Ecommerce News Hubb
Advertisement Banner
  • Home
  • E-commerce News
  • E-commerce Marketing
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • E-commerce News
  • E-commerce Marketing
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Wellnessnewshubb
No Result
View All Result
Home E-commerce Marketing

Maker of Apple Watch Bands Looks to Diversify

admin by admin
February 3, 2023
in E-commerce Marketing


I first spoke with Braxton Manley for this podcast in early 2021. He had launched Braxley Bands, a maker of Apple Watch bands, four years earlier while a college student in Texas. The business quickly scaled.

He and I recently caught up. We discussed the evolution of his company, successes and challenges in 2022, and plans for expanding the product line.

The entire audio of our conversation is embedded below. The transcript is edited for clarity and length.

Eric Bandholz: Give us a background on Braxley Bands.

Braxton Manley: About six years ago, in college, I created an Apple Watch band from a sock for a class project. I realized it was a solid product and pursued it into my junior year. By the time I graduated, it was a full-fledged business. I’ve been building it ever since.

We make stretchy Apple Watch bands in various prints and patterns. Early-era Apple colors and designs inspire the style. We wanted our bands to be funky and inspired by the iconic 1980s Apple look.

Bandholz: How was 2022?

Manley: It was good and bad, the most challenging year yet. Our revenue was at a level I wouldn’t have thought possible three years ago. That’s the good part. We sold about 60,000 watch bands.

But the bad part was our overhead. It was excessive. We significantly pulled back on expenses, including our marketing, which we brought back in-house. We were working with multiple agencies and freelancers. We needed to cool off and run things like a cottage farm.

Email marketing was huge for us, accounting for about 45% of our revenue. SMS was around 15%, and about 60% of revenue came from our own organic channels.

Our email list hasn’t grown much in the last year. We’ve stayed at roughly 100,000 engaged subscribers during 2022. We’re trying to expand the list, but it’s tricky without spending thousands to acquire traffic. Then we have to convert those subscribers to customers. We do that with email, text, and flows.

Bandholz: How do you get the visitors to subscribe?

Manley: We’re using Justuno for cool pop-ups. We worked with an agency to build them, and we’ve since done A/B testing. I’m excited to launch the Fondue app, which offers cash and rebates to new subscribers instead of discounts. We’re going to step away from a discount-heavy model, which we’ve always been pretty generous with.

I’ve heard a lot of chatter about Fondue and how well it works. It’s nice from a branding perspective because we’re not constantly offering discounts.

Bandholz: What are some goals for Braxley?

Manley: We want to increase sales channels. Monthly revenue of $200,000 would solve all of our problems — on paper. Apple sells around 40 million watches yearly. We need to sell 6,000 bands a month.

We have customers that collect our bands. So we’re focusing on getting them to come back sooner. We now ship internationally and hope to set up a warehouse in the U.K. We have an Amazon store and have started getting into brick-and-mortar retailers. And we’re releasing new products for the broader market.

One of our marketing challenges is finding the right audience. Apple sells many watches, but it’s still a small percentage of total consumers. Most people don’t have one. Advertising on a podcast, a billboard, or even through influencers will reach only a few prospects.

So we’re expanding our product line. We’re releasing a fanny pack made from our signature recycled elastic used for the watch bands. It’s a super comfy, stretchy belt with a magnetic sliding buckle.

I see myself having a company — a family of brands — focused on improving the world. I see Braxley becoming a lifestyle accessories brand, working and innovating with sustainable textiles. There’s a lot of greenwashing in the sustainable industry, especially with apparel, which is especially harsh on the environment. A lot gets wasted.

Our bands use 100% recycled PET polyester, which is basically clear water bottle plastic. It’s easily repurposed.

I’m interested in working with other materials that are stretchy and recyclable. I see us making bungee chairs, shorts, and boxers. We’re considering a yoga mat strap and dog collars and leashes.

Bandholz: How can listeners reach out and buy your stuff?

Manley: I’m @Braxtonmanley on Twitter. Our website is BraxleyBands.com — soon to be Braxley.co. Folks can check us out on Amazon, too.





Source link

Previous Post

How to Scale Your Craft (2023)

Next Post

5 Email Fails You Need to Avoid (And What to Do Instead)

Next Post

5 Email Fails You Need to Avoid (And What to Do Instead)

Recommended

How to Make Money Fast as a Woman in the 21st Century

2 weeks ago

How GiveMeTap Balances Social Impact With 10x Growth — Podcasts (2022)

6 months ago

Social Media Platform Updates for November 2022

4 months ago

End-of-year Reflection and 2023 Forecast

3 months ago

Stripe’s 3-Step Guide to Going Global

7 months ago

14 Tools for Facebook, Social Analytics

7 months ago

© 2022 Ecommerce News Hubb All rights reserved.

Use of these names, logos, and brands does not imply endorsement unless specified. By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Navigate Site

  • Home
  • E-commerce News
  • E-commerce Marketing
  • Contact

Newsletter Sign Up.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • E-commerce News
  • E-commerce Marketing
  • Contact

© 2022 Ecommerce News Hubb All rights reserved.

Our Spring Sale Has Started

You can see how this popup was set up in our step-by-step guide: https://wppopupmaker.com/guides/auto-opening-announcement-popups/