How Halden Tools Refined Their Marketing by Hiring a Freelance Audience Research Consultant

Reaching the Right Audience: A Real-World Case from Halden Tools

When Halden Tools, a long-established name in precision hand tools across the Midwest, began to see a slowdown in their digital traction, they didn’t default to panic mode—or worse, ignore it. Instead, they leaned into curiosity.

Their product line was solid, and repeat business from wholesale clients remained strong. But Denise Liu, the company’s marketing manager, couldn’t ignore the signs that something was off. Website traffic had stopped climbing. Email campaigns that used to drive a dependable stream of clicks and conversions were no longer pulling their weight. And while customer feedback still came in, it lacked the depth or direction to inform meaningful change.

The team had already tried a few quick fixes:

• A new landing page layout

• Adjusted ad headlines

• A refreshed Instagram posting schedule

None of it moved the needle.

That’s when Denise realized the problem wasn’t how they were marketing—it was who they were speaking to. Or rather, who they thought they were speaking to.

“We were operating on old assumptions,” Denise later said. “We hadn’t taken a real look at who our buyers were today. Not five years ago. Not even last year—right now.”

So instead of commissioning another brand refresh or pouring more money into paid ads, she took a different route. She went to ZapMyWork.com and posted a project titled:

“Help us understand our audience better—before we waste another dollar on the wrong message.”

She didn’t want fluff. She didn’t want a shiny presentation filled with buzzwords. She wanted someone who could ask the right questions, collect the right data, and help Halden’s team make decisions that actually reflected their real-world buyers.

And that’s exactly what she found. Within two days, her inbox was full of proposals from freelance consultants who specialized in audience research, consumer insights, and practical marketing guidance.

It wasn’t about being trendy. It was about getting real—and getting it right.

What They Needed

Halden Tools didn’t want another surface-level report filled with broad trends. They weren’t interested in buzzwords, industry averages, or vague pie charts that didn’t actually say much. What Denise Liu and her team were looking for was practical, grounded insight—something they could use to improve real campaigns, not just decorate a slide deck.

After years of relying on in-house assumptions and generic buyer profiles, they were ready to get specific.

What Denise Really Needed

1. A clear picture of who their customers really were (not just demographics)
She wasn’t just asking, “What’s their age range and job title?” Denise wanted to understand their motivations, their day-to-day challenges, and the real reasons they reached for Halden’s tools over another brand.

• Were they experienced contractors or DIY weekend warriors?

• Did they prefer to buy in bulk, or only when a job called for something specific?

• What problems were they trying to solve with Halden’s products?

2. Insight into how buyers were discovering their products
Halden had presence on multiple channels—retail partners, online marketplaces, their own website, and a small but growing social media footprint. But which of those were actually driving conversions?

• Were people coming from search engines, referrals, or word-of-mouth?

• How did first-time buyers hear about the brand?

• Did returning customers behave differently than new ones?

3. Feedback on what mattered most to customers—durability, price, warranty, etc.
Internally, the Halden team believed durability was their biggest selling point. But was that still true? Or had customer priorities shifted?
They wanted to know:

• Did people see value in their no-questions-asked warranty policy?

• Was pricing a barrier or a selling point?

• How did customers define “quality” when it came to hand tools?

4. Fresh ideas on how to refine messaging to match real-world needs
Denise didn’t just want insights—she wanted direction. Once they understood the audience better, the next step was translating that knowledge into action.

• How should they update their product descriptions?

• What kind of social content would actually speak to buyers?

• Could email subject lines be tailored by buyer type?

“We weren’t looking for a lecture,” Denise said. “We needed a partner who could help us ask smarter questions—and turn the answers into something useful.”

That’s why working with a freelance consultant through ZapMyWork made sense. It wasn’t a generic market research package. It was a custom engagement, focused on real decisions and immediate impact.

Finding the Right Freelancer

Within 48 hours of posting their project, Denise received four solid proposals. One stood out—a freelancer with a background in behavioral economics and hands-on experience working with B2B brands in industrial sectors.

What really sold her was the proposal's focus on actionable insights and a step-by-step plan.

The Process

Over the next five weeks, the freelancer Halden Tools hired through ZapMyWork didn’t just tick boxes or churn out a standard report—they built a thoughtful, collaborative project that actually got to the heart of what wasn’t working and what could.

The process was broken into five key phases, each designed to layer insight on top of insight. By the end, Denise and her team had more than just data—they had a clearer direction and a whole new understanding of the people they were trying to reach.

1. Stakeholder Interviews

The first step wasn’t customer-facing—it started inside the company.

The freelancer scheduled short one-on-one conversations with Halden’s internal sales staff, customer service reps, and a few of their longest-standing distributors. These weren’t scripted Q&As. They were open-ended, focused conversations about:

• What types of customers tend to ask the most questions

• What deals take the longest to close—and why

• What common feedback they hear, both good and bad

“Those chats brought up things we hadn’t thought about in years,” Denise said. “Like how often buyers ask for torque specs—but we’d buried that info halfway down the product page.”

It helped set the tone: this wasn’t going to be a surface-level project.

2. Customer Survey Design & Execution

With internal insight in hand, the next step was reaching out to actual buyers.

The freelancer crafted a short, easy-to-digest email survey—not the kind that gets ignored. It focused less on satisfaction scores and more on motivation:

• What made you choose Halden in the first place?

• When shopping for tools, what factors do you compare?

• What made you hesitate, if anything, before purchasing?

They added a few open-ended questions and offered a small discount code to encourage participation. The result? A 31% response rate—well above average.

The responses didn’t just confirm some of the internal assumptions. They challenged them.

3. Audience Persona Mapping

Using the survey results and internal interviews, the freelancer identified three primary customer types, each with its own goals, needs, and buying behaviors.

• “The Jobsite Pro” – A contractor or builder who values durability, quick shipping, and straightforward specs.

• “The Precision Hobbyist” – A detail-oriented buyer who wants control, options, and strong reviews.

• “The Recommender” – Often someone in purchasing or retail sales, buying on behalf of others and looking for reliability with minimal complaints.

Each persona included buying triggers, hesitation points, preferred communication channels, and even common phrases they used when describing tools. This gave Halden something they had never had before: a way to tailor content without guessing.

4. Competitor Language Audit

Next came a close look at how other tool companies were talking to similar audiences.

The freelancer conducted a competitive messaging review—not to copy, but to identify blind spots and missed opportunities. A few key findings stood out:

• Most competitors were using broad, interchangeable slogans.

• Warranty terms were often buried or unclear.

• Few were directly addressing the precision-minded audience Halden served so well.

This gave the team space to carve out more distinct messaging—not louder, just clearer.

5. Reporting & Recommendations

Finally, the freelancer wrapped the project with a clean, visual deck that didn’t just present findings—it offered clear next steps.

It included:

• A breakdown of internal vs. customer perspectives

• Key takeaways from each persona

• Messaging do’s and don’ts

• A brand voice guide based on customer language (less jargon, more real talk)

• Email templates matched to each persona

• Homepage layout suggestions—like bringing key specs higher up the page and creating a side-by-side comparison tool

The Halden team didn’t feel overwhelmed by theory—they had a to-do list grounded in evidence.

“It was the first time we finished a research project and actually knew what to do with it,” Denise said.

And that, ultimately, was the difference. This wasn’t data for the sake of data. It was insight that connected the dots between product, people, and purpose.

What Changed for Halden

Within just two months of putting the consultant’s recommendations into action, Halden Tools started noticing clear, measurable changes—both in the numbers and in the way their team approached marketing.

What the Data Showed

22% Lift in Email Open Rates
One of the first changes the team made was updating their email subject lines based on the new audience personas. Rather than sending the same message to everyone, they created segmented lists and tailored the language.

For example:

• The “Jobsite Pro” segment responded well to subject lines that focused on speed and reliability.

• The “Precision Hobbyist” opened emails that teased product comparisons or technical features.

Just by getting more specific—and more relevant—Halden saw open rates increase by over a fifth.

Website Visitors Stayed Longer
After making a few layout tweaks suggested in the final report—like surfacing warranty info earlier, simplifying product descriptions, and adding side-by-side spec comparisons—users spent more time browsing.

The average session time increased by 31 seconds, which may not sound like much, but in e-commerce, that’s meaningful. It meant people were exploring, not bouncing.

More (and Better) Product Reviews
With new messaging in place and emails encouraging feedback, customers started leaving more reviews. But beyond the volume, the quality of reviews stood out.

Shoppers were echoing the same words and phrases used in Halden’s updated marketing copy—mentioning things like "built for the long haul," "precise fit," and "customer-first warranty."

This alignment wasn’t accidental—it was a direct result of tapping into real customer language and making sure it was reflected in every touchpoint.

Sales and Marketing Got in Sync
Internally, something shifted. Sales reps reported that prospects were coming into conversations more informed, and the talking points in pitch decks finally matched what customers were saying in surveys.

Rather than working in silos, the sales and marketing teams began checking in more regularly, using the buyer personas as a shared reference. It became easier to prioritize campaigns, adjust messaging, and track what was resonating—because now they had a common framework.

“Before, we were making educated guesses. Now we have a compass,” said Denise. “We’re not just reacting—we’re planning with intent.”

The Bigger Shift: Confidence and Clarity

Metrics are great—but what really changed was the mindset.

For the first time in a while, the team felt confident that their content, campaigns, and product pages were speaking to the right people, in the right way.

No more trying five different taglines and hoping one sticks. No more endless debates over what customers might care about.

They had a foundation—and that allowed them to move faster, test smarter, and stay grounded in what actually mattered.

That’s what happens when insight replaces assumption.

Why This Worked

The freelance consultant didn’t drop in with a prefab solution. They listened, asked smart questions, and let the data shape the direction. That made all the difference.

1. Start With Your Questions

Before diving into analytics or sending out a single survey, Halden Tools paused to ask themselves a simple question: What do we actually want to understand?

They didn’t jump straight into tactics. Instead, they identified a few big unknowns:

• Who are our buyers today—not five years ago?

• Are we showing up in the right places?

• Why do people choose us over someone else? Or why don’t they?

That mindset shift was critical. Instead of assuming they needed “more traffic” or “better ads,” they reframed the challenge around customer understanding. Once that foundation was clear, everything else—messaging, design, targeting—had a direction.

Tip: If you’re not sure where to begin, start by finishing this sentence: “If we just knew ____, we could make better decisions.” That’s where the work should start.

2. Be Ready to Listen

Research only works when you're willing to hear what it’s actually telling you. That means being open to feedback that might challenge your current approach—or your ego.

At Halden, some of the feedback stung a little.

• A few buyers didn’t know about their warranty policy because it was buried three clicks deep.

• One distributor said their product descriptions felt “written by engineers, not people.”

• A surprising number of customers found them through niche hobbyist forums, not the mainstream platforms they’d been prioritizing.

Rather than defend the old approach, the team listened—and adjusted. That openness turned out to be one of their biggest advantages.

Lesson: The point of research isn’t to confirm what you already believe. It’s to uncover the stuff you didn’t know you didn’t know.

3. Keep It Human

Real insight doesn’t come from spreadsheets alone. It comes from conversations, open-ended responses, and the little phrases people use when they’re not trying to sound polished.

The most valuable findings in Halden’s project came from:

• Distributors sharing how they explain Halden tools to buyers

• Customers using their own words to describe why they stuck with the brand

• Survey answers that had no dropdowns—just blank space and honesty

The freelancer took that input and wove it into buyer personas, web copy suggestions, and campaign ideas. But the strength of the final report came from how personal the raw data was—not just how clean the charts looked.

Reminder: At the other end of every email, every product page, every pitch—is a human. If your messaging doesn’t sound like it’s for a real person, it’s probably missing the mark.

Final Thought

Halden Tools didn’t reinvent their business. They realigned it. They took the time to ask the right questions, listen closely to their customers, and then make changes that reflected what they learned.

That’s not just smart marketing. That’s smart business.

And if you're looking for someone who can help guide that process—whether it’s your first time doing audience research or you just want to get sharper—ZapMyWork.com is a good place to begin.

The answers are out there. You just have to be willing to ask—and actually hear them.