WavHello Case Study

In 2009, Curtis Williams launched Bellybuds to connect parents with their child in the womb. As the company expanded with additional products, WavHello was created with the goal of enabling families to connect via technology. BellyBuds became a national phenomenon after appearing on Shark Tank in 2013.

BellyBuds targeted expecting moms, but the company desired a more diverse audience. Establishing a new direction while maintaining a connection to the core audience is a difficult transition, and the company looked for ways to ease the shift.

To engage this new audience without abandoning their current followers, WavHello’s marketing content shifted to focus on lifestyle content. Because social marketing is the company’s largest channel, getting the messaging correct on social media was critical to their success. To measure the effectiveness of their new messaging, the company purchased Rival IQ. “Rival IQ is a critical component to ensure that WavHello is connecting with our new broader audience,” said Katie Mason, social media manager.

Mason relies on the data from Rival IQ to report on WavHello’s social successes. But Mason doesn’t stop with WavHello. Her and the team also rely on Rival IQ to understand direct competitors. By watching the competition they’re learning new ways to engage the audience and the content that works.

The team takes it a step further by looking at who else talks to their audience, who they consider brand heros. The lessons they take from brand heros and competitors translate in a strong social strategy for WavHello.

Mason uses those lessons to test new content and tactics and then iterate, making constant improvements to engage their social audience. For example, WavHello noticed how giveaways helped broaden an audience and build brand awareness. By adding this approach to their social strategy, WavHello has been able to gain new, relevant followers. This exploration phase, facilitated by Rival IQ data, means the marketing team gets to experiment more. “For us, success starts with engagement, so we rely on Rival IQ to see how people are engaging with the new content,” says Mason, “and understand if we’ve made the right content choices to engage not just our audience, but the right audience.”

It’s clearly working. WavHello has not only improved their engagement rates, but also has grown their traffic from social channels by 55%. The new lifestyle content is helping them move beyond expecting moms to reach families with young children.

And now reporting is easier for Mason with Rival IQ. The team no longer needs to use three different tools and a spreadsheet. Now they rely on the monthly reports that come straight to their inbox from Rival IQ. This time saved allows them to dive deeper into understanding the competition, spotting what content is working, and identifying where to invest resources.