Initially, my personal Instagram account’s followers naturally became consumers of the brand. It seems that honesty played a big role, and I used Instagram hashtags well. I uploaded a photo of my home-cooked meal with the hashtag #LollyRestaurant or took a homemade drink and uploaded it with the hashtag #LollyTeaRoom… If you like the life of the person who leads the brand, your empathy and understanding of the direction this brand is going [in] will increase. It seems that when people who like both of these things come together, there is a synergy, and it is more likely to lead to a loyal fan.

I first divided the fans into 3 stages. Those who only know about Oh, Lolly Day!, those who like it but do not purchase and, finally, those who follow and purchase us no matter what we try. We’ve started a different approach to the fans. with the goal of becoming more attached and relevant [to the last group]. The characteristics of Oh, Lolly Day! fans that we analyzed were that they were passive and less expressive. In order to actively communicate with these people, I have tried various projects over the past year. Examples are the “35 Days Habit Challenge,” a participatory hashtag promotion on Instagram, and the “Happier Letter,” which tells the inside story of Oh, Lolly Day! In [a] newsletter-type happy letter, there is also a box where you can send a letter directly to us.

Quality reviews have really increased. It was not a simple review like “it’s pretty, I like it,” but a review about [the] happiness that Oh, Lolly Day! talks about. Let me introduce one review that impressed us: there was a person who received a habit product as a gift and tried it… After a month or two, he realized that his life had really changed. I received a long letter… such reviews are constantly piling up. We confirmed that our activities were not meaningless.

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From a business standpoint, loyal fan marketing does not direct to sales as we are not investing in new consumers. However, although it did not lead to a dramatic increase in sales, there was definitely external growth. Currently, I think it is in the stage of investing in loyal fans. In order for the brand to grow solidly and to overcome a crisis well, I believe that the current investment is essential. We want to grow slowly and deeply with our consumers.

This thought became more certain as I went through the COVID-19 pandemic. The existence of a fan determines the survival of a brand. However, we plan to expand the target range so that non-loyal fans do not feel left out and new customers flow in. The “Be Happier Campaign,” which contains the message that happiness is everywhere like a 3-leaf clover, is part of that initiative.

When my trademark was stolen by another company recently, I really got a lot of help from the fans—comments pouring in asking for a funding round to support the lawsuit. I got the courage to start fundraising and have over-achieved. Through this incident, I realized that the power of fans is crucial for a small business to survive. Now, many consumers seem to recognize that Oh, Lolly Day! is a brand that fans love, and that it is a brand that is serious about the relationship with its fans, so I'm happy.

I approach each post as an advertisement and upload it carefully. The text is written [like] ad copy and confirmed by 3 related internal staff. I also choose a clear image that is not blurry. The ultimate goal is to increase the viewer's viewing time of the post… Oh, Lolly Day! uses various Instagram features such as Stories, guides and [video]... We use a specific sticker in Stories to express our gratitude when reviewing customer reviews. After making the sticker, the number of mentions in Stories has definitely increased. A guide is used when there is content that we want to highlight. Fans do wonder, how does the person who made the product use this? Hence, we provide staff reviews of the product.

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Our dream is to become a hundred-year company—”to make other people’s lives a little bit happier through Oh, Lolly Day!” is our mission written on the board earlier this year. We are serious about happiness. We don't want rapid growth like large corporations. We want to grow slowly and deeply.

Looking for more inspiration? Read our interview with creative director @karenxcheng about how businesses can team up with creators to level up their content, or see how Mulungú (@usemulungu) CEO @luciellenassis built an Instagram community that feels like “virtual family.”