Challenges

Frankford Candy was getting ready to launch its first direct-to-customer ecommerce site. They were also on the verge of launching several new products, designated for checkout aisles in supermarkets and big box stores. However, the key pieces of their digital strategy — social media channels, website, and email marketing — were all underperforming.  

There was a lack of content on its various platforms, low engagement, and minimal calls to action driving traffic from social media to the website. The website itself suffered from low conversion rates. Furthermore, there was no cohesive strategy tying it all together, nor a clear brand voice represented visually or tonally. In short, their digital presence didn’t align with their brand’s legacy, and something needed to shift.  

With the recognition that they needed to make significant changes to their digital marketing approach, Frankford Candy reached out to Weidenhammer for support.   

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Solutions

The first step Hammer Marketing took was to assess the current digital marketing landscape. We recognized that there was no consistent email marketing in place, and there were missed opportunities to engage followers on Frankford’s various marketing channels. We also noticed that their Facebook page had built up a collection of negative comments due to minimal community moderation. We got to work, shifting to a proactive, customer-centric approach, which involved responding to questions, reacting to comments, and forwarding concerns to customer service. This, led the way to a much more positive representation of the Frankford brand. 

We also focused on building engagement across the board through content and giveaways across social media channels. As a leading confectionery, tying into the holidays where candies are highlighted, it made sense to do a 12 days of Christmas giveaway. Each day promoted a different component of the giveaway, and the rules were simple: to enter, one must like Frankford Candy on Facebook and like the mega holiday giveaway post. Extra opportunities to win included commenting on posts and following their Instagram page. It was a simple way to increase followers and engagement, yet incredibly effective, especially to reach the audience segment of true candy lovers.

Another solution Hammer Marketing was able to implement was establishing a brand style, accomplished through strong creative direction in photoshoots and content strategy. The brand slogans and guidelines were carried throughout the website, social media and email marketing templates, which made Frankford Candy immediately recognizable. The consistent brand style allowed us to build up Frankford’s brand equity, which was leveraged for social media advertising, increasing brand awareness, reach, pay-per-clicks, and more with minimal spending.  

An interesting discovery we made along the way was how people interact with the website, thanks to a comprehensive analytic review. We could identify ways to target individual customers by channel, as well as enhance the ecommerce tools on the website to facilitate a seamless experience from beginning to end.  

All of these components together were achieved through a clear, comprehensive digital marketing strategy that considered how each element contributed to the overall success.

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Results

From a numbers standpoint, we were able to demonstrate measurable results: 

• Instagram followers increased by 690% from 1,700 to 13,500
• Instagram engagement increased by 12X YoY
• Facebook followers increased by 81% from 21,000 to 38,000 
• Facebook engagement increased by over 290X YoY 
• TikTok followers jumped from 0 to 2,000 followers over a few months.
• Social traffic to the website jumped bringing 45K additional visitors to the website over 1.5 years 
• Purchases from social media increased from 2% to 8-10%, making social media a leading funnel.  

Across the board, Hammer Marketing was able to help Frankford Candy increase its digital marketing efforts to reach more prospective customers and expand awareness of its brand — exactly what we sought out to do. Frankford Candy also heard from their mass merchant buyers about the increased social media presence, which means our brand awareness efforts are working. And now, Frankford Candy has a roadmap for its continued digital marketing strategy, allowing them to continue what we started together.