Ecrotek is the largest hobbyist beekeeping supplies company in Australasia, and content is the backbone of its marketing. WFB helped design the content strategy, plan the topics and create blogs to educate its audience and support its search rankings. Marketing manager Rob says they’ve had great success with the articles.
Formed in April 2015, Ecrotek is the biggest supplier of beekeeping equipment in New Zealand. With a family history in beekeeping going back to 1913, it boasts a wealth of skills, knowledge and understanding of processes and bees. It has warehouses in the North and South Islands and was on a quest to dominate the New Zealand market. When hobbyist apiarists started their journey and were beginning to look online, Ecrotek wanted to be everywhere they looked, becoming the familiar, trusted brand.
So, how could we get it in front of more hobby apiarists?
To Rob Owens, product and marketing manager, the answer is content. In the past, he says, the supplier always had the information, but the power has shifted. Now, so often, the customer has a lot of information, sometimes even more than the supplier. It means suppliers need to do more to build trust.
“In a flooded market, where you’ve got more competitors coming in, the content leader is often going to be the customer-winner.”
In September 2017, he gave us a call with a plan.
“We’re trying to pop up when people search beekeeping, so when they go to buy, they’ve already got us top of mind. It’s about building confidence through content” says Rob.
The WFB and Ecrotek teams worked together to come up with and develop blog topics that attracted hobbyist beekeepers. Rob particularly liked how we worked to upskill in the industry, so we could contribute great ideas and conduct our own research. That also made it easier for marketing and product intern Ashleigh Cole.
“The team is always so helpful. It’s very collaborative. I don’t feel like I'm just telling them what to do – it’s a two-way street” she explains.
As far as Ashleigh and Rob can see, the content is working. When content is pushed live, it gets an immediate response.
“I get at least 4-5 shares per post, and comments as well. There are always people tagging others, saying, ‘Oh, look at this’, and asking questions and engaging. They’re responding and interacting with each article, so it’s obviously good content for our customer base. It also ties in well with our AdWords,” she says.
Results are unbeelievable
It’s been a big journey for Ecrotek as it built the business, and it will only get better. Rob says users are up, and domination is in sight – and he credits part of that success to having WFB in the mix.
“While what WFB did was part of a bigger picture, they really came to the rescue to work with us on our content programme” says Rob.
“It’s set-and-forget for me. We’ve had great success with our articles over the past year and would like to thank you and the team for all the effort pulling these together.”
Director Sales and Marketing
