Small Business Marketing NZ: Digital Marketing Case Study and How it Turned a Small Business Around
Client. Furry Friends* - an Auckland-based pet care business specialising in dog grooming and doggie daycare.
Expertise. Small Business Marketing NZ , Digital Marketing Strategies, CRM & Marketing Software, Search Engine Optimisation, Marketing Coaching.
Mission. To develop a practical digital marketing strategy and implementation plan to rebuild and grow the business following the significant impact of COVID-19.
Impact. Increase in profitability, during a time when comparable businesses were struggling to retain their existing clientele.
*The client’s name has been hidden to protect the company's identity
The objective
Furry Friends is an Auckland dog grooming and daycare business. Sally had only recently taken ownership when COVID-19 hit, having brought on full-time staff just one month before the country went into lockdown. With non-essential businesses forced to close, Furry Friends shuttered for two months.
When the doors reopened, Sally faced a reduced customer base and a constrained revenue pipeline. Dog grooming wasn't viewed as a necessity - and in a post-lockdown economy, it was an easy expense for customers to forgo.
Sally had the drive to grow, but needed a clear strategy and the capability to execute it. This digital marketing strategy case study will show how Sally brought Objective in as her digital marketing agency to help turn things around. With the right strategy, small business marketing NZ can achieve turning results for businesses.
Our approach
We started by asking the right questions - examining every marketing, sales and conversion channel, and taking a close look at the CRM and marketing software in use. From there, we developed a comprehensive digital marketing strategy and a step-by-step implementation plan, designed to be achievable, and deliver meaningful results for small business marketing NZ.
Finding the opportunity in the numbers
We restructured the pricing model to charge appropriately for services previously given away for free, mapped the customer journey to identify where bookings were being lost, and applied the RFM model to surface opportunities to maximise transactions and win back lapsed customers.
Building capability, not dependency
A key part of our approach was equipping Sally to manage her own small business marketing in NZ with confidence. Working closely with a dedicated marketing coach, Sally learned how to run Facebook and Google Ads campaigns - including how to measure performance and continually improve results. We also introduced SEO best practices to lift Furry Friends' organic Google ranking, and provided guidance on day-to-day marketing management and the metrics that mattered most.
Getting the right foundations in place
Our digital marketing agency team helped Sally reallocate her time and resources toward the activities that would deliver the greatest return. A pivotal step was transitioning to a new CRM and booking platform - removing the friction that had been quietly costing the business conversions at the final stage of the customer journey. With better software in place, Furry Friends could communicate with customers more frequently, more relevantly, and with far greater impact.
The impact
As this digital marketing strategy case study shows, focused strategy and disciplined execution can deliver real results — even in a difficult market.
Furry Friends achieved 30% profitability growth at a time when comparable businesses were struggling to hold their ground. By working alongside a dedicated marketing coach and following the strategy with commitment, Sally was able to increase pricing, introduce upselling and cross-selling across services, sharpen the business's messaging to be more succinct and compelling, re-engage lapsed customers, pre-sell services ahead of time, and remove the booking barriers that had been holding growth back.
30%
Increase in Profitability
Month on Month
Growth in Repeat Customers
This digital marketing strategy case study does not just show results, it reveals an aspect of our work that reflects a broader philosophy: the best small business marketing NZ support doesn't create reliance - it builds lasting in-house capability.
To find out more about our branding & marketing and digital marketing consultant services, feel free to contact hello@objective.co.nz or get to know our digital marketing strategists here.