How Hampton Sparked a DTC Partnership

Within Hampton, we’re working to design experiences so our members form deep connections.  In-person dinners, dedicated Slack channels, 1:1 connections - you name it.

The best part: when Founders form a partnership that helps accelerate their businesses.

We recently had two members who are both deeply invested in the DTC and eCommerce world – and they had a hunch. 

Getting someone to buy something is become complicated.  Tons of places where you could move the needle as a business owner, but tough to know how. So within the depths of the Hampton slack channels, they set out to create a comprehensive guide on building great DTC conversions.

Who was it?  

Andrew Durot of EcomExperts and Jess Chan of Longplay.

The Idea

Andrew reached out through Hampton, looking for a partner in crime and a co-marketing opportunity.

Andrew had spent thousands of $$$ on top DTC brands' products. He analyzed their post-purchase funnels. This included order confirmations and transactional emails.

His goal? To collaborate with a top retention marketing agency. Jess Chan from Longplay fit the bill perfectly.  She brought her expertise in DTC retention marketing and had a knack for sharing her story publicly. 

So, they had post-purchase funnels and long-term retention covered.  What was missing – conversion rate optimization? 

Enter Aaron Orendorff from Fermat, a Conversion Rate Optimization expert.  

They rounded out the trio to hit all the stops of a purchase journey.

The Partnership

Andrew, Jess, and Aaron covered different parts of the ecommerce funnel.

• Aaron brought his expertise around funnel optimization.
• Andrew brought his post-purchase database.
• Jess brought her expertise around retention marketing.

Their combined content created a comprehensive guide for DTC brands.

Now, how’d they execute this vision:

The team's strategy was elegantly simple:

1. Create a dedicated page on Fermat's website (you can see it here)
2. Implement a pop-up opt-in to capture leads 
3. Share leads among all three partners

The collaboration included three key resources:

1. Beyond The Funnel LTV Playbook by Longplay
   • 91 pages
   • Retention Marketing 101
   • Understanding Your Customer Lifecycle
   • Step-by-Step Guide to 7 Foundational Email/SMS Flows
   • Personalization & Segmentation 101
2. Funnel Analysis by Fermat
   • 124 pages
   • 5 stages + 3 questions
   • 100s of examples
   • Top-to-bottom templates
3. Post-Purchase Database by EcomExperts
   • 45+ DTC brands analyzed
   • $5K+ in purchases
   • 497 screenshots
   • App list

The Launch

They chose Twitter and LinkedIn for their launch. These platforms had their strongest audiences. Their customers were active there. Building hype before the launch was crucial. They created anticipation and buzz. When the day came, they promoted across their networks. 

Here are their launch announcements on Twitter:

• Andrew Durot on Twitter
• Jess Chan on Twitter
• Aaron Orendorff on Twitter

A few things they did that stood out…

1. They’ve been giving value before announcing the partnership and asset they had to share - the community was primed
2. Each highlight their contributions because of their unique background and expertise - experts in key areas
3. They gave credit to other thought leaders who helped them create some of these best practices

The Launch

The results show just how well executed the partnership was just in the initial launch:

Social Media Impact:

• Twitter: 9.5M impressions // 450 Bookmarks
• LinkedIn: 22.6k impressions

Ecommerce Funnels: Week 1

• Page Views (HubSpot): 1,807
• Submissions (Downloads): 445
• Conversion Rate: 25%

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Here’s what we learned:

Partnerships like this don't have to overly complicated. They held a simple vision and kept the execution clear.  The relationship was forged because they had trust built-in -- that's valuable to ensure everyone knows the outcome.