The Bazaar is a wholesale distribution company which focuses on selling closeout products from over 900 well-known name brands in various categories. A leader in the wholesale closeout industry, The Bazaar was founded in 1960 with its current headquarters located in River Grove, IL.
The family-run company needed help establishing a presence on search engines as well as reestablishing email protocols to better serve customers with its new ordering system. To do so, it sought out the talented team at VisualFizz to build out these frameworks with the goal of attracting new customers and nurturing current ones, ultimately elevating its business.
In this case study, we’ll share the key points of emphasis in our partnership with The Bazaar and detail the processes which led to the brand’s successful SEO and email campaign launch.
Why SEO and email are crucial for digital success
With a solid SEO framework in place, it simply increases a business’ online visibility. The most recent reports predict over 300 million total online shoppers in the U.S. by 2023, equating to roughly 91% of the country’s population. With a market of this size, it’s no question that a solid online strategy rooted in SEO is smart for any business in order to capitalize on reaching new customers digitally.. With a high level of competition for people’s time in today’s modern society, it’s beneficial to make it as easy as possible for consumers to find you and your business online.
Once customers have found a business, a strong email strategy is always going to be important as it’s a channel for brands to nurture and communicate directly with their current audience. It’s also an opportunity to show some personality behind a company, letting customers know it’s not just a robot sending out messages.
The importance of SEO improvements for this client was necessary to:
- Increase searchability — The Bazaar has a 400,000 square foot warehouse with thousands of excellent products at unbeatable prices. Potential customers must first off know the company exists and then be able to find it through internet searches on any device.
The importance of an email campaign for this client was to:
- Set up user accounts – The Bazaar recently updated its ordering system and needed to convert existing customers to it. Providing an easy-to-navigate digital ordering process is crucial for business in the modern age.
- Drive order placements – Once users created their login with the new ordering system, the next goal was for customers to place an order with The Bazaar. We showcased popular products at special prices in several categories.
Partnership With VisualFizz
We like to work fast with a focused and intentional process. When beginning a working relationship with VisualFizz, our team starts by conducting plenty of research about the client, its processes, marketing channels, customers, competitors and more. Next we present our recommendations of improvements to make in order to achieve the client’s goals. Finally, we dive right in and get to work on all the technical details while the client rests assured that the right steps are being taken. Here are more details of each specific campaign.
SEO Strategy
The overall goal with search engine optimization is to increase opportunities for organic search. Here are a few of the tactics that were used to increase these opportunities.
- An SEO audit inclusive of competitive market research
- Category assistance, site indexing and technical cleanup
- Google tag manager and Google analytics setup
- Google My Business setup assistance and ownership
- Bing and Google web index setup
- Meta and title tags cleanup – Phase 1
- URL Architecture – Phase 1 (Products)
Email Campaign
We created a series of two email drip campaigns targeting specific users to take specific actions. Drip 1 consisted of three total emails introducing the new ordering experience, highlighting its benefits, showcasing product categories and, of course, a CTA of creating a new login. Drip 2 consisted of three emails but was split into two segments: customers who responded to the first campaign, and those who did now. Responders were thanked for creating a login and then prompted to place orders, while the other group continued to receive a CTA for creating an account. Here are some of the tactics implemented to drive positive email engagement.
- Wrote targeted copy and used effective imagery to resonate with users
- Tested subject lines and calls-to-action to measure highest impact
- Simplify order experience once customers created account login
- Shared deals and discounts that are time-sensitive to create urgency
Overall Results
SEO Strategy
To measure the impact of the SEO campaign, we compared four weeks after implementation of VisualFizz recommendations to the previous four weeks before implementation.
- The number of total users on the site increased by almost 18% and new users went up over 16%.
- Session length and pages per session were likely impacted by email campaigns with a call out to engage with the signup page compared to users who visit the website through direct or organic channels.
- Desktop users increased over 3% while mobile users increased 56%. There was also a substantial increase in table users of over 214%.
- Desktop sessions increased by 2%, mobile over 34% and tablet sessions over 215%.
- Increased overall keyword ranking for the site on top search engines.
Email Campaign
Drip 1
- The first email campaign generated a 22.35% average open rate along with a 3.5% average click rate.
Over 35 total logins were created directly as a result of the email campaign. Orders were placed resulting in over $16k in revenue with a substantially larger LTV (Life Time Value) for the email.
Drip 2
- The second campaign generated an 18.1% average open rate along with a 3.07% average click rate with seven total unsubscribes.
Drip 2 – Segment 2
- 52.8% average open rate
18.5% average click rate
These results clearly show that this dual SEO and email campaign was a massive success for The Bazaar. The company can now continue conducting business confidently knowing that it is optimized for new customers to find it when searching organically, and that its current customers are able to convert to the new ordering system to easily purchase products. The exposure and sales go hand in hand, which The Bazaar executives were thrilled about.
In the ever-evolving state of digital marketing, it’s key to stay up-to-date on best practices so business doesn’t fall behind. The VisualFizz team was happy to take on this project and help a family-run company ensure it continues to have a bright future.
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Interested in elevating your company’s SEO strategy and email campaigns? Don’t hesitate to reach out–contact VisualFizz for a consultation today. We’re excited to chat about how we can help your business achieve its goals!
