Case study: The Fresh Market
The challenge
Since 1982, The Fresh Market has been renowned for its carefully curated offerings and an unparalleled shopping experience that inspires guests to explore new products, cook with confidence, and serve easy, delicious meals. The premier fresh-focused specialty food retailer operates 161 stores across 22 states in the U.S.
The Fresh Market was facing mounting pressure from larger national grocery chains with broader digital footprints and larger marketing budgets, along with the added strain of rising inflation. It needed a strategy to differentiate its brand, increase foot traffic post-pandemic, and boost local visibility—all while maintaining its unique positioning as a premium, fresh produce retailer.
The solution
DAC developed a hyper-localized digital marketing campaign aimed at reaching customers at the neighborhood level. Our strategy integrated targeted paid search, social media advertising, and local SEO to maximize store visibility in search results and across digital platforms. Leveraging DAC’s Enterprise-to-Local expertise, we crafted content and ads that resonated with key market segments searching for nearby stores, fresh produce, and meal solutions, highlighting The Fresh Market’s premium quality and value.
Budgets were strategically customized for each of the 160 stores based on factors such as store size, demand, and competition within the market. Using Proove Intelligence, our analytics center of excellence, we deployed data-driven insights to track consumer behavior and optimize media spend, focusing on attracting new and lapsed customers—those who hadn’t visited in 180 days. By closely monitoring store-specific performance, DAC was able to enhance underperforming locations with tailored, localized efforts. This approach ensured that personalized content was delivered based on location, customer preferences, and shopping behaviors.
The impact
The Fresh Market was the only competitor to experience positive traffic trends during this period, according to Placer.ai. In just 38 days, the campaign achieved remarkable results:
- 583,000 store visits attributed directly to paid digital media clicks
- Year-over-year (YoY) traffic comparisons revealed a 4% improvement in overall foot traffic
- Google Local Campaigns generated an average daily increase of 12,000 store visits
- The Fresh Market reported an exceptional 58:1 return on ad spend (ROAS)
- An average cost per store visit (CPSV) of $0.74
The success of the campaign has garnered significant recognition. The partnership won Best Local Campaign at the US Agency Awards 2024 and Best Local Search Initiative – PPC at the Search Engine Awards 2023. It was also recently shortlisted for the Global Search Awards 2024 Best Local Campaign and the Global Agency Awards 2024 Best PPC Campaign.
store visits due to paid media clicks
return on ad spend (ROAS)
cost per store visit (CPSV)