Success Story – Lilac Hedge Farm
Testimonial From: Ryan MacKay, Owner
Business Name: Lilac Hedge Farm
Website: https://lilachedgefarm.com
What are some key differences in how you approach marketing your business now compared to before we started working together?
I think it would be hard to list everything that has been improved after working with Chad.
Our entire marketing plan has done a complete 180 in the last 6 months. We were fortunate to get started working with Chad right before the start of COVID, and it was honestly a godsend to have his changes implemented as our business was going through such a massive shift.
The Drip email marketing integration he incorporated into our business has been absolutely huge. This has allowed us to send out key email information systematically to new customers, and onboard them so they continue to buy regularly. He also walked us through taking a better look at how our website was set up and improved the visitors’ experience.
I think one of the biggest takeaways from this long term for us will be how we incorporate seasonal special product launches. The first one Chad helped us launch was so eye-opening from the aspect of enticing purchases based on how the launch is offered.
I would say all of our online sales and marketing is more efficient and strategic.
Lastly, I’m thankful we have now gotten in the habit of a weekly newsletter. Although I typically dread writing them, I have completely seen the effect it has on giving our customers a sense of community through our farm and sales have directly correlated with this.
What has been the impact on your business? Any particular metrics that you’re really excited about (revenue, time to 1st purchase, repeat buyer rate, average order value, etc.)?
Because of COVID it’s hard to measure the success of what we implemented with Chad because our home delivery service exploded at the same time we started working with him. I think the true payoff that is being realized is how we have been able to retain all of these new customers even as COVID subsides some.
I truly feel we would not have half our new regular weekly customers if it wasn’t for the systems Chad has implemented. I get so many compliments on our new automated emails from new customers, and how they feel so incorporated into the farm.
Pre-COVID we were doing around 30 home deliveries a week. We had set a goal to do $100,000 in-home delivery sales for 2020, we have already exceeded 1.5 million in-home deliveries in the first 8 months. When COVID hit hard from March – May we were up to 1,000 deliveries a week. Now that things have mellowed out we are still maintaining 300-500 deliveries a week, which can directly be attributed to weekly newsletters and customer onboarding in my opinion.
Was there a specific strategy or two that we executed that made a tremendous difference either quickly, or over time?
The special product launch and weekly email have been two things I think that have made a tremendous difference in our product sales, and will continue to do so.
How has the engagement with your email audience changed?
Our engagement with our email audience has completely changed now. It is basically a full time job responding to email inquiries, or reading customers comments or feedback from our weekly newsletter.
I feel like between the newsletter and the automated emails we have set up customers now feel like they are a member of a community, as compared to me talking at them only trying to sell them a product.
Has the value you received as a result of the project been worth the investment of time and money?
I would confidently say that the return on investment in the project was 100% worthwhile (in only the first 4 months!).
What skills have been improved upon or learned during our time together (copywriting, executing promotions, product development, etc.)?
All of the above.
I believe I feel much more comfortable with DRIP, and now know the basics of email broadcasts and workflows. I also learned a lot through our special product launch in regards to setting the anticipation, using creative images, and we are even starting to do some video!
Most of these skills were not on my priority list before working on this. Lastly, we are now making a conscious effort to use our “stories” on Facebook and Instagram every day.
Has your thinking about the role of email changed? If so, can you describe?
Yes, I am a much more firm believer in the role of email marketing now. I have seen the difference. After so many years of feeling bogged down by constant contact, I can truly see the change in customer responses once you start “warming up” the customer and maintain a meaningful routine relationship with them through email marketing.
What was it like to work with me?
Chad was exactly the time of person we needed to help us implement this project. He was extremely organized, timely, and thorough.
Although it was painful to be trying to implement this project during such a huge boom in our business, we realized it was something we had to do for a greater payout in the long run.
I really appreciated how Chad pushed us to keep moving forward, set deadlines and was always able to help guide us in the right direction. His structure was just what we needed to actually implement this project during such imperative timing.