How Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt Lopez Took Hawkers to The Subsequent Degree of Profitability By way of Social Media

Many individuals know of Hawkers, the fashionable, tremendous cool sun shades which have made their mark on the business. What many don’t know is how numerous the advertising and marketing for these sun shades was and the way revolutionary its lead investor wanted to be to take a small-scale idea and switch it into a worldwide effort. Extra so, he did it utilizing social media advertising and marketing as the primary advertising and marketing software, lengthy earlier than different firms had been capitalizing on this market.

A Historical past of Hawkers 

In 2012, 4 younger Spanish entrepreneurs had an concept to make use of a second-hand, buy-and-sell web site to promote merchandise. The 4 labored onerous at their enterprise, placing all of their cash into it. Nonetheless, 18 months later, that they had solely bought 50 pairs. Over the following few months, they might work to develop web sites for purchasers promoting straight by eCommerce, which helped them understand simply how essential on-line gross sales had been. Doing this, together with publicity to Knockaround sun shades, a California model that grew because of social media affect, helped to push them within the path of promoting sun shades. 

How does a gaggle of entrepreneurs flip an preliminary $300 right into a $78 million sunglass empire in nearly two years? Think about the work Alejandro Betancourt Lopez supplied the corporate.

How Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt Lopez Reworked Hawkers

Advertising is at all times a giant a part of any product launch, however for Hawkers, the objective was to get folks all for these sun shades not due to big model recognition like different firms supplied however fairly because of social advertising and marketing. Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt Lopez took an curiosity within the firm and helped fund it. With that funding and a few steering, the corporate shortly grew to become a success.

How Social Media Created Hawker’s Success

After buying 27 pairs of Knockaround sun shades for $300, the group of 4 entrepreneurs designed to resell them for a revenue and located quick success. They continued the method. This time, they used Fb adverts as a software to assist them to construct some recognition for his or her merchandise. They didn’t simply promote their sun shades by these adverts, although.

Somewhat, they used Fb adverts to draw influencers to their model. They sport every influencer a number of sun shades at no cost in alternate for a number of Fb posts the place they might put on the sun shades. 

Inside six months, the group had turn into official distributors in Spain because of their success. At this level, the group was nonetheless utilizing the Knockaround model, not their very own. They determined to half methods with that model and launched Hawkers as an alternative. 

In late 2013, they launched a Shopify retailer with a brand new product that they had manufactured in China particularly for his or her wants. They adopted the identical social media advertising and marketing technique and relied closely on aggressive word-of-mouth advertising and marketing. 

With early investments from Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt Lopez, they had been in a position to proceed to push their product ahead and bought extra of their sun shades within the arms of worldwide influencers. These influencers continued to speak about, put on, and in any other case interact with the model, making Hawkers internationally identified shortly. 

Over time, they moved away from providing their merchandise to simply any influencers and started focusing on influencers that had been more than likely a goal buyer. They targeted closely on influencers inside their buyer base to create extra traction for his or her merchandise. The extra numerous their buyer base, the higher. 

Social media allowed Hawkers to achieve traction shortly. Whereas different sunglass firms might have been round for many years and labored onerous to construct their model by a historical past of making excessive vogue and high-end merchandise, Hawkers went proper to their more than likely prospects, discovered the influencers they thought might present one of the best general outcomes, and created success.

Gross sales From Social Media Are Pure Success

With the funding from Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt Lopez, Hawkers was in a position to improve its attain on social media, the place it had unbelievable success. In 2016, the corporate bought about $70 million value of sun shades. Of these, a formidable 90 % of their gross sales got here straight from social media purchases. 

They then pushed their efforts to the following stage with the launch of the Campus Consultant Program. This program introduced collectively some 5,000 school college students. They labored as model ambassadors for Hawkers. Utilizing the identical social media advertising and marketing success that they had utilized to this college-based buyer group, Hawkers was in a position to encourage an enormous uptick of their gross sales and general model attain. College students wore their sun shades to events, round campus, and on their social media accounts. 

Why Did Hawkers Have That Type of Success?

There are quite a few the reason why Hawkers was in a position to thrive by the social media market. First, it had very particular targets when it launched its merchandise. Not like its competitors, it saved its product value low – at round $30 to $40 for a pair of designer sun shades, far under the competitors focusing on the identical viewers at round $200 or extra for a pair.

The price didn’t affect the standard, although. Many occasions, social influencers helped to spur the gross sales of the corporate’s merchandise primarily based on the standard they supplied. They seemed, felt, and had been true designer merchandise. 

Along with this, Hawkers acquired vital funding by Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt Lopez. With that funding, and with a few of his steering and path in advertising and marketing on social media, the corporate had the funds to succeed in quite a few influencers and the cash to provide sufficient sun shades to fulfill client wants. 

The place is Hawkers Now?

There are lots of modifications occurring at Hawkers to assist additional develop the corporate. In 2021, the corporate launched the restricted H20 sunglass line. This line helped the corporate to concentrate on its objective of being environmentally pleasant. The brand new market marketing campaign goals to showcase that the corporate’s merchandise are constructed from recycled and biodegradable supplies. Extra so, their line of merchandise now comes with one hundred pc sustainable packaging. 

For firms in search of a strategy to launch and overcome the massive model shadows which are onerous to step round, social media advertising and marketing may very well be a core element of the method.