King Ranch Saddle Shop

This project was completed in 2016 and has been archived as most of the project is no longer in public use.

Known as an industry leader in ranching and equine breeding, the King Ranch has also become synonymous with the high-end merchandise and fine leather goods sold at its famous Saddle Shop in historic downtown Kingsville. Blending classic Texas style with the tradition of the Old West, the King Ranch Saddle Shop offers a distinct aesthetic, along with an epic, storied history nearly as legendary as the Lone Star State.

Despite its clear popularity and having amassed a number of followers on social media, the Saddle Shop’s online presence left much to be desired. After calling the HRMG team in May 2015 for help with their content marketing efforts, our goals for the Saddle Shop included giving them a distinctive brand voice and personality, creating custom, high-quality graphics, ads, photography, and boosting engagement while bolstering brand advocacy by connecting with their audience on a more personal level.

Images taken by HRMG.

After taking over four of their social media platforms, including Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn, our first job was to begin interacting with followers and repair the damage done concerning engagement. Using algorithms that tout relevancy and engagement, the Saddle Shop’s previous efforts included simply posting product photos, which lacked engagement and in turn hid the page from many users. Using strategies that included historical photos, product previews, behind the scenes images and “Q&A” posts to help spark a dialogue with users. To date, HRMG has helped the Saddle Shop increase its Facebook audience by nearly 6,500 followers and its Instagram following by 2,000 followers in one year.

In addition to social media, our team was also instrumental in giving the Saddle Shop a convenient and easy to use new e-commerce website on NetSuite that is SEO-friendly and fully responsive on all devices. Working on a grueling turnaround schedule, our technical team had to quickly learn how to build the site for the NetSuite platform, while also working with companies such as MyBuys and Magnetic to implement third-party solutions. The website also helped lay the foundation for targeted email marketing campaigns via weekly emails to approximately 60,000 subscribers.

Our graphic design team was also instrumental in establishing a more refined visual aesthetic for the Saddle Shop throughout the year with custom advertisements for social media and in publications such as Ranch & Riata Magazine as well as Texas Monthly. The design team also worked extensively on several direct mail campaigns in the form of postcards for the Saddle Shop’s holiday pop up location in The Woodlands Mall, as well as promoting the Shop’s corporate gifts program.

As social media and content marketing call for an abundance of interesting content, our creative team also spent a large amount of time utilizing our photography and media services capturing professional photos, merchandise, and a complete video production highlighting some of the Saddle Shop’s master craftsmen who have used leather and saddle making skills that have been passed down for over 160 years.

Graphic work produced for Texas Monthly