Welcome to day 9: Episode 281 — How To Convert Your Dream Customers Into Raving Fans
Day 9 of 30 Days to Prosperity

If you want your brand to be unshakable—if you want predictable, profitable growth—then you must internalize one truth:
You need to own your customers. They are your most valuable asset.

Not the distributor.
Not the retailer.
Not the algorithm.
Not the broker.
Your customer.
Your community.
Your tribe.

They are the engine behind your sales, your innovation, your brand story, and your runway. When you build a thriving, connected community around your brand—one that you engage, nurture, and celebrate—you transform occasional shoppers into loyal evangelists.
Today’s episode is about mastering that transformation.

Why Traditional “Customer Targeting” Is Failing Most Brands
Big brands and generic solution providers treat customers as one-dimensional segments:
“The health-conscious shopper.”
“The value shopper.”
“The busy mom.”
“The young professional.”
It’s surface-level.
It’s simplistic.

It misses everything that makes your consumer your consumer.
Here’s how mainstream thinking defines a “health-conscious shopper”:
They eat less processed foods and exercise regularly.
You and I both know that’s not enough.

In our world—mission-driven, natural, better-for-you CPG—your core customer also:
Cares deeply about environmental impact
Reads every ingredient label
Avoids additives they can’t pronounce
Supports mission-driven brands
Seeks out sustainable packaging
Thinks about the world they want their kids to inherit
Buys intentionally, not impulsively
Builds premium baskets across multiple departments

This isn’t a “persona.”
This is a living, breathing human being whose values align with your WHY.

Your customer goes out of their way to buy your products. They pay a premium. They support your mission. And when you unlock this relationship, they become exponentially more valuable to retailers.
This is where true brand-building begins.

What Happens When You Don’t Know Your Customer?
Let me paint a picture.
If I walk into a store and buy your product, you learn nothing about me:
Why I bought it
How I use it
What problem ii need solved
What else I buy with it
How I talk about it to friends
Whether I’m in love with the brand… or just curious

In that scenario, you can’t nurture me.
You can’t tailor your messaging.
You can’t invite me deeper into your ecosystem.
You can’t differentiate yourself beyond price.

What happens next?
Most brands try to compensate by offering deep discounts.
But promotions don’t build loyalty—they build churn.
They attract price shoppers.
They train people to chase deals.
They do nothing to convert anyone into a raving fan.
Let’s fix that.

The Future-Proof Strategy: Build Your Own Community
Here’s the reality no one talks about:
When your product sits on a retailer’s shelf—whether in-store or online—you’re renting that space.
You don’t own it.
You don’t control access to it.
You don’t control who sees it.
And you can lose it at any time.

The way to reduce that risk is to build your own thriving community online—a tribe that you connect with, nurture, and support directly.

This is not an “either/or” strategy.
It’s an “AND” strategy.

Sell wherever your customers shops
But build your relationship inside your own home.

Here’s how:
1. Don’t rely on social platforms you don’t own.
An algorithm change can wipe out your reach overnight.
2. Use retail + social to invite people into your community.
This is where the long-term value is built.
3. Capture email addresses and create a member space on your website.
This is your home base.
4. Build a connected, supportive community.
People don’t want more brands—they want connection and meaning.
When you do this well, you begin to truly own your customer.
And that changes everything.

Why Your Tribe Is Better Than Any Focus Group
Brands spend tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars on consumer research—only to get:
Generic feedback
Opinions from people who don’t represent their true customers
Misleading insights
And Innovation recommendations that miss the mark

Why?
Because the participants aren’t your ideal customer.

But your tribe is.
Your community:
Self-identifies as your target customer
Understands your mission
Shares your values
Wants you to succeed
Has a vested interest in your innovation
Gives honest, relevant feedback
Becomes your unofficial R&D team

Imagine walking into a retailer with new product innovation that’s already validated—and eagerly anticipated—by your loyal community.
That’s next-level leverage.

Your Ideal Customer Is YOU—Just a Few Steps Behind
This is one of the most important lessons in brand-building:

Your ideal customer is often you before you created your brand.
Think about your journey:
What problem were you trying to solve?
What frustrations did you face?
What breakthrough moment led to your brand?
What transformation did you seek?
Your customers are walking that same path.

That’s why your WHY resonates so deeply with them.
When you share your story authentically:
They see themselves in you
They trust you
They feel understood
They stay
They advocate
That’s how occasional customers become raving fans.

Traditional Marketing Reacquires the Same Customer Over and Over
This is one of the costliest mistakes brands make.

Most marketing systems are designed to:
Acquire a customer
Lose them
Try to re-acquire them
Lose them again
Repeat forever
It’s expensive.
It’s inefficient.
It’s not sustainable.

But when you nurture customers into a loyal tribe:
Acquisition costs drop
Lifetime value increases
Word-of-mouth accelerates
Retailers see stronger performance
Innovation becomes easier
Price competition becomes irrelevant
This is how you future-proof your brand.
This is how you build something retailers can’t ignore.
This is how you gain an unfair competitive advantage.

Day 9 Action Item: Build the First Layer of Your Community Strategy
Today, answer these questions:
1. Who is your ideal customer?
Describe them as if they’re a close friend.
2. Where does your community live online today?
Social? Email? Retail? Events?
3. What platform will you own long-term?
Your website? A membership area? A private group?
4. What value can you give them weekly?
Tips? Stories? Coupons? Recipes? Support? Behind-the-scenes access?
5. How will you invite customers into your tribe?
Shelf messaging? QR codes? Email signup? Packaging inserts?

Start small.
Start authentically.
Start now.
Your community is your moat.
It’s your runway.
It’s your growth engine.

In Closing: Raving Fans Build Raving Brands
When you own your customers—
When you know them deeply—
When you nurture them intentionally—
When you make them feel seen, valued, and understood—

They reward you with:
Loyalty
Advocacy
Higher basket value
Valuable feedback
Brand evangelism
Category leadership

Tomorrow, in Episode 282, we’ll dive into How to Influence Retailers by Leveraging the Power of Your Unique Shopper, so you can go into every retailer meeting with insights no competitor can offer.

Make sure you’re subscribed.
Share this episode with a founder who needs to shift from chasing customers to cultivating a tribe.
And download today’s guide
Your tribe is waiting.
Let’s start inviting them in.

For additional inspiration listen to the following podcast episodes:
Episode 151 Sales Success Customer First Strategies for Brands, Mike Forbes with Alter Eco
Unlock Sales Success with Customer First Strategies. Learn how aligning brand values enhances trade marketing effectiveness. Mike Forbes, CEO of Alter Eco Foods emphasizes the importance of leveraging strategies from mainstream CPG to help natural brands. This begins with always putting your customers first.

Episode 135 Marketing Success Strategies for Building Trust, Meghan Disch with GoodBelly
Unlock your brand's potential with effective Marketing Success Strategies that prioritize customer relationships and authentic communication. Meghan discuss the importance of brands understanding their core customer base. Meghan, with experience in advertising and brand management, highlights the significance of consumer insights in building brand equity and developing effective marketing strategies.

Episode 6 Brand Strategies That Empower Today’s Brands, Bill Bishop with Brick Meets Click
The reality is that customers don't pick up your brand and buy your brand the way that they used to buy it several years ago. Now, they look beyond the four corners of your package to learn about your brand. Exactly what we've been talking about.

Instead of going into a store and buying your brand because they're used to buying it, etc. Now, they're going to go into the store, look at your brand, and try to understand a little bit about you, the owner, where the ingredients come from. How transparent are you in terms of putting together the products, etc.

This is why it's so critically important to develop a strategy to bring customers into your ecosystem, to bring them into your community, to better understand how they use your product and how they share it with their friends and family.

Tip of the day: You need to own your customers! They are you most valuable asset. Build a thriving connected community to engage and nurture them - how you convert your dream customers into loyal evangelist

Thank you for listening. This episode has an accompanying video with illustrations and additional information I can’t share on an audio podcast. You can watch it at retailsolved.com/30daychallenge.

You can get the show notes for this episode by going to RetailSolved.com/Session281. Tomorrows episode is How To Create A Thriving Engaged Community Today.

This episode will build on today’s conversation. Thank you for listening. I look forward to seeing you in the next episode.