🚀 How I Drove 200-300% Online Sales Growth with an Integrated Demand Generation Strategy for Sellmark 🎯
- Shalom Whitford
- Mar 10
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 21
Unleashing the Full Potential of Sellmark's Digital Presence 🛒
Sellmark Corporation is a B2C e-commerce outdoor sporting goods manufacturer and distributor that had four global brands in 2019/2020: Pulsar, Sightmark, Firefield, and Kopfjäger. Additionally, TXFactory Outlet serves as a dedicated e-commerce warehouse site for Sellmark's products. Despite Sellmark's brand's strong market presence, two of its brands struggled to build an engaged, well-informed customer base—a key driver for product awareness, customer education, and, ultimately, sales.
The existing content strategy for all the brands primarily consisted of static images of products at the range or in a field, web pages showcasing product offerings, and YouTube product videos. However, videos were structured similarly for each product line, highlighting only the features of each of the offerings. Within each video for that product launch, each product line was identified as "new" within the YouTube video description/title, and when the spokesperson talked about the product line in the video. This often led to confusion for customers, especially if the video appeared in search results. Since these videos didn't offer any ongoing value beyond the product launch, they quickly became outdated for social media and didn't establish a connection with the customer's everyday experiences. 🌿
A Bold Demand Generation Strategy to Ignite Interest💥
In my previous role, I had seen firsthand the power of a strong digital and content strategy, paired with influencer partnerships, to drive engagement and sales. I recognized the opportunity to elevate the online presence of the brand's Sellmark-owned and represented and socially create a more immersive, relatable customer experience that would ultimately increase conversions.
Sellmark's Clear Objectives:
Increase online sales by 5% 📈
Reduce distressed inventory by 30% 📦
Boost brand awareness for Firefield & Sightmark 🌟
To achieve these ambitious goals, I developed an integrated marketing strategy that combined paid advertising, influencer collaborations, SEO-driven content, and strategic social media engagement. The goal? Create a demand generation engine that drove sales, enhanced brand loyalty, and optimized marketing budget.
Key Tactics for Success 💪
💊 Driving Sales & Reducing Inventory
Selling more products while strategically moving discontinued stock required a mix of high-converting ad campaigns, compelling content, and personalized email marketing. Instead of relying on traditional promotional messaging, I focused on content creators to aid in the storytelling—demonstrating how Sellmark's products fit seamlessly into customers' lifestyles.
🎯 Targeted Campaigns for Overstock & Clearance Items
I launched tailored ad campaigns aimed at different buyer segments to clear out excess inventory without devaluing the brand. These included retargeting ads, exclusive limited-time deals, and targeted promotions designed to move products quickly while maintaining brand integrity.
🚀 Expanding Reach & Brand Awareness
To strengthen brand visibility, I leveraged influencer marketing, had SEO-optimized content created, and launched high-engagement social media campaigns. This multi-pronged approach positioned Sellmark's brands as go-to choices in their niche. We reached new audiences and elevated brand perception by optimizing product pages for search, collaborating with key influencers, and deploying strategic paid media.
Execution: A Multi-Channel Approach for Maximum Impact 🔄
With a well-structured plan, I executed a combination of paid, organic, and influencer-driven initiatives to achieve Sellmark's goals.
🌍 Paid Ads: Search, Video, & Social Media
I managed paid campaigns across Google, Bing, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, continuously A/B testing creatives to optimize conversion rates. While riflescopes were restricted from advertising on Bing and Google Ads, they were still permitted on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Navigating these restrictions required a deep understanding of each platform's policies. I became an expert in compliance, successfully appealing rejected ads and achieving a 95% reinstatement rate. Firefield, Kopfjäger, and Pulsar awareness ads remained on social media, while Sightmark was prioritized for paid media investments to challenge competitors like Vortex Optics. To navigate search engine ad restrictions, I created a separate website for Sightmark monoculars and binoculars that was not linked to the official brand site. This workaround enabled digital advertising approval on restricted channels, significantly increasing Sightmark's brand awareness from 2019 to 2021.
📱 Influencer Marketing: The Trust Factor
Influencer collaborations played a crucial role in increasing engagement and trust. I carefully selected influencers based on their audience alignment with each brand:
Firefield: Partnered with influencers focused on budget-friendly optics.
Sightmark: Targeted creators emphasizing a product's quality, features, and a good deal.
Kopfjäger: Collaborated with targeted mid-to-high-tier influencers for greater brand awareness.
Pulsar: Engaged large-scale influencers with larger follower count and engagement numbers to expand Pulsar's Brand Awareness for new market share opportunities.
An example of this type of growth marketing effort was an influencer campaign with DC Draino, a popular Republican political influencer who harvested his food and introduced Pulsar thermal optics and Kopfjäger tripods to an entirely new audience of firearm enthusiasts. With over a million engaged followers, this partnership was impactful because DC Draino introduced thermal optics and tripod products to a demographic likely to be interested in night protection tools for security purposes.
Additionally, I worked with Lake Fork Guy, a well-known fishing lifestyle creator with nearly a million YouTube subscribers, on a summer-long Sportsman's Giveaway campaign, a product giveaway worth over $10K of high-value products. I partnered with other lifestyle product manufacturers, who donated products for the giveaway. This joint marketing partnership benefited all companies involved, and the influencer grew his social channels.
Lake Fork Guy expanded our brand awareness to individuals who were avid anglers, but most were not deeply involved in shooting sports. This presented a unique opportunity to introduce our products to a new demographic that was open to our offerings and had potential interest in shooting sports.
I managed and evaluated influencers' efforts through CreatorIQ, cultivating relationships with real product enthusiasts who posted authentic lifestyle content. This strategy fostered an engaged community that followed our brand and actively participated in discussions, sharing user-generated content and being brand advocates.
🎥 Social Media & Content Creation
Working with the Social Media Specialist, I spearheaded a shift from static product images to engaging, lifestyle-driven content that showcased product tutorials, influencer reviews, and immersive storytelling. Lead-generation giveaways and social ads helped increase our social following, but influencer-led promotions drove significant engagement and conversations. Social listening tool analytics showed an average 4.8% rise in brand mentions for all Sellmark brands. Posts typically achieved a 5-6% engagement rate, with followers engaging actively with content and sharing their experiences.
✉️ Email Marketing: Personalized & High-Converting
I developed segmented email campaigns based on customer behavior—whether they had abandoned their cart, shown interest in clearance items, or were repeat buyers. These personalized emails led to a 40% increase in open rates and a 12% boost in click-through rates, significantly improving conversions.
To scale lead capture, I leveraged the summer-long Sportsman's Giveaway campaign to increase social media followers and email subscribers, resulting in over 25,000+ new email subscribers. Giveway subscribers also helped email engagement rates for other email campaigns and our brand newsletters. Sightmark emails to those new subscribers had a 27% open rate with a click-through rate of 12%, leading to further conversions and engagement with our product offerings.
The Results: Exceeding Expectations 🏆
By integrating these strategies into a seamless demand generation approach, we not only met but exceeded Sellmark's goals:
📈 Online sales surged by 200-300%
📦 Distressed inventory slashed by 90%
🔥 Brand awareness grew with a 4.8% lift in social mentions for Firefield & Sightmark
This transformation turned Sellmark into a powerhouse in the outdoor optics industry, demonstrating the impact of a well-executed digital marketing strategy.
🏅 Key Takeaways:
Strategic storytelling increases conversions
Influencer partnerships build trust and engagement
Data-driven ad targeting maximizes ROI
Personalization drives email marketing success
By leveraging a holistic digital marketing strategy, Sellmark achieved unprecedented growth—proving that the right mix of content, community, and conversions can redefine a brand's success.
Ready to transform your digital presence? Let's connect! 💪