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- Meta ad strategy
- Ecommerce consultancy
WESN is an online retailer of pocket knives and everyday carry tools (EDC). After a collaboration with long term Cake client P&Co, WESN turned to us for help on their ecommerce strategy.
WESN have previously gone viral on social media for content focused around their knives and had established a loyal customer base within the EDC space. However, WESN were looking to expand their reach into new audiences and attract new customers.
WESN is a unique entity in the EDC space, with their products more akin to lifestyle products and collectibles, despite also being fully functioning pocket knives. Finely tuned into the nature of hype culture, WESN regularly produce limited-quantity, special releases of their products, which are collected by their most avid customers. WESN had effectively game-i-fied the EDC space.
From the offset of working with us, it was established that this is where WESN was primarily focused - generating as much hype for these limited quality releases, so that all of the knives sold out and the cycle could begin again with more eyes and a wider base to garner interest.
The Challenge
With such a loyal customer base already, there had never been an occasion where one of WESN’s limited edition drops hadn’t sold out. Our challenge was to build as much hype and excitement for each drop so that they sold out quicker and quicker, ensuring that customers were more engaged with the brand and generating a large following for the brand overall.
One of the most unique hurdles to WESN, which has negatively impacted the brand in the past, is that Meta restricts any images of knives or other things it could consider weaponry in any paid advertisement. This meant that any image used in an ad placement either needed to show the knife closed, in its sheath, or not at all.
It was a unique challenge, as WESN were essentially being asked to sell a knife without showing one. But with our guidance for best practice Meta creative, thoughtfully crafted Meta ad copy, and strategies for generating hype, we knew we could effectively cut through the noise (pun fully intended) .
The Solution
WESN have, and have always had, a strong sense of creative direction, and this is present in everything from their product development through to the creative photoshoots made for every limited release. From shooting their “console” collection alongside 90’s games consoles to their “magic” collection against the backdrop of a set of playing cards - getting the thumb-stopping creative was never an issue.
However, in order for their Meta account to not get suspended as it had previously, we advised WESN to always take a number of photos of the knife closed, which wouldn’t flag Meta’s content guidelines.
When it came to actually building hype for the releases, there was a series of optimisations we introduced.
WESN would tease each limited release with an organic post and an email to their existing customer base. This post would reveal the new drop, detail when the new drop would release, and the quantity of knives that were available.
This post would then be boosted directly within Meta, which would ensure it got in front of as many people as possible - both existing and new customers. The boosted post would direct customers to an email sign up form, ensuring that they had all of the information they’d need to not miss out. Therefore, each new drop acted as a lead gen campaign and as a megaphone to get the word out to followers of the brand.
We’d also been making optimisations to their always-on campaigns. This included A-B testing whether branded copy increased CTR on creative, and, when it was determined that it did, providing copy suggestions for each new campaign.
The Outcome
With this strategy in place, every limited release drop WESN would run, had a larger following waiting excitedly. This has resulted in faster sell out periods each time - with the limited edition “magic microblade” selling out in record time.
Through refining the creative, making optimisations to the account structure, and improving the strategy for generating sales year-round, WESN have seen more hype around each new release, a larger and more avid following, and have begun to attract customers from outside of their EDC niche.
Our collaboration didn’t end here. A new, built-for-conversions Shopify site and a refined email marketing structure have only brought the brand more growth, and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for them next.
With this strategy in place, every limited release drop WESN would run, had a larger following waiting excitedly. This has resulted in faster sell out periods each time - in fact the limited edition “magic microblade” sold out in record time.
Through refining the creative, making optimisations to the account structure, and improving the strategy for generating sales year-round, WESN have seen more hype around each new release, a larger and more avid following, and have begun to attract customers from outside of their EDC niche.
Our collaboration didn’t end here. A refined email marketing structure has also brought the brand more growth, and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for them next.
Since our collaboration began in November of 2024 WESN has seen…
- A 61% increase in purchases from Meta Ads
- An 80% increase in reach in Meta ads
- A 63% increase in Meta Ad impressions
- A 44% decrease in cost per click
To find out how we can get these results for your business, contact us
Every great relationship starts with a conversation. We’d love to talk with you about your next project and answer any questions you might have about Shopify. But be warned… once we get talking about this stuff, it’s hard to shut us up!
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