Podcast Summary: The Marketing Millennials - Episode 305: Customer Acquisition Playbook for 2025 with Joey Steger, VP of Marketing & Ecom at Alen
Introduction
In Episode 305 of The Marketing Millennials, host Daniel Murray engages in an insightful conversation with Joey Steger, the Vice President of Marketing and E-commerce at Alen Air Purifiers. The episode delves deep into modern customer acquisition strategies, offering actionable insights for marketers aiming to enhance their efforts in 2025 and beyond.
Setting the Stage: Alen's Marketing Landscape
Joey Steger begins by outlining the state of Alen Air Purifiers when he joined two and a half years ago. At that time, the company primarily relied on word-of-mouth, occasional press mentions, paid search, SEO efforts, and some affiliate marketing for customer acquisition.
Joey Steger [01:08]: "When I joined, the business was relatively stable, but the acquisition of new customers really relied on a lot of word of mouth and a couple press mentions."
Leveraging his prior experience with a supplement company, Joey spearheaded the expansion of Alen's marketing channels. This included activating Meta (Facebook and Instagram) advertising, utilizing Critio for display and retargeting, reinforcing retention mechanisms with Klaviyo, and integrating OTT and CTV capabilities. A significant milestone was the implementation of Triple Whale, a multi-touch attribution software, which revolutionized their approach to measuring and optimizing marketing efforts.
Rethinking the Customer Acquisition Funnel
A core theme of the discussion is the evolution of the traditional marketing funnel. Joey explains how initial efforts were funnel-centric, assigning specific channels to distinct funnel stages. However, platforms like Meta and Google demonstrated that their campaigns dynamically interact with various funnel stages, making the rigid funnel assignment ineffective.
Joey Steger [04:00]: "Platforms like Meta and Google... have campaigns that you input a lot of creative elements and they dynamically serve that content to customers."
This realization led Joey and his team to adopt a campaign-centric approach. Instead of mapping channels to funnel stages, they classified campaigns based on their funnel impact and assigned specific ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) metrics to each campaign type. This strategy ensured a balanced and efficient distribution of marketing spend across different funnel stages.
Joey Steger [05:00]: "We started doing kind of turning the funnel on its side, looking through the lens of campaigns and determining what type of campaigns exist in different parts of the funnel."
The Importance of Top-of-Funnel (ToFu) Investments
Joey emphasizes the critical role of Top-of-Funnel (ToFu) marketing in driving brand awareness and capturing potential customers who may not yet recognize their need for air purifiers.
Joey Steger [08:24]: "People have problems they interact with in their everyday life and they don't have an identified solution... When they do decide to make a decision, your brand is top of mind."
Using the analogy of Nike, Joey illustrates how consistent ToFu investments keep a brand at the forefront of consumers' minds, ensuring that when they're ready to purchase, the brand is their first choice.
Creative Strategy: Balancing Aesthetics and Functionality
Effective creative content is paramount in distinguishing Alen from competitors. Initially relying on stock imagery, the team transitioned to producing custom content that taps into the emotional aspects of their brand.
Joey Steger [12:04]: "We embarked on a branding campaign that really sought to tap into the altruistic emotions that we wanted people to have when experiencing our product."
This led to the creation of the "Utopia" campaign, which focuses on providing control, confidence, and security through Alen's products. By planning extensive two-day productions twice a year, Joey ensures a steady stream of high-quality video and photo content tailored to various customer segments and marketing channels.
Joey Steger [15:00]: "By shooting video and photography simultaneously with a comprehensive shot list, we efficiently produce content that serves multiple channels for up to six months."
Data Capture and Retention: Building a Robust Audience
Capturing first-party data is integral to Alen's marketing strategy. Joey discusses the implementation of multi-step pop-ups and the use of Segment Ninja to gather and enrich prospect information.
Joey Steger [17:38]: "Having the Prism data associated with each of the prospects really helps us tailor the type of content both visually and from a copy standpoint that speaks to these audiences."
This approach allows Alen to segment their audience based on specific concerns—such as allergies, pets, or environmental issues—and deliver highly tailored email content that boasts impressive open rates of 50-60%.
Tools and Technology: Enhancing Marketing Efficiency
Joey highlights several key tools that have been instrumental in optimizing Alen's marketing efforts:
- Triple Whale: For multi-touch attribution and data integration.
- Digio: For creating custom pop-ups and landing pages.
- Rebuy: For in-cart upsells and product recommendations.
- Segment Ninja: For enriching prospect data with Prism profiles.
Joey Steger [35:02]: "The triple whale system has been phenomenal... any pixel-based multitouch attribution software is probably the first step."
These tools collectively enable Alen to streamline their marketing processes, test creative effectiveness, and make data-driven decisions that enhance ROAS across various channels.
Underrated Channel: Direct Mail
Contrary to the digital-heavy focus, Joey identifies direct mail as an underrated yet highly effective channel. Modern direct mail leverages pixel-based data to deliver highly targeted and responsive campaigns.
Joey Steger [38:51]: "Direct mail is super responsive... I've seen 17 plus ROAS on the newer direct mail opportunities."
Alen utilizes direct mail for timely reminders, unique offer incentives, and precise targeting, achieving remarkable ROAS and complementing their digital efforts.
Marketing Kill: The Dangers of Product-Centric Messaging
Joey passionately argues against the over-reliance on product attributes in marketing. He asserts that without a compelling brand story, brands risk becoming lost in a sea of feature-focused competitors.
Joey Steger [40:47]: "You cannot win these days with just talking about product attributes. If your brand has no story, you're not going to get very far."
He emphasizes the enduring power of storytelling in marketing, highlighting its effectiveness in building communities and connecting emotionally with consumers.
Conclusion and Key Takeaways
Joey Steger's insights underscore the importance of a holistic, data-driven approach to customer acquisition. By embracing campaign-centric strategies, investing in ToFu marketing, leveraging advanced tools, and prioritizing storytelling, Alen Air Purifiers has successfully navigated the complexities of modern marketing to achieve sustainable growth.
Final Quotes
Joey Steger [35:02]: "Creative level conversions take it to like another level. Now you're getting even deeper with your advertising."
Joey Steger [40:47]: "Brand stories, building communities, connecting to people's emotion and passion... have such higher value and impact in your next customer's acquisition than hitting somebody 50 times over with Facebook or Google Ads."
Connect with Joey Steger
For more insights and updates from Joey Steger, follow him on LinkedIn and Instagram, and stay tuned to Alen Air Purifiers as they continue to innovate in the air purification space.
This summary captures the essence of Episode 305, providing a comprehensive overview of Joey Steger's strategies for effective customer acquisition in 2025. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just starting, the actionable insights shared in this episode offer valuable guidance for optimizing your marketing efforts.