The Growth Strategy HVMN Used To Break Beyond Their Niche — Podcasts (2022)

Michael Brandt wants to “bio-hack” his health. And that’s where his entrepreneurial journey began. He went down the research rabbit hole, examining the drivers of performance, cognition, and recovery and discovered nootropics—a class of “smart drugs” that claim to boost brain performance. In 2014, together with his co-founder Geoffrey Woo, he started Nootrobox. The company sells a nootropic blend with ingredients like ashwagandha and L-Theanine, appearing on Shark Tank and in stores like The Wall Street Journal. But that first business was only a precursor of what was to come.

Their continued research soon introduced them to ketones—natural compounds in the body that are produced when following a high-fat, low-carb diet or during periods of intermittent or prolonged fasting. They discovered the compound’s ability to improve performance and concentration and asked themselves this question: “Why can’t you drink ketones?”

Brandt and Woo followed this curiosity and expanded beyond nootropics, rebranding from Nootrobox to HMVN (short for Health Via Modern Nutrition) in 2017. Its flagship product is Ketone-IQ™, a daily ketone supplement drink that promises high energy drinkers , focus, and endurance. Once a niche addition for fellow biohackers to buy online, the company is taking Ketone-IQ™ to a wider level, pursuing store shelf placement and promoting the value of ketones more widely.

On this episode Shopify Master podcast, we sat down with Michael Brandt to discuss HVMN’s growth strategy, including perfecting their market position, profitable brokerage partnerships and educating clients through marketing.

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Refine your position through messaging, customer feedback and pricing strategy

Brandt joked that the first version of Ketone-IQ™ was “very expensive,” “very technical” and “felt like a research chemical.” But this early iteration of their product, and the positioning and pricing strategy that accompanied it, was good for the early adopters of ketone ester drinks—Iron Man athletes and elite runners.

Since then, HVMN has worked to improve its products, lower its prices and revise its position. Version one of their ketone drink was launched in 2017, while version two is due out in 2022. They’ve also reiterated the messaging, helping potential customers understand the value of ketones more quickly, without going through a research paper. “To reach a larger audience…your audience gets an order of magnitude larger and your story needs to get an order of magnitude easier,” Brandt said.

Here’s how Brandt and his team worked to get their market position right:

• Create a “category entry point” messaging.: Brandt suggests that building rituals around your product is key to product messaging, also known as category entry points—KitKats are enjoyed during coffee breaks while Corona beers are sipped on the beach. The category entry point for Ketone-IQ™, is having them first thing in the morning to start the day strong. “We want to be a part of that moment in time,” Brandt said. “So we developed all of our onboarding, all of our creative messaging, all of that goes with that.”
• Ask for feedback from super customers and frustrated buyers: HVMN talks to its top promoters to learn how to make them happier and get more great customers. They also prioritize talking to customers one time, which may be harder to find. Brandt recommends incentivizing these conversations with future discounts or gift cards. By asking the right questions, these conversations can help entrepreneurs see patterns they can use to win customers.
• Get your price right by considering your LTV: The lowest price point for Ketone-IQ™ is $120 for 30 servings. Although relatively high, it is lower than their initial formulation cost, a price biohacking enthusiasts are willing to pay, and is a figure they have obtained through data-driven analysis. That set price point also affects finance, procurement and their free US shipping on orders over $50. “Can we convert more if we cut the price in half? yes. But I don’t think we’ll convert twice as much,” Brandt said.

The broker’s useful partnership with the company’s aligned partners

With new products like Ketone-IQ™, winning customers requires trust. “It’s a lot of relationship building,” Brandt said of the partnership strategy HVMN has used to expand their product reach. “Just buying direct ads on social media is not the way for us, that’s probably a small part of what we do.”

Instead, they’ve partnered with health coaches, doctor’s offices, weight loss clinics and subject matter experts with outreach. They also pursue partnerships with companies that have a similar health-conscious customer base. Recently, they are in discussions with retailers about carrying Ketone-IQ™ on store shelves.

Here are some tips that HVMN has used to build fruitful partnerships:

• Find value-aligned partners: Brandt and his team have worked to instill confidence in their product by working with researchers, athletes and medical professionals who can speak authoritatively about both the science behind Ketone-IQ™ and its impact on performance.
• Prove yourself with data: Having used Shopify since its launch, HVMN has an endless pool of data on its sales and performance. They have used this information when talking about partnerships with retailers who are less familiar with ketone products.
• Send according to your sharing terms: HVMN’s first partner was an unlikely one—the US Department of Defense, which had done their own research on ketones. After signing a multimillion-dollar government contract to deliver the beverage to the agency, Brandt and his team began working on bringing the product to life, which required breaking the project down into discrete deliverables and staffing each project component accordingly.

Educate potential customers through a multi-pronged marketing strategy:

“Ninety-seven percent of people I meet in real life ask, ‘What are ketones? Why is this for me?'” says Brandt.

HVMN has a strong marketing presence across the web, building multiple marketing channels to educate customers about ketones. That includes their blog, library, podcast, YouTube channel and social presence across platforms included Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. These channels work to build trust, provide education and provide social proof.

Here’s Brandt’s advice on building an audience across the internet to educate consumers:

• Start building an audience before you need one. “You can build a following, a community, a content base, before you start a company, before you even know what company you want to start. You’d rather be in a place where you have 25,000 followers, and then you think about it, you test some different concepts and you see what resonates with your community. You’d rather be in that place than have a “perfect” product and, and nobody to sell it to.”
• Be the first on the emerging social media platform: “People don’t talk very seriously about TikTok, it’s come up in the last few years. Now…instead of focusing on SEO or email lists or podcasts—[which] I think those are all very solid pillars of a good content strategy…look at the new frontier. There is always Gold in being new on a new platform, provided the platform continues to grow well.”
• Experiment with new looks for existing platforms: “Instagram really leans on scrolls now, a specific format in Instagram. Or LinkedIn launches a new thing, or Twitter launches a new format. Find the new surface area. If you can be one of the best in that new surface area, you’ll get a lot. All ships will rise and you will rise with the current of that platform or that feature in the rising platform.”

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Building a growth strategy is just one subject covered in this week’s episode of Shopify Masters with Michael Brandt. Follow to learn more about the following topics:

• The right questions to ask in customer feedback sessions to inform product development and positioning.
• Built a waiting list of 33K email subscribers before launching their second iteration of Ketone-IQ™.
• The process behind producing technological breakthroughs.

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source: https://www.shopify.co.id/blog/hvmn