Unless they were living under a rock, most people these days have heard of Dollar Shave Club. Focusing on men, Dollar Shave Club (DSC) delivers razors and grooming products for only a few bucks.
But wives, mothers, girlfriends and sisters all over are familiar with DSC because they purchased as a gift for the guy in their life.
The reason they're so well known is because of their viral video.
Haven't seen the video? Here you go:
When considering the “virality” or success of the video, many people would be quick to chalk it up to luck. Sure, there's always some luck involved, but DSC was very intentional about everything they did.
Once you understand what they did and why, you can try to replicate their success in your own, unique way.
Here are 8 marketing tricks you can learn from:
1. The power of video
You can connect with a consumer and establish a powerful emotional connection with your audience through the use of video more so than any other content format.
DSC use of video was a smart move, especially given video usage statistics:
- 92% of mobile video consumers share videos with others
- More than a third of all online activity involves watching videos
- More than a third of consumers trust video ads
- 80% of users can recall a video ad they viewed in the last 30 days
- Enjoyment of video advertising increases purchase intent by 97% and brand association by 139%
2. Great storytelling
Not every aspect of a marketing strategy needs to contain storytelling, but it should be a part of your marketing strategy, and DSC’s success is proof of that:
- First, stories grab the attention of the audience. When you have an impressive and captivating narrative, people will want to satisfy their curiosity—especially if the story is relatable.
- Second, having a strong narrative helps build the trust with your audience. People trust you more when you open up and share personal stories with them. It works very similarly when brands share their narratives, and it brings the audience back for more.
- And third, stories simply do a better job at grabbing the attention of most people over raw content like statistics or facts. Not to say those aren’t interesting at all, but you’re guaranteed to capture more interest if you can tell a story around facts and data.
3. They knew their audience
DSC talks to men in a pretty relatable voice, providing something that never existed when it comes to men’s grooming products.
Dollar Shave Club shows that when you take the time to unearth what your audience wants, you learn how to talk to them. You can create content that uses language they can relate to, with ideas that make sense.
4. Focused on the value proposition
No matter how hilarious the video is, all those views won’t translate into sales and revenue if you can’t connect the product to the consumer in some way.
Dollar Shave Club didn’t have a unique product. Razors are everywhere. Still, they developed a unique value proposition around their products and made sure to keep that front and center throughout their content marketing campaigns.
5. Easily sharable
Dollar Shave Club includes traditional media placement, like television, in their marketing strategy. But the success of the launch and rapid growth can be attributed to the shareability of their digital content.
It was, and still is, a perfect formula for getting content to spread. Simply create content that triggers positive emotions.
Awe-inspiring content, humor, and strong stories make any piece of content engaging and shareable.
6. Every word has a purpose
Early in the production process, Dubin had a sizable script that ran upwards of four pages. Part of the creative process meant trimming that down. It’s an approach you have to take with content, no matter the format.
Once the content was stripped down to its bare bones, focused only on the brand messaging, the team went to work scripting humorous content to keep the video light-hearted, but sharp-witted and funny.
A perfect example is the unofficial tagline of the company that acts as the title for the first video. While trying to establish a solid line that would hit the audience hard at the beginning of the video, Aniello suggested “Our blades are f**king great.”
7. Strategic content release
Luck certainly plays a role in any piece of content going viral, but timing is important as well. Dollar Shave Club knew this much, which is why they had some strategy for the release of their content.
When it came time to launch, the video piggybacked on a funding announcement Dubin knew would gather plenty of media coverage.
8. The content was funny
People don’t share content just for the sake of sharing it. Think about the content you’ve shared most recently. There are likely one or more reasons you did so:
- The content resonated with you on a personal level through a common thought or belief
- It was inspirational and connected with you emotionally
- It was funny or educational—or both
- You found value in it and felt your connections would also enjoy it
But you don’t need to have raw comedic talent or formal training to make a strong connection with your audience.
It worked for DSC because they knew their audience, but more importantly, it was the personality of the brand. There was consistency in the brand messaging and the content itself.
You can read more about Dollar Shave Club and their marketing tricks at QuickSprout.
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