Backtrack: 2 years ago this client approached us and wanted to add an eCommerce component to their existing brick and mortar business. They had no web site, no web presence, and no ERP/CRM integration.
About the Client
This client had a pretty successful brick and mortar store focusing on higher end women’s fashion and apparel. They specialized in dresses, shoes and seasonal outfits. Even though they were a relatively new business (<3 years at their brick and mortar location) they were doing well but they were missing out on an eComm revenue stream.
Objectives
Crowley Media Group was approached to first build out a fully functioning online version of their existing business. Complete with inventory management, accounting software, shipping, etc. Essentially a brand new business. But we knew they could take this even further. Our first 3 objectives were to:
- Build a fully functional eCommerce platform with all the necessary retail integrations.
- Rank their local brick and mortar in the Google Maps 3 Pack (Local SEO).
- Build out their blog and drive national traffic. It’s the internet right? You can be EVERYWHERE at once.
Key Challenges
Fashion is very competitive and having zero current web presence was definitely the biggest consideration in our strategy and execution. At the same time, we didn’t have to undo any previous mistakes, spammy links or bad user interface / user experience (UI/UX).
Building the Website from Scratch
There wasn’t much available with regards to branding. Colors, fonts, tonality was ultimately up to us; but we understood the assignment, this wasn’t your local Target stores seasonal section.
Building out the Brand and Establishing an Online Presence
Ranking them locally and on the Google Map 3-pack was the easy part. Trying to get them more national attention (which is still a constant work in progress) is the challenge.
What we did
Fundamentals
- Incorporated an ERP/CRM: First step after the website build was to add all the integrations necessary to automate the online sales. Inventory management, shipping, sales funnel tracking, retargeting campaigns, etc. This helped automate routine tasks and allow us to track our customers habits.
- Build out Local Presence: Dozens of social signals, local directory listings and hyper-targeted PR outreach. This got us on the map.
- Create Content and Build Backlinks: Content and backlinks are the key ingredients in ranking nationally and expanding outside of the ~5 mile Google Maps local radius.
- Cart Abandonment & Recovery: We set up a simple retargeting sequence to retarget those that abandoned their cart. This is completely automated and costs the client nothing in time or effort.
Results
Within ONE YEAR we went from ZERO ONLINE PRESENCE AND ZERO REVENUE TO ~$100k+ IN ADDITIONAL SALES (this isn’t counting their regular retail sales).
Between YEAR ONE TO YEAR TWO, we 2x’d REVENUE.
Excited for year 3. 23 months and still going strong.
CONCLUSION
Turning a local campaign into a national campaign is tough, but never impossible.
Never be scared of the big box or designer stores; instead, focus on the fundamentals and keep executing.
We do realize this isn’t a life changing amount of revenue for a medium to large sized business; but for a solo-preneur with less than 2 employees, an EXTRA $200k in additional revenue is HUGE. We’re beyond excited for the next fiscal year.
It’s also worth mentioning that the cart abandonment and retargeting alone paid for most of their local marketing investment.
