Case Study
reString
Industry: Health and Wellness · Size: Medium · Location: United States
reString, a specialist tennis strings brand, partnered with HAI Digital to transform its digital visibility and reduce reliance on influencer-driven traffic spikes.
Through an integrated Organic Search, AI Search and Paid Search strategy, HAI Digital helped reString build sustainable growth, reach customers who had never heard of the brand, and establish authority in competitive search terms against industry giants.
With HAI Digital, reString:
- Grew daily search impressions from 500 to over 25,000, a 1000x increase
- Generated 3.66 million total search impressions across Google
- Achieved visibility in AI search platforms like Gemini and ChatGPT
- Set up and delivered a 12x return on ad spend through Google Ads
- Ranked above established brands including Wilson and Yonex
The Challenge of Influencer-Dependent Growth
Before working with HAI Digital, reString experienced significant traffic fluctuations tied to influencer activity. When a YouTube reviewer featured a product like reString Zero or Sync, demand would spike. When content slowed, so did traffic.
The brand recognised it needed a more reliable growth engine.
"Almost 90% of the visitors on our website came with the intent of learning about or buying a reString product," explained Juan, reString Co-founder. "What we wanted to do was introduce who we are to someone who would have never known about reString."
The team had attempted content marketing independently but lacked strategic direction. "We had written a few articles just because we thought that was what we should do, but we had no idea what we were doing," shared Nick, reString Co-founder.
Why reString Chose HAI Digital's Search Sprint
reString selected HAI Digital's Search Sprint as an entry point to test the partnership before committing to a longer engagement. The structured format allowed them to evaluate both the quality of deliverables and the working relationship.
"The Sprint allowed us to see the working relationship we were going to have" said Juan. "It was short enough that it wasn't a massive expense for a business to test out, but at the same time thorough enough for us to say if we've had these results in this time period, we expect this to be our new baseline."
Communication proved equally important. Beyond bi-weekly calls, HAI Digital provided weekly updates during off weeks, ensuring visibility even without direct meetings.
"One thing we really value is that every week where we don't have calls, you provided us with weekly updates showing what happened in the past two weeks" Juan noted.
Building Authority Through Unbranded Search Terms
The core strategy focused on capturing searches from people unfamiliar with the reString brand. While branded terms like "reString Zero" were quickly secured, the opportunity lay in educational content targeting broader tennis equipment queries.
Within weeks, reString began ranking for high-volume unbranded terms: tennis string tension, best tennis strings for spin, tennis string gauge and sunshine double.
These articles now generate millions of impressions collectively, bringing new audiences into the reString ecosystem through genuinely useful content.
"I really didn't have high hopes for some topics," admitted Nick. "I thought there's no way we're going to write a generic article about tennis and beat brands like Wilson or Yonex or Tennis Warehouse. Then looking at the results, we're ranking on the first page."
Counteracting Seasonality With Consistent Content
Tennis is inherently seasonal, with demand concentrated between March and September. The off-season historically meant reduced traffic and sales for reString. HAI Digital's editorial strategy directly addressed this challenge.
"Even though we're going through a tough time in tennis with lower search traffic, we've been able to complement that on the organic side and actually maintain if not increase our monthly visitors," said Juan. "That is a very big accomplishment."
The data supports this: while product and collection page traffic follows seasonal patterns, blog traffic has shown a consistent upward trend that balances out the natural dips. This stability was a primary objective when the partnership began.
Expanding into AI Search and Paid Search
As the search landscape evolved, HAI Digital expanded reString's strategy to cover AI Search platforms. The brand now appears in ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Gemini, with users actively clicking through to the website from AI-generated responses.
"I'm super excited about this opportunity," said Nick. "The strategy for us is really to choose what our strengths are as a brand and then become winners in those."
Paid Search was introduced approximately one year into the partnership, adding a third channel to the strategy. After an initial testing period of two months, the campaign stabilised and now delivers a 12x return on ad spend.
"After the initial two months, we really started to nail down our daily budget and what type of Google Ads we were going to run," explained Juan. "For the past four months, we've been able to build a strong revenue stream back into the business."
A Partnership Built on Trust and Expertise
Working across three time zones, reString required a partner who could operate with significant autonomy while maintaining close communication. HAI Digital's approach included video recaps for async viewing and responsive availability via WhatsApp.
Juan highlighted a telling moment from early in the partnership: "Three months in, Nick and I were talking, and we said Dom has never picked up a racket or taken tennis lessons, but he knew more about strings than me after playing tennis for 20 years."
"It really does feel like you're another person in the team who just runs this whole side of the business. Being able to trust you with this is really helpful because we're a relatively small team and have to look after other parts of the business."
Looking Ahead to 2026
With organic, AI and paid search foundations established, reString continues to refine its strategy. The focus for 2026 includes building stronger AI search presence through content freshness and expanding visibility for strategic keyword clusters.
"I would just say give it a try," reflected Nick. "You don't really know where the ceiling is unless you try. With organic search, there really is no downside to trying."
Explore What Search Could Do for Your Ecommerce Brand
If you’re also experiencing inconsistent traffic, untapped potential in unbranded search terms, or uncertainty about AI search, a conversation is a good place to start.
HAI Digital offers a free Strategy Session for ecommerce brands ready to understand their current visibility in search and identify growth opportunities.