Machete Marketing Case Study

SCOPE

PAID MEDIA, DESIGN, SEO

INDUSTRY

APPAREL & MERCHANDISE, D2C, ECOMMERECE

YEAR

2022 – PRESENT

Machete

Combining Strategic SEO and Paid Media to Take a Luxury Accessory Brand to New Heights

MACHETE is an Atlanta-based company that creates heirloom-quality, handcrafted accessories designed to “make you feel good every time you pick them up.” As Machete’s marketing partner for SEO and paid media, Marketwake executes thoughtful strategies that align with Machete’s unique place in the competitive D2C market.

In 2024, Machete’s new website launch was the perfect opportunity to lay a fresh foundation for successful SEO and paid media efforts to drive traffic and serve every customer who chooses to shop Machete.

Marketwake served as a strategic partner throughout the site project and subsequent paid media efforts, working with teams across multiple agencies to launch Machete’s new online presence with an innovative strategy for a seamless search experience, tailored audience reach, and successful conversions.

In addition to a new site launch, Machete’s need for a proactive paid media strategy to meet efficiency and ROAS goals persisted. What began as a concerted effort for growth has expanded into a partnership focused on building, iterating, and testing new creative and platforms to expand Machete’s media mix across multiple channels to meet larger business objectives.

Seasonal Media Strategy

Q4 is a crucial time of the year for digital e-commerce brands. The stakes for paid media are high, but for a company like Machete, the opportunity for success is even higher.

Critical strategy decisions for 2024’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday campaigns relied heavily on performance data from 2023’s previous BFCM success. Rethinking audiences, introducing more detailed segmentation, and utilizing creative testing are just a few of the ways Marketwake used paid media expertise to help MACHETE achieve Q4 revenue success.

36%

of revenue from media was driven during Q4

2.60

aggregate ROAS from full media mix

$36.55

combined CPA – down 12% QoQ

Agile Paid Media

Machete’s unique brand is strongest when represented through stunning product and editorial imagery paired with an innovative media strategy that allows us to stay ahead of the competition. Our partnership delicately balances building brand awareness and driving bottom-line revenue. While the juggling act can sometimes prove challenging, our investment in the brand continues to pay off. During Q3 2024, we experienced the most conversion volume on branded search terms to date; directly tying our broad-reaching media mix to conversion over time.

58.5%

of total 2024 revenue attributed to paid media campaigns

55%

increase in revenue from pinterest Q3 2024 vs Q3 2023

14%

increase in ROAS on Meta Q3 2024 vs Q3 2023

Proactive SEO Launch

Machete’s new site launch in 2024 provided an opportunity for Marketwake to lay a robust SEO foundation. We implemented a unique approach that expanded our focus far beyond keyword selections to things like addressing back-end meta-data, image optimization, refining H1s and H2s, and strategically preserving and enhancing current SEO performance. A new navigation framework dramatically improved searchability through increased filtering capabilities, and strategic SEO and copy decisions helped maintain optimization without sacrificing the refined voice integral to Machete’s brand.

66%

increase in Keyword positions 1-3 six months after launch

33%

increase in total keywords in the six months after launch

10s

increase in website user engagement YoY

A Unified Strategy for Machete Success

While our larger focus is on organic search and paid media, the hallmark of our partnership is based on our ability to look beyond these two areas at the overall Machete marketing mix. Our twofold strategy creates a cycle of continuous improvement through understanding that while Machete’s website is the true engine for success, optimizing media is essential to driving website traffic that converts. Whether tracking website audiences for hyper-targeted paid media or using organic performance trends to influence search optimization decisions, our strategy has created holistic success at every customer touchpoint.