The Brief
The Chocolate Factory Gosford, a haven for delectable treats housing renowned Australian confectioners Nougat Limar, Bon Bon Fine Chocolate, and The Sydney Marshmallow Co., faced a visibility problem. Despite housing a treasure trove of sweet delights, potential customers struggled to discover their physical location, leading to subpar in-store sales. Additionally, online sales were minimal, social media needed more direction, and an extensive email list remained untapped. Their goal? To attract a wider audience in-store, establish a solid online presence and boost sales across the entire business.
Missing Link Social Media was brought in to craft a strategic plan to satisfy their sweet tooth for success.
The Approach
MLSM has been implementing a multi-channel marketing strategy for 2 years now, focusing on brand awareness and conversions both in-store and online. This included:
- Strategic Marketing Management: Initial development of a marketing plan focussed on the lowest hanging fruit, leveraging social media content, paid ads, an untapped email database and website optimisations. Ongoing, we continue to analyse the performance of these channels and optimise them to ensure all marketing efforts align and achieve our overall business goals. With a big focus on social media engagement and growth, website traffic and monthly in store revenue performance.
- Social Media Advertising: Targeted campaigns were launched on platforms like Facebook and Instagram to reach a range of local, Sydney and Newcastle audiences. We profiled the ‘colder audiences’ as people of all ages who are chocolate lovers, families, and visitors to the Central Coast. We also continue to nurture their warmer audiences including website traffic, databases and social media followers.
- E-Commerce Strategy: A robust e-commerce campaign was developed, making it easier for customers to purchase their favourite treats online.
- Social Media Content Creation: Engaging and visually appealing content was created for their social media channels, showcasing their products, factory tours, workshops, and the overall chocolate-making experience.
- Email Marketing: The dormant email list of 10K+ subscribers was revived with targeted email campaigns promoting new products, special offers, and events.
The Results
The meticulously crafted digital marketing strategy yielded delicious results:
- Sweet Revenue Growth: In just one year, a remarkable 30% increase in in-store revenue was achieved, demonstrating the effectiveness of the overall strategy.
- E-commerce Takes Off: Online sales tripled, with customers across Australia embracing the convenience of online shopping.
- Social Media Boom: The brand’s social media following across Facebook and Instagram skyrocketed by 3,400 followers, indicating a significant increase in brand awareness and engagement.
- Expanded Reach: Over 90,000 people were reached monthly on Facebook and Instagram, extending the brand’s reach beyond the Central Coast.
- Meta Magic: The total combined unique reach across Meta platforms reached an impressive 991,000, showcasing the power of targeted advertising.
- Workshop & Tour Success: Record sales were achieved in both workshop bookings and factory tours, highlighting the effectiveness of digital marketing in promoting these experiences.
