Why Early-Stage DTC Brands Miss the Mark on Retention

(A love letter to retention inspired by a customer conversation with Cohora)

Picture this: you’re an early-stage DTC brand, scrappy and ambitious. You’ve got the ads running, the influencers posting, and the sales rolling in. Everything’s feeling great—until you look at your bank account and realize your CAC (customer acquisition cost) is eating your margins alive.

Why? Because you’re so busy fishing for new customers, you’re letting the ones you already hooked wriggle off the line.

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Tons of DTC brands make the same mistake early on. But if you don’t shift your focus to retention, you’re going to find yourself in a very expensive hamster wheel. BTW, hamsters just run in circles.

The Acquisition Trap: Why DTC Brands Are Addicted to Top-of-Funnel

Acquisition is sexy. There, I said it.

It’s flashy, it’s fun, and it feels productive. But focusing all your energy (and budget) on top-of-funnel campaigns while ignoring your existing customers is like filling a leaky bucket—you’re working twice as hard for half the reward.

Here’s the kicker: acquiring a new customer costs 5x more than keeping an old one. And yet, most early-stage brands are so blinded by the dopamine rush of new customer notifications that they miss the real goldmine: retention.

The Real Problem? Your Data is a Mess

Let’s be real. Most early-stage brands aren’t ignoring retention because they don’t care. They’re ignoring it because they don’t know where to start.

You’ve got data coming at you from all directions—Shopify, Facebook, Google Analytics, TikTok (if you’re feeling trendy)—but none of it is talking to each other. It’s like trying to solve a puzzle when half the pieces are missing, and the dog ate the box with the picture on it.

Without the right insights, you can’t see:

• Who your best customers are.
• When they’re likely to come back.
• What makes them buy again (and again).

So you stick with what’s easy—spend more on ads, throw in a discount, and hope for the best. But let’s be honest: how’s that working out for you?

Why Retention Is Your Secret Weapon

Retention isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the cheat code for scaling your brand without draining your wallet. Here’s why:

1. Better Margins: Repeat customers don’t need a discount to buy from you. They’re already sold.
2. Higher Lifetime Value (CLV): Loyal customers spend more over time. Plus, they don’t ghost you after one purchase.
3. Free Word-of-Mouth Marketing: Happy customers tell their friends, and friends trust friends more than they trust ads.

Retention isn’t just about keeping the customers you have. It’s about turning them into superfans who keep coming back—and bring their friends with them.

How SaaS Solutions Can Help

Retention-focused tools that help brands unlock the full potential of their data by offering:

1. Centralized Data Dashboards: Stop juggling multiple tools. Find a platform that gives you a unified view of customer behavior, sales trends, and retention metrics.
2. Actionable Insights: Get clear, data-driven recommendations for improving CLV, reducing churn, and driving repeat purchases.
3. Automated Campaigns: Engage your customers with perfectly timed, personalized messages that drive loyalty and repeat sales.
4. Retention Benchmarks: Compare your performance to industry standards and identify areas for improvement.

Turn your data into actionable insights that actually grow your business. No fluff, no jargon—just results.

TL;DR: Stop Breaking Up With Your Customers

Here’s the deal: if you’re spending all your time chasing new customers and ignoring the ones you already have, you’re leaving money on the table. (A lot of money.)

Retention is the key to sustainable growth, predictable revenue, and a business that doesn’t make you want to cry every time you look at your P&L. And the best part? It’s easier than you think—once you have the right tools.

A customer of FindingFrisson, Cohora, is helping early-stage DTC brands do just this. Cohora is the first performance-driven relationship based engagement solution and only eCommerce engagement and retention solution that provides a true 360 degree view of your existing customers. Cohora offers the analytics you need to understand the impact of your retention efforts coupled with a suite of tools to help predict loyalty, drive growth, and transform retention.

Interested in learning more about Cohora? Check out their site here or shoot me a message for an intro!

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