Burgers' Specialty Foods and NetElixir Drive New Customer Growth During the Holiday Season

Industry:

Food & Beverage, Gourmet Food & Gifts

Services:

Paid Search &Paid Social

Domain:

Opportunity

For more than 70 years, Burgers' Smokehouse has built a reputation for delivering premium smoked meats and gourmet gifts to families across the country. Combining artisanal craftsmanship with a direct-to-consumer business model, the company has successfully carved out a unique position in a highly competitive market.

As the 2025 holiday season approached, Burgers' Smokehouse expanded their 10-year partnership with NetElixir to achieve an ambitious goal: attract a new generation of customers while maintaining strong performance during the most competitive shopping period of the year.

Through a full-funnel acquisition strategy powered by Paid Search and Paid Social, the partnership delivered significant new customer growth during November and December, helping Burgers' Smokehouse expand its customer base during its most critical selling season.

Challenges

Like many premium food and gifting brands, Burgers' Smokehouse relies heavily on the holiday season. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas represent a significant share of annual revenue and create an extremely compressed opportunity to acquire new customers.

Heading into Q4 2025, the brand faced several challenges:

Rising acquisition costs as competition intensified across Google and Meta.
A narrow conversion window before holiday shipping deadlines.
Increased difficulty convincing first-time shoppers to trust an online retailer with products intended for holiday meals and family gatherings.
A loyal but relatively stagnant customer base that limited future growth potential.

To meet aggressive growth goals, Burgers' Smokehouse needed to reach new audiences efficiently while maintaining visibility throughout the holiday season.

Solution

NetElixir developed a customer acquisition strategy focused on expanding reach and attracting first-time buyers during the holiday season. Rather than relying solely on product-focused messaging, the team emphasized solution-oriented creative that highlighted Burgers' Smokehouse as a convenient, high-quality option for holiday meals and gifting occasions. This approach helped the brand connect with new audiences while addressing the needs of shoppers navigating a busy holiday season.

NetElixir did a great job of bringingin new customers.

Chris Mouse

Vice President, Direct Marketing,
Burger Specialty Foods

Advanced Audience Acquisition:

Using Google Performance Max and Meta Advantage+ campaigns, NetElixir prioritized new customer acquisition by targeting users who had not previously engaged with the brand. Strategic bidding and audience signals ensured budget was directed toward prospective customers most likely to convert.

Aggressive Peak-Season Scaling:

‍Recognizing that holiday demand would peak within a limited timeframe, NetElixir proactively increased media investment during key shopping windows. Budgets were scaled during critical periods to maintain share of voice and capture high-intent holiday shoppers before shipping cutoffs.

Cross-Channel Coordination:

‍Paid Search and Paid Social worked together to create a full-funnel customer journey. Search campaigns captured high-intent shoppers actively researching holiday meals and gifts, while social campaigns expanded awareness among new audiences and helped drive demand earlier in the purchase cycle.

Results

The partnership delivered meaningful growth in new customer acquisition during the two most important months of the holiday season.

November 2025

+43%

New customers
from Paid Search

+8%

Revenue
year-over-year

December 2025

+39.5%

New customers
from Paid Search

+5.98%

Revenue
year-over-year

These results helped Burgers' Smokehouse expand beyond its traditional customer base and successfully attract first-time buyers during a period of intense competition.

Impact

The 2025 holiday season demonstrated the power of combining strategic media investment with customer acquisition-focused targeting. By aligning Burgers' Smokehouse's heritage brand with NetElixir's data-driven approach to growth, the partnership successfully expanded reach, increased new customer acquisition, and positioned the brand for continued success in future peak seasons.

As consumer behavior continues to evolve, Burgers' Smokehouse and NetElixir remain focused on identifying new opportunities to reach customers, drive growth, and create memorable holiday experiences for families across the country.