Advertising without Ads
When I decided to enter the regulated industry of vapor products, I knew it would be an uphill battle to get my products in front of consumers. Since traditional methods of online advertising were limited due to being classified as a Tobacco product, I needed to create a way to grow the brand without ads.
This lead me to create a launch strategy that involved building a community around a brand before I ever sold a product.
From all of this research I saw only one route that would work for me, thus the Reddit Strategy was born.
For weeks before I launched, I logged into the subreddit dedicated to our products with the specific goal of helping others while I worked out all of the technical aspects of launching the business. This strategy lead to me launching within a community who knew the brand already leading to sales on launch day.
Below are some reactions and comments from Reddit to show how we approached the community:
Community Growth
Consumer Review Culture - "One of Us"
Review systems are essential for new businesses to gain confidence with their potential customers. The Reddit Strategy focused on that as we decided to launch. Sending review samples out to established reviewers and influencers on the subreddit solidified out position as a brand Reddit could trust. This also allowed for constant content to be posted within the community almost always guaranteeing a post of CCC a week.
Using our reputation to our advantage, CCC positioned itself as a brand molded by the community. Creating a persona as a brand lead us to getting passionate feedback and honest criticism from our customers.
Below is an comprehensive Customer Review breakdown of the products I created for Crescent City Clouds: