Lunar Solar Group

How Lunar Solar and our clients survived and thrived in the wake of iOS 14. Major platform privacy changes like iOS 14 wreaked havoc on the eCommerce industry. Overnight, CACs shot through the roof, and using Meta for customer acquisition became sustainable for many retail brands. It ushered in a new era for brands and a flight to retail and marketplaces to bring CAC to sustainable levels. But iOS 14 didn’t affect Lunar Solar Group or its customers.  Fortunately, we were building KnoCommerce, which provided self-reported attribution, making us less reliant on platform attribution. We had already turned on Kno for all Lunar Solar’s customers and a thousand other Shopify merchants. We had a huge data set comparing Meta attribution to Kno “how did you hear about us” surveys. And when we started seeing a gap between Meta and the survey, we could use the survey data as a guiding light to navigate attribution and Meta investments. If there is anything we can all learn from iOS 14, it is risky to the point of danger to over-index on a single platform for acquisition AND rely on platform-based attribution as a single source of truth. #zeropartydata #postpurchasesurveys

How to acquire your first 1K product subscriptions. This post is the first of a 3-part series on going from 1K to 50K subscribers. At Lunar Solar Group, we use this approach in CPG verticals where a product can be ingrained in a customer's routine: personal care, food & beverage. For the initial run to 1K, you are trying to figure out two things. → Product Market Fit - Providing product and brand education that converts a first-time customer → Reason to subscribe - Giving someone a reason to subscribe on their first purchase The LTV/retention of the cohort and margin are not core objectives. The objective is to acquire subscribers at a reasonable acquisition cost. The first step is funnel testing, which we like to think about in three key components: 1️⃣ Initial Landing page Experience - prospect clicks an ad and learns about a product. The best landing pages for new programs focus on education and social proof - listicles, quizzes. 2️⃣ Offer layer - landing page component with the buy box or offer. That could be a starter kit, low-price trial, discounted bundle builders, or bundles with freebies. The offer should be better than a 10-15% discount or a free shipping offer. 3️⃣ Commerce Layer - CRO or revenue optimization part of the process. Once we’ve nailed the initial landing page and the core offer, we optimize for AOV with upsells to the cart, checkout add-ons, or post-purchase offers. – The initial funnel will vary depending on the vertical. Once the funnel is set, we move on to advertising - solely Meta at this stage. The creative focus at this stage is working within a problem --> solution framework. We rarely mention “subscription” because the focus is simply building excitement about the proposed solution. The ad content is focused on brand & product education and social proof. In the last couple of years, the best formats are UGC testimonials. We've also seen that static assets with "us vs. them" product callouts successfully message the problem-solution framework. For example: → "Your deodorant is bad for you. Our brand is aluminum-free." → "Soda has too much sugar. Our soda is sugar-free and has probiotics." Your ads should deliver the message creatively (a post for another day!), get clicks, and drive buyers into the funnel. There is a lot of nuance here, but the most important thing to remember is that the offer is king. Don’t be afraid to take big swings on the offer out of the gate, even if they don’t make long-term financial sense. The key is to find the right messaging, and bigger swings will set the foundation for refining the subscription funnel into a cash printing machine beyond 1k subscribers. P.S. This is the first of a 3-part series on growing the subscription base for consumer products. Give me a follow and ring 🔔 in my profile to ensure you see parts II and III, which cover 1K to 10K and 10K to 50K.

Congratulations to Samantha C. Coxe and the Flaus team for their appearance and deal on Shark Tank! It’s one of the best pitches I’ve heard in a long time. And I’m proud to be an early investor way before the Sharks got a chance to invest. Here’s why I decided to invest in Flaus. 1️⃣ Killer founder Sam is ambitious, innovative, tenacious, and an absolute doer. 2️⃣ Category ripe for disruption Legacy players are asleep at the wheel. Consumer demand is artificially constrained by weak innovation. And the product category lacks modern brand affinity. 3️⃣ Solving a huge problem The cost of poor dental hygiene is staggering, and Flaus has the opportunity to save consumers billions. Flossing is critical for good oral health, and I learned from Sam that most consumers skip it because it is tedious and time-consuming. (Well, I already sorta knew that because I suck at flossing and get yelled at by my dentist constantly for bad gum health.) Flaus reduces the time it takes to floss from 3 minutes to less than 60 seconds, which will undoubtedly grow the category. 4️⃣ Sustainable approach to growth Other “promising” oral care brands raised too much money, grew too quickly, and diluted their brand. From day one, Sam has focused on financially oriented KPIs, held her partners accountable, and scaled in a sustainable way that builds long-term enterprise value. – I could write an essay on the things Flaus is getting right. I believe in what Sam is building. I loved her debut in the Tank. And the Lunar team is stoked to work with her on Flaus’ growth journey. This company is set up to be an absolute monster in the oral care category. It is a bit overdue, but congrats to Sam and the Flaus team on landing a deal with the Sharks!