Creating a Modern, Thriving Direct to Consumer Manuka Honey Brand
Bees & Trees has an amazing product - small-batch, hive-to-jar New Zealand Manuka honey.
Never heard of Manuka honey? It's an amazing gift from nature that can support your immune system, encourage digestive health, and be used topically to treat acne, wounds, and even ear infections!
When we first met the Bees & Trees team, they were totally reliant on in-store/retail sales with few online customers. With an outdated website and little to no digital marketing strategy in place, they hired us to transform their web presence and grow their online revenue.
When we first approached Bees & Trees, we were familiar with their INCREDIBLE product and felt that their web presence did not do them enough justice.
We set out to create an educational direct-to-consumer brand presence that embodied the creativity, values, and special process that goes into creating this special honey.
Our goals included:
1. Re-vamping their Website to Better Showcase their Product and Knowledge
2. Establishing Customer Acquisition Channels via Media Buying and SEO
3. Create Community and Retain Customers via Email Marketing, Blog Content, and Organic Social Media
The first step in transforming Bees and Trees’s online business was to create an educational, modern, and easy-to-use website with the consumer in mind.
Once we had a great website product that we knew would nurture and convert potential and current customers, we set out to establish customer acquisition channels via Facebook ads and SEO practices.
Finally, social media, blog content, and email marketing strategies were implemented to increase the longevity and engagement-level of customer relationships.
In the before and after photos below, you can see how we used UX/UI design and interesting graphics to create thorough the new content for the consumer.
In our design efforts, we are intentionally teaching the consumer about every aspect of the product and how it is made/where it comes from, and how to differentiate Bees & Trees’s products from similar or fakers in the market. Most importantly, we are then obsessed with teaching our customer base how to incorporate the product into their daily lives. This is meant to educate and convert new customers and to help retain them over time.
We leverage Bees & Trees’s social media platforms to continue to educate and nurture customers.
Content topics include but are not limited to: education about Manuka honey and its health applications, information about bees and their hives, live pictures and videos from the company’s hives, reviews, and more.
We create unique content to illustrate and educate consumers on the many health benefits of Manuka honey.
Fun graphics and content help us engage consumers on the importance of and facts about bees and their colonies/hives.
Sharing customer experiences on social media helps to educate and convert potential customers and to reaffirm loyalty amongst current followers.
We love sharing content from the Bees & Trees fields in New Zealand! Using social media to showcase process is a great way to increase customer engagement.
We have had great success growing Bees & Trees online sales mostly through scaling via social media advertising.
In general, we employ two types of ads, advertisements that introduce people to Manuka honey and the Bees & Trees product in general, and those that highlight specific needs/use cases that the product can fill for certain audiences.
In an ad like this, we are able to showcase the unique process of making this product and explain its general benefits.
Ads like this allow us to engage people with more specific interests – in this case, “gut health.”
By implementing strong email automation and campaign flows, Bees & Trees’s email marketing strategy went from non-existent to accounting for 30% of their monthly revenue.
Email is a fantastic way to convert prospective customers who have opted into their email list, to continue to educate customers, and to drive additional sales and subscriptions.
We worked with Bees and Trees to create email flows based on customer behavior to increase engagement and conversions. This includes customer win-back series, abandoned cart and browsing flows, cross-sells, review series, and more.
In our ongoing campaign emails, we work to encourage sales amongst and educate current customers. Much like on social media, we take these campaigns as an opportunity to teach our audience more about the company, bees and Manuka honey, and more to create more loyalty.
At SeedX, we are huge believers in content-focused Search Engine Optimization practices. In-depth content based on frequently searched short and long-tail keywords helps to drive targeted interest to websites and educate individuals to become customers. It is also effective in continuing to nurture current customers.
With Bees & Trees, we have increased website traffic and conversions significantly through the development of in-depth content articles, like the one pictured below. This allows us to attract customers with different needs. We then measure how much revenue each article brings in per month as a way to gauge success.
We love our furry friends, and we always want the best for them! We buy them the best food, keep them groomed, and take them out to socialize. No wonder we call them fur babies! We do this so that they experience the happiness and love they bring us everyday. If you’re like us, you’ll do anything to ensure a long, loving and healthy life for your pets. So, did you know that pets can experience all of the amazing natural benefits that Manuka honey has to offer?
The buzz around Manuka honey is no joke! We’ve covered many of Manuka’s incredible benefits, from improving skin conditions, bolstering gut health, and boosting the immune system. Likewise, Manuka contains tons of “anti” properties – with major potency in antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial functions.
These awesome benefits can all be extended to the pets and animals we love, helping to improve their overall health with incredible results! So let’s take a look at everything Manuka honey has to offer animals – and why you should consider keeping an extra jar in the cupboard for your furry friends!
