In this episode of The DTC Insider, Brian Roisentul sits down with Mary McMahan, Brand Marketing Manager at WithSimplicity, to discuss how a small clean beauty brand grew by staying resourceful, building genuine relationships, and putting community at the center of its marketing.
Mary shares how she joined WithSimplicity in 2019 as the brand's sole marketer, working with a limited budget while taking on everything from rebranding and packaging to website optimization and social media. She explains how focusing on owned and earned channels helped strengthen the brand's online presence, and how creative ideas like augmented reality makeup filters helped WithSimplicity adapt during the pandemic.
They dive into the brand's affiliate strategy, how Mary manually finds creators through Instagram, why building genuine relationships matters more than treating affiliates as marketing metrics, and how one affiliate relationship is now evolving into a product collaboration. Mary also shares how WithSimplicity grew 130% in one year by being prepared to capitalize on the right opportunity and connecting with creators who were already aligned with the brand's values.
Plus, they discuss why brand is ultimately about how customers feel, how email marketing and loyalty programs can strengthen retention, the value of behind-the-scenes and founder-led content, when agencies can help growing brands, and why AI still needs human knowledge and oversight in marketing.
-- This episode is brought to you by BSR.
BSR helps 7-figure+ brands build and optimize strategic growth systems that unlock hidden revenue and scale profitably, without adding chaos, channels, or unnecessary spend.
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