In this case study, we will be unpacking how a new owner acquired a 60-year-old declining construction company and how we scaled it from a non-existing player in the market to double their business and opening a second branch after 6 months of working with us.
We’re going to cover 6 essential steps to transform a horror story into a happy ending.
Also, a bonus story to tell you why you shouldn’t cheap out on marketing.
Luigi Casutt is a Swiss-based Construction Company that has been founded in 1962.
As it happens with numerous family-owned businesses, the new generation was not keen on continuing with the company's ownership and was looking for a solution.
Luigi Casutt was recently acquired by Giovanni Ratano, making him the first owner unrelated to the Casutt family in the 60 years of company history. He started leading Luigi Casutt's 3rd generation in September of 2021.
The goal is to re-introduce Luigi Casutt to the market, from having zero online presence to making the company a visible, trusted, and distinguished market player.
Luigi Casutt consulted with Floriddia Creative, and we offered to manage their social media, email marketing, lead generation, and all necessary things in between, such as website analysis.
Luigi Casutt AG had been understandably traditional. Having been in this industry for 60 years made them depend on loyal clients and close referrals, which is a rather dangerous position to be in.
Here are a couple of challenges we have identified:
1. No representation of the business on any social media channels.
2. No communication with existing and past clients.
3. No promotional material or any form of communication for potential leads.
4. No established channels to acquire new potential leads.
5. No visual representation of the company, no brand authority or recognition.
Before Luigi Casutt AG consulted with Floriddia Creative, they’ve already signed up with another agency – someone with a cheaper price offer.
Although this is completely understandable, Luigi Casutt had no prior experience in digital marketing and they had no reference point to measure the effectiveness of the agency.
But after few months there were just too many issues to ignore them - thing were not done right or not done at all, there were errors, everything was moving very slow, and there were no results to whatsoever.
Unfortunately this happens often - businesses get impressed by the lower price, but in the long term, they spend much more time, money and effort correcting the mistakes.
There have been issues with:
1. Having inconsistent addresses throughout their website.
2. Weak call-to-actions (CTA).
3. Homepage that collapses from time-to-time, which is damaging to the website traffic.
4. A broken file within the website that caused it to be uncrawlable by Google (this caused the new website not to show on Google Search at all).
5. The logo not properly visualized if it goes well on small marketing collaterals (looks small and hard to read on calling cards).
With this being said, it’s vital to mention that Giovanni Ratano wouldn’t even realize the specific issues if we haven’t been there to point them out. All he knows was that something wasn’t working. He doesn’t see any significant improvements, and there’s not enough transparency with the other agency for him to realize what’s truly wrong.
He was desperate to fix these concerns. And with all these matters that needed attention we, also, have been eager to work them out.
We had to think unconventionally here. Just running cold advertising would not be optimal at this stage of the business.
1. We needed to understand who is the decision maker when it comes to contracting our client for a project (architects, engineers, private people?) and at which stage of the project planning these decisions are made.
2. Understanding how we can increase revenue for our client – what projects are better for that, where we should concentrate our efforts, and who is the buyer in this case.
3. Finding other ways to increase revenue per customer – offering regular maintenance and check-ups, making consumer aware of newer technology and it’s benefits.
4. Identified audiences already working for our client and researched the channels where we could collect new potential leads.
Projects our client takes on are of high monetary value, so it was worth it for us to manually research and qualify potential leads.
We collected 300 qualified leads (architects and architectural firms) within Zürich (where Luigi Casutt’s headquarter is located) and Küsnacht (based on having more significant projects from clients within that area).
Today, consumers can research a product online, compare brands on cost, reputation and more, and decide which provider is best for their needs.
This progression—from becoming problem-aware to making a purchasing decision—is called the buyer’s journey…
It can take days, weeks, or even months of careful thought before customers commit to buying. And if companies wait to interact with customers until the end of their decision-making process, they are missing out on profitable sales opportunities.
It’s crucial to make your lead aware that you could provide a solution to their problem. And remind it constantly!
As there are many factors that come into play: maybe the customer was too busy, maybe he was looking for the solution at that time, maybe he didn’t see the need for the product, or maybe just overall buying cycle was not at the right stage.
You must keep reminding yourself!
So we have structured an email marketing campaign for the Luigi Casutt to tackle different stages of buyers journey.
It’s ideal to convert as many leads as we could out of the 300 emails we have collected. We strategized on what sort of emails would effectively spark people’s interest.
We planned an email series, as follows:
1. KNOW. This would serve as an introduction. We identified the client's problem and showed how Luigi Casutt can solve it.
We also provided additional value by letting them know what to look forward to (such as tips, guides, up-to-date services, etc.) if they stay tuned for the newsletters that are to come.
2. LIKE. This shows what Luigi Casutt is truly capable of. It should connect with the audience by providing specific examples of their strengths.
The goal is to make them likable to have an emotional connection.
Here we highlighted the 60 years of service and the challenges that L. Casutt faced and how they got through them.
3. TRUST. We built credibility by providing client testimonials/reviews of existing clients.
4. CHALLENGE. At this stage, if the target has not converted yet, a solid excuse could be that the prospect might have misconceptions about your business and your aim is to prove them wrong. This could be done with the phrases, “most people think” or “myth busting.” How is L. Casutt different from other competitors?
5. CONVERT. “You’re missing out big time…” This summarizes information from KNOW to CHALLENGE. It gives the audience a refresher of what Luigi Casutt has to offer, and it’s meant to make it easier for those who receive the email to avail the services, to call, and to close a deal.
We avoided spam-triggering words that could negatively affect the open and click rates.
Result: Our open rates turned out to be 44.67%, in comparison to the industry average of 22%. Double than what we’ve expected!
You can check more about how we managed this email series via our blog!
Having a brand in 2022 that is recognizable and consistent is a crucial expectation and essential for every business.
Every time a customer interacts with your business or service – via social media content, email marketing, printed material, company's car, etc. – they have to get the brand's association immediately, otherwise you are just wasting your time and money.
Nobody has the brain power to connect the dots and study your material. You have to make it effortless for the customer.
Before we even started posting, we’ve already optimized Luigi Casutt’s social media. We gave importance to LinkedIn, the platform where most professionals can be found, keeping in mind that we’re actively looking for clients aiming for bigger projects.
We did 7 effective steps to optimize Luigi Casutt’s LinkedIn profile:
We have to give credit here to Luigi Casutt team for being brave and trusting us when it came to team visuals - we chose a bit of unconventional ways to shoot team photos. We checked what Luigi Casutt’s competitors are posting and mixed it up with trends such as TikTok videos (something that Luigi Casutt’s competitors don’t do, as we have noticed). Then we used these relatable trending videos on platforms most relevant to our client - in this case Linkedin, Google Business, etc.
We understand how busy business could be, so we optimized the only day we had with the company for photoshooting and filmed simple trendy videos as well.
We had the storyboards and the ideas ready, the only thing team needed to do - is participate. Minimum time investment, minimum friction, Luigi’s team did not need to think about the ideas or look for trending topics - we did it all ahead of time.
On the day, we provided even simple sketches made on the spot to help their team visualize what we were going for. Hitting two birds with one stone, the drawings also made the client feel more comfortable, as the drawings served as an effective and humorous conversation starter. Having our clients happy behind the scenes unfailingly shows through the photos and videos.
Time is money, and our goal is always to optimize client’s time. So few hours of filming provide content for the next couple of months to go. Our motto: minimum time investment from the client’s side = maximum results.
For an even more in-depth read on how to optimize your LinkedIn, you can download it here.
More on the marketing strategy, we used a Creative Strategy Map that focuses mainly on…
a. The main emotion we want the audience to feel. Of course, for this, we incorporate even more than one emotion, but having a focus gives you more direction on what tone of voice you’ll be going for the brand.
b. The business Pain Points. What is Luigi Casutt lacking?
i. Do they lack social identity?
ii. Are people worried that they’re not credible enough?
c. Luigi Casutt’s Unique Selling Points. This would be the solution for the pain points.
i. To solve the lack of social identity, then we should introduce the team more.
ii. We should post more projects and client testimonials to show that Luigi Casutt has the expertise and experience to handle all these construction concerns.
d. What can we put as our Hooks? Here, we work on how the visuals should look like and what text should we write. These should catch people’s attention.
With all the posts, writing, graphics, photos, and videos we’ve made, we stayed consistent with the brand guidelines, the themes, and colors used, and also the brand personality.
We made sure these show up on ALL of Luigi Casutt’s socials consistently.
We were given the freedom to establish Luigi Casutt’s online presence, as it basically did not exist except on the website.
Aside from LinkedIn, we have also chosen to focus on Facebook, Instagram, and Google Business.
These are the strategies we have implemented over all social media channels:
First and foremost, we are a creative agency. Whatever the customers’ comments are regarding directly the service of our clients, unfortunately, we have no control over.
Another thing we don’t do: linger on the problems.
There was this one time Luigi Casutt received a 1-star review on their Google Business page. Promptly, we discussed this with the whole team together with Giovanni Ratano.
We wanted to know the reason behind and so we asked if this person is truly a customer of Luigi Casutt. The big reveal is: he wasn’t.
There had been no name stating that this person has ever visited, called, or availed any of Luigi Casutt’s services. And so began our research as who this person could be. We tried reaching out to him and finding out how we could speak with him.
Turns out, there are small companies who do this little scam. Based on the review having no comments at all, you can already tell that this is just done for the sake of leaving a mark. There are no efforts whatsoever to share what happened and what Luigi Casutt can do to improve in the future.
We found that what these companies do is they leave a bad review with no explanation and then, when you reach out to them, they will propose a deal: they will delete the bad review but you have to give a sum amount of money.
This, we discovered, is prevalent among businesses who are trying to grow through marketing. Reviews are crucial since it provides an impression of how good or bad your business is. Before customers become customers, they will highly likely check first what they are signing up for.
We focused on things we can control. We left a genuinely concerned comment, showcasing how Luigi Casutt would love to redeem itself if informed on what issues it can fix.
The reviewer never replied. However, an unexpected turn of events, due to this bad review and our heartfelt comment, a lead has been converted into a client!
They have stumble upon the review and our prompt response gave an impression that we’re not robots and we do what we can to help out troubled customers. It goes to show how genuinity and accountability can turn things around.
We didn’t give too much attention to the website itself but after all this, you would expect to have people to at least visit there since people connect more with marketing efforts.
Surprisingly, this wasn’t the case. The website traffic is not improving as well as the insights on Luigi Casutt’s social platforms. And so began our search for answers…
Turns out: the old and outdated website is still up!
Since this came first than the new and updated website, it secures the top of the search bar whenever you Google “Luigi Casutt AG.”
But then, we already had the new website linked everywhere – on Facebook, Google Business, LinkedIn, and Instagram. We have even Google Business optimized, with all the relevant tags, and the updated photos we hadfrom the photoshoot. So, what’s the issue?
Well, through Google Search Console, we have discovered that the new website hasn’t been indexed.
Here is where we’ve discovered: there had been a broken file within the website that caused it not to show up on Google at all.
As we have mentioned in the beginning, initially a different agency has been handling Luigi Casutt’s website. There had been multiple issues of log-in information being withheld by this agency from Giovanni Ratano and so we had to fight tooth and nail to gain access.
After several back and forths at contacting them, we managed to finally have control over what happens to the webpage.
Our step-by-step solution:
Ta-da!
How did we go about content creation in a business that is very, very far away from our daily world?
Every Monday of the week, our team would research construction industry knowledge, collect marketing trends and discuss content ideas for the business.
We would decide on the content plan for the next couple of weeks and start working on it.
We continuously diversify content, so we have a variety of things to test:
It is essential to test all sorts of content and see what works. As well, different types of content address buyers in a different type of buying cycles - maybe somebody is just in the stage of "awareness" while another buyer could be actively looking for a contractor.
Weekly report would be sent to our client ahead of posting for the approval of the content (ONE CLICK ONLY! We maximize for friction-free decisions for the client) and the results of previous week.
We would discuss the result within our team as well: what types of creatives worked, which ones didn't, what was the possible cause of it and what type of creatives we could be testing for the following weeks.
By Monday next week, we would get new creatives and have a campaign set-up ready to go.
Key Results:
The content that reached more people and gained higher engagement rates would be the ones that showed the team members, and those that tell the story of Giovanni Ratano (his Hero’s Journey).
This shows the importance of humanizing and putting faces on the brand. Building an emotional attachment between the business and the target audience is something that is rare to see with Luigi Casutt’s competitors – this made them stand out from the crowd.
With the marketing strategy we had plus optimization of all the social platforms, we were able to have these posts reach even non-followers, making Luigi Casutt AG show up everywhere (as we were told)!
The purpose of this: when people are in need of any construction services, then you know what name comes up from the top of their heads!
