BI 331: How CuraLife Leverages Facebook Ads to Boost Revenue Growth

On the show with me today is Dovi Lipton and Ron Elul, the founders of Curalife; maker of science-based supplements that improve the quality of life for people with chronic conditions.

Since their launch 7 years ago, the company has grown rapidly and now employs 23 full-time employees, in addition to an extended team of contractors and freelancers. So what has caused all this growth? In our discussion, the founders and I talked at length about their advertising programs, the types of ads that are working, and the calls to action that generate the most conversions. We also talked about how they are leverage content marketing to generate significant amounts of organic traffic to their blog; including how they produce the content, where they find their writings, and how much money they are spending.

If you are a D2C brand owner - or aspire to become one - and you are looking to scale up your organization, you are definitely going to get a lot of value from this interview.

Thank you so much for listening! Please subscribe rate and review on your favorite podcast listening app. To get to the show notes for today's episode, go to https://brightideas.co/xxx...and if you have any questions for me, you can leave me a voicemail at brightideas.co/asktrent

Episode Highlights

[03:57] — Ron & Dovi explain the mission of CuraLife

CuraLife creates solutions for people living with chronic conditions to help them lead healthier and happier lives.
Their main product is CuraLin, a supplement for diabetics.
The company started when Ron’s father was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
They help tens of thousands of diabetics with their product.

[05:14] — What are the sales channels of CuraLife?

CuraLife has a D2C business model, so their website is the main sales channel.
They are also exploring partnerships with professionals such as clinics and retail pharmacies.

[07:14] — CuraLife’s B2B Facebook advertising best practices

The company spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on Facebook ads.
They use a mix of static images and videos.
They let a specialist agency manage their social media campaigns.
At first, they focused on the R&D aspect of the product to develop a base they can scale.

[08:57] — How their top funnel works

The first ads aren't about diabetes and the product itself.
They focus on content that will pique curiosity and funnel traffic toward the long-form sales letters.
Essentially, they perform click-baiting and pay-per-click advertising by writing about unrelated topics that lead you to their product.
The company is currently experimenting with static one-image ads.

[11:41] — CuraLife’s unicorn ads

They use Harmon Brothers’ formula for Facebook video ads.
They are currently looking at metrics to see if video sales letters are effective.
Testimonial ads create organic engagement and social validation.
They have seen plenty of success coming from both these B2B Facebook advertising best practices.

[14:26] — Dovi’s lessons on video advertisements

Their video sales letters last 30 minutes.
Their ad landing page has only about 30 seconds of video for variety and impact.
Authenticity and organic testimonials make an ad more powerful.
Test variations of your content to find the best one.
Their calls to action focus on people who can commit to an upfront sale, but they don’t have one formula for it.

[19:24] — CuraLife’s sales & order strategy

Their average order price is $133, and they are profitable on the first purchase.
CuraLfe wants to improve how they upsell products.
The company is currently exploring partnerships with related products to generate more sales.

[22:26] — Practical advertising advice for D2C companies

Know what you are doing; otherwise, you will be wasting money on social media.
Learn how to generate and convert traffic using advertisements.
Hire experts instead of doing in-house advertising work.
Don't go cheap; the low-quality output will cost you more in the long run.

[24:33] — Content marketing for CuraLife

Their blogs are a central part of the value they provide their customers.
Their organic content marketing is mostly educational.
They advocate for easily applicable lifestyle changes to improve health quality.
They work with both internal and outsourced writers.

[28:21] — Finding the right freelancers

Test the freelancers to segregate the good ones from the bad ones.
Freelancers can surprise you with how effective they are.
The amount of direction you give to freelance writers depends on what your goals are.

[31:33] — Advice for hiring writers

Don’t get starstruck with “A-list” copywriters because they might not be worth it.
Give small writers a chance to prove themselves.

[33:51] — CuraLife’s buyer persona and other marketing strategies

To create a buyer persona for the company, they had to understand the goals, hopes, challenges, and fears of diabetics.
If you own a D2C company, ask yourself: “What drives your customers to a decision?”
CuraLife gathers information from surveys, interviews, and online communities.
CuraLife currently has 50,000 subscribers on Facebook and 12,000 members in their private community.
Their group has been experiencing tremendous growth, and they provide information, emotional support, and peer networks for customers to live a healthier life.

[40:28] — CuraLife’s structure & processes

Curalife recently tripled in size, so they need more structure to support such rapid scaling.
They adopted a more project-based structure with agile marketing to provide individual ownership and ensure accountability.
They automated more processes using business software.
Figure out the best practices, especially when you’re a start-up.

[44:06] — Future plans for CuraLife

As a consumer healthcare start-up, they aim to build their clinical position by strengthening their roots in the healthcare markets.
Their biggest challenge is how to scale and find the right price point for their product.