How Marleylilly’s Customer Data-Driven Strategy Led to Their Best-Performing Campaign Yet

Imagine running a business where personalization is everything. Your customers aren’t just buying products; they choose items that reflect their personality, style, and family traditions. That’s exactly the world Lizz Pingry, Marketing Director at Marleylilly, lives in daily.

Marleylilly is a South Carolina-based personalization brand founded and owned by women. They specialize in monogrammed apparel, accessories, jewelry, and home goods—think cozy crewnecks with your initials, beautiful custom jewelry, or even holiday stockings embroidered with your family name. Customers love that extra personal touch, and the team at Marleylilly takes pride in making each product feel special.

But when it comes to running a successful ecommerce business, personalization isn’t just about the products—it’s about understanding the customer, too. We sat down with Lizz to chat about how KnoCommerce played a major role in uncovering what their customers wanted.

Before KnoCommerce, Marleylilly relied on broad, generalized data from platforms like Google and Meta, guessing what would resonate with its audience. Thanks to direct customer feedback, they can make smarter decisions about everything from product development to marketing and customer retention. 

The results? Well, let’s just say the ROI has been clear. According to Lizz, it’s saved them thousands of dollars on products their customers didn’t want—money that has already covered the cost of their entire KnoCommerce investment.

So, how did it all come together? And what happened when Marleylilly started asking their customers the right questions? 

Let’s dive into how Kno helped them take their already-personalized brand experience to a whole new level and why Lizz calls it the most effective marketing spend they’ve ever made.

Why Marleylilly turned to KnoCommerce 

When Lizz and her team at Marleylilly set out to better understand their customers, they knew one thing for sure: their customers loved to share. “We knew our customer loves to engage with us—whether it’s leaving reviews, giving feedback, or just sharing her thoughts,” Lizz explained. “So, we thought, why not capture that right after a purchase?”

That’s when they decided to introduce Kno’s post-purchase surveys. The goal was simple yet impactful: to gather insights directly from customers right after they completed their purchases when they were most engaged.

Lizz and her team were eager to understand their customers’ product preferences. “Since we design everything in-house, real-time, first-party feedback was crucial for product development,” Lizz shared. They were able to uncover what patterns, designs, and products customers were truly excited about—and even discover new ideas for future products.

The best part? The seamless integration of Kno with Marleylilly’s custom-built ecommerce platform. “We’re not on Shopify or BigCommerce, so integration can sometimes be tricky for us. But with Kno, it was easy—no heavy dev lift, and it just worked,” Lizz said.

Combining deeper customer insights and smooth integration with their platform has been a game-changer for Marleylilly. With Kno, they’ve unlocked new levels of personalization that help them serve their customers better every day.

Letting customers drive product development through post-purchase surveys

Marleylilly set up two different surveys—one for new customers and one for returning customers. New customers answered questions about how they found Marleylilly, what they were shopping for, and their overall experience. Returning customers? They got a say in what came next.

“Our product team will test out new patterns or designs by putting them in a survey and asking, ‘Which do you like more?’” Lizz shared. “If one pattern gets a strong response, that’s the one we develop further—maybe it becomes next year’s Christmas pajama set. If a pattern flops, we know to pivot before investing in production.”

That kind of direct customer insight has saved Marleylilly from making costly mistakes. “There have been times when we loved a design, but the survey showed us that our customers didn’t. We were able to pivot before ordering thousands of something that wouldn’t sell.”

Survey data powering smarter marketing – SMS campaign & abandoned cart survey

The value of Kno didn’t stop at product design. Marleylilly also started using survey responses to refine their marketing strategies.

An example is their win-back SMS campaign which targets customers who haven’t purchased in awhile.

“We send a message to lapsed customers asking why they haven’t shopped in a while,” Lizz explained. “If they say it’s because of financial reasons, we automatically send them a discount code. If they mention website issues, we ask for more details. If they say they haven’t seen a product they love, we ask what they’d like us to make. It’s a super targeted approach, and it really works.”

The survey is dynamic adjusting based on responses, which allows Marleylilly to engage with customers in a highly targeted and personalized way. For example, if a customer mentions a specific product they want, such as rain boots, Marleylilly can prioritize that in future product lines. And any customers with pricing concerns, sending a discount code serves as a direct way to alleviate those concerns and drive conversion.

Another game-changer? Their abandoned cart survey.

One of the most common reasons customers give for abandoning their carts is the price of shipping. When a customer selects this option, the survey automatically offers them a free shipping code.

“Giving just that small group of customers free shipping is much more affordable than spending money on social media ads or search ads to acquire new customers,” Lizz shared. “These are customers who have already shown interest by building a cart and engaging with our email and survey.”

For those who abandon their carts for reasons like high cart totals, Marleylilly offers a discount code, further incentivizing the customer to complete their purchase. By strategically offering these discounts based on specific feedback, Marleylilly is able to recover potential lost sales without incurring the higher costs of acquiring entirely new customers.

“It’s a smart, cost-effective way to counter the reasons people leave without checking out, and it also gives us valuable feedback on customer pain points,” Lizz added. 

This not only helps improve conversion rates but also ensures Marleylilly remains connected with their customers by addressing concerns directly and efficiently.

From TV shows to sales surges

Lizz likes to keep things fresh by changing questions in their survey to gather new customer data from Kno’s question bank. One month, she decided to ask, “What’s your favorite TV show?” which definitely sparked curiosity from the rest of the team. 

The timing worked out perfectly. Part one of Bridgerton had just dropped, and part two was coming soon. The survey results showed that Bridgerton was a favorite, so Lizz jumped on it. They ran an email and text campaign themed around the show—not changing up their products, just linking to a flash sale landing page. For the design, they included an animated carriage and used the “Dearest, gentle reader” line, straight from Bridgerton. Check out the email here.

It turned out to be their best-performing email of the month, with the highest conversion rate and total revenue for the summer. In fact, the campaign achieved a 5.0% click-through rate (CTR) and a 1.0% conversion rate (CVR). Lizz said, “This is exactly why we ask about favorite TV shows.”

Not only did it boost sales, but it also helped them understand their customers better and helped the team fine-tune influencer partnerships. “We learned our customers love Real Housewives and Below Deck, so we started working with influencers from those shows. It’s been a great move,” Lizz shared.

By asking the right questions with KnoCommerce, Marleylilly gained real insights that led to a campaign that truly clicked with their audience.

The results: How Marleylilly turns feedback into profit

• Cost Savings: Marleylilly saved thousands by avoiding production of designs customers didn’t want—money that has already covered the cost of their entire KnoCommerce investment.
• Higher ROI: Personalized marketing campaigns, like the SMS win-back strategy, drove higher engagement and sales.
• Improved Conversion: The abandoned cart survey alone increased conversions by addressing customer pain points directly, like high shipping costs.
• Increased Revenue: The Bridgerton-themed campaign became their highest revenue-generating email of the quarter.
• Deeper Customer Connection: Real-time feedback has given Marleylilly a direct line to customer desires, resulting in better product development, marketing, and customer retention.

For Marleylilly, KnoCommerce has been more than just a tool for gathering data—it’s become a key part of their marketing and product strategy, helping them deliver a truly personalized experience across the board. “It’s honestly the most effective marketing spend we could ask for,” Lizz concluded.

Sometimes, all you need to do is ask—and for Marleylilly, asking the right questions has led to smarter decisions, deeper customer connections, and real growth.

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