My role: Lead UX Designer
Achievement: Help the company from the edge of failure to the success of sell-through rate over 99% in three months.
HappyEarth was a startup from crowdfunding in Taiwan. Their main business was selling eco-friendly hand-written notebooks. In early 2017, they made a decision: ENTER the US MARKET!
But they have some problems…
The co-founder, Brown Hong, discussed the products operation in the US market (launched in September) with me and had no idea why their marketing efforts were almost in vain.
This product with a strong emphasis on environmental protection was made out of recycled material. The main idea is to encourage people to reuse one-side blank paper.
The US market rescue plan
I wanted to prove the effects of UX design so that I recommended myself to be charge of the US market. The result led to me back to Asia promoting the design thinking of UX.
Step 1: Research
After in depth interviews with three native speakers, it indicated that the green life is relevant:
- Subjective consciousness– strongly dependent on personal belief.
- Objective limitation– unclear instruction recycle bins and abundant printer paper
In addition, according to EPA, the US recycling rate in 2014 was only 34.6%. Compared to other countries, the US is placed the latter class.
However, in the context of the interview, I distilled that “DIY” is grounded in the American life. Handmade is not only to express personality but to enjoy the process.
Step 2: Change strategy
Redefined the market landscape and focused on versatility meanwhile. The original feature of the eco-product temporarily became a subsidiary point.
Step 3: A/B testing
Facebook Ads targeting V.S. non-targeting
When using Facebook for targeting, here was the detail setting:
Buyer Profile: Green Living
Interests: eco-friendly
To test the performance of our targeting, I ran A/B testing, and controlled group with all the same settings (all US people). Here were the results:
When targeting users via our criteria, it turned out a better watch rate of ad videos and watched longer on the Canvas video. Both are contributed to a better CPC and purchase rate.
Facebook Ads eco-film V.S. versatile-film
In December 2017, our team made a new film in order to focus on the initial idea: Recycling.
I compared with other period performance. The result showed:
Apparently, users preferred the product versatility to the eco-product even if they were considered themselves as green-living people.
Step 4: Overhauled user interface
- Redesigned official Website
- Redefined the product’s feature on Amazon
- Created a fan-sharing page
All I wanted to do was point out the affordance of this product and set up an appropriate conceptual model for users.
Conclusion
There were two pivotal factors that decided the product marketing: Target audience and ads content.
Only if green-living people and the product versatility operated together would they boost the sales funnel.
The performance in three months** was
- Facebook ads CPC $0.13-0.25, CTR 4.5%-5.5%, CVR 5%
- Sell-through rate over 99%***
- Increased 762 Fans of English speaker; 44 fans of European non-English speakers
- Website page views jumped over 25 times
* This is my first UX project after professional trainings. Also, I fully worked independently every steps.
** The period is from Oct 15th to Jan 15th.
*** The total products imported to US market was 500 units. Except for 3 defectives, I finally sold 495 sets of products in 91 days (The end day based on Amazon inventory charge date was on Jan 15th, 2018) after optimization.
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