Military Memorabilia Merchant Takes Strides to Increase their Digital Footprint

With personal ties to the military and their service, Joe Wilson began D-Day Wear back in 2004 with the goal of ensuring that the sacrifices and efforts of our troops do not go unnoticed. By offering a wide variety of products that are focused on highlighting different armed forces, battles, and wars including the likes of World War I and II, Vimy Ridge, D-Day, and many more – Joe is already well-along in delivering on his mission to keep their memories alive. With over $54,000 donated back into charitable organizations, and separate not-for-profit efforts – it is clear that Joe means what he says, in that “he truly wants to bring awareness and help to those affected through military action”.

And then he decided to take it up a notch. Joe felt it was time to make some changes to his website, social media, and SEO to increase his engagement, and be able to do even more in the community. This is where the Digital Main Street Future Proof Program was able to lend a helping hand.

Based on Joe’s goals, the first step of the process was to look to improve the overall look and user experience of the website. Although somewhat cluttered, the existing D-Day Wear website was flooded with valuable information pertaining to their products, as well as the historical significance of why each article of clothing carried meaning. Through the development of a wireframe – the transformation team was able to create a new layout that reorganized the website making navigation for users much easier to not only see what D-Day Wear had to offer, but also find exactly what they were looking for.

Following the revamp of the website, the team focused on creating greater engagement for D-Day Wear through an augmented social media presence and increased focus on their SEO. With changes to their social media strategy being a primary interest, D-Day Wear’s goal was to not only better display their selection of apparel, but increase engagement to their website by drawing in users through these platforms. With this in mind, our team developed both a Facebook and Instagram guide aimed at providing tips and tricks that Joe will be able to utilize on an ongoing basis to enhance the user experience on his socials. Regarding the SEO changes, a Google ads guide was also prepared to get D-Day Wear’s search results closer to the top of the list!

Lastly, with the intention of creating a new look on social media channels, and through his website – Joe felt it was time to update the brand’s logo. He believed their current logo had three elements of importance and that those would be essential when developing the new logo. Through collaborative discussions that built on this input, our team was able to create a new logo that Joe felt incorporated all of the important parts of his previous version, but with a more modern approach.

Joe’s already created a fantastic platform for himself to continue to honour the brave men and women who have been part of different armed forces through the creation and sale of his apparel – with the help of Digital Main Street, D-Day Wear is poised to continue growing into the go-to spot for military clothing.

Our Digital Main Street innovation partner in the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph is Innovation Guelph.

Written by James Short