The 3 C’s:
✅ Content
✅ Coaching,
✅ Community.
Oftentimes, the success of a brand lies in their ability to execute this strategy effectively.
Let’s examine each one:
✦ CONTENT:
Creating high-quality content is crucial for subscription commerce and D2C companies.
Peloton Interactive, has excelled here – live and on-demand workout classes, led by world-class instructors, lots of ugc, and plenty of useful social media material.
That content not only drives subscription value but also contributes to both the Peloton community piece and actual customer retention.
Look at these churn #’s:
The company has an average net monthly connected fitness churn of only 0.82% and a 12-month retention rate of 92%.
By comparison, Netflix has a monthly churn rate of roughly 2.5% (B2C subscription businesses in general, average roughly 5%).
✦ COMMUNITY
Do your customers get value from one another?
That is the key question.
Walmart will NEVER build a stick community because Walmart customers will never get excited about coming together and sharing stories about their latest savings on groceries.
But, other brands who have a passionate following can use (and should use) this strategy.
Think Tesla, VMP (Vinyl Me, Please), WeWork, Glossier, and yes, Peloton (again).
Why does a ‘community strategy’ work in these particular cases?
Because, these are brands that have engaged customers, who are like-minded, and can get value from not just the company, but from one another.
Peloton has a community of fitness nuts who like taking classes with their friends to see who’s faster.
Tesla is an umbrella for environmentally conscious affluents who love Elon.
WeWork is just a co-working space – yet, it’s a place for entrepreneurs to link up with other entrepreneurs.
Glossier is a brand with a loyal following of beauty enthusiasts who like connecting on social media and at in-person events.
The list goes on ….
✦ COACHING
This one is trickier but can be a big unlock.
When we talk about coaching, we’re not just talking about teaching or training.
We’re talking about guidance and personalization.
For example, let’s take Headspace, the meditation and mindfulness app.
One key reason people love Headspace is because of its personalized approach to “guided” (aka: coached) sessions to help users develop a daily mindfulness practice.
Another example that comes to mind, is Fitbit (now part of Google) – in this case, personalized guidance on fitness goals, nutrition, sleep, etc.
All said, when combined, the 3 C’s creates real horsepower for a brand.
Cool stuff.