Latest / The Marketing Funnel Podcast with Fexingo: Awareness, Interest, Decision, and Action Stages / How Glossier Built a Marketing Funnel on Community Feedback
Transcript
- Lucas: You know, most brands treat the marketing funnel like a pipeline — you pour awareness in at the top, and sales come out the bottom. But what if you let the people in the pipeline actually build the product? Luna: That sounds risky. And also exactly like Glossier. Lucas: Exactly. Glossier is probably the most famous example of a brand that flipped the traditional funnel on its head. Instead of starting with a product and then marketing it, they started with a community and asked them what to make. And it worked — they hit a billion-dollar valuation by 2019. Luna: But I think the really interesting part is how they operationalized that feedback loop. It wasn't just a suggestion box. It was baked into every stage of their funnel. Lucas: Right. And before we dig in — if you're finding these marketing conversations useful, honestly, if today's episode is worth a coffee to you, there's a link at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's the smallest way to keep this show ad-free and independent. A lot of listeners have already done it, and it genuinely makes a difference. Luna: Yeah, it's a nice way to say this content matters to you. And it keeps us from having to do ad reads for mattress companies. Lucas: Exactly. So — let's start at the very beginning. Glossier's founder, Emily Weiss, started a blog called Into The Gloss in 2010. It was basically a beauty interview site where she talked to women about their routines. No products, no selling — just conversation. Luna: And that blog built a massive, engaged audience. By 2014, they had millions of monthly readers. That's the awareness stage, but it's also the interest stage — because those readers were already leaning in. Lucas: Exactly. So when Weiss decided to launch a brand, she didn't start with a full line. She announced on the blog that she was developing a product and asked readers what they wanted. And the overwhelming response was — a perfect everyday moisturizer. Something simple that actually works. Luna: That became Priming Moisturizer. But here's the thing — they didn't just take the idea. They shared prototypes with top commenters, asked for feedback on texture, scent, packaging. The community essentially co-created the product. Lucas: Which is fascinating from a funnel perspective. Normally, at the decision stage, you're trying to convince someone to buy. But Glossier's community was already invested emotionally before the product even existed. So when it launched, the decision was almost automatic. Luna: And that's why their early launch was so successful. They sold out in days. But the really clever part was how they sustained that loop. Every product they've launched since — Boy Brow, Cloud Paint, Milky Jelly Cleanser — they followed the same playbook. Lucas: Let's take Milky Jelly Cleanser as a specific example. Before they developed it, they surveyed their community and found that women were using multiple cleansers — one to remove makeup, another to wash — and they hated the complexity. So Glossier formulated a single cleanser that does both, and they even used a texture that commenters had described wanting. Luna: And they named it after the texture — 'milky jelly' — which came directly from community language. That's not just product development, that's marketing copy co-creation. Lucas: Right. And that consistency built an incredibly loyal customer base. But there's also a danger here. When you give your community that much power, you can get stuck in a feedback loop. You risk only serving your most vocal users, and missing the broader market. Luna: That's the criticism that's been leveled at Glossier in recent years. Their growth has slowed, and some analysts say they became too insular. The community loved them, but they struggled to break into new demographics. Lucas: Yeah, by 2022 they were laying off staff and restructuring. But I think that's a natural tension in any community-driven funnel. The very thing that makes you strong initially can become a ceiling. The question is whether you can evolve the model without losing the core. Luna: And they are evolving. They've started doing more traditional marketing — billboards, influencer partnerships outside their core community. But they're still leaning on that feedback loop for product innovation. Lucas: So the lesson for marketers is: the AIDA funnel doesn't have to be a one-way push. If you can build a community that participates in the creation process, you compress the awareness to action timeline dramatically. But you also have to be willing to let go of some control. Luna: And you have to be ready for the possibility that your community might not want what you thought they wanted. Glossier's early success was partly luck — they tapped into a genuine unmet need. Not every brand will hit that. Lucas: That's the real takeaway, I think. The community-driven funnel isn't a shortcut. It's a different philosophy. You're trading the efficiency of a controlled message for the authenticity of a co-created one. And for some brands — especially in categories where trust matters — that trade-off is worth it. Luna: So if someone listening wants to try this approach, where do they start? They probably don't have a million-reader blog. Lucas: True. But you don't need that. You can start smaller. A targeted Facebook group, a subreddit, a Discord server. The key is genuine conversation — not polling, not focus groups, but real back and forth where people feel heard. Then when you do launch something, those people are your advocates. Luna: And that advocacy is what fuels the action stage. Because when a friend recommends a product that they helped create, it's not marketing anymore — it's a personal endorsement. Lucas: Exactly. Glossier showed that the funnel can be a circle, not just a line. And in a world where everyone is skeptical of advertising, that circle might be the most powerful shape you can draw.