Introduction
You’ve heard about Edinburgh’s rich history: but have you tasted it? We’ve been working with Edinburgh-based brand Smugglers Spirits over the past 9 months, using a mix of social media, email marketing campaigns and events to help spread the word and spill the gin.
About The Client: Smugglers Spirits
Local drinks brand Smugglers Spirits are inspired by Edinburgh’s intriguing smuggling past. Their sustainably-made spirits combine locally-grown ingredients to create flavoured gin and vodka. Everyone who tastes them, raves about them!
Their multi award-winning spirits are available in bars in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Now, their goal is to spread the word to a wider audience, and increase online sales.
Enter MB Media. We teamed up with Smugglers to lend a helping hand with exciting activations and creative email campaigns, plus giving their social media a refresh.
The Assignment ...
… to build a bespoke social media and marketing strategy for Smugglers Spirits with the aims of:
- Increasing reach;
- Generating impressions;
- Gaining followers;
and ultimately, boosting online sales.
A plan to Double Sales & quadruple brand reach
Our team joined up with the guys at Smugglers Spirits. We took the reins on the marketing side, in order to free up their time for the ever-increasing day-to-day demands of running a small spirits business!
Priority no.1 was creating some new content for their socials. We took the spirits on a Scottish road trip, shooting content along the way that reflected the local, sustainable values of the brand, whilst also drawing attention to the liquid and stunning label design.
Once sleek new content was going up on the grid, we activated Instagram shop to maximise online sales opportunities.
Local activations also formed a key part of our marketing strategy for Smugglers Spirits. At Christmas time, we took to the streets of Edinburgh, armed with the gripping brand story plus samples of their popular Gin Bauble gift sets to share with locals. Understandably, this gave sales a welcome boost!
Spring brought a dynamic tasting event in collaboration with local bar: The Black Grape. The sophisticated vibes match up perfectly with Smugglers’ products, providing the perfect opportunity for influencer marketing! Our carefully selected guest list of relevant influencers ensured the event generated an impressive amount of local awareness for the brand.
An exclusive Valentines Day menu with Edinburgh bar, Cask also got people talking about and gifting Smugglers Spirits.
Off socials, we were keen for Smugglers Spirits to experience the benefits of email marketing. One of the key things that sets MB Media apart from other Edinburgh digital marketing agencies is our ability to adapt to each brand’s existing online infrastructure.
For example, over the years Smugglers Spirits has collected a strong base of customer contact details with their Shopify website. So, through introducing email marketing for Shopify, we shared key messages, campaigns and brand updates with their engaged audience.
Targeting previous customers and website visitors with email marketing campaigns maximises email opens and click through rates. Syncing emails up with activations and social media campaigns keeps content relevant.
Smugglers Spirits have now established a stronger relationship with their customers.
3 Benefits of Email Marketing for Small Businesses
How to effectively implement email campaigns as part of your marketing strategy like Smugglers Spirits.
- Targeting customers who have already purchased your product or visited your website ensures your email marketing reaches the right people. And by the right people, we mean your target audience.
- If your sender list is already intrigued by your brand, congratulations! That email won’t end up in the bin. Keep it relevant, and potential customers will open it, read it, and hopefully even take action and buy what your small business is selling!
- With email marketing for Shopify and other ecommerce websites, small businesses can personalise email content using data. Personalised email campaigns build trust and ensure that customers feel connected to your brand.
campaign results
As a results-driven digital marketing agency, we keep track of key performance metrics throughout each of our campaigns.
Since MB Media took the reins of Smugglers Spirits social media, impressions have increased almost 4-fold compared to the previous period. Daily reach is up over 500% and clicks through to the website have also reached an all-time high!
Thanks to increased awareness of the brand both on and off social media, sales of Smugglers Gin and Vodka have almost doubled over a 9 month period.
The sky is the limit for Smugglers Spirits!
conclusion & testimonial
“It’s good to work with an agency that’s so invested… as invested as you are in your brand.” – Smugglers Spirits.
Smugglers Spirits’ head of marketing discusses their collaboration with MB Media:
If you’d like access to MB Media’s next level marketing support for your emerging brand:
If this article has whetted your appetite, you can purchase your own delicious bottle of Smugglers Spirits right here on their website!
