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At the start of 2020, Bohemian Mama — a retail destination that offers a highly curated collection of top independent and sustainable bohemian brands — was on the up and up. They had a 2,500 square foot brick and mortar store and were on their way to unveiling their third rebrand when the pandemic hit.
But rather than considering this an unfortunate turn of events, CEO and Founder Gina Ozhuthual calls it "serendipitous timing," which ultimately enabled Bohemian Mama to explore marketing strategies that have unlocked doors to even greater success.
We chat with Gina about the marketing mix they’ve used to astronomically increase their year-over-year (YoY) growth — even in the midst of a pandemic.
Image: Bohemian Mama
"[Bohemian Mama] started in my garage in 2015, shortly after my first child was born," explains Gina. "I had come from almost 20 years in corporate sales in a different industry and became more mindful about what I was shopping for. I realized that there was a hole in the market for a one-stop-shop for women to buy more sustainably and ethically for themselves and their children."
And because no other brand sourced from such a robust collection of organic, independent brands, Bohemian Mama quickly turned first-time shoppers into loyal fans. "I believe we stand out primarily by our curation of brands," adds Gina. "Our brands aren't mass-produced and can be hard to come by. This brings loyal customers back, season after season."
Image: Bohemian Mama
"When the pandemic happened, it was interesting timing because we've been working with a company to rebrand Bohemian Mama for months," recalls Gina. "It thankfully ended up being really serendipitous timing — we were planning to transfer the business from our brick and mortar to our website and focus more on tech improvements, anyway."
But while it was by lucky happenstance that Bohemian Mama shifted to ecommerce right when lockdowns happened, there were still some challenges that the team had to overcome:
"Buying habits changed completely," says Gina. "For example, women were at home and buying less for themselves, and more for their children."
Image: Bohemian Mama
"When the pandemic hit, we realized our product offering needed to change rather quickly," says Gina. "We needed to move into children's toys, loungewear, and other products that we didn't warehouse."
Image: Bohemian Mama
With their flagship store closed during the pandemic, the Bohemian Mama team had to find a way to engage and build relationships with customers, primarily online.
Image: Instagram
When asked about the most valuable marketing lesson she's learned during the pandemic, Gina says, "It's definitely one thing to have a website — that's easy. But being found and growing your business is a different story; that's done through a magical mix of social media, paid media, SEO, and content marketing. The best way to stay top-of-mind with customers is through a cross-channel marketing strategy utilizing paid media, email, and SMS."
Last updated on September 16th, 2022.