Case Study: Severn Sales Laboratory Supplies. Supporting Growth Through Smarter Marketing

For many people, the challenges faced by global businesses seem worlds away from the struggles of small local companies. But in reality, the core problems are often exactly the same. When Liz joined the team at Severn Sales Laboratory Supplies as Global Marketing Manager, the business was already well established within the laboratory supplies sector, serving clients across the UK, Europe and internationally. Based in Bristol, the company had built a strong reputation over many years and worked with a wide range of scientific suppliers and manufacturers worldwide.

However, despite their size and international reach, they faced many of the same marketing frustrations that small and medium-sized businesses still experience today. The business wanted to increase its visibility, strengthen supplier relationships, reach new customers and modernise its marketing activity. Much of the marketing work had previously been outsourced, but results were inconsistent, reporting lacked clarity, and there was very little proactive support or strategic direction being offered.

At the same time, two of the company’s three directors were approaching retirement and understandably had little interest in adopting newer technologies or investing time into areas such as social media, digital engagement or ecommerce improvements.

Rather than attempting to completely overhaul everything overnight, the approach focused on gradual, practical improvements that delivered measurable benefits across the business.

Starting with Audits and Understanding the Problems

One of the first priorities was carrying out detailed audits across all existing marketing activity.

This included reviewing:

• Printed marketing materials
• Customer communications
• Website performance
• Email marketing
• Sales support tools
• Social media opportunities
• Supplier engagement
• Internal processes and efficiencies

The findings were familiar to many businesses:

• Marketing activity lacked consistency
• Branding had become dated
• Communication tools were inefficient
• Digital platforms were not user friendly
• Sales teams needed more support and confidence online
• Valuable marketing assets and images were scattered or missing entirely

Instead of adding more complexity, the focus became simplifying processes, improving consistency and helping the business modernise in manageable stages.

Refreshing Traditional Marketing

One of the early projects involved redesigning the company’s monthly promotional flyer. While simple on the surface, this became an important tool for improving customer engagement and presenting the business in a more modern, professional and consistent way. The refreshed design improved readability, strengthened branding and helped suppliers gain better visibility for featured products. We introduced featured products, special offers, secondhand equipment and partnerships with suppliers on new and upcoming products and supplies.

At the same time, email marketing activity was completely reviewed. The existing software and systems were inefficient, overly complicated, and time-consuming, limiting what could realistically be achieved. By redesigning the newsletter structure and introducing a more effective email marketing platform, campaigns became easier to manage, more visually appealing and far more efficient for the internal team. This also improved reporting and performance tracking, giving the business far greater visibility over engagement levels and customer interests.

Building Confidence with LinkedIn

Another major area of development was supporting the sales team with LinkedIn training. At the time, many sales representatives viewed LinkedIn as unnecessary or were unsure how to use it professionally. Training sessions were introduced to help team members understand how the platform could support relationship building, supplier engagement and networking within the scientific and laboratory sectors.

This was not about turning sales staff into influencers or content creators. Instead, it focused on helping individuals:

• Improve professional visibility
• Build supplier and customer relationships
• Engage with industry conversations
• Support trust and credibility
• Strengthen networking opportunities internationally

Little by little, confidence improved, and LinkedIn became another valuable communication and relationship-building tool within the business. It was also used as an outreach tool by the marketing and sales team, which helped to create new leads and open doors with new suppliers.

Developing a Comprehensive Image Library

Like many businesses, Severn Sales had years of valuable history but very little organised visual content.

A comprehensive image library was developed to support:

• Website updates
• Marketing campaigns
• Product promotions
• Supplier communications
• Social media activity
• Printed materials
• Internal presentations

Having access to consistent, high-quality imagery significantly improved the professionalism and flexibility of future marketing activity while also reducing the ongoing reliance on external agencies.

Transforming the Ecommerce Website

Perhaps the largest and most significant project was the complete redevelopment of the company’s ecommerce website. The existing Magento platform had become increasingly difficult to manage, less user friendly and inefficient for both customers and staff. A decision was made to redesign and migrate the website to a modern WordPress WooCommerce platform. This was not simply a cosmetic redesign. The new website was developed to improve usability across the entire business operation.

Key improvements included:

• A far more user-friendly customer experience
• Improved navigation and product accessibility
• Mobile-friendly functionality
• Multi-lingual capabilities
• Easier product and content management
• Better integration with day-to-day operations
• Improved support for UK, European and international shipping

Importantly, the changes also helped improve efficiency within the warehouse and dispatch teams, supporting smoother order processing and shipping workflows. The website became not just a marketing tool, but an operational improvement across multiple departments.

Digitising Product Manuals and Technical Handbooks

Another highly valuable project introduced during this period was the digitisation of equipment manuals, product handbooks and technical documentation. Like many long-established businesses, Severn Sales Laboratory Supplies had accumulated a huge amount of valuable technical information over the years. However, much of it existed only in printed form, scattered files or outdated formats that were difficult for both customers and staff to access quickly. Rather than allowing this information to remain hidden away, the decision was made to gradually digitise and organise large sections of the company’s technical resources.

This included:

• Equipment manuals
• Product handbooks
• Technical guides
• Setup instructions
• Safety information
• User support documentation
• Supplier resources

The benefits internally were immediate. Staff could access information far more quickly, customers received better support and technical queries could often be answered much more efficiently. However, one of the biggest long-term advantages came from using this information strategically as part of the company’s SEO and content marketing activity.

Using Technical Content to Improve SEO

Many businesses underestimate how valuable their existing knowledge and technical documentation can be online. Laboratory customers, engineers, procurement teams and technical staff regularly search online for:

• Equipment support
• Product specifications
• Troubleshooting advice
• Calibration guidance
• Safety instructions
• Technical terminology
• Compatibility information
• Product comparisons

By digitising manuals and creating useful supporting website content around them, Severn Sales was able to attract highly relevant traffic from people already interested in the types of products and solutions the business supplied. Rather than relying purely on direct sales advertising, the website became a valuable information resource for the industry. This supported SEO in several ways:

• Increasing Relevant Website Traffic
• Creating Opportunities for Supporting Blogs
• Guiding Visitors Towards Sales Pages
• Supporting Long-Term Digital Growth

Over time, this approach helped position the business not just as a supplier, but as a knowledgeable industry resource. It also demonstrated that marketing is not always about flashy advertising campaigns or viral social media posts. Sometimes the most powerful marketing comes from understanding what your customers genuinely need help with and making that information easier to find, easier to understand and easier to access.

A Gradual Evolution Rather Than a Sudden Change

One of the biggest lessons from this project was that successful marketing transformation rarely happens overnight. Over a two-year period, the business gradually refreshed its marketing activity, introduced modern systems and adopted new approaches at a pace the organisation could realistically manage. This allowed the company to modernise without disrupting day-to-day operations or alienating team members who were less confident with digital change.

It also reinforced something Liz now regularly shares with clients through Escape the Village: Businesses do not simply need someone to “do marketing.” They need support, strategy, honest reporting, communication and someone willing to understand the wider business challenges behind the marketing itself. That experience helped shape many of the processes now used within Escape the Village today, including regular client catch-up meetings, clearer reporting, collaborative planning and the development of the client portal to improve communication and ongoing support.

The Outcome

By the end of the project, Severn Sales Laboratory Supplies had significantly modernised its marketing activity and digital presence. Communication improved across the business, internal processes became more efficient and teams gained greater confidence using digital tools and platforms.

Supplier and customer engagement strengthened through refreshed branding, improved newsletters, updated marketing materials and better online visibility. The development of a comprehensive image library also helped create a more professional and consistent brand identity.

The new WooCommerce ecommerce website improved usability for customers while also streamlining operational workflows internally, particularly around product management and international shipping.

Most importantly, the business introduced modern marketing methods gradually and successfully, proving that even large international companies face many of the same challenges as smaller businesses. The project showed how practical, strategic improvements and ongoing support often deliver far better results than outsourcing marketing tasks without clear direction or collaboration.