How Privy Helps Barrister and Mann Master a Human-Centric Approach to Marketing

After 10 years of using Mailchimp, Barrister and Mann’s founder Will Carius was on the hunt for a more affordable solution with better support. After joining Privy, he was able to build an impressive marketing foundation that’s done wonders for his unique business + audience.

How It All Started

In 2013, Will Carius was a law student living in San Francisco. He tagged along with a friend to explore some perfume boutiques downtown and became fascinated by the unusual fragrances on the scene. It was then that he had an epiphany: “I had never really understood that fragrance could be art before.” Later that same year, he started Barrister and Mann to reimagine the ritual of men’s grooming.

Based in upstate New York, Barrister and Mann is a family-owned business that produces high-quality men’s grooming products such as shaving soap, aftershave, and cologne in unique and inventive scents. Will broke into the niche market of wet shaving and has completely transformed men’s grooming routines by making fine fragrance and quality materials accessible to all.

About a decade into growing and marketing his business, Will started noticing his email provider’s invoices rising, yet the support he received fell flat. In the 10 years he spent with Mailchimp, “never once did [he] speak to a living person.”

During his search for a more cost-effective email platform partner, Will was introduced to Privy. Learning that he’d get 1:1, personalized support from a dedicated Customer Success Manager sealed the deal. He says, “That was what really sold me on Privy, and that is what has kept me with you.”

Working with Privy

Upon signing up with Privy, Will was introduced to Henry, his Customer Success Manager. The two of them met and began crafting a personalized strategy in Will’s dashboard, including a Welcome Popup, a Cart Saver popup, and automated emails. Henry also educated him about important best practices, like a consistent sending cadence and email segmentation. Soon, they locked down a plan that fit Will’s schedule and unique business model.

“I like the fact that I can still talk to a human being who understands what I do, who understands my business model, and understands why I want to do something in particular.”

Before joining Privy, Will would send the occasional newsletter, but he would find himself getting so busy that sometimes weeks would pass by without engaging with his customers. With Privy, his automated flows are always engaging with new subscribers and customers behind the scenes, so he never misses an opportunity.

One of his most valuable flows at Privy has proven to be his automated welcome series, which sends six emails to new subscribers over the course of two weeks. Will describes it as “a full crash course on how to wet shave,” and it helps the customer feel confident in buying + using their products. This, along with his abandoned cart series, has generated over $60,000 in revenue, just running in the background.

The Results

In addition to Privy saving Will hundreds of dollars each year, Will has recognized value in other areas of his business. Since launching his Privy popups, he has seen his conversion rate increase to 4%+ and his email list has grown by over 18%.

When it comes to crafting his newsletters, Will made it clear: “I am one person. I do not code email templates from scratch. So [Privy’s] template builder is really great.” With our drag-and-drop email editor, Will can build sophisticated templates with zero developer skills needed, saving him a whole lot of time and allowing him to drive over $280,000 in revenue.

Looking Ahead

Will is in the process of evolving his business’s operations so that he can spend less time in the production process and more time developing exciting new fragrances + connecting with his customers. Beyond that, his Customer Success Manager is thrilled to leverage Privy’s new flows builder to help Will craft even further personalized messages in response to his customers’ actions.

Closing Thoughts

Perhaps the most magical aspect of Barrister and Mann is Will’s passion for personal, human marketing; he knows many of his customers personally, and making each contact feel seen, heard, and respected is a non-negotiable for him. With Henry by his side, he’s been able to automate much of his marketing + craft some impactful strategies without sacrificing that human connection.

“The best marketing connects with your customers on a personal level. It makes them feel special. And much of Privy's power is that I can target things in such a way that I can make people feel as if they are spoken to individually.”