In a world where pickle jars were gathering dust on grocery store shelves, two entrepreneurs asked: “What if pickles could break the internet?” Cofounders Leah Marcus and Yasaman Bakhtiar saw an opportunity to shake up a sleepy category and launched their brand, Good Girl Snacks.
Together, they are transforming ordinary pickles into viral sensations through careful pre-launch research, strategic product development, and innovative marketing—all without spending a dollar on paid advertising.
After a little over nine months in business, the brand has hit numerous milestones: it generated a pickle-obsessed cult following of almost 100,000 followers on social media, received organic promotion from influencers like Alix Earle, and most recently, launched on shelves at Erewhon, an upscale grocery store chain based in California.
Ahead, discover the strategy that helped Leah and Yasaman launch products that resonated with customers from day one.
Researching and networking strategically
Before investing in production, the pair took a data-driven approach to validate their concept. They partnered with a friend’s Gen Z–focused survey company to understand their target market’s preferences, from pickle sizes to flavor profiles. This research proved invaluable when making critical product decisions later.
The cofounders recognized the importance of industry experts, and set out to find more. “One thing we always tell people, whether you’re starting a business or you just have the idea and you don’t really know where to start, is to cold outreach people in the industry through LinkedIn or get connected with people in the industry through other people that you know,” Leah says.
The outreach Leah and Yasaman did before launch was both strategic and personal. Rather than sending generic connection requests, they crafted compelling subject lines like “hot girls eat pickles” and always researched potential connections to find common ground. Through this research process they were able to find two consultants on LinkedIn to connect with—one of whom had an extensive background as a food scientist.
“We handed over our recipes, if you can even call them that, and she basically perfected them, and after about maybe three or four rounds of samples, we decided to launch,” Yasaman says.
Leah suggests finding common threads with the person you’re hoping to connect with to reach them on a personal level. When reaching out to University of Southern California alumni, for example, they highlighted their shared alma mater. “Every time it’s someone from USC, we’re obviously more likely to open it,” Leah notes.
Incorporating your identity into product development
People want to buy from brands that infuse personal stories and real-life experiences into their products. Those personal anecdotes and cultural traditions can be one of the most powerful market differentiators. The Good Girl Snacks duo drew inspiration from their Middle Eastern heritage, incorporating turmeric into their original dill flavor, and creating a honey harissa pickle that offered a unique twist on the trending hot honey flavor. They grew up loving these flavors, so it only felt right to share them in their products, and become some of the first of their kind.
The cofounders’ videos explaining their background, and the label graphics representing the inspiration behind the flavor profiles attracted many followers and customers early on. People could connect with the story and the intentionality behind the flavors before even trying the product.
To achieve this successfully, Yasaman advises balancing innovation with accessibility. “It’s a fine line between creating a brand that’s very authentic to you and at the same time thinking of your consumers and who you’re selling the product to. … Sometimes it’s about meeting them halfway by injecting your own flavors and heritage into a product that they’re familiar with,” she says.
Responding quickly to early feedback
Leah and Yasaman built customer feedback into their development process from the beginning and throughout the soft launch period. They gathered input through email surveys, social media polls, and direct messages to anyone who had tried their product. This comprehensive feedback led them to switch from larger pickles to smaller gherkins, creating a product with “more pickles in a jar, smaller, crunchier, and saltier,” Leah says.
Their willingness to iterate based on input helped them develop a product that better met market demands when they officially launched.
Posting daily to social media
Perhaps most impressively, Good Girl Snacks built significant buzz before launch through a consistent social media presence. The team committed to posting daily on TikTok and Instagram Reels, sharing their entrepreneurial journey transparently. When faced with production delays or challenges, they turned these moments into content—building authenticity and connection with their audience.
Their influencer strategy was equally thoughtful. Rather than paying for endorsements, they identified creators who were already pickle enthusiasts and gifted them free products. “We had Alix Earle, Hallie Batchelder, Kit Keenan, and a bunch of other creators post us, which has been one of the biggest highlights of 2024 for us. It’s created a lot of buzz and allowed for a lot of sales, while still maintaining a zero-dollar [customer acquisition cost], because we just gift, we don’t pay anybody,” Leah says.
This approach to organic marketing and focusing on authenticity, consistency, and strategic relationship building allowed Good Girl Snacks to build a following without a large budget.
Leah has implemented a new strategy for the year that includes taking breaks from posting on social media every Friday. This change comes at a pivotal time where she’s focusing more of her energy into in-person and digital collaborations with other brands and businesses. In order to avoid burning out from the consistent posting schedule, she alters it to better suit her needs and still support the brand’s overall growth.
Catch the full interview on the Shopify Masters podcast and discover how Leah and Yasaman are strategizing new marketing efforts and overcoming the viral “cucumber gate.”
