Launching D2C subscription success through partnership with an Enterprise Protein Supplier
Meatworks
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CTV
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Shopify (E-Commerce)
Mailchimp (Email)
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About
Meatworks
Meatworks is an online meat subscription business that allows customers to build their own boxes of USDA Prime beef, humanely raised chicken, and heritage-bred pork. Delivered to your doorstep every 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks.
An enterprise protein supplier came to us to start an online D2C (direct-to-consumer) meat subscription business called Meatworks. A meat subscription business is a business that allows consumers to get a box of their favorite cuts of meat on a recurring basis, saving money. We were entrusted to develop and launch its go-to-market strategy into a new space they’d never worked in before.
Since Launching in Q3 of 2021, the partnership has expanded past an agency-client relationship into a true collaboration. Schaefer acts as an extension of the Meatworks team, involved in all aspects of decision-making (not just marketing) including product, finance, and partnership considerations.
Building A Subscription Business, One Box At A Time
This company came to Schaefer in 2021 to launch Meatworks into a highly competitive online meat subscription marketplace. This had unique challenges:
- It was a highly competitive marketplace with brands that had been around for decades. Meatworks was going to be the new player with no brand awareness.
- Meatworks needed to find a differentiator that would start to earn market share.
- There were many stakeholders between agencies and client teams.
To reach this goal, Schaefer created a geo-targeted, intent-based, multi-channel strategy to generate an audience and scale as Meatworks grew. Channels were selected to generate the highest revenue at a low CPA (cost per acquisition) or cost to acquire a new customer. A low CPA is integral in determining profitability based on the LTV (lifetime value) of subscribers.
Schaefer used channels like CTV (ads on streaming services like Hulu), Pinterest, Google Shopping Ads, Google Search Ads, and Facebook Ads to increase awareness and drive purchases. Influencer and partnership marketing were added on to amplify efforts.
Initial Launch
To launch Meatworks to the market, we used a competitive messaging strategy. Ad messaging focused on competitor pain points and directly referenced the pricing and value of Meatworks versus competitors. We created a dynamic landing page using this messaging and surpassed our signup goal by over 25%. Dynamic landing pages have text that changes based on the person's search or the audience targeted. This also gave us qualitative data, cementing our original thoughts - people were looking for a meat subscription alternative.
Exceeded All Launch Goals
The results of the initial early access signup campaign exceeded all goals with 1,000 signups in 30 days at a CPA under $10 and a conversion rate of over 12%.
Post-Launch
After the success of the initial launch, Meatworks asked Schaefer to lead the website roadmap and branding in Q4 2021 and relaunch its website and product offering as a USDA Prime meat subscription instead of grass-fed. This meant a new rebrand, videos, website, diverse box offering strategy, and a new growth strategy. This successful pivot was the result of the partnership between Schaefer and the client. It was the combined team's commitment to partnership, testing, and innovation that allowed Meatworks to consistently grow month over month.
