"It’s important that the Drybar brand advocates are empowered to share their experiences. Emplifi helps us to tell the customer story both visually and through written words." — Tari Huddleston, Senior Director at Helen of Troy
Premium hair care products and tools brand Drybar was acquired in early 2020 by parent organization and beauty powerhouse Helen of Troy.
As the brand grows its line of products for diverse hair types, Drybar’s team was looking for a way to proudly showcase positive customer sentiment on its ecommerce site, both visually and through text reviews. To achieve this storytelling goal via user-generated content (UGC), Drybar chose Emplifi.
Cultivating community through customer storytelling
Drybar’s main motivation for implementing community-powered content on its marketing channels was to share its customers’ narratives with the brand through their own words. Authentic reviews combined with visual UGC tell a holistic story that shoppers resonate with. Drybar also features this content on other marketing channels like social media. Drybar collected 4.7K pieces of UGC from native sources in seven months with Emplifi.
"We’re excited about having another avenue to feature UGC on the site because that customer storytelling really helps us build a narrative with our products," said Tim Dawson, Senior eCommerce Manager at Helen of Troy. "We really liked the way that Emplifi can integrate UGC and reviews together in one spot."
Emplifi’s full suite offers Drybar the chance to hear from its customers in a number of different formats: Ratings & Reviews, Checkout Comments, and Community Q&A. The high volume and accessibility of customer sentiment increases community engagement and provides purchase confidence to site visitors. Drybar saw a 4% submission rate of Checkout Comments, with 100% published and positive.
"We were looking for technology that enables us to have two way communication with our customers, and that’s what Emplifi was able to offer us," Huddleston said. "We were very interested in understanding the checkout comments we were getting through Emplifi to understand 'why' customers purchased a product. All of the content we collect and share helps validate the brand and help tell a well-rounded narrative."
One of the elements motivating the Drybar team to choose Emplifi was website page load time. With Emplifi's UGC and reviews widgets, the brand gained a lightweight way to upgrade and add site content without compromising user experience and SEO value.
"We were looking into putting ratings and reviews onto our website, but what I needed was something lightweight that wouldn’t tie down my pages and speed," Huddleston said. "And, with Emplifi, there’s no weight on the page. It was so much faster than other competitors out there. Speed is power in this space, it drives conversion."
Increasing feedback with Review Incentives
Drybar uses Emplifi’s Review Incentives to improve product coverage and lift sales, especially when it comes to new SKUs in need of the social proof that pushes customers to buy. Review Incentives yielded a 300% increase in the standard collection rate.
"We’ve been using Review Incentives for products across the board – and we’ve seen great results in terms of how positive the reviews have been," Dawson said.
As the first few reviews are the most significant in providing credibility and shaping the sales trajectory of a product, Drybar’s team instantly saw the value of Review Incentives. Additionally, accelerating initial review collection paved the way for an overall increase in review volume.
"Review Incentives are a really powerful tool and a really surefire way to increase review coverage," Dawson said.
Open lines of communication — with customers and with Emplifi
Reviews from customers in addition to Community Q&A and Checkout Comments provide Drybar with valuable insight into its customers’ outlook on brand products, with 68% of questions answered by community members.
The Drybar team takes this information back to its product development team to see how customer feedback can improve and benefit the company overall.
"We’re using Emplifi to bridge the gap between us and our consumers, and we’ve already seen so much insight come in from our Q&A on products," Dawson said. "We can take that information back to product development and use it in impactful ways."
Additionally, the brand’s team works with Emplifi to fully optimize its current widgets and look for new areas to innovate on the Drybar website. With a dedication to providing the most efficient and supportive customer service, our team helps Drybar build high-performing site pages.
"I like being able to have the opportunity to share feedback," Huddleston said. "With Emplifi, we shared direct feedback and they followed up afterwards. It really felt like someone was listening to us."
Looking towards the future, Drybar is working to incorporate both visual and textual UGC across its eCommerce site, including dedicated landing pages for social media content and product pages rich with social proof.
