Your best marketing ideas may come from outside the marketing organization – even outside the company. In the case of Pley, a simple suggestion from a busy parent resulted in a business success and many happy children.
Pley is a subscription-based service for children’s toys. In shorthand: Netflix for LEGOs.
The company does many things right when it comes to marketing its subscription business. I profiled Pley and the PleyWorld community in a recent post on the Marketo blog: 3 Ways for Marketers to Take On the Growing Subscription-Based Economy.
In this post, I want to tell the story of Pley Birthday.
Pley invites customers to give their feedback in an online forum. Better yet, the company pays attention to that feedback. One subscriber (a parent) suggested that the company send multiple sets for a birthday party. And four months later, Pley Birthday was born.
The company reaches out to loyal customers as their birthdays approach and offers a free birthday party kit for up to 15 guests. Pley provides the online invitation workflow and sends LEGO sets, activities and goodie bags for the party.
The results are reason for celebration:
- Customer loyalty: Happy parents continue renewing the subscription.
- New customer acquisition: Guest goodies include a discount coupon for new subscribers, so the company can track customer growth resulting from the parties.
- User-generated content: Many parents share pictures or video from the party on social media, creating more visibility for Pley’s service.
Are you listening?
Are you inviting and listening to customer suggestions? Do you foster an environment or community in which people believe their suggestions will be heard?
Particularly in a subscription-based business, your customers are willing to tell you what they value. It’s up to you to listen and take action.
Next steps: If you’re interested in more ways to nurture existing customers, sign up for the Subscription Marketing group. You’ll get access to a growing list of content, including a value nurturing checklist and an ebook on Customer Retention Marketing.
Image by Morgan Sessions on Stocksnap.io