Connect Promotions

Case Study Connect Promotions-Digital Marketing Agency

The Brief

Connect Promotions, a leading player in the promotional products industry, asked our digital marketing agency for help. 

They already had a website with an online store which was functional, but the design was dated and needed a modern refresh to adapt it to the dynamically changing e-commerce market. The old website did its job, but it lacked shine. We were happy to help.

The Opportunity

Connect Promotions have been a leading player in Ireland’s promotional products industry since 2004. With offices in both Cork and Dublin, Connect Promotions provides an array of promotional merchandise through its online store. Their extensive range includes branded clothing, premium brand gifts, onboarding kits, swag boxes, event merchandise and eco-friendly products.

From Connect Promotions’ head office in Cork, their expert team help their clients through the promotional product process. From the graphic design stage to delivering the finished promotional product, they offer guidance at every stage.

Connect Promotions already had a website with an online store which was functional but the design needed refreshing. It also needed to be adapted for the dynamically changing e-commerce market. The old website did its job, but it lacked shine.

The Challenge

Designing a new version of the Connect Promotions website and online store first required getting input from their team. We needed to know what they wanted to achieve from the new website and how they wanted it to look. We also had to take into account best practices in the industry, the target customers and the marketing message.

We identified the immediate needs as:
  • A new look for the online store – The new website design needed to stand out visually from competitors.
  • Dual needs – The project needed to meet the needs of both the growing Connect Promotions brand and the needs of its customers. Customers expect online stores to be highly aesthetically pleasing and easy to use.
  • Updated software – Software for e-commerce sites needs to enable faster development that can be immediately adapted for market realities.
  • Responsive Web Design – Customers want to shoppe easily on any device. Responsive Web Design means a website looks well and is easy to use across all devices.
  • Data Transfer – The old website database contained thousands of products that needed to be retained for the new website.

The Approach

We began with a mock-up of the online store to present various options for the client to choose from. Together, we decided on a wide store with two columns with a clear division into product sections and a sidebar. We put three products in one line, which, with this application, allowed us to present customers with large photos. They could also access a wide range of additional information about each product as they browsed the product categories.

The graphic design of the online store was developed and presented for customer evaluation next. This took around 7 days from completion of the mock-up stage. As we had already agreed on construction and placement of individual elements the focus was colours and typography. A step which significantly sped up the process of designing the store’s graphics.

The Connect Promotions store already had well-developed and recognisable branding in the form of a logo and colour palette. Additionally, we used several new bright colours such as the accent and grey for the store’s structural elements. The store’s working space itself needed to display large, high-quality photos of products in the foreground and customer content. We designed this on a white background, with a minimum number of borders. The final result delighted both the client and us. We implemented a creative and colourful website while still making it easy for the customer to navigate and shop.

The new Connect Promotions store was launched on the server, with a temporary domain address known only to the customer. We transferred the existing store data to the new store, then we gave the client access to review.

All the required elements were configured, as set out in the client brief, such as adding contact forms. We also added a request-a-quote functionality and an advanced search engine.

With the client’s approval it was time to connect the new site to the existing domain. An SSL certificate was generated and connected and redirections from the existing store URLs to the new URLs were implemented. This procedure is aimed at preserving the earned search result positions on popular search engines.

Results

The Connect Promotions team are very pleased with their new website. The new store is also appreciated by its customers who can find products easily on all devices. A fact reflected in the increase in enquiries and higher conversion rate.

Connect Promotions Owner Bob Gee, says he is “very pleased with both the results achieved and the supportive working relationship we have in place”.

Now that the work on the online store is complete, we continue to provide the client with ongoing technical support. Both for the entire store and digital advertising.

After launching the new-look online store, Connect Promotions experienced:
  • An increase in quote requests, up 143% Year on Year
  • A quote request conversion rate improved 174% Year on Year
  • Average session duration up 56.24%
  • A bounce rate that has improved by 13.55%
  • An increase in all goal completions, up 220%
  • Overall website conversions rate increased, up 260%
  • Organic traffic is up 33.16%
  • An increase in goal conversions from Paid Ads, up 112%

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About Author

Declan Clancy

Declan Clancy

Declan Clancy is an enthusiastic, results oriented and creative Digital Marketer with over 10 years hands on experience across digital channels. In his last role as Group Digital Marketing Manager for Trigon Hotels, Declan was responsible for the ecommerce strategy and implementation for their 3 hotels. While at Trigon Hotels, Declan won Best use of Twitter for a Large Business at the Cork Digital Marketing Awards for his work for Cork International Hotel. Declan holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Marketing from the Digital Marketing Institute and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from University College Cork.

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