The Parade
Category
Retail | Hospitality | Services
Type of work
Social Media Management
Set in the heart of Shrewsbury in a stylish Grade II listed building, The Parade is home to a collection of unique, independent shops, businesses and eateries.
With a history dating back to 1747 as the Royal Salop Infirmary, where Charles Darwin's father once practised as a doctor, the building was saved from demolition by local businessman Bob Freeman in 1979 and was turned into shops and apartments, with stunning views over the River Severn and beyond.
The background
We saw so much potential in The Parade and enthusiastically took on the challenge of establishing them as a key player in Shropshire’s independent shopping scene.
When we took over their Instagram and Facebook accounts they were struggling with very low engagement and profile, and despite being one of the most recognisable landmark buildings in the town, were also struggling with general wayfinding and visibility as a shopping and dining destination.
Our process
We immediately got to know the businesses and owners at ground level, helping us authentically tell the story of The Parade. We built brand awareness organically through a series of features and recurring themes, which helped us develop and nurture the ever-growing and highly engaged online community we now have today.
Through social-first storytelling we have been able to showcase The Parade as not only a unique shopping destination, but also an historic, easy-to-find landmark in the town. We have curated features on wayfinding, history, the unique shops and businesses and, most importantly, showcased many of the owners’ personalities and the diversity of offer. This has been achieved through a variety of static image carousels, social-first video, branded assets and IG stories, soundtracked with stylish audio and underpinned with carefully crafted and considered copy. The results of our strategy were instantaneous and long lasting.
The Results
Since working with The Parade we have organically improved all the key metrics month after month, with total content views exceeding 320,000 in the first 6 months alone, something we take great pride in considering Shrewsbury has a population of 76k! As of Christmas 2025 our work has also contributed to The Parade achieving a 100% rental occupancy.
1.
Brand growth and community building
In the first 2 months we successfully enhanced The Parade’s online presence and brand equity with a carefully curated series of features and posts, increasing followers by over 800 on Instagram and Facebook.
2.
Reach and visability
In our first 6 months our content views organically exceeded Shrewsbury's entire population of 75,000 4 times over, with over 171,807 on Instagram and 149,687 on Facebook. In year one we have also organically increased follower numbers by over 2,000 across both platforms.
3.
Direct business impact
We have produced high-engagement social first video content - with just one video we helped one of our featured Parade businesses increase their social media following by 50% (750)
and increase sales by 220% in just 3 weeks.
4.
Commercial demand
By December 2025 our work directly contributed to The Parade achieving an 100% shop rental occupancy. This was accomplished by following a clear social media strategy that showcases The Parade as a unique, welcoming and easily accessible retail space.