The Client
Hometown Favorites began in 1996 as a source of hard-to-find sweets and candies for northerners who had been transplanted to warm, sunny Florida. It has since expanded to include over 2000 old-time favorite foods, shipping to all points in the US and beyond. It is a favorite for those who miss their Fun Dip, Skybars, Walnettos, Chocolate Babies, Good and Plenty, Mallo cups and other classic flavors from their childhood.
The Challenge
From Moxie Soda to Moon Pies, Hometown Favorites' collection of hard-to-find candy and sweets bring customers a sense of nostalgia and offer website visitors a trip down memory lane. Hometown Favorites sells these "memories" exclusively online—they do not currently have a brick-and-mortar store.
They partnered with Oneupweb in 2003 for help tackling a two-fold challenge: reach out to prospective customers who are interested in their product, and turn that interest into sales. Through an aggressive natural search engine optimization (SEO) campaign, Hometown Favorites was doing just that.
But in the early 2000's, a new craze took off on the Internet—social media. People began interacting with one another online, connecting with old friends and family, sharing memories and stories and talking about the "good times". Recognizing that this was a perfect place to be, Hometown Favorites started their own Facebook account. But, while they knew that Facebook was where they needed to be to interact with customers and talk about memories of their childhood—they weren't quite sure how to do it.
Their Facebook account had been setup incorrectly and wasn't performing as they'd hoped, and while they were trying to stay ahead of the curve, they needed social media to help them maintain and improve their bottom line. They turned to Oneupweb for a guiding hand.
The Tactics
Oneupweb immediately got to work, creating a Facebook business page for Hometown Favorites as opposed to the personal profile they had setup on their own. A business page is a public profile that allows companies to share their information, products and services with Facebook users. Through this page companies can accrue fans. A personal profile, which is what Hometown Favorites originally setup for themselves, is designed for individuals to interact with each other, and businesses are strictly prohibited from having these (because how can a business be a person?).
The Facebook business page that Oneupweb developed for Hometown Favorites included a custom-designed background, as did the new Twitter account designed and created by Oneupweb. And that’s not all.
Oneupweb provided advice and manpower to help Hometown Favorites update their new social media channels with information their target audience would find interesting. This information was carefully selected to help inspire discussions about the fans' childhood and drive interest in Hometown Favorites' nostalgic candy.
Most importantly, Oneupweb integrated all of Hometown Favorites' digital channels, maintaining brand consistency, further building brand awareness and driving sales by ensuring each marketing channel reinforced the others.
The Results
- Within just one month of Oneupweb taking over the Hometown Favorites Facebook page, the number of brand advocates asking to receive regular news and updates from Hometown Favorites increased 118 percent.
- Five months into the new Facebook campaign, the number of fans reading Hometown Favorites' posts, and often interacting with the company, increased 564 percent.
- Five months into the Twitter campaign, Hometown Favorites had increased their reach 146 percent. They were interacting with their followers daily, discussing nostalgic candy and helping to bring back great memories—exactly the kind of conversation they were looking for.
- During the first month Hometown Favorites' social campaign launched, the amount of conversions brought in through the integrated SEO campaign increased 13 percent. Five months into their social campaign, the amount of conversions brought in through SEO increased 184 percent.
The Takeaway
Your customers and prospects are looking for your products and services online. They're conversing with friends on Facebook, scouring blogs, consulting iPhone apps, using search engines and more. Are you there to greet them?
At Oneupweb, we'll ensure they find you—no matter where or when they're looking. We're relentless when it comes to connecting brands to consumers with digital marketing. It spelled success for Hometown Favorites, and it can for your brand, too. Because everybody's looking for something special, and there's nothing better than finding it.
