Russell & Atwell social media management

Russell & Atwell Fresh Chocolates, an independent chocolatier, brought Reliable People on to manage their social media, with the goal of growing reach and engagement.

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We built a strategy around playful, founder-led content, including parody videos and reactive posts tied to real-world news, designed to be shared well beyond the brand’s existing audience. The result was a record-breaking run into Easter, with March sales up 67% year on year.

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Highlights of Q1 2026:

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• Growth: Achieved a 2.8x increase in monthly views from January to March, building strong momentum into the Easter trading period.
• Record month: Delivered a record-breaking March, generating over 693,000 views, driven by Easter campaigns and high-performing founder-led content.
• New audience: Consistently reached 70 to 80%+ non-followers, proving strong new audience acquisition at scale.
• Follower growth: Maintained steady follower growth of 3.3% month on month, without relying on giveaway mechanics.
• Sales impact: Supported a 67% increase in March sales year on year, with social content driving visibility and demand during the key Easter trading window.

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How we got there:

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• Founder-led content: We put the business owner front and centre in playful, character-driven videos.
• Highly shareable ideas: Parody posts, cultural hooks and reactive content tied to cocoa price news.
• Timed around peak trading: We concentrated content and energy into the run-up to Easter.
• Organic audience growth: We relied on shareability rather than constant competition mechanics to build followers.

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This approach turned Russell & Atwell’s Instagram into a genuine sales driver, with a 67% year-on-year increase in March sales showing the direct commercial impact of the work.