forumcon: top 5 forum insights that changed our business, crista bailey

Top 5 Forum Insights That Changed Our Business

TEXTUREMEDIA

2.7M Unique visitors a month

25M Unique visits in 2013

500K+Loyal email subs

$1B+ Spend annually on hair

care products

Source: Google Analytics

THE LARGEST SOCIAL PLATFORM THAT ACTIVELY EMPOWERS AND ENGAGES A DIVERSE COMMUNITY OF FEMALE INFLUENCERS IN HAIR CARE

TEXTUREMEDIA

2.75M Average FB Post Reach

11M+ MONTHLY INFLUENCER REACH

200 Pieces of content

8M Emails sent

4.5M YouTube

Source: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram

1.1M Instagram

1998 – 1 Little v-Bulletin Forum "NaturallyCurly.com Launched a Movement

•  2 curly journalists •  Multiple mimosas •  One 12-year-old web

designer •  $300 investment •  1 big idea •  Passion/”Concern”

TMI$%$Top$Forum$Insights$that$Changed$our$Business$

1980s curly “helmet” hair

2014 – Forum & App


2014"

Articles"Videos "Styles "

Reviews "Tutorials "

DIY Recipes"Giveaways "

Q&A


2014 – Commerce


2014 – Stylist Community


2014 – Life & Hair Blog


So, how did we go from there…


MEDIA & COMMERCE$

MARKET INSIGHTS & DATA$

Social, mobile, video, email, photo, Q&A, sampling 30,000+ UGC product review database Consumer data & market insights

{ {

… to here?

Top 5 Forum Insights "That Changed Our Business

“Worry about content… content is king… unless your content is engaging, there’s no community to monetize on.” #ForumCon — Caroline Abellar (@thinkcaroline) June 13, 2013


1. Stay true to the community language

Even if the market doesn’t consider it, it eventually will.


“Every organization willing to radically reconceive itself for the Web should look at NaturallyCurly.com” --April 2010 NY Times Sunday Magazine

I$get$it!$

I$don’t$get$it?$


Our language = hair type



Products can transcend "hair type & skin color

2011/2012 "Target’s Beauty & Hair Care Aisle


2013/2014"Target’s Hair Care Aisle



--April 2014

2. Give community tools to "create beyond the forum "

Create more meaningful and shareable content in and outside the forum



Growing database of 30,000 product reviews for 10,000 products

Reviews drive product purchase


56% increase in orders when a beauty product’s # of reviews went from 1 to 15, and rating went from 3.5 to 4.5 stars

Source: Bazaarvoice

Same goes for stylist review db


Productize community passion for product + your expertise = shareable seals


2013/2014"Target’s Hair Care Aisle


“Hey, NaturallyCurly, can we use your seal to sell more product?”

3. Leverage community conversations to capture insights


Introduc;on$

Key$Objec;ves$

Methodology$

Study$Highlights$and$Implica;ons$

Detailed$Findings$

Appendix$

Cosme&cs,)Skin)Care)&)Fragrances)

Living)with)Natural)Hair)

Hair)Care)and)Styling)Overview)

Shampoo)Usage)&)Spend)

Condi&oner)Usage)&)Spend)

Finishing)Product)Usage)&)Spend)

Oil)Product)Usage)&)Spend)

Brand)Loyalty)

Hair)Product)Retailer)U&liza&on)

Chemical)Services)and)Treatments)

Tools)and)Accessories)

TextureTrends Table of Contents

Styling)Product)Usage)&)Spend)

TextureTrends further positions us as thought leaders in our space


4. Identify the rising stars


Identified a rising star that now represents 25% of our traffic


Rising stars can mean products too


5. Carry the conversation other places. It’s OK.


8% of monthly visits sourced from

social

Gain 50K new social

followers each month


Break out the tissue, and the analytics


As social followers grow…


… so does our reach


0$$

20,000$$

40,000$$

60,000$$

80,000$$

100,000$$

120,000$$

140,000$$

160,000$$

180,000$$

200,000$$

Uniques)2014)

Top 5 Forum Insights That Changed Our Business

1.  Stay true to the language 2.  More tools in community hands 3.  Leverage community to build insights 4.  Identify and support the rising stars 5.  Be open and social: carry the conversation

other places


You are the expert in “_______”

•  You’ve got community to back you up •  And more content than community •  Go build relationships with much bigger fish •  And with smaller fish, because they will

become big fish, and they are all part of your ecosystem, and as we know

•  Community talks •  You, listen and lead for them.


PS: You haven’t lived until you’ve attended a hair & beauty show


forumcon: top 5 forum insights that changed our business, crista bailey

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