Background
ARZU STUDIO HOPE is a unique nonprofit organization which established a social enterprise to help Afghanistan women and their families break the cycle of poverty by encouraging and promoting their weaving skills. Through the sales of hand-made rugs, the women are able to bring in a steady income and provide their families access to education, healthcare and community infrastructure projects.
Challenges
With no solid marketing plan in place, an aging website with no e-commerce functionality and limited resources, ARZU was not attracting potential buyers and donors and was unable to meet their online purchasing needs. To face these challenges head-on, ARZU was referred to Rhythm Interactive.
Objectives
- Develop an e-commerce catalog website
- Formulate and implement a comprehensive online marketing strategy including social media channels
- Develop and provide a scalable hosting environment
- Provide a robust e-mail platform and assist ARZU with campaign support and reporting
- Increase brand awareness and generate more engagement with consumers
Solutions
During the initial stages, Rhythm Interactive vested a great deal of time into discovery, immersing themselves into ARZU's work and collecting insight from stakeholders. Post discovery, work began on a priority basis with the website development and overall marketing strategy taking place first. The marketing plan was developed in phases with phase 1 focused on the launch of the new brand; phase 2 was dedicated to driving sales and phase 3 was positioned towards deepening customer relationships. Examples of phase 1 tactical elements included:
Website Design, Development & Support Services
- Design and development of ARZU main site, blog sites and specific campaign microsites
- Development of robust custom content management system complete with tracking history and content repository
- Implementation of e-commerce platform allowing for rug purchases to be made online
- Incorporation of new technologies to provide for embedded video players and image galleries
- Website hosting for arzustudiohope.org
Social Media Marketing
- Design and launch of social platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Vimeo
- Design and development of STIR blog thought-leadership portal with integration into main ARZU site
- Management of Facebook advertising campaigns
Search Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization consultation and management
- Management of Google Pay-Per-Click advertising
Customization & Implementation of RhythmMail E-marketing Platform
- Dedicated and customized e-marketing campaign platform established for ARZU
- E-mail marketing consultation, support and training
- Through their RhythmMail account, ARZU is able to manage their e-mail database, target e-mail marketing campaigns to desired audiences and analyze tracking data
Additional Rhythm Interactive Support Services
- Design of campaign-specific landing pages
- Monthly analytics reporting with suggestions on ways to optimize digital marketing efforts
Results
- Built Facebook fan base to more than 3,000 within a short period of time (increasing brand awareness and fan engagement)
- Grew e-mail marketing database by approximately 12%
- Acquired approximately $500,000 in free online advertising annually
- Grew website traffic by approximately 400%
- The number of web pages viewed per visit is 45% higher than comparable industry benchmarks
- Search marketing is responsible for 33% of website traffic