This episode reveals how Findlay Hats scaled to a 7-figure business by mastering community building and strategic Facebook advertising. Learn how to cultivate a fiercely loyal customer base that drives organic growth and effectively leverage paid channels to accelerate your brand’s expansion. The co-founder shares actionable strategies for blending authentic brand ethos with performance marketing.
Key takeaways
Cultivate a strong brand ethos (e.g., 'Built for Good Times') that resonates deeply with your target audience, making it central to all communications and customer interactions.
Prioritize building an engaged customer community ('Findlay Force') through consistent interaction and by encouraging user-generated content, leveraging it as a primary driver of organic growth and word-of-mouth marketing.
Implement targeted Facebook ad campaigns that complement organic community growth, focusing on sophisticated audience segmentation and continuous A/B testing of creatives to optimize performance and reach.
Understand that scaling a DTC business involves a strategic transition from purely organic growth to leveraging paid channels like Facebook ads for accelerated customer acquisition.
Differentiate your product with unique features or patents to stand out in the market and foster brand loyalty, as seen with Findlay Hats’ functional and patented designs.
On today’s episode, Kunle interviews Jimmy Hickey, Co-Founder & CEO of Findlay Hats, a 6 year-old Portland-based company producing unique, functional and patented hats. “Built for Good Times” is the common theme running through their comms, work culture and customer community. Jimmy shares his story of leaving behind professional photography to pursue what was a sidegig he started along with Co-founder, Sarah Wishard. They started out in a living room with their first batch of 80 hats, and have today grown to a 7-figure business having a 100k strong community called “Findlay Force”. Jimmy shares his insights and learnings from growing his company organically using communities and word-of-mouth, to fast-tracking growth leveraging Facebook ads. You will get to hear about strategies to use in Facebook marketing, and how to build (and manage) active communities. ----------- SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by: Klaviyo This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x. Rewind This episode is brought to you by Rewind. The #1 Backup and Recovery App for Shopify and BigCommerce stores that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like Gymshark and Movement Watches rely on Rewind. Cloud-based ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce do not have automatic backup features. Rewind protects your store against human error, misbehaving apps, or collaborators gone bad with Automatic backups! For a free 30-day trial, Go to Rewind.io, reach out to the Rewind team via chat or email
Cultivate a strong brand ethos (e.g., 'Built for Good Times') that resonates deeply with your target audience, making it central to all communications and customer interactions.
What does this episode say about paid acquisition?
Prioritize building an engaged customer community ('Findlay Force') through consistent interaction and by encouraging user-generated content, leveraging it as a primary driver of organic growth and word-of-mouth marketing.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Implement targeted Facebook ad campaigns that complement organic community growth, focusing on sophisticated audience segmentation and continuous A/B testing of creatives to optimize performance and reach.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Understand that scaling a DTC business involves a strategic transition from purely organic growth to leveraging paid channels like Facebook ads for accelerated customer acquisition.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Differentiate your product with unique features or patents to stand out in the market and foster brand loyalty, as seen with Findlay Hats’ functional and patented designs.
