Dollar Shave Club: The Landing Page That Took The Razor World By Storm

12.000 new customers in the first 48 hours!

That’s what happened when Dollar Shave Club launched its now-viral revolutionary video back in 2012.

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*green-eyed glance*

The video was part of the landing page and became a hit thanks to its authentic creativity and humorous advertisement.

Unfortunately, not every landing video is going to go as viral and effective. But we live in the age of visual media marketing. And a unique video can prove a goldmine for your business.

The Challenge

In 2018, the global razor market size was valued at $10.2 billion. And is anticipated to exhibit a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.5% from 2019 to 2025.

No surprise here. Men’s interest in grooming is rising while consumers are today more concerned about personal hygiene.

So you can imagine how big the competition is.

Everyone who saves needs new razors regularly. And that sounds perfect enough for any company to start selling. But Dubin faced two problems. The first was that Proctor & Gamble dominated the razor market. The second was that when a man, at their puberty, starts using a certain brand, chances are he will not change.

So Dubin had to do something big to get the attention of new customers and help them decide on building a new relationship with their razors.

But how? That was the question!

The Solution

When your product is not something your audience has never seen before, the best way to market it is to give it personality.

Michale Dubin, Dollar Shave Club’s founder, can boast a background in improv comedy. So it was only natural to use this “weapon” of his to take a fairly mundane topic -yes, men’s razor blades are not that fun- and turn it into something big. And he created a subscription-based grooming brand that men could identify with.

Through a video.

Even though I’ve watched it a million times, it still is so funny and awesome.

And to think that it was created for a landing page!

Dollar Shave Club gives you a powerful example of how you can make your marketing efforts stand out, even if you don’t create something as big as this video. The important thing is…to add a video!

A question we get asked a lot is whether you can EASILY add a video on your landing page with Moosend. Have you checked our landing page features yet?

Let me be the one to give you the glad tidings.

“Easy” is too small a word to describe it!

“Easy” is what a designer would call the task of adding a video thanks to his coding skills.

But, you don’t even need a designer. You are the boss of your landing page!

Got a YouTube, Vimeo, or other URL?

We’ve got your back! Just drag and drop the video element anywhere on your design and click on it to add your content.

No matter how great your video is though, you should never forget the power of words.

Take it from Dollar Shave Club.

Right next to its video the landing page also features some text that further describes its service. This helps to further guide visitors to conversion.

Back to the video.

At first glance, it may appear like the video is a spontaneous, on-the-fly creation made by a bunch of people while having their lunch break.

But no.

In fact, it was a highly-planned shoot with a targeted script with nothing unnecessary in it.

As is the case with every smart and effective marketing video, the Dollar Shave Club’s video only included to-the-point scenes that would offer something to the final result.

In a 2015 interview for inc. , Dubin said:

“ I know humor is a very powerful device in telling a story. I never thought twice about appearing in the video; I wasn’t really going to hire someone else to do that. I didn’t necessarily think that I was going to become the spokesman of the company in addition to the CEO. I was just really trying to find a fun, resonant way to tell the story of what our business did and why it existed. We chose YouTube as a platform to spread the word about DSC because, three years ago, YouTube was the only place to go if you wanted any hope of going viral.[…] It was a fantastic way to come out of the gate and raise awareness of our mission. I don’t think you could have accomplished that any other way.”

The video cost $4,500 and was funded by Dubin’s savings. It became an instant success by showing off the company, product, and brand in a unique way.

As for the video’s most famous line “Our blades are f***ing great”, it has become the company’s unofficial slogan ever since.

The Results

Did Dubin expect his witty launch video to go viral? I don’t know. What I do know and you should know too is that in the first 48 hours of releasing the video, the company took 12.000 orders, with their server crashing due to the huge amount of traffic.

Whatsmore, Dollar Shave Club cornered 15% of its market share in just four years and became so hot that in 2015 it was acquired by Unilever for $1 billion.

The company was now ready to pursue its vision.

The Upshot

A video might sound like something out of your league. But let me tell you.

You don’t have to be a millionaire to create one for your landing page and you certainly don’t need a designer to add it to your landing page. Moosend lets you simply add videos on your landing page with a simple drag and drop move.

Go ahead, a trial will convince you.

And then you can have a landing page as great as Dollar Shave Club.

So what makes their landing page so special? And why are we still talking about a 2012 marketing campaign in 2019?

Their success was based on 3 things. 

1. They tapped into the goldmine called video marketing.

We live in the age of fast information where we prefer watching to reading.

So it’s not surprising that using video marketing can significantly boost your page’s performance.

In fact, it can improve conversions by 86%, according to Eyeview.

2. They solved an issue.

Buying razors can be a terrible, boring experience. It is an actual problem for men and the company solved it effectively and efficiently.

Unlike other razors advertisements, it talks to viewers in a relatable voice and resonates with them by highlighting with humor the struggle of buying quality razors at an affordable price.

3. They used the power of storytelling.

Strong storytelling is a great way to breathe life into your brand. And in the case of Dollar Shave Club managed to make a landing page go viral and open the floodgates to business sales.

The company dared to be different and stood out as a brand with distinct humor, culture, and lifestyle, creating the framework for its witty brand voice it now uses consistently across its channels.

Whatsmore, the video proved so powerful because, unlike other usual razors advertisements, it talked to viewers in a relatable voice that connected with its audience.

The video today can boast more than 26 million times on YouTube and the company continues to be disruptors in a multi-million dollar industry.

Wrap Up

Dollar Shave Club could have been just one more drop in the ocean of razor companies. Only they weren’t.

Because they chose to catch their audience’s attention with a well-built landing page based on a video authentic and relevant.

With the right strategy, developing landing page content that will captivate your visitors can be a piece of cake. All you have to do is listen! Now head over to our Landing Pages and get yourself out there!

Oh and let us know if you have some favorite landing page videos!