuff. I'd love to hear just a little bit more about, you know, how you approach it.
Rebecca Mijares 31:05
Yeah, well, in the beginning, I really didn't know much. I was taking like, a course at my university about like Facebook ads and stuff, and so that's kind of where I started. And mostly started with like videos and just kind of demonstrating the shoes. And I think, like, one thing to be thinking about is, like, the first step to really winning at ads is if you have a product that's really easy, demonstratable in ads, and to be able to visually show like the problem that you're solving. And so one win that we had in the beginning was figuring out what visual really hooks people in about our product, and that's like the slipping on of the shoes. So I would test, I would have the same ad, except for like the first four seconds of the ad was different, and always, always, always the ads starting with pulling on the shoes, would win. And so we've used that in our marketing, like moving forward, always showing that motion of slipping on the shoes, just because it is so visually interesting. Another thing that's really worked for us in the beginning and now is pretty simple, but showcasing the problem that people have, and then how the product solves that problem. So I work with some, like, UGC creators, and I always try and get them, sounds kind of bad, but like, I want to see, like, kids being upset about wearing normal shoes, or, like, funny ripping in the shoes. Like, if we get a good shot, shot of that, like, that's awesome. Um, like, sad for the kid. I don't want them, but like, a really great way to show the problem and then how our shoes are the solution to that. Um, but at the end of the day, to win the ads, you just got to test a bunch of different creatives and um, it you'd never know what's going to hit and what's gonna flop. But I just try and get, like, new ads in every week to test, to help performance. Like, that's the biggest thing,
Mariah Parsons 33:31
wow, new ads every week. That is not, that's an easy feat.
Rebecca Mijares 33:36
It is not. But again, I try and really recycle content. And so some of the content that we do use for like reels, when we are, like, focused on the shoes, oftentimes, if that does well on reels, it will translate pretty well to ads. Like, I'll make a couple of tweaks, but, yeah, I try to utilize that content as much as I can.
Mariah Parsons 33:59
Yes, makes sense. You've also the the ad idea of, like, slipping on the socks and testing out, like the movement, or which element of the product that you're demonstrating in the first couple of seconds. I also haven't really heard that tactical of advice before, so love it again. Good job. Becca, it's huge, yeah, yeah, no, because I can, like, envision that in my mind, right? And, like, I'm also envisioning, like, flexing the the actual shoe, like, you know, like a, like, a sandwich, or something like that, for the viewers who aren't watching the video. And it is a very demonstratable, very visual product, and I think that's a really smart way to go about ads, is like, just, what can you tweak an AB test? Because a lot of the times I feel like people go with copy, of course, or thinking about, like, graphics, but then the video component of, okay, just change the first couple of seconds. And what are you changing? It's the mobility of the shoe or whatever. You know, movement of the product is a is a really smart approach. So I love that, um, for the last like 10 minutes or so, would love to talk about retention, because obviously, we're on retention Chronicles. Um, it's my bread and butter, as I have always told our listeners. And so when you're thinking about customer retention, what is, I guess, one of the like aspects of the customer journey that you're like, we have had this, it has been super critical for us. This, like this, has helped us retain so many customers. And then what's one thing that you're looking forward to, like, adapting or adding to your strategy? Because I think that's always a fun question to add is, like, ask is, you know, what's one thing that's worked really well, and what's one thing that you're excited about to experiment in the future?
Rebecca Mijares 35:56
Yeah, I think really, I mean, this is probably a pretty typical answer, but like utilizing email marketing and SMS marketing has been huge for us, like and being with people on the journey of wearing our shoes, since toddlers will grow out of shoes so quickly having those email flows, like, six weeks after the first purchase of like, Hey, you want to size up, like, that's huge, and to have that automated, like, it's so nice, right? So we really utilize a lot of flows there, again, kind of with, like, just feedback. I love to send out a personalized email to each of our customers. It's a it's a flow in Flavio, but it's like a plain text email from me. I'm saying like, Hey, thank you so much for ordering. Would love to hear any feedback you have. Thank you so much for supporting our small business. And then I get so many email replies from that. So it's a huge win, because customers kind of get an introduction to me and know that, like I'm a founder that really cares about their experience. And then number two, it really helps with like, email deliverability, with, like, getting replies back to your email. Like, that's a huge like signal to inbox providers that, like, you're a reputable sender. So that's been awesome as for like, new opportunities. I like, I this goes into product development, but it is tricky because our shoes only got to three years old, and so like expanding our product line in order to serve our customers longer is probably top of mind for us, because we work so hard to acquire those customers and then we can only serve them for, you know, like two years max. So I would say that's like top of mind for us moving forward.
Mariah Parsons 38:16
Yeah, yeah, those are great calls for both of those, and it is so, yeah, the email deliverability piece, there is a good call out, because I know that obviously there's a lot of adjustments with email and privacy and cookies and all that fun stuff that the technical side of the customer experience and marketing always got to say on top of it. And I, I love that you're thinking about, like, okay, the relationship between the customer is so important. And how can you, as a founder, automate but still personalize, um, an email and, like, read those responses? I think that is something that, like, even if you're in E commerce, or even if you're in marketing, you know that that's like, probably not the founder clicking send this email at this very moment, right? But people understand that you're getting those emails back and you're willing to read them. I think that's what goes a long way with people who get those personalized emails from a founder saying like, exactly like you said, Thank you for supporting our small business, and thank you for, you know, purchasing with us. Please let us know if there's something that you wish was different. Blah, blah, blah, and so I love that call out and then expanding the product line to continue to serve customers who want your products but you just haven't been able to, you know, dedicate resources there. I think are very too smart answers. And I would love to hear your take as well with when you're thinking about, you know, like, how to level up, or how where to go to next, because obviously, like, retention is one of those things where everyone knows it's important, but there's a lot of different areas that you can go to with it. Um. So when you're thinking about, like, okay, we're getting to this stage where now we can develop past three years. Or, you know, we're going to get to that stage in a year. What kind of resources or where are you looking to to try and draw on, like, business plan growth or business model growth in E commerce, because obviously there are a ton of resources out there, just from being able to connect with founders, like at the event that we met at, or podcasts like we're doing right now, or webinars, or x, y, z. There's a ton of resources out there. But I always love to hear where specific founders are going to, kind of like, level up, or to see, you know, what is being published in this newsletter of like, oh, I should really consider that. Do you have any of those examples of like, your go to favorite resources?
Rebecca Mijares 40:49
Yeah, I really like the podcast put on by common thread collective. Those are awesome. And then, honestly, I am, I love Twitter for or for any like, what's just going on in E commerce, just following founders there? Um, that's huge. And I think also, um, I think lately it's for me, I've been so bombarded with, like, things of what I need to do in my business, and like, consuming that content, I've kind of taken a little step back and been like, Okay, this is awesome, and I also need to do what's best for my business, and, like, decide for myself, if that makes sense, because it can be tricky when you're looking at resources where, like, one resource resource will completely contradict the other, right? And so just kind of like taking all of it in with a grain of salt and then realizing that, like, I'm the founder and I am going to do what's best for my business, has been really empowering for me lately to do so I don't have a ton of resources now, just because I've kind of slowed down with it. But yeah, and then I think just in person, events or like networking can be so powerful and and that's been huge for our like, opportunities that we get, or just kind of problem solving things, is to just talk about your problems, and then a lot of times, someone will have that solution, yeah,
Mariah Parsons 42:31
okay. Love It is there, are there any, like in person, events or conferences that you would highly recommend for founders? Off the top of your head?
Rebecca Mijares 42:42
Um, most of them are local to Utah. I am, like, part of some e commerce groups in Utah, and those have been super helpful. Um, but, yeah, just like getting out and like talking about your business and problem with, like, other people, you'll you'll be surprised at like, maybe that person doesn't know anything that can help you, but they probably know someone. So, yeah,
Mariah Parsons 43:07
no, I love it. I Yeah. I remember connecting at the event we met at which shout out Mackenzie Bauer and female female founders only because I realized I haven't actually shouted out Mackenzie, but I connected another founder with someone I met on the podcast, because she was like, I'm having this issue, and I need someone. And I was like, I actually know exactly someone that you should chat with. So great, real, real life example of that. And I absolutely love that you're just taking a step back, because it's sometimes overwhelming, and that is very real. Of just like, You know what? I know all these things are probably good that I'm going to take a step back, because it's not good to be overwhelmed by all of them. So I appreciate the honesty there. One last question for you, is there anything like promotions or launches or just like strategy that you want to share with our audience. I think it's always a fun question to ask, so I'd like to try and reserve the last couple minutes of the podcast to do so
Rebecca Mijares 44:08
yeah, so I think this will be coming out in November, so we'll be in the middle of our Black Friday sales. So every week we're going to be having a different promotion there. So if you want to get um, get notified about that. You can sign up for our email list on our website, romp, stomp.com, um, yeah, I think that's it. Amazing.
Mariah Parsons 44:33
Love it. Well, thank you so much, Becca for making the time. This has been a joy. I'm so impressed by your knowledge of just all the questions that I'm throwing at you. So thank you for being willing to share, and I know our audience is really going to love this episode.
Rebecca Mijares 44:44
Awesome. Thank you for having me.
