Small Business
Digital Marketing Design
Featured in this portfolio is my digital marketing design for canihaveabite, an organic carryout food business in Kansas City, MO. All food and beverages were designed to be taken home, put in your fridge or freezer, and eaten later. There was also a small cafe with dine-in meal options.
In 2020, canihaveabite lost all customer access to their retail location due to shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is how I successfully maintained loyalty from customers and captured a wider audience with strategic digital marketing.
When the business moved in 2021, I helped with the Retail Design.
About This Project
Client:
canihaveabite
Time:
2018-2023
Role:
Creative Director
Design Highlights
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Website Design
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Online Ordering
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Photography
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Marketing Strategy
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Social Media
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Special Items
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Retail Design 2021-2023
Website Design
I am self-taught when it comes to web design. The website for canihaveabite was one of the first sites I designed (back in 2018), and it was on Wix. From 2018-2023, canihaveabite’s e-commerce platform changed several times, but it always integrated with the site. I also updated the menus on the site each week and managed the business’s SEO strategy.
Looking back on this project, there are a number of changes I would make to the site today to improve the overall design and structure. But we all need to start somewhere!
Online Ordering
Online ordering was crucial to the success of the business. Due to canihaveabite’s unique production model, it was necessary for online ordering to be both attractive for customers and work seamlessly with retail sales. Maintaining a precise inventory count was important. After testing a few software systems, we used an Ecwid integration on the website.
The video featured below is a walkthrough of canihaveabite’s online ordering system, as it appeared to customers. I managed the online product catalog and software.
Product Catalog & Photography
Experience the canihaveabite menu! Click on each photo to read the name and description of the dish. For my favorite dishes, like easter eggs in the catalog, you’ll find a story about how I named it. Scroll down further to learn more about my photography process.
Behind the photos
I love compostable packaging, except when I need to photograph food in it. Is that an unpopular opinion? The “recycled-brown” color of compostable packaging reduces the contrast between the food and its container, dampening the visual appetite of the food or drink on camera. A dish could look mouthwateringly delicious in my hand, then photograph flat and dull. But I was determined to capture each item accurately and vibrantly.
My photos library (8/29/2020) usually looked like this
Before & after editing
In 2020, canihaveabite moved the majority of sales online (because of the COVID-19 pandemic). Photos quickly became a necessity, but I did not have photography training. I taught myself through online tutorials.
As a creative, I get why the Adobe Creative Cloud is the standard industry software. But for a small business in the food industry, every expense matters. The profit margin is very thin, especially without alcohol sales. So, it was most cost effective for the business to use the following:
Equipment
Lightbox
Panasonic DMC-ZS35 point-and-shoot digital camera
iPhone and iPad
Software
Affinity Photo
TouchRetouch app (by ADVA)
Polarr app (by Polarr, Inc.)
Featured in these photos is Vegan Lasagna, our most popular menu item. All dishes were photographed from above to maintain visual consistency across a large menu. This was the visual journey for every photo: select an attractive product, photograph it in the lightbox, choose the best image, retouch any food splashes, and finish by adjusting the colors and background/shadows.
September 18, 2020 - Vegan Lasagna final
April 3, 2020 - lightbox
September 18, 2020 - lightbox
Email Marketing
Every Sunday, potential customers could view this week’s menu in their email inbox. Email marketing proved to be an effective sales strategy with more than 50% of canihaveabite subscribers opening the weekly email with the menu. The average click rate was successfully consistent at 11% over 3 years.
Special Items
How do you capture attention as a millennial in 2019? By creating GIFs.
2019 Moving Announcement
In 2019, canihaveabite moved its brick-and-mortar location in Kansas City, Missouri. To inform canihaveabite customers about this change, I designed an animation to play on TV screens displayed inside the store. This GIF was quite popular.
After 2020, the business moved again due to insurmountable construction hurdles created by the COVID-19 pandemic. To learn more about my Visual Merchandising Design process for canihaveabite’s 2021-2023 Crossroads store, click here.
GIF designed for TV display inside the store
Behind the scenes of my design process:
Social Media
To showcase the food and establish a brand identity, canihaveabite posted regularly on social media. Here are some posts I designed and photographed for canihaveabite’s Instagram page (our primary social media platform). “No way! This cup can go in the compost??” and other common questions from customers inspired many posts. We used Instagram Stories to share business updates and behind-the-scenes content with customers.