Heathergems

Heathergems produces a uniquely Scottish product: jewellery crafted from compressed, dyed heather stems, with a heritage identity that has no direct equivalent anywhere else. That distinctiveness was also the challenge. The brand needed to grow visibility well beyond its established base, reaching new buyers across the UK and internationally, without diluting the story that makes the product special.

The objective was to increase brand awareness, drive more online sales, and appeal to two very different audiences at once: shoppers looking for a meaningful gift, and tourists drawn to authentically Scottish craftsmanship. Reaching both, at scale and across borders, meant the marketing had to work harder than a single-channel approach could deliver.

mtc deployed a multi-channel marketing strategy built around SEO and PPC working in tandem. Landing pages were refined to lead with stronger storytelling, giving the heritage of the product room to breathe while guiding visitors clearly towards a purchase. Remarketing campaigns kept the brand visible to users who had shown interest but not yet converted, closing the gap between discovery and decision.

Seasonal content and ad updates were timed around the key gifting moments that drive demand in this category, creating deliberate spikes in visibility when buyers were most ready to act. Throughout, consistent optimisation ensured the brand captured tourism-led interest while steadily building reach with international audiences.

Heritage brands often assume their distinctiveness is enough to sell itself. In reality, the more unique a product is, the more work the marketing has to do to explain it, because there is no established category the buyer already understands. Heathergems is a clear example: the growth did not come from shouting louder, it came from telling the story more clearly and putting it in front of the right people at the right moment.

As we look at the digital landscape in 2026, there are three areas where distinctive and heritage brands most often leave growth on the table. Taking our work for Heathergems as an example, here are the things to consider when taking a step back to assess your own performance.

What we found by working on Heathergems:

Storytelling is a conversion lever, not just a brand exercise. Refining the landing pages to lead with the product’s heritage contributed directly to a 223% increase in organic conversions. People buy what they understand, and a product with a story needs that story on the page, not buried a click away.

International demand is often already there, waiting to be captured. The 108% increase in USA traffic did not require reinventing the brand for a new market; it came from making an authentically Scottish product easy to find and easy to buy from abroad. Tourist-driven interest and international curiosity are frequently under-served because brands assume their audience is local.

Remarketing is where gifting revenue is won or lost. Gift purchases involve deliberation, and few buyers convert on the first visit. Keeping the brand visible after that first touch is what turned interest into the 23% revenue increase. If you are not following up with interested users, you are paying to acquire attention and then letting it lapse.

Some challenges for your own site:

Look at your best-selling product and ask an honest question: could a first-time visitor who has never heard of it understand what it is, why it is special, and why they should buy it, from the landing page alone? If the story lives in your head rather than on the page, you are relying on the customer to do work they will not do.

Check where your traffic actually comes from geographically, then compare that against where your revenue comes from. If there is interest from markets you are not actively serving, that is untapped demand. What is stopping an international buyer from completing a purchase today: shipping clarity, currency, or simply not being found?

Map what happens after a visitor leaves without buying. For a considered or gifting purchase, the first visit is rarely the deciding one. Is there anything bringing that person back, or are you paying for the click and then walking away from the sale?

Success for a heritage brand in 2026 is not about abandoning what makes you distinctive to chase volume. Heathergems’ 575% increase in paid revenue came from doing the opposite: leaning into the story, and then being disciplined about putting it in front of the right audiences and following through until they bought.