Loyalty in a Bottle: How Truvani Keeps Customers Coming Back 2.5X More

Truvani has been one of the fastest-growing protein brands in the world during the 2020s so far.

And they’re not just dipping their toes in the protein powder pool.

They’re making waves in a multi-billion dollar market.

According to statistica.com, the global market for protein ingredients was around 26 billion U.S., dollars in 2021. And it’s slated to grow to over 47.4 billion by 2032. 📈📈📈

That’s a wave you wanna be riding. 🏄And Truvani is right there at the top.

Since its founding in 2018, Truvani has DOUBLED in growth year after year.

Without venture capital.

Without outside investment.

Just by following the solid principles we’re going to share in this newsletter.

Bonus tip: Check out the Truvani DTC funnel breakdown we did in a Funnel of the Week earlier this summer: Truvani - eCom Funnel - with Taner Tozan ⬇️

Going Steady: How Truvani Courts Their Market To Ensure Love at First Bite

Truvani drives a whopping 70% of monthly sales through recurring purchases

And they see 150% higher repurchase rates than the average e-commerce company.

And it’s this steady online recurring revenue that afforded Truvani the cash and opportunity to invest in the retail world.

Which they’ve absolutely DOMINATED, with stacked shelves in major stores from Erewhon to Walmart.

But it all started with DTC.

Check out this impressive stat.

70% of their sales each month on Shopify come from repeat customers.

So what are the 3 things that contribute to that 70% recurring revenue chunk?

And how can YOU apply Truvani’s recurring revenue strategy to your own business?

Let’s take a look.

The Not-So-Secret Secret? Know Your “Ideal Customer.”

In this YouTube video, Halpern explains that there’s no such thing as the ideal customer.

(In the sense that there is no ONE perfect customer.)

There are three perfect customers - and you need to know how to talk to ALL of them. Because they will purchase for different reasons.

We watched the whole 55-minute video so you don’t have to.

So, let’s break it down!

The 3 different ideal customer types and how to catch them:

The Informed: This customer knows everything about your product, its purpose/uses, your competitors, etc. You just have to capture their attention.

• The question: Why should they switch from a competitor to YOUR product?

• The headline: The FEATURE that makes your product unique.

The Afflicted: This customer knows they have a solvable problem; they just don’t know how to solve it yet. They are searching for answers, but don’t have them. Yet. To get their attention, you don’t start with the unique feature of your product, you start with the problem.

• The question: How will this product solve your problem?

• The headline: The PROBLEM your product helps to solve

The Oblivious: This customer doesn’t know they have a problem. And they don’t feel the need to change. To get their attention, you have to make them aware that they’re missing out on something.

Don’t mention the product features. Don’t mention the problem it solves. Just activate that FOMO.

• The question: What am I missing?

• The headline: Something the customer is MISSING OUT ON (i.e. “The #1 thing I do every morning before I get into the shower…”

But how do you efficiently market yourself to such different audiences?

Straight from the mouth of Truvani co-founder, Derek Halpern:

"We only make products in the most crowded spaces. I don't want to innovate products. I want to innovate ingredients in those products."

And what’s their innovation? (There was a hint in the graph at the top of this section.)

Fewer and higher quality ingredients.

Now, this might seem simple, but there’s something genius going on here.

By choosing one clear area of focus - ingredients - they are able to efficiently tailor their advertising strategy to catch all of their ideal customers.

(And keep in mind that, depending on your market, “ingredients” could mean a lot of different things, i.e. features, parts, mechanisms, etc.)

Now, how does Truvani hook each of these three customer types on the basis of their INGREDIENTS?

Let’s start at the very beginning.

Standing for Something: More Than Just Protein Powder 🏋️‍♀️

Truvani isn't just selling supplements; they're selling a movement.

And their first customer base was the “Informed.”

With the launch of their very first product - turmeric supplements - Truvani didn’t even mention the health benefits of turmeric in their online marketing.

They only talked about what they were up against: an untrustworthy and dangerous “Big Food.”

And the orders came FLYING in.

Vani Hari, Halpern’s co-founder, had a thriving health food blog before starting Truvani, and she knew how to connect emotionally with her informed audience.

“The Food industry has really left us in a situation where there aren’t a lot of big players that we can trust. And, becoming a mom, I’m even more distrustful of some of the things I’ve found out about what our children are being exposed to.” - Vani Hari, Truvani Co-founder

And check out the language she used in a recent October marketing email:

Btw - want to see Truvani’s 344 page PDF Email Swipe file?

We dropped it inside the Funnel of the Week Members Area:

Go here to get the Email Swipe File

Now back to Truvani…

They’ve taken their commitment to quality ingredients and turned it into an identity and a mission that customers can belong to, whether several years in or just meeting the brand for the first time.

Prophets and Profit – Maximizing the Economy of Emotions

“When people believe everything you believe, they will buy everything you have to sell” - Derek Halpern

That’s a pretty bold statement.

But Halpern knows from experience.

And it’s not as sinister as it sounds.

Truvani sees a real problem in the industry, and they are providing a real solution. For those who see the same problem, it is a mission worth getting behind.

But Halpern knows that “standing for something” isn’t only good for the mission.

And it’s not just about attracting and keeping customers.

“When people believe in your mission, believe in your brand, you get what’s called sales velocity,” Halpern says.

They now have one of the highest price points in the market, and the second-highest sales velocity (how many units they sell per week). Check it out. ⬇️

And this is not only how they dominated DTC, it’s how they’ve remained top dog in the retail world as well.

Take a look:

So, the informed customer already cares about their health. They already care about their ingredients. And they’ve been convinced that Truvani is the best option for them out there.

And it’s great for business.

But that’s a very small percentage of their potential customer pool.

Enter customer tier two: the “Afflicted.”

Benefits Or Bust!

For the afflicted customer, Truvani introduced ads that talk about the BENEFITS of their products, and the various health concerns they address.

Notice the emphasis on what this product can do for the customer – build muscle, achieve goals… and it won’t make you bloat like the other protein powders do.

You’ve got a problem.

And we’ve got the solution: Truvani supplements with impeccable ingredients – your one stop shop for achieving your goals.

Check out these reviews from real customers to see what their focus is:

For this customer base, the focus is still on the ingredients, but it’s all about what they do for you, not about a grander mission. (Though they’ll likely become believers in the mission too!)

But, what happens when you’ve reached all of the informed and afflicted customers? (The ones who are most likely to be looking for your product.)

Read on for customer tier three. (Who just happens to be the most important customer type).

Catering To The Lowest Common Denominator: The Blissfully Unaware Passerby

Perhaps the most important thing Halpern reveals in his video is this:

When you’re scaling a business, you actually need to end up focusing primarily on the oblivious customers. You need to get the attention of the masses.

Starting out, these were some of the best ads performing to oblivious customers:

These ads are not talking about benefits.

They’re not talking about problems.

They’re just capturing people’s attention with some very low-hanging fruit: our collective cravings for a sweet little treat.

The oblivious customer is now thinking, “Ooh that sounds yummy! And this could be good for me??”

Now you’ve piqued their curiosity.

And that’s really all you need to help pull the oblivious customer through your carefully crafted purchasing funnel.

And how did they get them?

Still with a focus on the ingredients and their TASTE.

Once they’re in, you have the opportunity to hit them with your other leverage points of benefits and mission, while maximizing loyalty and buy-in with subscription savings offerings, free samples, and other upsell incentives.

Check out our Truvani DTC Funnel Breakdown if you haven’t already.

In A Nutshell - Summarizing Halpern’s Genius Customer Profiles

In summary, Truvani knows how to hit each of the three ideal customer types, all within the framework of their unique ingredients.

oblivious – taste of ingredients

afflicted – benefits of ingredients

informed - mission of ingredients

No matter where they started in the customer category, they all wound up trying Truvani.

And loving it.

The ads catch them, and the quality keeps them.

And that’s LOYALTY.

There’s a snowball effect going on here. When customers believe in you, their loyalty becomes its own brand of advertising.

The Snowball Effect - a Deeper Dive into the Value of Customer Loyalty

Truvani works hard at earning and keeping their customers’ loyalty and trust. And it pays off for them in more ways than their astounding repeat purchase stats.

Here are some examples of how Truvani’s loyal customers keep the brand going and growing:

Example #1: The Power of Positive Reviews

For all their Lemon Cookie flavored products, Truvani uses real lemons imported directly from Sorrento, Italy! 🍋🇮🇹🤌That’s a level of commitment to quality that brings in the reviews like this one:

“Taste is my favorite part - it is sweet without being overly sweet or “fake” tasting. The texture is good, not too chalky. The ingredients were a bit shocking to me because they were so simple.”

Simple ingredients → great taste → enthusiastic customer reviews → new customers generated. And the cycle continues.

Example #2: From One SKU to Many

When Truvani first entered the retail space, they were given shelf space at Erehwon. And it felt like a huge win. They were excited to see what it would mean for their growth.

But this is the first spot they were given:

Not the most appealing placement.

But, having built such a strong brand identity and customer base online, they had an idea.

They developed more SKUs to take up more retail space (knowing they had the customers to support it), and it took them from THAT ⬆️…

to THIS ⬇:

Now, THAT’s a nice-looking shelf space.

And to think that Halpern was nervous at first about launching multiple SKUs at once!

He was afraid they wouldn’t sell. But they actually sold 3x better.

And having two shelves and additional over-shelf premium signage sure makes the product look more impressive and appealing to an oblivious customer who might just be walking by.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Consumer - So Make it Beautiful

Another thing Truvani has going for them is that – whether online or on the retail shelf – their branding is beautiful. And it’s brilliant.

Since introducing their top-performing dessert-themed ads, the Lemon Cookie flavor ads have been the top performers. Let’s take a look at why:

These posts are eye-catching, mouthwatering, and trendy.

And, if you remember like we do, it seemed like everyone was traveling to Italy this summer.

And maybe you couldn’t make it to Italy, but you CAN buy a protein powder made with REAL Sorrentino lemons… It’s an easy and appealing fix for a difficult desire.

Let’s take a look at another of Halpern’s brilliant points from his YouTube video:

People don’t buy your product because they understand you; people buy your product because they feel understood.

They see themselves in your marketing. (Or they WANT to see themselves in your marketing. You present them with something they aspire to.)

So, whether Truvani is presenting the customer’s ideal mission and values, their ideal fitness goals, or their ideal summer treat, they understand how to help a customer see themselves in the brand.

A Moment For Review

Let’s review some basic principles from this newsletter:

Principle #1: Know how to set yourself apart

Derek Halpern explains there are 3 questions to ask when positioning your brand (crystalizing your mission, as he says):

WHY ARE YOU HERE? (Pit yourself against some kind of enemy)

WHY SHOULD THEY CARE? (What’s that enemy going to do to them, the consumer?)

WHY RIGHT NOW? (Why is this urgent? What will they, the consumer, miss out on?)

Creating a common enemy is one of the most powerful methods for developing a brand identity, and Truvani puts it to excellent use.

Principle #2: Know your ideal customers and how to reach them

It doesn’t matter WHERE you get your customers (ie. social media, retail, amazon, etc.) It’s WHO THEY ARE.

Make a profile for your informed, your afflicted, your and oblivious customers, and then figure out the selling points and where they overlap. (For Truvani, it was “ingredients”)

Principle #3: Make your product and your advertising beautiful

Plain and simple.

The Key Takeaways 🎓

Truvani's success comes from a solid foundation:

• A strong mission and identity

• Expert advertising

• Quality that keeps customers coming back

Truvani maximizes its customer interest and buy-in by offering:

• Subscription offers on most products

• Strategic upsells of complimentary items

• Free sample packs to introduce new products and generate more curiosity and loyalty

Side note: The fact that Truvani is dealing in consumable products makes them particularly well-positioned for repeat purchases.

But there are many other products and industries that can be sold and marketed on a recurring basis. Think skincare, cleaning and household, products, etc. 💡

So don’t feel limited to selling supplements!

Stay tuned for a future feature diving into all the things Halpern says he had to say “no” to see the success Truvani has today.

Here’s a little teaser:

• No remarketing

• No Black Friday sales

• No coasting in your comfort zone

• No trying to do it all

Curious? Stay tuned!

And have a great week.

The Funnel of the Week Team

PS - check out our full funnel breakdown on Truvani inside the Funnel of the Week Members Area:

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