Graza skips paid ads and goes all in on Customer First Marketing

In the US, high-quality olive oil has been traditionally inaccessible or prohibitively expensive. At the beginning of 2022, Andrew Benin and Allen Dushi launched Graza to introduce Americans to affordable olive oil that tastes as good as the stuff they enjoyed while living in Spain.

Learn how Klaviyo segmentation helps Graza directly reach their customers

Challenge

In Graza’s early days, Benin and his team stuck to testing out organic marketing channels rather than paid advertising. They needed a way to create strong customer relationships that lasted beyond a single purchase, and they knew paid ads couldn’t foster that the way organic marketing channels do.

We don’t use any paid channels. We have a 50% open rate because our customers want to talk to us. Relationships are critical.

Andrew Benin, Co-founder and CEO, Graza

Solution

The Graza team initially focused on three organic marketing channels to grow the business: organic social, a creators gifting program, and email marketing. But email is the channel that has enabled the DTC brand to reach customers in the most personal way possible, thanks to Klaviyo’s robust segmentation options.

Strategy

Graza uses Klaviyo’s granular segmentation tools to send automated flows and promotional campaigns to small, targeted groups of customers based on purchase frequency. Regulars who buy every 2-3 weeks get different emails from regulars who buy every 4-6 weeks, for example. Graza is intentional about email design, too, keeping all calls to action below the fold.

I think we benefit from really direct communication. We have flows going out to just 200-300 customers.

Andrew Benin, Co-founder and CEO, Graza