Beauty industry disruptor Drybar got its start by focusing on doing one thing that women love and doing it very well. Focusing on blowouts and creating a great experience helped Drybar grow to more than 120 stores over the past decade, and listening to customers along the way has given them their best ideas. At NRF NXT, Drybar CMO Sarah Hoffmann outlined three ways companies can unlock VIP experiences for customers by first knowing and understanding them.
Extend experiences outside the store
Drybar uses customer insights to effectively extend the brand experience outside of the store. Mapping the customer journey for all audience segments and understanding the level of engagement each wants is key to creating this connected experience.
Geofencing through the Drybar app is one way the company reaches customers at the right place and time. For example, a Drybar regular travelling from New York City to Los Angeles might receive a push notification welcoming them to the West Coast and letting them know where the closest store is, making it easy and convenient to book an appointment. This value-adding feature has led to an increase in incremental bookings.
Drybar also gathers information from customers while in the store to make personalized recommendations later. When customers log in for Wi-Fi access in the store, they fill out a survey with a few questions about their hair type, concerns and favorite styles. Drybar uses this information to share relevant styling videos and suggested products through app notifications hours after their appointment.
Stay fresh and relevant
Keeping the in-store experience relevant and unique is a must in today’s constantly changing retail industry. For customers’ entertainment, Drybar typically plays “chick flicks” on the various TVs in its salons, but knows when to switch it up. Drybar has partnered with media studios from Amazon to Netflix to premiere the latest movies and shows and offer customers free blowouts in return for watching them.
When Drybar discovered its customers love dogs, they used this insight to develop a partnership with Universal Studios and its movie, “Secret Life of Pets.” For a limited time, Drybar offered clients the chance to bring their dogs in to receive a blowout alongside their owners at the “Barkbar” while watching the movie.
Lead with social media
Shifting away from mass digital marketing tactics and focusing on social media has helped Drybar build a loyal online community. Succeeding on social media means producing strong content — typically video — on the channels customers use most.
Drybar goes to Instagram to ask for customers’ feedback on products and services, giving their followers a voice and Drybar direction for its content. For example, Drybar posted a photo of a stylist using a popular curling tool, asking followers to comment with a yellow heart emoji if they’d like to see a tutorial on how to use the tool on their own. The post received 6,000 heart comments and the resulting tutorial garnered 262,000 organic views — the highest number of organic views ever. Delivering content your community asks for leads to more meaningful social engagement.
Drybar also works with retail partners like Sephora that sell its products to create videos on their channels. Last year, a post with Drybar products earned Sephora its highest viewed post related to hair products for the entire year.
Discover more insights from NRF NXT around the customer experience, data and analytics and more.
