Discover how a 100-year-old tool manufacturer leveraged the power of mobile app and digital advertising campaigns to boost engagement and achieve record-breaking sales.
For more than a century, General Tools, a subsidiary of Worthington Industries, has been equipping professionals and DIYers with the hammers, drills, and 1000’s of other tools to work smarter. Several years ago, they started a journey to enhance customer experience, drive awareness for a new product launch and increase cross-sell opportunities through a mobile application. They turned to Icreon for innovative solutions. Learn how Icreon helped a 100+ year old brand drive new revenue through digital initiatives and execute record-breaking sales.
Simply manufacturing connected products was not enough to build the customer experience they wanted. The real challenge was to elevate the DIYer experience by integrating General Tools product lines into an app that suggests related tools and equipment. They turned to Icreon to create a powerful mobile app that would engage with DIYers and provide them with inspiration-based suggestions that go beyond product listing.
“The Icreon Team was literally going above and beyond.” - Greg Bonsib
Together they thought through what that experience would look like when someone was doing a project and then found a way to enhance it with the app. The real question was how to create a digital experience that could help DIYers & craftsmen simplify their projects from inspiration and project checklists to step-by-step execution, while educating people about tools that will help make the job easier.
The Solution: ToolSmart Tutorial & Cross-sell App
General Tools was seeking to elevate its customer experience by incorporating inspiration-based suggestions and tutorials into its app. Icreon worked with them to design & develop the ToolSmart mobile app, which revolutionized the way users approached their DIY projects. With the app, users could simply upload their inspiration, and the app would recommend tools and the related materials/ equipment required to build that project end-to-end. The app also seamlessly integrated with General Tools' product line, allowing DIYers to access and purchase requisite tools or showing where to find them at retailers like Home Depot, Lowes, and Amazon.
“Having access to a lot of resources gave us incredible nimbleness. I could call their team in the morning with a request, and they’d fully implement it by the next morning. As we’d get results back, we could adapt and change.” - Greg Bonsib
The app facilitated data transmission between itself and General Tools' inventory through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, enabling efficient and productive project management. In addition to helping users complete projects, the app also allowed users to transmit and save images and videos taken from the tools within the app, providing a comprehensive solution for DIY enthusiasts. This innovative approach empowered users with the right tools and materials for their projects, enhancing their productivity and overall UX.
The Result: Enhanced UX and Increased Profit
Icreon has introduced a game-changing application that has enabled General Tools to offer an enhanced value-added service to the people who use their products. Through this innovative solution, Icreon has delivered a product that simplifies the marketing and cross-selling process for General Tools while enhancing profits. The app's user-friendly features and capabilities make life easier for DIY enthusiasts, providing them with a powerful tool that improves their overall experience and boosts their productivity.
“We judged Icreon’s performance based on the sales we saw. On that metric, we proved successfully that the work they were doing outperformed our expectations.” - Greg Bonsib
To promote its latest product, the 'Laser Measurement Tape', the company was struggling with ways that could convert online visitors into customers. They were looking for a data-driven approach that would empower General Tools to strategically boost sales for the new product by gaining insights into user preferences, interests, and purchase patterns.
The company turned to Icreon to craft a digital go-to-market strategy that would align its products with market demands.
The Solution: Strategic Digital Campaigns Across Social Media Platforms
The Icreon team collaborated with General Tools to launch strategic digital campaigns on major platforms such as Facebook and Amazon Prime, aimed at gaining insights into customer behaviors and preferences, and retargeting the audience for the new product launch of General Tools' Laser Tape Measure.
These campaigns were strategically timed to coincide with special occasions such as Father's Day, among others, to gauge customer responses and optimize retargeting efforts. By leveraging data-driven marketing techniques, General Tools was able to better understand customer behaviors, refine their marketing strategies, and drive increased sales for their new product.
The Result: Top-Selling Product on Amazon Marketplace
With successful digital marketing campaigns set up, General Tools achieved unprecedented profits that exceeded all previous records. The Laser Tape Measure product quickly rose to the top as the #1 new product on Amazon, garnering widespread attention and demand from customers.
“To this date, the single best product launch that we ever had at General Tools.”
This remarkable success resulted in maximized sales and significantly reduced customer acquisition costs (CAC), leading to exceptional profitability for General Tools. The strategic and data-driven marketing efforts implemented by General Tools, in collaboration with Icreon, proved to be highly effective in driving sales, establishing a strong market presence, and achieving unparalleled growth for the company.
“I’d say two things stood out about Icreon. First, they had an incredible strategic approach to problems. Second, they effectively used analytics to dial the performance of our campaigns.”
Icreon developed an effective digital go-to-market strategy to deeply understand the target audience for General Tool's new Laser Tape Measure product. In this, the team leveraged social media marketing and customer retargeting to enhance product reach and sales.
Icreon developed a smart mobile app called ToolSmart to capture the mobile audience who was looking for suitable tools for DIY approaches in crafts and trades. This application can take data measurements and transmit this data to recommend smart tools – if they meet the requirements.
Icreon suggested running digital campaigns on social media platforms to understand customer behavior in purchasing and recommending craftsmen and tradesmen tools. We created and implemented targeted advertising campaigns on Facebook and Amazon to seal the success of General Tools’ new products.
General Tools is an old player in the market. However, it never positioned itself in the digital world well. Icreon leveraged its heritage with customer retargeting on Amazon and Facebook with successful results. We used customer reviews and behavioral activities to boost its new product sales.
