Harmony Enterprises is a third-generation family business founded in 1962 that employs 65 people in Harmony, MN and 10 employees at its sales and service facility in Toulouse, France. Serving the recycling and waste management industry with products like balers and compactors, the manufacturer has continued to evolve and grow internationally and domestically over the years.
Early Years of Harmony’s Marketing
The relationship between Vivid Image and Harmony started nearly a decade ago when Vivid Image designed a website for Harmony. At that time, Harmony Enterprises did not have staff dedicated to marketing. Later, in 2011, Steve Cremer, the President of Harmony Enterprises, hired Vivid Image to do their online marketing which involved weekly blogging, a monthly newsletter, and social media marketing. Harmony Enterprises was one of the only companies in their industry to be active on social media and blogging at that time so they stood out as a leader. The social media and content marketing plan improved communication with their customers, and within 6 months, made a huge impact to their monthly web visitors.
Finding Local Marketing Talent
Steve Cremer is a forward-thinking third-generation business owner who knew he needed to find new talent to make his company continue to grow. Since Harmony Enterprises is located in a small town with a population of just 998, finding experienced employees can be a challenge. In 2016, he saw an opportunity to hire Lane Powell, a family friend, and Band Director at the local High School by trade. Bringing Lane on board has proven to be a great decision, as he is a natural leader who is efficient, autonomous and dedicated to Harmony Enterprises’ success. By adding Lane to the Harmony Enterprises team, Harmony was able to bring some online marketing initiatives back in-house, begin some new lead generation strategies (such as Google Ads and search engine optimization) and position the company for continued growth in the United States, Europe, and beyond.
New Websites & Marketing Coaching
Today, with some coaching from Vivid Image, Lane has been able to manage practically all aspects of their marketing, from social media and blogging, to search engine optimization and pay-per-click Google Ads. Harmony Enterprises also worked with Vivid Image to develop new websites for both their English-speaking customers at harmony1.com and their French-speaking customers at harmonyeurope.fr.
Using Google Analytics as a Guide
Lane has delved into Harmony’s Google Analytics and uses Vivid Image’s coaching services to determine the best course of action. Lane was able to work with Vivid Image to implement a search engine optimization strategy that delivers results. Lane explained, “Although we have experienced significant growth in our web traffic, we realized through our Google Analytics that the landing page experience was not keeping visitors on a page or our site for a long time. More importantly, our conversion rate was not proportional to the percentage of growth we were experiencing.”
Writing Search Terms Around Solutions
Through keyword and search engine optimization research, Vivid Image provided data to Lane and the Harmony team on how to improve their content. Lane admitted, “We realized that our keywords and meta tags were based on our product names, and not necessarily on the terms our customers use to search for the solutions they need.” Vivid and Harmony worked together to establish SEO and content goals. Lane shared, “The goal is to drive our qualified traffic to the resources they are looking for and provide them with enough positive information that they will be convinced to convert their actions with a contact form submission.”
Getting Granular with Google Ads
Another aspect of digital marketing that Harmony has implemented is Google Ads. Lane pointed out, “Our initial Google Ads net was very broad, and brought in a lot of clicks, many of which were not pertinent to our specific industry niche. Working with Vivid, we have learned to become much more granular in our campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and ads. This granularity has resulted in much more qualified clicks into our site and a greatly reduced need for negative keywords.”
Content Marketing Expands to Video
Blogging and content marketing is still an important piece of Harmony Enterprises’ marketing plan. Lane clarified, “Our digital and content marketing have served us well. We are utilizing the full impact of our web presence to push informative articles, product info, and solutions to our readers. We also are implementing product video content on every web page over the course of the next few years. Our trade show experience has also been very positive with our pre-show and post-show marketing efforts.”
Measuring the Impact
Indeed the search engine optimization, Google Ads, and continued content marketing are making a difference. Harmony’s Google Analytics reported an 85% increase in 2018 traffic YTD compared to 2017, with organic traffic from search engines being up 114% YTD compared to 2017. Increased website traffic is great, but when you can measure the impact that website traffic has on sales it’s phenomenal. Lane noticed, “Our traffic is much more qualified and we have seen a direct correlation to an increase in sales, especially from the contact us form and organic Internet searches. Plus, we just added a second shift to production!”
Harmony’s Google Analytics reported an 85% increase in 2018 traffic YTD compared to 2017, with organic traffic from search engines being up 114% YTD compared to 2017.
Partnering with a Marketing Agency
Companies like Harmony Enterprises can grow exponentially by partnering with a marketing agency, like Vivid Image, even when the company has a skilled marketing team. Lane insisted, “Vivid Image is a strong partner who helps us to continue to grow and offers immediate and affordable support when needed. They have provided expertise that is timely, courteous and has a direct positive impact on business. This is more than just a marketing partnership. The relationship we have with our Account Director and SEO & Google Ads Managers are positive and personal.”
“Vivid Image is a strong partner who helps us to continue to grow and offers immediate and affordable support when needed. They have provided expertise that is timely, courteous and has a direct positive impact on business.” – Lane Powell
Download and View the PDF version of the Harmony Enterprise Customer Story
Is your business interested in learning how to optimize your marketing with social media, Google Ads, search engine optimization, or marketing coaching? Vivid Image will help right away. Contact us at 320-587-8974 or contact us for a free consultation.
