BI 328: How Neuro Made it on Shark Tank & Became a Joe Rogan Favorite

On the show with me today is Kent Yoshomira; Co-founder of Neuro, maker of a line of functional gum and mint products designed to energize, calm and focus you in the moment.

Neuro was launched in 2015, and their story includes being mentioned in numerous media outlets, an appearance on Shark Tank, having Joe Rogan as a fan, and most recently being on the cover of Entrepreneur magazine.

In Kent and I's conversation, you're going to discover the specific tactics (and software) they used to get so much attention from the press (which is what ultimately led to their being on Shark Tank), how they are leveraging Amazon, how (and why) they are so focused on building their brand outside of Amazon, and so much more!

If you run a CPG brand and are looking for proven tactics to significantly accelerate growth, this interview is for you.

Today's episode is brought to you by Flowster. If you run an eCommerce business and are struggling to effectively delegate your highly repetitive routine work to your remote team, Flowster's process management software and pre-made ecommerce workflow templates make hiring, training, and delegating to your team a breeze. Check it out today at Flowster.app

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

[03:45] — Kent introduces himself and Neuro

Neuro was formed in 2013 and officially launched its first product in 2015.
Neuro turns supplements into gums and mints you can carry around wherever you go.
Their product is the ideal solution for mid-afternoon drowsiness without the undesirable side effects of energy drinks and coffee.
The company has sold close to 15 million pieces now.

[09:32] — What’s the revenue split of Neuro?

Brick-and-mortar sales used to make up about 20% but dropped to 10% because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Sales from Amazon account for 60%.
Affiliate sales contribute to 8%.
The rest comes from their website.

[10:25] — Kent explains how they sell on Amazon

They work with an Amazon Launchpad manager and their in-house manager.
The company is seller-central, meaning, they ship from their manufacturing plant to the Amazon fulfillment houses.
If they run out of products, they could easily switch to merchant-fulfilled from their third-party logistics.
This setup gives them flexibility they wouldn’t have if they had a vendor-central account and inventory runs dependent on Amazon.

[14:14] — The importance of product images

A lot of brands don’t shoot enough images.
Pictures are valuable in the mobile shopping experience.
Convey critical information such as product size, ingredients, and social proof to build credibility.

[17:02] — How does Kent build momentum for new products?

Funnel reviews from existing products to new ones.
Provide samples.
Build your own customer base on your website; develop a brand outside Amazon.

[18:32] — How do you leverage your email list?

Neuro segments its email list.
After reaching a threshold of repeat purchases, customers are invited to go on Amazon and leave reviews.
Some customers are lost to Amazon, but many come back to buy on the website.
Reviews on Amazon have long-term benefits of increased visibility compared to the short-term advantage of extra margins from website sales.

[21:19] — How does Kent steer customers from Amazon to Neuro?

Incentivize purchases on your website.
Neuro offers limited-edition stickers, prizes, and better unboxing experience.
Previously, they used Facebook ads to drive customers into a messenger bot sequence that promised them a rebate or refund for purchases on the website.
The messenger chat flow strategy brought Amazon to the losing end. As a consequence, Amazon slashed Neuro’s reviews from 1600 to around 1200.

[26:06] — PR as the best source of traffic

Kent and his co-founders started sending emails to every media outlet that talked about consumer packaged goods.
Currently, Neuro has automated the process of sending emails through Mixmax.
Neuro now works with a PR firm, which helps them reach out to high-level influencers and magazines.

[30:18] — What’s the most effective call to action?

Social credibility is essential.
Being featured on media outlets like Time, Fast Company, BuzzFeed, Shark Tank, and New Yorker has significantly increased their conversion rate.

[31:29] — Neuro’s conversion rate optimization

Neuro uses Hot Jar, which allows the company to see how visitors are navigating the website.
A digital operations employee manages optimizations on the website and Amazon.

[32:27] — Do you have documented procedures for your processes?

Everything is a systemized process in Neuro, such as using Google Data Studio for tracking KPIs.
The company also implemented a “rise score” to determine the amount of effort and costs needed for maximum impact.
They also work with a digital ads agency to evaluate the company’s performance, study CPA and CRM, and optimize conversions.

[34:39] — Neuro’s SEO

SEO is not as effective for Neuro because no one is directly searching for energy gum.
They would try targeting within the energy drink sector or people looking into brain health, but SEO won't drive the same traffic as directly targeting someone.
Search engine marketing, coupled with PR and direct ads, has instead been performing well for Neuro.
Kent estimates their website has an average of 250,000 visits per month.

[36:32] — Kent explains how to get press coverage

Most start-ups are not connected with any PR agency.
When Neuro was just starting, the founders religiously emailed every media outlet they could.
Dr. Oz reached out two weeks after their launch. Shark Tank, on the other hand, reached out to Neuro three months into the business, after their appearances on Time Magazine, CNN, and Dr. Oz.
Eventually, they hired virtual assistants and automated the process of sending emails.

[40:42] — Venturing into podcasts and vlogging

They have two podcasts. One is a personal project of Kent and Tyler, Neuro’s CEO, called Rethink Everything. The other show aims to destigmatize mental health as Neuro offers products that enhance the mind.
On YouTube, they reached out to fitness influencers to create workout videos with them.
Podcasts and YouTube are great avenues for finding people who can potentially be a lifetime-value customer or a brand ambassador.

[45:22] — Creating an email funnel

There’s an exit-intent email pop-up on Neuro’s website.
Emails are also captured when someone makes a purchase on the website.
They also acquire emails during sampling programs like Wodapalooza and Expo West.
For email segmentation, they use Retention Science. The platform smart-categorizes people based on their open rates. Once categories are established, customers are not bombarded with unnecessary e-mail.

[48:56] — Are there changes to Neuro’s business plan as a result of COVID-19?

All changes are based on how Neuro pushes toward digital optimization and digital operations.
The budget for physical sampling programs was reallocated to influencer programs and digital marketing campaigns.