Last updated on January 2, 2023

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Cristina Dinozo
Senior Director of Marketing Communication @ Yotpo
November 27th, 2019

“We realized really quickly that there were so many stories to be told.”

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Lo Bosworth is rethinking women’s health products. As Founder and CEO of Love Wellness, she’s built a direct-to-consumer brand featuring female-first, all-natural, and stylishly packaged health care products. The business has gained significant buzz for bucking the status quo.

Bosworth soon discovered that the products were doing more than just providing health support: they were inspiring women to connect with one another about their health stories.

At Yotpo’s Destination:D2C conference in September, Bosworth spoke with Lindsay Silberman,  Lifestyle Blogger and Contributing Editor at Town & Country, sharing how Love Wellness built The Love Club to support and encourage the conversations that were already happening among their customers.

Products that inspire conversations

When Bosworth was facing health issues, she regularly found herself shopping in drug stores for women’s health products. The experience was less than ideal.

Products looked like they had been sitting on the shelf for decades; they weren’t made with natural ingredients; and the messaging was disappointingly tone deaf. On top of this, Bosworth was constantly fearful of running into a familiar face while shopping. After getting home, she’d hide the products in a bathroom cabinet.

“Being a woman and needing products to take care of yourself was really an emotional experience. It was one that felt negative,” said Bosworth.

Then there was the light bulb moment:

Shouldn’t there be a company, a brand or something that supports me and makes me feel positive about these good decisions I’m making for my health?”

After Love Wellness’ product launch, this core concept resonated strongly with women, who shared their experiences in their reviews.

“Women started leaving these comments on the products, and they were like four, five, six, and seven paragraphs long,” said Bosworth. Customers were sharing “how relieved they were to have finally found the brand that was speaking to them and making products that were addressing these chronic issues that they couldn’t ever find a solution for.”

In one year, customers have left more than 5,000 reviews, and “95% of them are 5-star reviews, which is crazy to us,” said Bosworth. These reviews have had a significant impact on the customer journey. Bosworth notes, “You go on any website, and you read a little bit of the product page, and you immediately go to the reviews. More often than not, it’s the reviews and the customer story that actually gets you to buy the product.”

Creating a community around a D2C brand

Based on the strong response to the products, Bosworth saw that customers’ health stories were the other half of the equation. For every health care product, there’s often a hidden backstory of why women were buy it.

“We realized really quickly that there were so many stories to be told,” said Bosworth. “We continue to see that play out over and over and over again, whether it’s through email to Amanda, who’s our VP of Customer Experience, or through the reviews, or through Instagram.”

Can a D2C brand spark a conversation? Bosworth thinks it can.

“I feel like we’ve encouraged women to really take care of themselves in a very forward-thinking and female-first-way. For the first time ever, they’re in charge of their own health journey, and so they’re really excited to tell that story,” she said.

The online community can have a self-perpetuating effect. People who visit the website see the conversations that are happening, and the inspirational and educational content makes them more likely to buy.

The technical side of building community

At Love Wellness, an online community was launched as a result of product reviews. “It happened very organically, and I would say that Yotpo has been one of the biggest reasons why we have been able to create this really interesting community,” said Bosworth.

Most importantly, best-in-class technology doesn’t take a rocket scientist to implement. Across their entire online presence, Bosworth found, “It’s easy to plug in and play these different pieces of technology that can really turn your brand into an actual business overnight.”

Love Wellness responded to strong customer conversations by launching The Love Club, their online forum. Rather than using social media to build out the platform, it was important to keep it on their website. “I think as a brand, our community is our lifeblood. And so why would we want it to live somewhere else?” asked Bosworth.

Start with your brand story

A thriving community is not only the result of customers connecting with one another. It also requires an authentic connection to the brand. In other words, brands need to be clear and forthright with their own stories.

Bosworth said, “You start your own business because you have a story to tell, and you’re on your own personal journey of growth and exploration.”

Learning the personal story of a brand can be a strong point of a connection for a customer, revealing the people and the mission behind a product. But not every company gets it right. “I feel like with a lot of new CPG brands, you go on their website, and you can’t quite figure out what it is, or who they are, or what they’re doing,” said Bosworth.

She has some advice for other D2C businesses: “I would definitely work really hard on your story, and just being able to get across what you do in a really clear and straightforward way. It doesn’t have to be this complicated thing. It can be 10 sentences and boom, you understand.”

Top Takeaways

  • Give your customers a spot on your site to tell their stories.
  • Encourage your customers to have conversations with each other, ideally on a platform within your website, where they are close to your products.
  • Communicate your brand story clearly and honestly.

Know an Amazing Woman in eCommerce, like Lo Bosworth? Nominate them here!

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