Bates Footwear
Social Identity
They say a community is only as strong as those who step up to serve, and Bates mission is to serve those who do. To make products that support the brave men and women who risk their lives every day to protect and keep us safe.
A different kind of call.
The Opportunity
Bates had an opportunity to elevate their content outside of standard UGC and lifestyle photography, and strategically tap into more consumer moments with their audience. Without having a wide range in the product assortment, Bates needed to tell the stories behind their product in exciting and different ways on social media. Beyond elevating content and introducing strategy, Handcar also recognized there was a need for a social rebrand to create a more cohesive experience across all of their social channels.
Project Services
- User Research
- Brand Positioning
- Photography
- Product Styling
The Solution
Handcar first began by learning the ins and outs of the Bates brand, and crafted a detailed social media strategy including content plans and examples. By auditing their accounts, we had a full understanding of the audience and opportunities before diving in. Next we began refreshing all of Bates social identity assets, creating fresh highlight icons, story slide templates, cover graphics, and more.
“Working with Handcar was a dream. They continuously went above and beyond to understand our brand, consumer, and the social goals we wanted to reach. They are self-sufficient, reliable and always deliver exceptional content.”
Olivia Mashak, Senior Marketing Specialist
The Result
In our initial year managing the account, we witnessed a remarkable +14% surge in post interactions on Instagram. The most striking spike was evident in website visits, where clicks on Facebook soared to an impressive +2,400%, crossing the 1,000 mark. The enhanced content quality translated directly into a heightened interest in the Bates product, sparking an increase in profile visits, website clicks, direct messages, and comments.
Currently Bate’s total audience is over 75K, a +10% increase since the beginning of Handcar takeover. We’ve helmed major moments on social for the brand – facilitating 3 new product launches, managing their The Tactical Games influencer partnership, and strategizing, deploying, and providing all of the content for their highly successful and brand relevant social campaign, Step Up 2 Serve. Our result was renewed loyalty for an incredible legacy brand, something ad spend just can’t buy.
The Data
+%
Instagram followers in 2021
+%
instagram followers in 2022
%
Engagement Rate (quadruple the industry average)