CASE STUDY

Sweets & Snacks Expo: Increased Website Traffic With Organic Social

Services:

Social Media Management

Social Plus Package

Introduction

The National Confectioners Association’s Sweets & Snacks Expo (SSE) is the premier event for the confectionery and snack industry. It brings together manufacturers, retailers, and industry professionals - showcasing the latest trends, innovative products, and cutting-edge technologies in sweets and snacks. Attendees can explore a vast exhibit hall full of new products, attend educational sessions and network with key players in the industry. The event is a hub of inspiration for all confectionary and snack enthusiasts!

The Results

Sweets & Snacks Expo Organic Social

A comparison to the 2023 Sweets & Snacks Expo

2023

142,873

49,739

% increase

164.33%

200.52%

sessions

engaged sessions

2024

54,051

16,551

Organic social bumped up to being the second largest driver of traffic to the Sweets & Snacks Expo website, nearly doubling their lead generation. By working in tandem with Sweets & Snacks Expo to adjust their social media management strategy, AR Marketing was able to kill it on driving visitors to their website. See for yourself!

We are killing it. Organic social is now the second largest driver of SSE site traffic! Paul at National Confectioners Association

The Needs

In 2023, AR Marketing was posting up to 25 times a month to promote the Sweets & Snacks Expo. The content consisted primarily of static graphics and was not actively encouraging action. Their social media was looking clean and well-branded, but ultimately was not optimizing for any specific goals.

Per AR Marketing’s guidance, NCA decided they wanted to adjust their strategy and aim for increased engagement, followers and show leads. We felt that slowing down posting and taking the time to create content that was more engaging would achieve this.

The Strategy

In 2024, AR Marketing and NCA decided to reduce the number of posts by half, posting 12 times a month instead of 25. AR Marketing then strategically outlined a 12-post content calendar with a mix of photos, videos and graphics for organic and paid social. With each post came fun and trendy captions, as well as an increased mix-in of trending reels.

AR Marketing also had the opportunity to attend the Sweets & Snacks Expo in 2024 and gather organic and authentic content. This type of content gathering is ideal when a brand wants to make an effort to increase engagement and be more personal.

We then designed the content to be more engaging, using photos from the Sweets & Snacks Expo and creating trending reels with video footage. This choice was strategically made because a lesser amount of high-quality content statistically performs better than an overload of average-quality content. This change not only resulted in an overall increase in website traffic, but it also created a more aesthetically pleasing Instagram grid that was visibly fun and colorful.

Instagram Post Examples Photos, videos & graphics

This Instagram post from January 5th, 2024 marked the kick off of the new strategy. The comment section was evidence that the post generated anticipatory conversation surrounding the upcoming Sweets & Snacks Expo.