blu e-cigarettes | Content

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We worked with e-cigarette company blu to drive organic traffic and revenue in a heavily restricted market…

Working within a heavily regulated emerging market to drive significant increases in organic awareness.

A Challenging Market

Working in a restricted market can prove challenging as it can sometimes feel as though the rules put the handbrake on creativity and stifle opportunities to raise awareness. However, these restrictions can also help guide strategy and give you a clearer idea of how to forge a distinct message for your brand. We were tasked with navigating these difficult waters for e-cigarette brand blu.

An Integrated Approach

E-cigarette brands are not allowed to perform paid media, so the focus for a digital marketing strategy lay almost entirely on organic search and content. But with blu having made its name through droll campaigns that were created in a time when the industry wasn’t quite so stringently regulated, a change was required and we needed an approach that would offer valuable advice to existing customers without alienating newer users.

One area we capitalised on was the public’s lack of knowledge regarding e-cigarettes. After conducting extensive keyword research and identifying the best ranking opportunities, we wrote a series of articles designed to rank for these key queries. In line with regulations, we had to ensure that these articles were compelling and informative, whilst also making:

  • No health claims
  • No references to cigarettes whatsoever
  • No claims as to the benefits of using e-cigarettes (e.g. better smell compared to traditional cigarettes)

In addition to creating content to rank for search queries, we also took this as an opportunity to consider how the content appeared on-site. For this reason, we reformatted the existing content – which previously just existed in a blog – and divided it into three distinct categories.

  1. About blu Products – Informative content designed for customers close to purchase or post-purchase
  2. Explore Vaping – Non-branded evergreen content answering key search queries (e.g. “How Do I Inhale Vapour?”)
  3. Blog – Content relating to trends arising from the industry (e.g. blogs answering spiking search queries or relating to seasonal care) as well as promotions and company news

By doing this, we could make the content easier to find and help it play an important role in the overall customer journey user experience.

Boosting Organic Results

Between December 2016 and December 2017, organic page views for content sections increased.

  • By 68.7% in the US
  • By 106.52% in Italy
  • By 1,042.6% in France