7 Hidden Growth Levers $100M/yr Brands Secretly Use

Hey it’s Max from The Inbox Newsletter.

Let’s pull back the curtain on how the $100M+/yr CPG giants really scale.

Here are 7 low-key tactics they consistently use that smaller brands ignore 👇

Key Takeaways:

• High-performing brands obsess over their first-touch offer and test relentlessly.

• Subscriptions with guaranteed rebills instantly elevate LTV

• High-converting quiz pop-ups warm the lead before the email capture.

• A surprise $2 gift can be more powerful than a $20 discount.

• Use founder plain text emails

Look at how brands like Grüns, Instant Hydration, AG1, and Every Day Dose quietly scaled to $100M+.

They scale because they’ve mastered the boring stuff, the backend systems most brands ignore.

These 7 strategies below are simple but wildly effective.

And most importantly, they’re repeatable.

Here’s how they do it 👇

1. Front-End Offers That Obsess Over CAC

These brands don’t just toss out a 10% discount and call it a day.

They obsessively test offers like: “40% OFF + Free Gift when you subscribe”

Even the tiniest tweak, like offering a mystery gift instead of a named one, can increase conversions by 10-20% getting you 10-20% better retunr on adds.

They treat offer testing like CRO and land with a banger offer that converts cold traffic.

Look At Everyday Dose below… their offer is 61% OFF and 5 FREE gifts. Wild.

2. Subscriptions With Built-In Rebill

All these brands are built on subscription. Subscription brands are great because you can get higher LTV, but the problem is the rate at which people cancel.

Many people will subscribe to the product to claim the crazy offer then cancel right away.

Here’s their secret: these brands require another rebill to hit 30 days after the initial order (guaranteeing two purchases before churn kicks in).

This alone drastically increases LTV and gives them room to eat a higher CAC on the front-end.

Everyday Dose below you can see the second rebill is $36.

So instead of the AOV being $25 it is $25 + $36 (second month rebill) = $61

3. Quiz-Based Pop-Ups That Actually Convert

These brands reallyyyyy focus on their email list growth

They use VERY strong pop-ups to grow their email / sms lists.

Often promoting the same front-end offer instead of adding new ones (people still sign up at a high rate).

Most use quiz-based pop-ups that first ask a question before requesting an email, creating engagement before conversion.

These convert at a much higher rate.

4. Listicles > Product Pages for Cold Traffic

Instead of sending cold clicks straight to PDPs, they warm them up with educational-style landing pages or listicles.

“5 Reasons Why XYZ Works for Sensitive Skin” with subtle CTAs baked in.

This builds trust before the pitch.

And often the pages will match whatever the ad talked about that the person clicked creating congruency.

5. Free Gift Surprises Post-Rebill

Here’s a retention hack: surprise & delight.

They send a low-cost bonus gift on the first rebill and during high-churn months.

Messaging like: “Stay subscribed and your next order comes with a surprise gift 🎁”

It’s simple. But it works. A $2 cost to retain a $50mo subscriber is worth it.

6. Aggressive Post-Opt-In Email/SMS Sends

Once someone opts in, they go hard.

You might be nervous about sending daily emails or twice-daily texts. They aren’t.

New subs are the warmest they will ever be don’t let them slip away.

You paid to get them there, might as well monetize them immediately while intent is high.

7. Plain-Text “From the Founder” Emails

Fancy design is cool but what makes you stand out is reaching out from the founder.

An occasional plain-text email from the founder. Like…

“Hey, it’s [Name]. Just wanted to check in…”

These feel personal and in 2025 feeling personal is the new “standing out.”

They just work, and it’s why the top brands are utilizing these emails.

These are what smart operators are doing every day to scale predictably and profitably.

The good news is you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, you just need to install the systems that work.

This is exactly what we do at my agency Well Copy.

We’ll build the email and sms retention systems for you… tested offers, dialed flows, optimized pop-ups, retention scaling.

If you’re interested, book a call here » 

Email Inspiration Of The Day

Brand:
Every Day Dose

Email Design:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12FAWG-TTAoPHNvts-ON5aS5tHVst-PVG/view?usp=sharing

Notes:
One subtle thing about this email that makes it stand out… can you find it?

The image of the founder at the bottom makes it so much more personal. Love this addition.

Template of The Day

If you want access to a bank of 134 mix and match templates like this equating to over 5,000+ possible email designs, click here » 

Reply to this email if you have any questions or further content you want covered.

Cheers,

Max | Well Copy Email & SMS Marketing

PS - If you run a 7-9 figure ecommerce brand and you want to have a free email strategy consultation, book a call here » 

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