How We Scaled An Online Training Program For Active Shooter Defense

SEO - PR - CONTENT STRATEGY - SOCIAL MEDIA

Armoured One is an active shooter defense company based in Syracuse, NY focused on creating the most bomb and bullet-resistant glass and film on the market, as well as providing top-of-the-line active shooter preparedness training run by former SWAT team operators and FBI agents.

At the height of the pandemic, Armoured One partnered with Above Average to drive awareness for their online training program and increase demand in the public domain.

Our job was to develop and execute creative social media, SEO and content strategies targeting public service personas, with timely media pushes to accelerate demand and accumulate above-the-fold search results.

Main Challenges

Program material wasn't well-suited for online learning

Executive team was too comfortable with traditional forms of marketing: direct mail, magazine ads, radio slots, etc.
Did not see the need for a digital strategy until the pandemic forced operations online and amplified consumer demand for eCommerce.

PPC campaigns were costly and not driving desired results

Thousands were spent on Google Ads every month but were not generating enough measurable results.
We quickly learned there were no clearly defined KPIs or strategic planning involved in the ad development process.

Our Approach

Search Engine Optimization

To expand Weston Nurseries retail customer base beyond their brick and mortar garden centers, we utilized dynamic ads for broad audiences, and created multiple ad sets with a catalog of each in-season plant product. This enabled us to automatically target people who expressed interest in Weston's products or products similar to theirs.

Public Relations

Organized product groups by category, and created separate campaigns for seasons and best-selling products. By doing this, we've been able to concentrate targeting on less competitive, high-intent keywords and manage our bidding efficiently.

Within 4 weeks of launch, Weston Nurseries saw a 27% revenue increase directly from our Google Shopping and Product Listing Ads (PLAs) program, as well as 616 new customer orders.

Content Marketing

Combining sleek user-interface (UI) design with mobile responsive functionality and a conversion maximizing funnel, we built a brand consistent Shopify storefront with dynamic functions able to handle thousands of ever-changing products from Weston's three different locations.

Social Media Strategy

Results

27% revenue increase in 4 weeks

4 weeks after launching Weston's Shopify store, we saw overall revenue increase by 27% compared to the previous month without an online store.

On top of that, we were able to acquire 3X more new customers online in 4 weeks than had been acquired over the past 9 months in-stores.

Finally, Weston's faith in Google and Facebook Ads has been restored after achieving a 403% ROI with Google PLA, and a 228% ROI with Facebook Dynamic Ads.

403% Google Ads ROI

228% Facebook Ads ROI

Decreased Google Ads CPA by 41%

3X new customer growth

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The "hard-sell" isn't really our thing. Instead we bypass the bullshit and connect with you human-to-human, digging into your goals and the real challenges your business is facing, so we can determine if we're the best fit for you and vice versa.