The team at Hiya Health is on a mission to reimagine children’s health and end the addiction to sugar with their “sugar-free, junk-free” multivitamin. Darren Litt, Co-Founder, shared one of the earliest challenges of the budding business: expanding the customer base.
“In the beginning, we got our first customers by selling to parents in our immediate network since we created Hiya to appeal to parents like us. We assumed parents we knew would feel similarly, and fortunately, they did and immediately bought. The challenge became – where do we go from here? How do we expand beyond our network?” said Litt.
Hiya had run into a challenge that many new businesses face at a truly critical stage of growth: expanding your customer base. How do you find customers beyond the personal connections of your company’s team members? How do you engage audiences that would not otherwise find out about your product?
Knowing where to turn when you’ve exhausted your personal network can be game-changing to the survival of an early-stage business. Part of that know-how includes forming a strategy for how to tell your story, market your business and promote your product – effectively, establishing your marketing plan. Defining this approach early can make all the difference in the ability to overcome this business hurdle when it becomes the most painful.
“We slightly expanded to a bit of paid marketing and ads to expand beyond the group we know. And from there, we invested in SEO and have developed a social media presence on Instagram with more than 31K followers. We also utilize content marketing and email marketing to reach our customers,” said Litt.
“Instagram continues to be the social media channel that delivers the best results for us. Because Instagram is visually-driven content, it works perfectly for influencer marketing which is a core component of
our social media marketing.”
Litt and team don’t just post – they ensure every piece of content supports the personality of the brand. And, they encourage customer engagement along the way.
“We play up the features of our product design by posting flattering pictures on Instagram and encouraging our customers to post their own pictures too. In 2022, we will continue with the social media strategy that worked so well for us – kids proudly posing with their yellow bottles, tips for a healthy lifestyle, educational content, and photos of food that inspire healthy eating.”
Is your business in a similar stage? What hurdles are you facing while trying to expand your customer base? What solutions have you found to successfully scale? Join the discussion in the comments.
