LTV Lab: We Bought from OPEN FARM.

Brand Overview

Open Farm is a premium pet food brand offering ethically sourced and sustainable dog and cat food. Their main audience is pet parents who care deeply about ingredient transparency and are willing to pay more to ensure their animals eat well. The brand stands out for “radical transparency”—each bag tracks where ingredients came from, and their messaging humanizes the company.

Customer Journey Breakdown

Website Experience:
Shopping on their site is simple, considering the product variety. Navigation is intuitive: filter by pet type, food format, or sensitivities. Product pages explain clearly how each food is different and why you’d pick, say, raw mix over oven-baked. Auto-ship is positioned well as a convenience ("ship it when you actually need it"), not just a discount subscription. However, there’s room to improve: the site doesn’t help estimate how often you should reorder or how much food you’ll need for your specific pet. That puts the onus on the customer to guess and potentially leads to churn if they get the cadence wrong.

Email & SMS Marketing:
Order confirmation and shipping emails nail the brand voice and offer useful status visualizations. The copy is personal ("founder’s dogs," fun facts), and they clarify what happens next. But post-purchase flow has gaps. After shipping, there’s no delivery notification, so if your package gets stolen or misdelivered, you might not know in time. The first campaign comes days after delivery—no cross-sell, no subscription push, no SMS reminders (they didn’t collect mobile numbers up front). The referral program is buried, and there’s friction to join (sign-up required rather than directly referring). Segmentation mostly aligns with dog or cat, but misses chances to personalize based on customer profile (dog size, age, preferences)—data is collected in post-purchase emails but seemingly not used for targeting.

Unboxing & Product Experience:
Packaging is branded and sustainable (terracycle), with QR codes leading to feeding guides and product details—no excess inserts due to the brand’s environmental focus. Unboxing feels premium and personal. QR codes introduce customers to the brand’s world and reinforce transparency, but there’s no overt push toward reordering or subscription on the materials inside the box.

Strengths (What Worked Well):

• Product and website messaging make the value prop crystal clear—ingredient traceability, ethical sourcing, and sustainable packaging.

• Order confirmation, shipping emails, and packaging copy build trust and deliver a cohesive brand experience.

• Use of QR codes gives instant access to helpful product info, not just a digital brochure.

• Segmentation begins with zero-party data (pet type), but could evolve further.

Content, creative, or strategy examples to emulate:

• “We vet our farmers like you vet your vet” copy that actually delivers, thanks to ingredient tracking—real transparency, not fluff.

• QR codes thoughtfully used for actionable info (feeding, transitioning, recycling), not wasted as generic links.

• Branding throughout, from confirmation emails with founders’ pets to package design, helps customers feel part of a community.

Weaknesses (Opportunities Missed):

• No order delivery notification—potential risk for lost/stolen packages and customer frustration.

• Lack of upsell or cross-sell in post-purchase flows. Campaigns come late and are generic (not based on what the customer actually bought or needs).

• No SMS marketing present, missing an opportunity for reminders and engagement.

• Subscription push is heavy on the website but absent post-purchase. The cadence support tools are weak; customers must guess how often to reorder.

• Referral program is clunky with extra steps, and appears only once rather than integrating with lifecycle touchpoints.

• Missed chance to use collected data (pet age/size from review request) for segmentation and targeted offers.

  
  

Key Lifecycle Marketing Lessons For Other Brands

• Transparency is powerful, but you have to deliver it at every touchpoint. Ingredient tracking, sustainability—the more granular, the better.

• Retention flows need more than clever branding. Remind, cross-sell, and personalize using data from the order and customer profile. Automated delivery notifications and SMS can save a sale.

• Don’t bury offers—bring subscription and reordering into packaging, confirmation emails, and post-delivery comms. Make it easy, not a hunt for the customer.

• Referral programs work best when matched to customer intent. Reduce friction, then prompt sharing at natural points (not just one email). Active segmentation—use all the data you get from reviews and post-purchase forms.

These principles will help you drive higher lifetime value. Combine a memorable brand experience, frictionless shopping, and smart lifecycle marketing for best results.