Client:  Weschenfelder Direct Ltd

Website:  www.weschenfelder.co.uk

Services: Strategy, Analytics, Ecommerce site, Pay Per Click advertising, Search Engine Optimisation, Email Newsletter

Background:

Weschenfelder, a Middlesbrough-based company, provide sausage-making equipment, casings and seasonings, as well as advice, to home and professional users worldwide. Weschenfelder has been working with Forrest Digital for over 12 years and was one of Forrest Digital’s first clients.

The issue:

Weschenfelder were not happy with their previous digital provider and when they explained to us that they were keen to move the website forward and export to new countries we were more than happy to help. Twelve years later, we have an incredibly strong partnership, and Weschenfelder have grown to be a £1M business.

Our brief is not only to manage and improve their website, but to take a lead on their overall online marketing and grow the volume of sales they made on their website.

What Forrest Digital has done for Weschenfelder:

Weschenfelder is now the leading online business in their sector, and their high profile has led to dramatically increased sales and even an appearance on the BBC’s Generation Game! When Weschenfelder and Forrest Digital started working together, 30% of their sales were online, that’s now 70% and growing. Sales are also increasing, with a 25% increase in sales in Q2 of 2017 compared to Q2 of 2016.

Tim Weschenfelder, Director of Weschenfelder Direct said: “Ten percent of our sales are outside of the UK, with Ireland, France, Portugal and Spain buying a lot of our products. When we started working with Forrest we were keen to sell more to other countries and we are absolutely delighted with the results.”

Website refresh:

Weschenfelder ask Forrest Digital to refresh their website every two to three years, in order to make the most of the latest technology and trends. Their latest website was launched at the start of 2017 and has already resulted in higher sales, especially from mobile and tablet devices; 1 in 3 purchases are now made by mobile phone or tablet.

Tim said: “We pride ourselves on the advice we give to our customers. The website has given us a great opportunity to offer more information to our visitors, and Forrest have suggested the keywords we should use when posting in order to rank as high in search engines as possible.”
Forrest Digital has also helped add new exciting developments to the site, including an email mailing list that goes out to over 5,500 people across the world, as well as Trustpilot, an online review system where customers can leave reviews of what they have purchased.

Tim said: “Forrest Digital recommended adding Trustpilot to our website and the response has been phenomenal, with over 630 reviews so far. Social proof is incredibly important to us as it helps other customers make purchasing decisions. We can also publish our star rating alongside our Google advertising for further endorsement, and we’re delighted that we have a star rating of 9.6 out of 10, with 9 out of 10 customers rating us as ‘excellent’.”

PPC Marketing:

Weschenfelder have used PPC advertising on their website since 2004, and the advertising they offer is constantly evolving. They currently use Google Ads in the UK and Ireland, and have retained number one positions for a very wide range of popular online terms, with ROI typically over 300%.

In 2017 they started using Google Shopping to promote their products, with an incredible 306% return on their current ‘sausage stuffer’ campaign.

Iain said: “Google advertising evolves all the time and we are always on the lookout for the best ways to help promote Weschenfelder online. We’re Google Partners, which means that we are endorsed by Google and up to date with the latest product knowledge.

Weschenfelder is also currently trialing Bing Ads. Iain said: “When we reviewed the site we noticed that a lot of people came to the website via the Bing search engine. Although search volumes are generally lower on Bing compared to Google Adwords, we are achieving almost a 4% conversion rate and finding that people are engaging extremely well with the website.”

The final word from Weschenfelder:

Tim is delighted by the customer service that he receives from Forrest Digital.

“Our website went down at 4.30pm on a Friday and we were desperate to get the site fixed so we wouldn’t lose out on weekend sales. Iain got on the case and the site was back up and running a few hours later. Iain always delivers what he promises and has a great knowledge of the industry, he keeps up to date so I don’t have to. Weschenfelder is a four-person strong team, but our online presence is so professional a lot of customers think that we are a much bigger business.”