Dose #117: How Tiege Hanley Mastered Subscriptions

Matt here with your weekly Subscription Prescription 💊

This week’s dose is all about building a brand that lasts. Tiege Hanley started with a thesis, had a rough start, and relaunched with a new idea. That was 7 years ago, and they continue to build a brand that customers care about. In this dose we learn a bit more about their story and what they focus on to grow.

This week’s dose is a full interview with Kelley Thornton, the founder and CEO of Tiege Hanley. Be sure to give it a watch or listen!

Meet Your New Ally Against Subscriber Churn

If you’re facing churn from too much product, a new solution is taking the market by storm. Imagine subscribers getting reorders when they’re running low - automatically? Imagine a system that can track how much your subscriber has on hand.

Bottomless makes that automation possible. With their smart scale tied directly into a subscription app, customers don’t need to reorder; Bottomless makes that automatic.

The best part is that you can run Bottomless alongside whatever subscription app you’re using or all on its own. See how subscription brands are drastically reducing churn using Bottomless.

Subscription success doesn’t come overnight. It takes time to develop the right product and offer that will resonate with customers.

Tiege Hanley knows this well. Their founder, Kelley Thornton, sat down with me recently to discuss how they went from fledgling startup to one of the leading brands for men’s skincare.

It’s a lesson in voice, routine, and customer experience, so let’s dive in!

A Rocky Start

Tiege Hanley launched in 2015 to a rocky start. Based on the idea that men didn’t know much about skincare, Kelley and his team packaged other people’s products into kits. Customers would get everything they needed in a single shipment.

The problem was that this offer didn’t resonate with customers. Kelley and his team decided the best bet was creating their own products, and they needed help getting out their messaging trying to empower men to have healthier skin.

With a relaunch in 2016, they sold their own products on a subscription model. Partnering with YouTube Aaron Marino gave them a voice and stronger perspective on how to teach men to take better care of their skin.

Tiege Hanley’s Keys to Retention

Retention is crucial in subscriptions. For Tiege Hanley, success hinges on hiring the right people and continuously improving the customer experience. Kelly’s team focuses on understanding why customers leave and developing strategies to address these pain points. Their approach includes:

1. Identifying Breakage Points: Continuously analyzing where customers drop off and addressing these issues. For example, when they see a spike in month 2 churn, they dive in to discover why.

2. Synergistic Teams: Ensuring growth and retention teams work closely to align strategies. Growth can’t happen inside of a vacuum. Every action they take on acquisition can affect retention, and vice versa, so Kelley ensures everyone is on the same page.

3. Predictive Modeling: Tiege Hanley focuses a lot on LTV and profitability per subscriber. They know how much they will make in the future off new customers based on past data, and use that to predict what will happen for LTV in the future. This allows them to make better decisions on growth and marketing.

Subscriptions - Like Skincare - Doesn’t Happen Overnight

A brand like Tiege Hanley doesn’t happen overnight. They’ve had years and years to build, grow, and figure out how to best serve their target market. Even with a relaunch, they still had to work on their thesis around men’s skincare.

Subscriptions are all about finding the right product and routine that will turn buyers into long-term subscribers. You can’t figure that out overnight. So, keep a strong focus on why people buy, what happens when they use your product, and why they stop and ultimately leave.

That’s the key to long-term subscription success. Build, listen, and improve! Don’t think you have to reinvent the wheel. While there may be a lot of other brands doing what you do, you can always listen more to target customers and build something better for them.

That’s it for this week’s dose! Don’t underestimate the power of personalization in a subscription. Keep an eye out for dose #118 next Tuesday.

 - Matt Holman 🩺

The Subscription Doc