Project stories are a favorite thing at Control Yours. We love showing off our awesome clients and giving you a taste of what it’s like working with our team (who is also awesome ?).
This month, meet Jessica and Forrest Swanson, owners of Walnut Range Farms. By the end of this article, we’re pretty sure your mouth will be watering for beautifully marbled, grass-fed beef and pork, and you’ll be excited for their success as much as we are.
A One Stop Shop
How Walnut Range Farms maximized their Control Yours partnership to find their market.
Jessica and Forrest Swanson have always raised cattle. In fact, their families have raised cattle for as long as anyone can remember. But it wasn’t until two years ago that the two of them began to see their cattle as more than protein.
Taking a new direction
After conducting research, Jessica realized that beef and pork can be packed full of necessary vitamins and nutrients, but only if it’s fed differently than traditional grain-fed cattle. Familiar with lackluster grass-fed beef, they set out to raise grass-fed cattle that have the same marbled, full-flavored results as grain-fed cattle. In the end, they have found that allowing the animals to graze high diversity grass and vegetable mixes, has put their beef in a class all of its own.
Reaching a bigger market
Their meat was well-received at local grocery stores and other local outlets, but they knew there was a big market beyond the local reach as well. A friend recommended Control Yours and Forrest and Jessica approached them about a new website and branding. “Initially we just wanted branding and a simple, informative website, but as we got to know the CY team and as the process evolved, we got really excited about an e-commerce site,” said Jessica. “We loved the idea that we could showcase each cut of meat, and that we’d be able to change prices and pictures on our own. And if we needed any help, we’d have a team on our side.”
As their online store progressed, it became clear that Walnut Range Farms needed more than an online presence. With tradeshows, grocery store displays, and information to put in their shipping packages, they had a huge need for print pieces as well. “We found that we really needed that physical element. A lot of our print pieces are our first impression and so need to be beautiful and professional. When I realized that the CY team could create what I needed and handle the printing, we ran with it.”
One team for print and online marketing
They worked with CY’s graphic designers and copywriter to create a well-branded arsenal of marketing collateral. From banners for tradeshows to grocery store window decals to brochures and thank you cards, their print pieces are created to work together and have consistent branding with the website.
“The pieces have been incredibly effective. The window clings at the grocery store really communicate who we are and one of our brochures at a tradeshow brought us a deal with a restaurant,” said Jessica. She continued, “Working with one team to do both print and web has been amazing. It’s so much less work for me, less for me to remember, and everything looks cohesive. Also, everyone at Control Yours works so well together and is excited and passionate about what they do. There’s no way I could have replicated that over multiple companies.”
David Lano, Control Yours owner, agreed, “We started offering print design and services because of this main reason: you pour a ton of thought and intentionality into the website design, the code, the user experience when building an online presence. You have all this knowledge, all these assets you’ve created/developed. It just makes sense to use that gained perspective and work towards other marketing efforts.”
Continuing the relationship
Now that Walnut Range has what they need for their physical marketing efforts, they’ve begun to work on their online marketing strategy with the Control Yours team. Having recently shot a commercial with a firm out of Lincoln, they have begun strategizing how to reach specific metropolitan zip codes through social media and Google Adwords. They hope to drive traffic to and increase sales through their e-commerce site. Jessica explained, “We already have phone calls from people from California or Maine who found us simply through a Google search, but we’d like to start pinpointing markets and increasing those phone calls and online orders.”
The Control Yours team couldn’t be more thrilled to help Walnut Range grow. David said, “We’re so excited to continue to partner with Jessica. She’s brilliant-minded, creative, and passionate about her work. And she gets amped up about possibilities, so that makes working with her a dream! We can’t wait to see what the future holds for Walnut Range.”
