TO MULTIPLY

I love hearing a word for the year. Last year was a time to rebuild. It was very clear at the beginning of 2023 how rebuilding would happen, and we took steps early on in the year. 

But this year, we're not on track. At the start, the word multiply was on my heart. We have not seen an increase in dollars, product demand, nor Instagram follower count. Most of our numbers dropped or remained the same. This word continues to come to my mind though.

We're approaching the final quarter of the year. Despite being in the final stretch, I'm optimistic still that something is going to take off. I can't put my finger on it, but believing for it. 

This past week we finally launched Facebook ads. Yeah, really, after 14 years of being in the e-commerce business, we're finally incorporating this into our marketing strategy! So far, something about them is promising. I won't touch base with our ads manager guy for a few weeks to see how they are doing, but it's been interesting! The percentage of our orders that are placed by new customers is way higher than usual. That means more new people on average are trying Elegantees for the first time.

Where are the new people coming from? Perhaps from our fashion show exposure, but I'm hoping it's the ads - after all, the ads are a lot less work than a whole runway show, haha!

I was told that when a company acquires through ads, it doesn't usually make profit on the customer's first order. The advertising cost is so high that it pretty much breaks it even. However, if they order again, and again, that's where we'll see it multiply. To help the rate of return, I'll implement some automated emails, and get some personal thank you notes in the mail. If you have any thoughts on how to invite first time supporters to come back, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Even if this early stage of running ads is a break-even one, it's still exciting because we're moving products that the sisters in Nepal are making. I know we have to make profit and everything to grow, but knowing that we're pouring into job creation still is quite satisfying.

Excited to share more as Q4 unfolds right before our eyes. This is exciting!