Harry\u2019s\u00a0started small and grew quickly. \u00a0They now have 40 domestic employees, an\u00a0online store, a barbershop in New York, and a thriving online magazine called\u00a0Five O\u2019Clock<\/a>. Harry\u2019s\u00a0also recently raised 100+ million dollars to buy the 94-year-old German factory that makes it blades. \u00a0By doing so, they added 427 people to their team. Today, you can find Harry\u2019s products on\u00a0harrys.com<\/a>, in select J Crew stores, and at more than 65 men\u2019s boutiques and hotels across the country.<\/p>\n This is piece was written by Jeff Raider, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Harry\u2019s, with input from key members of the Harry\u2019s team.<\/p>\n Prior to\u00a0Harry\u2019s, Jeff co-founded Warby Parker, a brand offering designer-like eyewear at lower\u00a0prices, which also helped pioneer the \u201cbuy one, give one\u201d model.<\/p>\n Enjoy!\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n We can\u2019t launch to crickets<\/b><\/p>\n We opened the digital doors of our shaving brand, Harry\u2019s, in March of 2013.\u00a0 In the weeks leading up to the launch, there was one persistent worry: Were we going to launch to crickets? Would anyone notice?<\/p>\n My co-founder, Andy, and I had spent the better part of two years researching the global men\u2019s shaving market. \u00a0We\u2019d found the nearly century-old German manufacturer who would make our razor blades, we\u2019d worked\u00a0with talented industrial designers to create an ergonomic handle inspired by fine pens and knives, and we\u2019d laid\u00a0the groundwork for the direct-to-consumer online brand that would become Harry\u2019s.\u00a0 We were excited to offer our customers a quality shaving experience at an affordable price.<\/p>\n Fortunately, Andy and I had a team of 10 who believed in our not-yet-existent brand as much as we did. We needed people to find out about us and come to our website to find our products. After all, a direct-to-consumer brand isn\u2019t anything without the consumer. We\u00a0couldn\u2019t<\/i>\u00a0launch to crickets. We had to figure out a way to make sure that didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n That also meant a lot of pressure.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thanks to what you\u2019ll learn in this post,\u00a0our first week at Harry\u2019s was a huge success. We were inundated\u00a0by tweets, emails, and\u2014our favorite\u2014customer phone calls. It was an incredibly exciting time.<\/p>\n Much of the success of week one was due to what we did beforehand. One week\u00a0before<\/em>our e-commerce site went live, we had gathered\u00a0emails from nearly 100,000 people who were eager to learn more about Harry\u2019s.<\/p>\n We had collected those email addresses thanks to a one-week long prelaunch campaign,\u00a0the focus of this post.<\/p>\n Since launching the campaign, we\u2019ve shared it with friends and other entrepreneurs. Now, together with Tim, we\u2019re excited share the details of the campaign \u2014the thinking, the code, our strategy, and the results\u2014with all of you. One of our company values is transparency. We believe in open source, not only for code but also for ideas.\u00a0 And we hope this might help you or your business\u00a0reach and engage with more people in a fun and constructive way.<\/p>\n Just one\u00a0large disclaimer: we can only share what we did.<\/strong>\u00a0We\u2019re sure we made lots of mistakes (we make them a lot) and have no doubt you\u2019ll be able to improve on\u00a0our template.<\/p>\n Now, without further ado, here we go\u2026<\/p>\n The Most Credible Source<\/b><\/p>\n The idea for our campaign was built around our belief that the most powerful and effective way to be introduced to our new company was through a credible referral. \u00a0Thus, we focused on building a campaign that helped people to spread the word to their friends.<\/p>\n Ahead of our launch, Andy and I spent a couple of months meeting friends, entrepreneurs and virtually anyone else who would listen to us talk about Harry\u2019s. Whether or not they were interested in razors, we tried to interest them in our story.\u00a0 That list of people was probably a couple hundred long by our launch, and we created the campaign to help that group of people publicly share in the excitement of our launch.<\/p>\n We also took inspiration from other startups that we looked up to. Michael Preysman at\u00a0Everlane\u00a0is a friend and has built an amazing company. Early on they\u2019d had success with referral mechanics. We also admired\u00a0Fab\u2019s\u00a0launch and the manner in which they had success in promoting sharing.<\/p>\n So, inspired by those closest to us and some other amazing startups, we created a referral campaign.<\/p>\n The General Campaign Design<\/b><\/p>\n The user interface of the campaign was relatively simple\u2014a two-page microsite.<\/p>\n First, users entered their email addresses on a splash page. This first step was essential since we wanted to capture emails both for our list and so that we could use it as an identifier for tracking referrals.<\/p>\n The second page was where the referral mechanisms lived. It contained a shareable link to the splash page coded specifically to the user. Below the link were buttons to share the link through email, Facebook and Twitter with the click of a mouse. By sharing the link with friends, users had the opportunity to earn free product. The more friends who signed up using your unique referral link, the bigger the prize you earned.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here is all the code for the campaign<\/a>. \u00a0If you have trouble with that link, you can also\u00a0download the files here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The mechanics are simple. It automatically generates a unique code for every unique email address entered, and it appends that code onto the given URL. In our case, the link looked something like this:<\/p>\n When a referral\u2014say, a friend of that first user\u2014comes to the site using a unique link, we save it as a cookie we can use to find the email address responsible for the referral. For the engineers out there, you can see our engineering team\u2019s explanation of the code here. As for the code itself, check it out here.<\/p>\n The code is, of course, important to creating a campaign.\u00a0 In addition to sharing the code, we wanted to provide a few insights into how we thought about using it to drive growth.<\/p>\n We saw prelaunch as a way to make people feel special.<\/p>\n And the first people in the world to\u00a0find out about our brand\u00a0were<\/i>\u00a0really special to us. We wanted our first customers to feel like they were getting insider access.<\/p>\n Splash Page Messaging<\/i><\/p>\n The copy on the splash page said, \u201cRespecting the face, and wallet since like right now.\u201d These words were intended to be playful and introduce people to the purpose of our brand but also leave an air mystery as to what we were all about. We paired the line with photo of one of our razors, but we included no more information about our company or product.<\/p>\n For the call to action on the button, we chose the words STEP INSIDE. Above the field was a small drawing of a key. We wanted to reinforce for our early customers that they were getting insider access.<\/p>\n Referral Page Messaging<\/i><\/p>\n Our referral page had more enigmatic design and copy. A picture of a wooly mammoth was coupled with the words: \u201cShaving is evolving. Don\u2019t leave your friends behind.\u201d Again, we wanted people to feel that something big was happening to which they had front row seat and the opportunity to invite friends to join them. Our first customers were insiders and we wanted to make them feel like insiders.<\/p>\n The fundamental mechanic of our campaign was a game: complete the challenge of referring friends and earn prizes. It seems pretty straightforward\u2014and it is\u2014but we think that what those prizes are, and how they are doled out, is critical to getting people excited play. Not all reward structures are created equal. Here are a few things what worked for us.<\/p>\n First, we tried to make our rewards tangible: free Harry\u2019s product. On the page, we very clearly emphasized, \u201cInvite Friends and Earn Product.\u201d It was the one message on the page where we did away with mystery and left nothing up to interpretation. We didn\u2019t want there to be any doubt about what people might receive.<\/p>\n Second, we paced out the rewards so that they were attainable, appropriate for actions taken, and increasingly exciting. The first award was easily attainable and each subsequent tier wasn\u2019t discouragingly difficult to achieve. To earn the first tier prize\u2014a free shave cream\u2014you had to make only five successful referrals. The next tier was only five further referrals. If you signed up ten friends, you earned a free razor. The jump between tier two and tier three was more significant but still not overwhelming: 25 referrals and you\u2019d receive a shave set with our more premium handle, The Winston. Finally, even the grand prize was within reach: a year of free shaving for those who referred 50 friends.\u00a0 Indeed, over 200 people achieved our highest referral tier. At one point we had considered offering a lifetime of free product for 1,000 referrals. We ultimately decided to scrap that tier, worrying that it would discourage people from participating at all, and \u2014 though we can\u2019t prove that that decision bolstered the strength of the reward structure \u2014 I strongly believe it did.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We wanted the entire experience to feel like a fun game. To amplify the experience, the campaign page included a tracker, pictured above, where users could see how many friends they had referred and what prize they had achieved\u2014or not yet achieved. This dynamic progress tracker served the dual purpose of (1) giving users faith throughout the one-week campaign that we were good for our word and (2) keeping track of their referrals while also incentivizing users who were close to the subsequent tier to keep sharing.<\/p>\n It also amplified the fun people might have with the interface and campaign as they compared their progress to their friends and strived to reach the next tier. We heard from some friends that they took the referral campaign like a personal challenge.<\/p>\n Through the campaign, we wanted to encourage friends to tell friends, and those friends to tell their friends, and so on and so forth.\u00a0 Any barrier to sharing would hinder the campaign, so we did a few things.<\/p>\n First, we included social sharing buttons. You can\u2019t rely on the user cut and paste the link (though do make it available for the user who prefers that method).<\/p>\n Right below the custom link field on the page, we included icons for Twitter and Facebook. We had learned that using the standard Twitter and Facebook icons for sharing yields higher engagement than if you design your own. \u00a0People are used to them and recognize them immediately.<\/p>\n Clicking the icons pulled up a dialogue box with a pre-populated message.<\/p>\n This seemingly small measure was really important. It removed a barrier-to-sharing for the user and allowed you to push forward a message.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Harry’s, a subscription-based model for grooming products went viral with a very clever campaign. Here’s how they did it. Specifically this post will\u00a0explain how they gathered nearly 100,000 email addresses in one week (!). \u00a0This post includes all the\u00a0email templates, open-source code, and insider tricks that you can use to replicate their success. \u00a0It\u2019s similar…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1983,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[263,267],"tags":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",1280,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1-300x300.png",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1-768x432.png",768,432,true],"large":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1-1024x576.png",1024,576,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",1280,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",1280,720,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1-80x75.png",80,75,true],"goodlife-thumbnail":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",80,45,false],"goodlife-grid":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",320,180,false],"goodlife-latest":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1-370x260.png",320,225,true],"goodlife-latestshort":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",302,170,false],"goodlife-vertical":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",320,180,false],"goodlife-gallery":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1-1170x550.png",320,150,true],"goodlife-galleryvertical":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",320,180,false],"goodlife-poststyle1":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",770,433,false],"goodlife-thumbnail-small":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",40,23,false],"goodlife-thumbnail-2x":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",160,90,false],"goodlife-thumbnail-mini":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",20,11,false],"goodlife-grid-small":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",160,90,false],"goodlife-grid-2x":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",640,360,false],"goodlife-grid-mini":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",20,11,false],"goodlife-latest-small":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",160,90,false],"goodlife-latest-2x":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",640,360,false],"goodlife-latest-mini":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",20,11,false],"goodlife-latestshort-small":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",160,90,false],"goodlife-latestshort-2x":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",604,340,false],"goodlife-latestshort-mini":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster-harry-s-razors-factory-germany-100-million1.png",18,10,false],"goodlife-vertical-small":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/3025315-poster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Coppinger","author_link":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/author\/nicolecopp\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Harry’s, a subscription-based model for grooming products went viral with a very clever campaign. Here’s how they did it. Specifically this post will\u00a0explain how they gathered nearly 100,000 email addresses in one week (!). \u00a0This post includes all the\u00a0email templates, open-source code, and insider tricks that you can use to replicate their success. \u00a0It\u2019s similar…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"null\"](\"https:\/\/fhww.files.wordpress.com\/2014\/04\/cad.png?w=500&h=510\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"Harry's](\"https:\/\/fhww.files.wordpress.com\/2014\/04\/prelaunch_pg_1.png?w=500&h=225\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"Harry's](\"https:\/\/fhww.files.wordpress.com\/2014\/04\/prelaunch_pg_2.png?w=500&h=285\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nStep 1: Make Special People Feel Special.<\/b><\/h3>\n
Step 2: Choose Tangible Rewards And Make Them Achievable.<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Harry's](\"https:\/\/fhww.files.wordpress.com\/2014\/04\/prelaunch_hover.png?w=500&h=253\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nClick for full size<\/a><\/h6>\n
Step 3: \u00a0Design and think of the whole experience<\/b><\/h3>\n
Step 4: \u00a0Make sharing easy.<\/b><\/h3>\n