The problem: Generic marketing with no customer insights for perimenopausal women.
VIGEO (formerly Strong Mommas) was stuck in generic marketing mode.
Coach Megan Dahlman's fitness business served younger moms with a single subscription product and had hit a plateau around $46,000 in annual revenue. She was considering quitting in 2020 when Shaun Bennett approached her and asked if she'd consider taking on a business partner.
Under the new partnership, the business rebranded as VIGEO. Shaun took a close look at the tools Megan had been using — a basic website builder and MailChimp — and moved her to more robust tools to support their planned growth.
As Shaun dug into the limited data he had, he saw that Megan had organically started to attract a new segment of customers: older women in perimenopause and menopause. They gravitated toward Megan's content, but they had totally different challenges from their younger peers.
We were talking to women, but we didn't really understand what was in their head.”
Without proper customer insights, VIGEO was pushing out generic messaging that didn't resonate with what their audience actually wanted.
How VIGEO used RightMessage to grow from $46k to $1M with personalized marketing.
As a self-proclaimed "geek marketer," Shaun had a lot of friends using RightMessage and was intrigued by the information it could give him, so he reached out to the team for help.
Step 1: Implement psychographic surveys to understand customer pain points.
Shaun worked with the RightMessage team to design surveys that would uncover what was really going on in their customers' minds. Instead of basic demographics, they dug in on the psychographics — stage of life (small kids vs. empty nester), specific pain points (back pain, core strength, sleep issues), and which problem was their biggest priority — that would give them truly relevant information about the women they wanted to serve.
[image with RM screenshots of onboarding questions]
The team didn’t just sell the tool — they helped with the philosophy. What to ask, when to ask, and how to use it. Then RightMessage makes collecting and syncing that data dead simple.
The RightMessage team recommended that VIGEO take advantage of their thank you pages to do some extra deep dives. Customer intent is high at that touchpoint, and the surveys they implemented there gave Shaun in-depth insights the company used to drive growth.
Step 2: Build hyper-personalized email sequences with liquid code.
Using the segmentation data from RightMessage integrated with Customer.io, Shaun and Megan built automated sequences that speak directly to each person's specific situation using liquid code personalization.
The effect is powerful. Every day, thousands of women get messages, and the personalization is so targeted that each one feels she's received a message that Megan typed by hand.
Every email, every text, the replies we get make it clear that these women really feel like Megan sits down at her computer and writes directly to them every day. That's amazing.
Step 3: Create targeted lead magnets using exact customer language.
The RightMessage data revealed something crucial: VIGEO's customers used very specific language to describe their problems. For example, they didn't talk about "getting fit." They talked about improving their core strength.
Armed with this insight, Shaun and Megan scrapped their broad lead magnets and created hyper-specific ones using the exact customer language: a 5-day core tuneup, a 15-minute posture masterclass, a body type quiz, and so on.
By using the words VIGEO's customers actually use to describe their struggles, these lead magnets immediately got their attention.
Each lead magnet connects directly to their paid products through automated sequences. Customers follow a customized flow depending on their specific needs and readiness level, all based on the information VIGEO collects in RightMessage.
We don't list all of our products on our website. We want to find out what your problem is, and then offer you the solution for that problem.
Results: 850% increase in customer lifetime value and $1M annual revenue.
An 850% increase in LTV
Shaun and Megan are absolutely delighted with VIGEO's growth:
Customer lifetime value shot up 850% from $179 to nearly $1,700. Annual revenue grew from $46,000 to just under $1 million, with 68% coming from recurring subscriptions.
And they’ve dropped ad spend by about half while maintaining their subscriber growth.
We know everything about our customers and how they think. Our customers say all the time: 'It's like you're in my head.' And that's the goal.
VIGEO’s email list has exploded from 45,000 to almost 400,000 subscribers. More importantly, engagement remains high because every touchpoint feels personal and relevant. Open rates are “phenomenal” and their click-through rates are strong.
And because their customer insights have taught them that their target market has more disposable income and time than younger demographics, VIGEO can focus on value and results rather than competing on price.
The system runs almost entirely on autopilot through automated sequences, all triggered by segmentation data.
I don't really go look at these sequences... It just kind of runs.
The result is a predictable business that generates consistent income.
With everything we collect from RightMessage, we understand the pain points of our customers very well. We know what's going on in their head, and we can almost anticipate their needs.
Future plans: Mobile app development and organic growth expansion.
VIGEO is currently developing a mobile app to house all their content and further personalize the customer experience.
The company is highly focused on organic growth rather than paid acquisition, leveraging their deep understanding of customer psychology to create additional targeted entry points, each designed to capture specific segments of their growing market.
We're in the business of reciprocity. How can we continue to build reciprocity? We create amazing content based on exactly what they want. And then at that point, it's not a problem to make the offer.