5 Questions With Chelsea Jones from Chelsea & Rachel Co.: Simplify to Drive More Traffic

When Chelsea Jones and Rachel Saul met on a startup project, they didn’t know they would soon launch a successful marketing agency together. Or, that they would grow their agency into one of only five women-owned Shopify Plus Preferred Partners in the world. But after sharing a few “crazy creative moments” and a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign that hit its goal within 3 weeks, that’s exactly what they did. 

Chelsea & Rachel, Co. is a boutique marketing agency specializing in Shopify Plus development and digital strategy with a focus on food and wellness brands. They were recently awarded the Best New Agency Partner 2020 award from Recharge for their exceptional work in Subscription. 

Q1: How is C&R different from other agencies?

Chelsea Jones: Our secret sauce is our people and our culture. What we do differently is in how we do design and development. So, writing up strategy, helping people understand, coming at it from a ‘coaching and consulting’ standpoint as well as ‘experts executing.’ 

We don't want to be like, “Oh, they're hiring us to do some code,” and they [the client] never know what they get. We want them to understand that this is why we're doing that, and this is the purpose behind this software, this piece of custom development, or this scenario of design. Because that is where you get collaboration. And you get more of a fun, boutique feeling. 

“Be consistent in your marketing efforts. And that will build on itself.” - Chelsea Jones

And that’s what makes us different. We're not going to be the type that'll be like, “Hey, we're going to put you in this round hole, and this is our process. This is everything we do, exactly the same.” We have a process and we have a procedure, but we want to be flexible enough to really meet the needs of our clients.

Q2: What is one thing online store owners can do today to simplify their marketing?

Chelsea Jones: To simplify their marketing, they need to know their numbers. The big number that you need to know and improve on is your conversion rate and lifetime customer value. Knowing how much traffic is coming and what they're actually converting. You also need to know your churn rate and how you can decrease that. Another one a lot of people don't track is your average lifetime value. Because, as a brand of consumer-based goods especially, you're going to have a lot of ways to recircle that. So, how do you engage them again and again? 

And a quick win in my mind is if you have Klaviyo or another email marketing system, or Attentive for text messages or one of those, you need to send out messages. Sometimes it's the little things. Don't overthink it. Just be like, “Hey, we had a random flash sale.” Or, “Hey, we have a giveaway today.” Or, “Here's a buy-one-get-one” thing. Or, instead of even sales, just to give value and education. Like, “It’s 2021. News health components. Did you know this fact?”

Just engage with your customers. Don't overthink it. I think Strategy is very important but more so is testing and understanding feedback. “It’s important to get a really good feedback loop from your customers. That’s the beauty of digital—actually reaching out and being able to do it in real time” 

Rebuy: I was sweating a social media post for 3 hours once and was like, what am I doing? 

Chelsea Jones: Yeah, exactly. A lot of people do that especially in our high-achieving, “expertise world.” But the thing people have to realize: It's a mindset shift for digital. That's different than traditional print. Like, “Okay, done. You have to print it and here's a book.” In digital, it's a test-market-engagement scenario. So, you've got to get stuff out there. And sometimes just the more consistent you are, the better [outcomes] you're going to have. Nobody remembers what they posted on social media a month or two ago if they are consistent every day, right? And, every day might be too much for you as a brand. As long as you're consistent weekly or consistent on something. You need engagement and testing. So don't be afraid to put something out there. Sometimes the ones that have been the most successful, or gone viral, have been, honestly, the most candid or unpolished.

“An online store is pretty simple. It's a numbers game. Do you have traffic to your website? Are you converting the traffic to your website?” - Chelsea Jones

Q3: What is a common marketing pitfall online store owners should avoid?

Chelsea Jones: Overthinking everything [laughs]. An online store is pretty simple. It's a numbers game. Do you have traffic to your website? Are you converting the traffic to your website? If you don't have that, there's a tweak that needs to be made. But don't think that just by changing the color of your button it's going to magically make something improve. It's a numbers game. So the more traffic you get, the more you can test that background. Usually for most brands, when they're not selling, it's just the fact that they need more traffic to their store. So take a diversified approach. Be consistent in posting. Be consistent in your marketing efforts. And that will build on itself. 

Q4: Tell us about a project you’re working on now.

Chelsea Jones: I’m excited to say we are building out the new Shopify Plus site for GT Living Foods, the kombucha company. I just like their brand and their products, and it's fun to drink kombucha while I'm working. I think what I love and why I'm excited about this project and others that we’re doing, like Organic Valley and Good Karma Milk, is these are brands and businesses that have a purpose behind what they do. And as a household name, it’s exciting to work alongside their teams. They want more whole health for people. They want a more holistic approach. And I love that because we like our sites to be holistic in their tech components. When you have food brands that are helping people all the way to the table, and helping them have healthier lifestyles, I'm thrilled by that. 

And then some really exciting new ones that are coming out. There's a brand called Evermind that will be launched this spring. And it's a functional beverage that is going to help with focus and clarity, and MCT oils, and everything [regarding] brain health. I think last year, and over the years, gut health has been a big trending thing. Now, brain health is going to be picking up. I see that more and more as a trend, especially as we're all on our computers and all at home. The pandemic has created a lot of anxiety and mental challenges. And so, the more that we can equip our bodies, and be healthy with brain function, I think it's going to help everything else, too. 

From a tech and innovation perspective, we've done some really amazing things with subscription and custom interactions with Shopify Plus. One client we launched last year is Eat Fit Life Foods, a Florida-based company that's going to go more national. They have constraints based on how they're growing as a company. So, different locations, ZIP codes, etc. I think one thing that we're always interested in doing is helping brands grow and scale within the constraints of shipping and fulfillment and all the challenges of supply chain that we have with COVID. If anybody reading this or listening to this wants to start a frozen fulfillment company, I get those requests from friends all the time. So please get a really good frozen fulfillment scenario because I think food, and ordering food, is going to become the new norm.

Q5: What are you reading these days?

Chelsea Jones: I love books! I'm always working on a couple of things. I also like Audible. A couple of classic ones that I reread this time of year is High-Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard. Highly recommend that one. I also have Turn The Ship Around, which is from a military component of leadership. And then another really good one is Know What Your For by John Maxwell and Jeff Henderson.

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If you think Chelsea & Rachel Co. might be a good fit to work with your brand, give them a shout at chelseaandrachel.com.

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