In this case study you’ll learn:
- About the dreaded “traffic plateau” that limits the growth of most new ecommerce stores
- How Leanne Duckmanton was able to tap into a stream of highly targeted traffic for her jewelry store and increase her sales
- How to quickly identify your “keystone product” with AI so you can create more customers and repeat business
Like so many small businesses, Leanne Duckmanton’s jewelry business is born out of passion— her passion for fine craftsmanship, rare and unique gems, the beauty of precious metals — and the creative joy of putting together the perfect piece. Marrying inspiration from her eclectic background in chemistry, wine making, and love of the renaissance era, her rare and distinctive pieces deserve the attention of the world. She’s truly an artisan. Her attention to detail, enthusiasm for jewelry, and zeal for her craft are readily apparent in her products. Her pieces are truly one-of-a-kind.
While her jewelry is uncommon and special, Leanne encountered an ordinary and common problem faced by almost every new ecommerce store: how to bring more interested buyers to her store so she can grow.
Hitting the Traffic Plateau
With Leanne’s hard work, Vermilion Jewellery had a stunning catalog of incredible jewelry she knew many people would be interested in… if they could only see it! But, the search engines are dominated by big businesses — so her new store had little hope of competing there. Online marketplaces like Amazon and Etsy are geared toward price sensitive purchases, so her luxury items probably wouldn’t sell well there. She felt like she was out of options.
Like Leanne, many new ecommerce businesses find that they reach a point where generating more traffic becomes challenging. They’re doing what they can, they’re getting some traffic, but it isn’t enough. They’re getting a trickle of traffic but they need a flood to grow. Doing more of what she was doing didn’t seem to be moving the needle. She felt stuck.
What could she do? What do you do when you’re doing everything you can, and it’s just not enough?
You’ll often hear marketing experts say “content is king.” The idea is that you can attract new customers and build the trust that precedes a purchase by creating and sharing a lot of high-value, useful content.
They aren’t wrong, but new small business owners quickly discover that creating high-quality content is time-consuming! Like Leanne, you probably have hours to invest in marketing every week, not days. Marketing is just one of a dozen plates you must keep spinning to keep your business running. Who has time to spend churning out dozens of new blog posts or Youtube videos each week?
And, content marketing takes time. It’s a slow growth strategy that takes time to build momentum. Leanne wanted people to discover her brand now — not next year.
If Content Isn’t the Answer, What Is?
If pumping out massive amounts of new content isn’t possible, then what is a new ecommerce store supposed to do? How can they generate the traffic they need to fuel their growth?
Leanne had heard that paid ads were a reliable way to get targeted traffic and that’s true. The popularity of online advertising speaks to its effectiveness:
- 92% of ecommerce sellers promote their products on paid search channels and 54% of online retailers advertise on social channels. Source
- 43% of the most visited eCommerce sites spent more than $5K per month on social advertising.
- 78% of American consumers say that they’ve discovered products on Facebook, and with organic engagement dropping rapidly this mostly comes from ads.
- The average Facebook user clicks on 11 ads per month and an incredible 2.93 billion people use Facebook worldwide.
Convinced that paid advertising would give her a scalable source of traffic to grow her store, Leanne set out to create her first Facebook Ads but quickly found the Meta Ads Manager was challenging to use. It’s a powerful tool, but it’s built to serve professional marketers who have the time to tweak settings, optimize ads, and analyze reports.
But these tools are frustrating for a small business owner who just wants to quickly create ads and see how they’re performing so they can turn their attention onto the dozens of other demands on their time.
Turning Point: AI to the Rescue
It was around this time Leanne discovered Tailwind Ads, Tailwind’s innovative new paid ads solution for Meta Ads and Google Ads. She was intrigued by its ability to address the challenges she’d been having with paid ads:
- Unable to create ads that work — She wasn’t a professional marketer or copywriter with ads experience, so she needed help creating ads that incorporated best practices that would create results.
- Meta Ads Manager is difficult — A complicated and confusing UI made it difficult to create ads and understand how they were performing.
- Unable to achieve a positive ROI — She didn’t have the time to constantly monitor her ad’s performance, adjust settings, and test variables that would optimize her ad spend, and she didn’t have money to waste on ads that don’t work.
Leanne decided to give Tailwind Ads a try. Tailwind’s AI created her first ads, and within minutes she was able to set them live.
Leanne’s traffic jumped from 10-12 visits a day up to 400! Tailwind Ads was more than just another advertising platform for Leanne; it was a turning point.
Remarkable Results and Growth
The impact of using Tailwind Ads was immediate and impressive. Vermilion Jewellery saw a staggering 700% increase in website traffic almost overnight. This wasn’t just a surge in numbers; it was a wave of potential customers, each interaction a step closer to a sale. The brand’s reach extended beyond its local confines, capturing worldwide attention.
Tailwind Ads not only streamlined the ad creation process but also provided insightful analytics, making it easy for Leanne to track her ROI. This meant she could spend more time on her passion for creating jewelry and less on deciphering complex marketing data.
Over a longer period of time, Vermilion also saw a 4x increase in sales.
After two months of traffic growth, the new users started converting. The sales growth in December was “incredible,” Leanne said.
Discovering Her “Keystone Product”
Key to her growth was that the AI quickly identified a keystone product that resonated with her audience. A keystone product is usually an entry-level product that is popular with your target customers. It’s used as a way to create a strong relationship with your customers. Once that relationship is formed you can create repeat customers and sell more expensive jewelry pieces.
For Leanne, her keystone product was an affordable pair of earrings that perfectly introduced customers to the Vermilion brand. Tailwind’s advanced AI analyzed the performance of her various product ads and identified a strong preference for this pair of earrings:
Now Leanne can use this keystone product to establish loyal relationships with new customers that will go on to make repeat purchases of more expensive jewelry pieces.
This is important, because someone might not want to spend thousands of dollars with a company they have no experience with.
Conclusion: A Bright Future Ahead
With Tailwind Ads generating, Vermilion Jewellery transformed from a struggling online store into a thriving business. Her journey is a testament to how the right tools can amplify the reach and impact of a passionate artisan like Leanne.
Tailwind Ads didn’t just boost traffic; it helped Vermilion Jewellery carve out a distinct space in the jewelry market — a very competitive online marketplace. It was a partnership that went beyond algorithms and analytics — it was about understanding and amplifying the essence of a brand built on passion and craftsmanship.
For Leanne, this was just the beginning. With the continued support of Tailwind Ads and her relentless passion for her craft, the future of Vermilion Jewellery looked as bright and promising as the jewels in her collection.
