KeySmart was founded on the idea that complex problems often have simple solutions. The founder, Michael, grew frustrated with his bulky, noisy key chain. Was a key ring really the best way to carry keys? For months, he worked on designs and prototypes for a solution. Then, in 2013, he discreetly launched a Kickstarter for a compact key organizer called KeySmart. He never expected it to raise $329,862 and grow into a company with over 50 products.
In 2018, KeySmart had a common problem that many consumer businesses face. Despite making dozens of products that catered to the everyday needs of millions of people, they were having a tough time getting their name out there. Even after running one of the most successful Kickstarters at the time, not enough people knew about KeySmart’s product lineup.
KeySmart came to PR Volt with one goal in mind - to increase brand and product awareness to support increased sales. At the time, KeySmart was coming out with several products every year - but doing a press release for each new product just didn’t make sense. There had to be a better, more creative way to let the media - and consumers - know about their products on a mass scale without breaking the bank on press releases. That’s where PR Volt came in.
The PR Volt team initially focused on KeySmart’s flagship product to get the brand in front of the media and to start the journey of making KeySmart into a household name. The campaign manager targeted obvious segments of gadget and tech-focused media, but also honed in on reporters who covered gifts and everyday consumer/lifestyle items. Leveraging PR Volt’s competitive monitoring tech, the Campaign Manager also identified less obvious contacts that normal targeting might have missed. Targets ranged from TechCrunch to Good Housekeeping and everything in between.
The response was immediate. Within weeks, PR Volt had secured leads from broadcast and online media across the country and generated more than 35 leads in the first campaign alone. The team also began building a treasure-trove of A/B tested subject lines and interested rate data to help guide future campaigns. As coverage rolled in, KeySmart quickly began to gain more brand awareness.
Since engaging with PR Volt in April of 2019, KeySmart has received hundreds of pieces of coverage for their lineup of more than 50 products - including in top online, broadcast and print outlets.
Here are some of the highlights of their results:
KeySmart has been featured in the following major publications and more.
KeySmart's campaigns have reached a combined online audience of 4,234,850,751 unique visitors and 91,688,115 print readers. These campaigns have yielded top tier coverage including Buzzfeed, Bustle, Gear Diary, and multiple articles in Mashable, Real Simple, CNET, USA Today, Yahoo! News, and the Los Angeles Times.
“PR Volt has helped elevate the KeySmart brand into a household name. Our campaign coverage has yielded hundreds of articles which have provided the perfect platform to launch all of our new products over the last several years. PR Volt has been instrumental in driving traffic and in getting KeySmart in front of the right audiences at the right time. Our campaign manager was strategic in ensuring our product launches tied into the current news cycle, making it simple and easy for reporters to cover.”