A dry-mill distiller needed a website refresh to better align its mission with its investors, customers, and target audience.
Beginning production in May 2008, dry-mill distiller SME now produces over 70 million gallons of alcohol annually. While adapting to their ever-changing industry, they released a new suite of products related to natured and denatured alcohol. This sparked a rebranding effort for the company requiring an updated website.
SME partnered with our team at TANK New Media (TANK) to create a strategy for redefining their target audience, tone, and overall messaging for the company. SME needed to communicate how their new products help businesses meet their quality standard guidelines.
New Product Line Called for a Redesigned Website
SME wanted to attract new manufacturing businesses and a more extensive corporate clientele with their new products. Industry clients seek out companies they can trust to provide high-quality products delivered on time — all the more reason for SME to clearly communicate that message.
SME's existing website was outdated and complicated for users to navigate. Understanding their target audience and business goals, we strategized the design of a professional and corporate website that would show their production process, outline their company values, and offer helpful navigation with easy-to-find information.
Website Redesign Offered Clarity & Clear Expectations
It was important to SME that their new site be simple, uncluttered, and user-friendly. To better grasp their vision, we presented them with several websites for comparison to help us determine their style and layout preferences. Once we had a clear picture of their ideas, we set to work.
To capture their company’s values, products, and preferences, we used product-focused imagery and helpful industry-specific content. Our goal was to make the website on-brand, visually appealing, and valuable — the farthest from confusing, complicated, or unclear. We used bold, colorful photos of their products throughout the site to showcase their products.
Because SME focuses on several target audiences in industry-specific markets, we created a call-out section on the website homepage using cards that flip over. This created eye-catching movement on the page and provided a snippet of preview text targeted to each industry. Because each market segment uses SME products differently, it was critical to create differentiation, making it easier for potential customers to find what they needed.
Each SME product has its own detail page with a downloadable spec sheet to give customers all the information they need to make an educated purchase. With the product name, type, info download, common uses provided on the page, customers can easily identify which product is the best fit for their needs.
Accessible Investors Section Offered Convenience
A section of the website was designed specifically for members — an area where investors can access and change their level of ownership, view documents, and review a list of sale and purchase opportunities. With more than 460 investors, this section being easily accessible was vital to business.
When designing this section, TANK devised a plan that would make website navigation for members even better. Creating a sub-navigation bar that separated important updates, buying information, company details, and more made it easier for investors to find what they needed quickly. This change improved overall member satisfaction.
For new potential members, the new layout made it easy to request access and collect information to help SME determine member fit. A follow-up email was set up to automatically send an alert to the potential members about whether or not they have been approved.
A Great Website Can Serve a Solid Marketing Foundation
By approaching this website update systematically through TANK’s website design & development, TANK revamped the visual presentation to include an updated logo, visual style, and structure. This aligned the SME brand with its mission, members, customers, and target audience.
With a clean and customer-focused website, SME has a strong foundation for building an essential growth-minded marketing strategy.
