How Helly Hansen Increased Web Traffic by +213% over Q3-Q4 2020

Key Takeaways

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Helly Hansen had a +213% increase in web traffic in Q3-Q4 2020, which was 41% greater than the previous year and significantly more than other brands in the industry. 

• Organic Social Tactic — Increased Publishing Cadence: Helly Hansen increased their volume of content published on Facebook and Instagram by 111% and 28%, respectively. This increase in content increased engagements on Facebook and Instagram by a total of +32%. Try cross-promoting content across multiple platforms to increase your publishing cadence.
  

• Paid Social Tactic —Facebook Link Ads: Helly Hansen used Facebook link ads to drive traffic to their blog posts. This accounted for 96% of their total Facebook ad spend. Their top-performing ads can be categorized by: Trust Takes You Further blog posts, informative articles, and product launches. Try increasing web traffic through promoting top performing blog posts with Facebook link ads. 
  

• Content Tactic —Video Ads: Helly Hansen had a significant increase in video views due to their “Trust Takes You Further” and “Lifa Infinity Pro” video campaigns. These two 30 second videos generated a combined total of 12M views on Facebook and YouTube. Additionally, Helly Hansen ran the Lifa Infinity Pro video from November 1-22, 2020, as an ad on YouTube, resulting in a CPM of $18. Invest in video content for multifaceted campaigns and promote the video on Facebook and YouTube. 

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Helly Hansen increased their web traffic by +213% over Q3-Q4 2020. Traffic peaked in November 2020 at 1.9M monthly visits.

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When looking at web traffic YoY, this increase from Q3-Q4 2020 was +41% greater relative to the same period in 2019. In addition, the annual peak in traffic in November 2020 was +28% greater than the peak in November 2019.

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The increase in traffic for Helly Hansen was significantly greater relative to all other outdoor apparel brands during Q3-Q4 2020.

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Helly Hansen’s increase in traffic during Q3-Q4 2020 can be attributed to the following three reasons:

1. Increased Publishing Cadence:

Helly Hansen increased their posting on Facebook and Instagram, which increased social traffic. From the first half of the year to the latter half, social traffic increased on desktop (+107%) and mobile devices (+77%). In Q3-Q4 2020, social accounted for nearly 8% of all web traffic to the site.

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Helly Hansen increased their average number of monthly posts on Facebook by +111% and on Instagram +28% from Q3 to Q4 2020.

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This increase in their publishing cadence on Facebook and Instagram resulted in +171% and +45% increase in engagements on Facebook and Instagram respectively. 

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During this time period, Helly Hansen’s created a buzz on Facebook with the top three posts below. These posts generated a total of +37K likes, +4.8K shares, and +1.0K comments.

Posts featured exceptional video and photo footage of expeditions in nature.

Likes: 5K | Comments: 415 | Shares: 1.8K

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Likes: 21K | Comments: 237 | Shares: 1.5K

Likes: 23K | Comments: 363 | Shares: 1.5K

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Helly Hansen’s top three Instagram posts during this period featured two athletes and cross-promoted an informative blog post on how to wash and re-waterproof a shell jacket. During this period, Helly Hansen’s Instagram content predominantly focused on photos (90%).

Athlete Partnership

Likes: 6.1K | Comments: 41

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Blog Posts

Likes: 5.5K | Comments: 18

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Athlete Partnership

Likes: 4.6K | Views: 29K 

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Instagram Post by Type

Photo 89%

Video 7%

Carousel 4%

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2. Facebook Link Ads:

Helly Hansen increased their social ad spend and focused on Facebook link ads to promote their blog content. During this period, Helly Hansen increased their US social ad spend by +56%, which resulted in a +77% increase in paid impressions. 

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In the US, Helly Hansen increased their Facebook ads the most significantly, peaking in November 2020 at $347K. During this period Facebook ads made up 70% of their social ad spend. 

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On Facebook, Helly Hansen ran primarily link post ads (96%). These link ads promoted recent blog posts and drove users to the respective article on the website.

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Their top link ads can be categorized into three groups: Trust Takes You Further blog posts, informative article and product launch.

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Trust Takes You Forward

Spend: $97K | Impressions: 10.3M | CPM: $9.0

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Informative

Spend: $42K | Impressions: 5.7M | CPM: $7.0

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Trust Takes You Forward

Spend: $40K | Impressions: 4.3M | CPM: $9.0

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Product Launch

Spend: $32K | Impressions: 3.4M | CPM: $9.0

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3. Video Ads:

Helly Hansen generated over 12M video views with two video campaigns on Facebook and YouTube. Additionally, Helly Hansen experienced an increase in their video views by +193% and +962% on YouTube and Facebook respectively during Q3-Q4 2020. This increase can be attributed to their “Trust Takes You Further” and “Lifa Infinity Pro” video campaigns.

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Their “Trust Takes You Further” video launched in October 2020 on Facebook and YouTube and generated a total of +4.7M views. 

Trust Takes You Further Video

• Facebook Views 2.2M‍
• YouTube Views 2.5M‍
• Video Length 30 sec.
• *Ad spend for this campaign is currently unavailable.
  

Concept & Tactics: 
Video creative is a part of their multifaceted “Trust Takes You Further” campaign. The campaign featured blog posts, Facebook link ads, and organic Instagram posts along with this video.

• Creative featured subtle shots of their product along with stunning footage from a ski expedition.
• Video ended with the headline “Trusted by Professionals”. 

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To promote their Life Infinity Pro product, Helly Hansen ran a 30s YouTube video campaign in September 2020 which generated +7.3M views.  

Lifa Infinity Pro Video

• YouTube Views 7.3M‍
• Paid Impressions 5.0M‍
• YouTube Ad Spend $90K‍
• Video Length 30 sec.
  

Concept & Tactics: 

• Video focused on the product being both professional grade and responsibly made. 
• Video mixed a variety of shots of the product and of ski expedition.
• Ran video as an ad on YouTube from November 1-22, 2020.