Blue Apron totally changed the meal kit game. And they didn’t do it by blowing millions on flashy ads.
They bet big on something way simpler: getting their happy customers to spread the word.
And it worked. Like, really worked.
Free Food = Smart Move
Blue Apron spent $35 million a year giving away free boxes of food. Sounds wild, right? But it wasn’t just a nice gesture. It was a super smart play.
According to their IPO filing, 34% of their new customers in early 2017 came from referrals. And they were only spending about 15% of their marketing budget on the referral program. So for a small slice of the pie, they got a huge chunk of new business.
Why People Couldn’t Stop Sharing It
The referral program crushed it because of three simple things:
They Knew Their People: Blue Apron’s core customers were upper-middle-class food lovers. Those people knew other food lovers who were all about trying new things. It was like word-of-mouth on easy mode.
The Offer Was Too Good to Pass Up: A free box of fancy ingredients and recipes. It feels like a legit gift. Way better than “$5 off your first order.”
The Math Made Sense: Sure, giving away food isn’t cheap. But the folks who came in through referrals stuck around longer and spent more. So in the end, the upfront cost paid off big time.
They Didn’t Stop There
Blue Apron didn’t just sit back and let referrals do all the work. They backed it up with a few other smart moves:
- They jumped on podcast ads early, before everyone else figured out they were gold.
- Their boxes and meals were super Instagram-friendly, so people actually wanted to post about them.
- They teamed up with partners that made sense, getting in front of curious foodies wherever they were hanging out.
Sometimes the best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing. Give people something worth sharing, and they’ll do the heavy lifting for you.
Read More – Marketing Strategy
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