Marketing

How Social Media Made a Big Difference for this Small Business

Part I: Background info on organization:

Sunnyway Foods is a landmark local business in Greencastle and Chambersburg, PA. Founded by Aldine and Margaret Martin in 1955, this family-owned and operated grocery store has served the South Central community for over 60 years with a strong focus on quality products and services—especially perishable items. Now in its third generation, Sunnyway Foods is known for its fresh baked goods, produce, local meats, and deli items made fresh and served in-store daily.

In 2016, the owners of Sunnyway Foods came to us for help updating their overall marketing strategy. Since then, we have worked together on a number of projects including branding, web design, mobile app design, video production, and digital marketing strategy. In this case study, we highlight a specific social media campaign that made a significant impact on their engagement and digital connections with their customers.

Part II: The challenge they were facing:

Known for its strong roots in the community and its commitment to providing the best service to its loyal customers, the owners of Sunnyway Foods are always looking for opportunities to deepen these personal connections. As a historic business in the area, Sunnyway has long relied upon traditional marketing (print, mailings, etc.) and would benefit from a campaign targeting an audience who may not be tuned into the traditional means of marketing.

Part III: Our solutions:

Knowing this, we came to them earlier this year with an idea for a multi-month social media campaign called “At the Table with Sunnyway.” This campaign was designed specifically with an online audience in mind and had a tremendous response from their online community. The focus of the campaign was celebrating how food brings people together around the table for more meaningful connections and memories. Sunnyway wants the community to know that they are here to help facilitate those connections throughout the seasons.

“At the Table with Sunnyway” included a series of video vignettes, staged, filmed, and produced by Cross & Crown, highlighting the different ways Sunnyway can provide the food that brings people together. From football games, Thanksgiving dinners, and holiday parties, each video demonstrates how the right food punctuates these moments with the sights and smells that make these times more memorable.

Along with the videos, we ran a series of posts alongside a monthly contest inviting customers to enter and win a $50 gift card from Sunnyway. The process included liking Sunnyway’s social media channels on Facebook and Instagram, sharing the post, and entering to win on a custom landing page we built for this purpose. The names gathered in the contest were then added to Sunnyway’s mailing list for future communications. We also leveraged paid advertising to boost and target specific demographic information and deployed retargeting ads highlighting Sunnyway’s mobile app.

Part IV: The Results:

As of this writing, the campaign that began in September 2019 resulted in over 1,000 new active subscribers and boosted their online engagement by 87 percent. In addition to the social media campaign, the mobile app retargeting ads produced more than 100 new downloads and increased personal connections between Sunnyway and its growing digital audience.

These positive results of this social media strategy demonstrate the effectiveness of layering a combination of marketing tactics to generate leads and new business. Social media amplified the reach of the brand videos beyond general website traffic and attracted more people with the online contest. The paid targeted advertising pushed the reach even further as more people download the app and interact with this brand online. Not to mention additional in-store connections as people spend and share their winnings from the $50 gift card.

Embracing Innovation Without Sacrificing Tradition
We love the legacy of Sunnyway Foods and are proud to support their shop local approach to commerce. It’s always powerful to watch a longstanding brand like Sunnyway leverage the power of traditional and digital marketing channels to broaden their reach and further solidify their presence in the community, both in-person and online.

Are you ready to take your traditional marketing strategy to the next level? Social media campaigns like this one can help your business make a lasting impact in the digital marketplace. Whether you’re interested in a mobile app, a brand video, or need help managing your social media channels, we specialize in embracing innovation without sacrificing tradition. Give us a call and let’s kick-off a new marketing strategy for your business in 2020!