In this article I take a look at Huel’s success with paid social media and provide a compelling tear down of the tips, tricks and hacks that have propelled them social and DTC success… enjoy.
Tripwire that Fuels UGC
The tripwire is an irresistible, low priced or free offer that’s sole purpose is to convert an audience into customers. This small offer helps accelerate the buyer’s journey by letting customers dip their toes in without having to make a purchase and it's also a really strong reason for customers to “get the brand into hand” — this forms part of Huel’s user generated content strategy (UGC).
Price Anchoring
Price anchoring features in lots of Huels assets — is the practice of establishing a (often low) price point which customers can refer to when making decisions. In the examples below, Huel choose to use ‘From’ and ‘From Only’.
Most people are indecisive, particularly on social media, so this low price per meal appeals to them, and in combination with the tripwire, they click-through. This is a win for Huel — you’re now out of Instagram and into their world, their website.
I see both Tripwire adverts and price anchoring adverts used in the awareness phase of the funnel.
Relates to the audience
Other Adverts Huel have created are aligned to buyer responses. I see these adverts being used in the consideration phase of the funnel.
I like these adverts.
- Customer seeks more information about Huel.
- Customer can relate the advert to their own needs, wants and desires (to be less tired, to provide nutrients for my body, to build muscle, healthy skin) customer can pick out one of, or all of those things.
- Nice stapline used for the call to action — “one meal makes a difference”
- The two adverts to the right hand side of the image could of used creative sequencing — which allows a brand to arrange up to 50 ads in a certain order to be shown to an audience.
- The clever thing is, that people in your target audience will have the opportunity to see the ads in the order you choose.
- The drawback is, you’ve got to be spending some money on adverts on the reach and frequency setting (think 000’s)
Convince and convert
As we look further down the funnel, we can guess that Huel is using some of these adverts to retarget people, who might have visited their website, but who haven’t yet purchased with the message ‘Try Huel Today’
These adverts have a dual purpose — to convince and convert.
Data suggests 60% of customers look to online reviews, certification ( either a quote from a media outlet or an authority) and user social proof — otherwise known as the wisdom of the crowd — you can see that they’ve used the number of reviews (4.9k) as well as the star rating.
Another benefit is listed beneath the CTA
Huel also have lots of creative variations, which again, is best practice.
The Cart Fixer — More Intelligent Retargeting
Complete your order /cart abandon rate is a major issue for e-comms / s-comms advertisers.
It is likely that these adverts run for around 30 days, and uses a pixel on the thank you page, so as not to include people that have already purchased.
I think these adverts creatively, are the worst of the lot. The copy and the creative could be better.
It’s interesting to see that Huel have used what look like customer quotes in the post copy.
Creative, creative, creative
Last but by no means least, Huel use lots of creative.
Their branding is very distinct.
This has no doubt also helped them to become more recognisable and therefore, more popular over time.
So… Great work, Huel!
Lots of tips and tricks that all brands can get on board with.
If you enjoyed this episode of social de-constructed, I’d really appreciate a like, comment, connection or share.
Work with myself and the team at Punch Communications.
A social-first creative agency. www.punchcomms.com.
