MEDIA

Digital Marketing Proving Key for Blenko Glass Company’s Long-Term Success

The Growth of Digital Advertising

Companies are investing more in digital marketing than ever before.  According to recent estimates from eMarketer, digital advertising surpassed traditional media advertising such as television, radio and newspaper, in the United States for the first time in 2019, with $129.34 billion in spend compared to $109.48 billion.  That gap only continues to grow as the world increasingly becomes more digital.  The average person spends nearly 7 hours online each day, through a combination of desk top, mobile usage, and music, television and film streaming services.  As more people switch their media intake away from print media and scheduled programming platforms, digital marketing is becoming the most important medium for connecting with customers.  Blenko Glass Company of Milton, WV has invested heavily in this model in recent years and the return on investment has been incredible.   

Most people’s conception of digital marketing probably doesn’t stretch much further than the ads we see on Facebook and Google inexplicably knowing what purchases we need to make even before we do.  However, for businesses, there are dozens of analytical tools and advertising platforms to consider when preparing a digital marketing campaign, and, when put into practice, the process can quickly become a dizzying array of conversion rates, organic vs inorganic leads, and search engine optimization metrics.  There is an art to the process however, and the good news for businesses is that digital marketing pays for itself multiple times over when done effectively.  The recent marketing successes of Blenko Glass Company is a testament to this.

Blenko Embraces Digital Advertising

Bryson Cutler, co-director of operations at Blenko and co-founder of Infinity Marketing Solutions, has helped to oversee the company’s marketing transformation along with Infinity co-founder Dave Wertz and Blenko Vice President, Dean Six.  The team has found success even in the midst of a global pandemic. 

Beginning in 2017, the team shifted the company’s sales model; choosing to focus heavily on e-commerce.  According to Cutler, Blenko has doubled its annual online gross revenues year-over- year, broken holiday sales records for the company three years running, and showed a 30% revenue increase across the board during that time.  Those numbers are astonishing but the process itself began with a simple website upgrade.

“We began with Blenko as we do with most of our clients - the website,” says Cutler.  “Over a few months, we completely rehauled their ecommerce system and provided them with an enterprise grade solution for selling online.”  

After the launch of the new website, Cutler and Wertz initiated an aggressive social media and social marketing program aimed at introducing and reintroducing customers to the Blenko brand and to the company’s iconic products.  What began as a project for their company Infinity Marketing Solutions has led to Cutler and Wertz taking director positions within Blenko itself.  The revamped social marketing program, supported in small part with a grant through the Appalachian Hatchery Project, a business development initiative jointly managed by Advantage Valley and the Robert C. Byrd Institute, led to dramatic sales increases and renewed customer interest in Blenko. As a result, Blenko is in a stronger fiscal position than it has been in many years, and the company is building for the long haul.

“We are confident in the future of the company and look forward to Blenko being here for another 100 years,” says Cutler.

Creating Quality Customer Touchpoints

So how can companies capture some of this same Blenko magic?  Well, first, there is no replacement for an outstanding product, which Blenko clearly has.  Complementing its newly minted marketing initiative has been a renewed effort to bring new and imaginative glass products to customers.  A cast of new designers at Blenko are working with seasoned glass blower artisans to create new concepts such as the Flatwood monster piece, the subject of recent Washington Post article.  An outstanding product aside, creating quality customer touchpoints and interactions is really the key to driving sales.  Part of that process is telling your company’s story effectively, but part of it is also about meeting your customers where they are at. This is where Blenko has truly excelled, in meeting customers where they are at, using a tool box of data analytics and providing a consistent message to customers across multiple platforms. 

Blenko focuses heavily on website infrastructure, media and content generation, email marketing, and social media ads.  They also have an aggressive social media strategy which currently includes Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and TikTok audiences.  According to Cutler, this might also include a recurring blog in the near future. 

And that’s kind of the key take away here.  Marketing, whether done digitally or otherwise, is a commitment that requires serious time and effort.  You must keep customers engaged.

“Fresh content is king,” says Cutler.  “We have a photographer onsite weekly and video crews twice a month.  Potential customers want a consistent and engaging stream of content.  That builds brand loyalty which, in turn, drives recurring revenue.”

Those investing in digital marketing have many avenues to create customer touchpoints and start to build brand engagement and loyalty: social media engagement, search engine ad placements, in-app ad promotions, blog posts, podcasts, YouTube videos, just to name a few.  The list goes on.  However, the company website is still the most impactful digital platform and should be updated regularly with new content. 

“The website is always the number one priority that organizations should have,” says Cutler.  “Successful organizations view a website as an active tool and a living breathing presence.  There's no such thing as a finished website - just ones you stop working on.”

Social engagements should really serve to inform and engage but also to help customers access the company website, where sales can be finalized.  Customers should never feel like they are being sold to, but the end result of a successful digital marketing campaign is going to be a customer conversion and a finalized product sale.  

 

 

Deploying Data 

In order to effectively reach customers across the myriad of digital platforms that exist today, companies must utilize data analytical tools.  The deployment of data analytics tools to inform their marketing campaigns has been another key to Blenko’s success.  Early on in the process, Blenko began to build a comprehensive profile of its customer base using data collected through its social media campaigns. 

“The success (or failure) of a quality digital marketing program is its foundation and that foundation is the accumulation of data,” says Cutler.  From day one, companies need to make sure they have analytics in place to gather customer information such as emails, leads, website traffic, etc. Systems need to be in place to properly track and monitor a program’s progress and success.”

So, what are some of the tools that enable companies to make data-driven decisions?

According to Cutler, tools such as Google Analytics, Google Trends, Keyword Planner, search engine optimization tools, ecommerce reporting, are just some of the tools that enable companies to execute successful digital marketing campaigns.  Many companies have also found success using advanced targeted marketing tools such as geofencing, wherein target consumers are identified based on location trends, such as those who recently visited a shopping center or attended a certain live event, conference or tradeshow.  Companies can also target digital advertisements to potential customers who have recently used specific keyword searches related to a product or service.  There are many tools available, however, depending on your target customer, some tools and marketing strategies may make more sense than others. 

 

Bryson Cutler, Director of Site Operations at Blenko 

 

Marketing to Other Businesses

For manufacturers or those companies whose primary customers are other businesses, the process is a little different.  The key difference is that most businesses who are purchasing have a more precise understanding of what their needs are, and they are already looking for what you are selling.  Therefore, it is critical for businesses to provide their business customers with up-front information.  It is also critical for companies to be found easily online.  A variety of search engine optimization techniques and Google search ads can be used to help accomplish this.  Another necessity is for companies to build a good understanding of what its customers are searching for.  A good way to do this is to create a website with specific landing pages for individual products and services. This will enable a company to track which products customers are looking at.  Finally, companies should put themselves in a position to capture customer information so that whenever they actually do call, deals can be closed effectively.  Providing links to opt into email promotions or newsletters is a good way to collect email data.  Google Analytics can also help provide some useful data if not specific customer contacts.

The Keys to Success

Digital marketing is increasingly the dominant force in reaching customers.  The companies who are most effective at this are those investing time and energy in providing their customers with a consistent and engaging message, who are capturing customer data and targeting and deploying content effectively, and who are meeting their customers where they are at, whether those customers or direct consumers or other businesses and manufacturers.  In the end, the real key to success is coming to the understanding that the marketing of a product is often as important as the product itself, and that equal amounts of energy and care should be applied to both.