Grüns’ superfood gummies promise to streamline health into a bite-sized, fruit-snack experience. But the real magic isn’t just in the product—it’s in how they get it in front of the right people. That’s where Northbeam comes in.
We sat down with Claire Yi, VP of Growth at Grüns, to break down how a health & wellness brand in its infancy has already become one of the most exciting DTC players in the space, thanks to a potent mix of aggressive channel testing, a creative-first marketing ethos, and a data backbone that gives them clarity amid the noise.
Northbeam gave Grüns enough integrity and confidence in their data to 22x their spend, which resulted in 40x total revenue. Here’s how they did it.
A Platform Worth Waking Up To
The decision to integrate Northbeam wasn’t a lengthy deliberation for Grüns.
“Our CEO, Chad, was already plugged into a network of DTC founders who swore by Northbeam,” Yi explains. “So, we were early adopters by default.”
The result? Northbeam quickly became the company’s gospel. “I check in every day,” Yi says. “Our CFO checks in. Our CEO checks in. It’s the first look of the day for all of us.”
Moving at the Speed of Growth
Startups live and die by speed, and Grüns is no exception. With the brand not even two years old, Yi’s team needs to pivot on a dime.
“We’re constantly testing new channels,” Yi says. “I rely on Northbeam very heavily every single day. The most useful part of it is just specific metrics like percent new visits by channel, new customer acquisition costs and others. Having that really helps me know if a new channel that we test into is actually bringing in incremental new users to our site.”
That word—incremental—is a big one at Grüns. It’s not enough to get a new customer; they have to be truly new. And that’s where Northbeam shines.
The Obsession With nCAC
If there’s one number that runs the show at Grüns, it’s new customer acquisition cost (nCAC).
“Our entire model is built around it,” Yi says. “We look at nCAC across all our channels—Meta, YouTube, and more —and it helps us benchmark against our holistic goal.”
Northbeam’s ability to separate actual first-time customers from returning buyers or cross-sales means that Grüns isn’t throwing money at inflated metrics. “We don’t trust platform data alone,” Yi adds. Relying on platform data is like letting a chef be the food critic for their own restaurant. It’s almost like being able to have an “Ads Manager” view of all platforms in one view, but without each channel overattributing their conversions across all your orders.
Grüns saw the cost incurred to acquire net new customers decrease by over 14% after implementing Northbeam
Creative is King—And Northbeam is the Court
Grüns isn’t just a performance brand; it’s a creative-driven performance brand. With a heavy emphasis on visuals and storytelling, they need to know immediately which ads are working and which ones need to be optimized.
“We don’t just optimize at the campaign level—we optimize at the creative level,” Yi explains. “Which ad, which visual, which CTA is truly working? Northbeam tells us. We don’t even look at platform data for this anymore.”
And with that kind of granular view into what is truly working, Northbeam becomes a tool to validate all the others. “I use Shopify with Northbeam because it helps us look at day-of performance very sharply, especially during holiday periods or sale periods” Yi says. “We want to be able to scale back if the day is looking a little off from a conversion rate standpoint.”
This ability to instantly separate high-performing creative campaigns from flops means that Grüns can pour budget into winners before a campaign fizzles, maximizing returns with ruthless efficiency.
Expanding the Channel Playbook
In an ever-evolving digital landscape, staying agile is non-negotiable. Grün leverages Northbeam to explore emerging platforms with precision and confidence.
"We've seen exciting new customer growth opportunities by expanding into platforms we had not previously tried," Yi notes. "The ability to quickly test and optimize creatives for new audiences has made a huge impact."
Northbeam’s data-driven insights ensure that every new channel test is informed, measured, and refined—giving Grün the confidence to invest wisely and grow strategically.
More Than Just Numbers—Confidence in the Boardroom
At the end of the day, Northbeam isn’t just a marketing tool—it’s a confidence booster.
“I've been able to use those metrics–nCAC, percent new visits, and more–to explain to stakeholders that a specific channel isn't a priority channel for us right now.” Yi explains. “It also saves us a lot of time in being able to understand at a high level, revenue, new orders, returning orders, marketing spend, and if we're pacing towards our nCAC goals. And it also helps me pull reports really easily to know how much we spent on each channel by month.”
When Grüns needs to decide whether a platform, ad, or creative direction is worth the investment, the answer is already waiting for them. And that’s the real power of Northbeam.
Grüns is building a health & wellness empire with the speed of a tech startup. And in a world where decision fatigue is real and ad dollars vanish into the void faster than you can say "platform algorithm update," Northbeam is their secret weapon for staying sharp, strategic, and relentlessly efficient.
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