Turning a Social Enterprise into a Visible, Trusted Brand

The Challenge

Merriwa Industries had been a long-standing presence in the local community, yet many people didn’t fully understand the scale of their operations or the impact of their social enterprise. At the same time, Merriwa was looking to grow corporate partnerships and needed to be seen as a credible, professional, and capable commercial partner, not just a community organisation.

The challenge wasn’t a lack of good work.
It was a lack of visibility and clarity around the work they were already doing.

Merriwa needed to:

- Increase local awareness of their purpose, scale, and impact
- Build credibility with corporate partners and referral networks
- Show the quality and capability of their operations, not just the mission
- Shift perception from “quiet achiever” to “trusted, visible partner”

The Objective

Together, we aligned on a simple but strategic goal:
Position Merriwa Industries as a professional, capable social enterprise that the community understands and corporate partners trust.

This meant:

- Building familiarity locally so people knew what Merriwa actually does
- Creating content that demonstrated quality, scale, and capability
- Using digital channels to support long-term brand positioning, not just one-off promotion

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The Propel Approach: Make the Work Visible

Rather than relying on ad hoc posting, we built a system that allowed Merriwa’s impact to be seen consistently and professionally.

The strategy focused on:

1. Consistent Story Capture
We introduced bi-monthly on-site content captures to document Merriwa’s people, processes, and projects in action. This ensured the brand always had a bank of real, high-quality visual content that reflected the scale and professionalism of their work.

2. Purpose-Led Organic Content
Organic content was planned around three core pillars:

- Educating the community on what Merriwa does and why it matters
- Building familiarity with the people behind the organisation
- Demonstrating capability and quality to corporate audiences

3. Visual Cohesion and Professional Polish
Content was presented with consistent visual cues and messaging to elevate Merriwa’s brand perception and ensure they showed up as a credible partner alongside commercial operators.

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The Results (6 Months)

In just six months, Merriwa Industries saw strong, compounding growth across both Facebook and Instagram, translating into real visibility and engagement.

Across Facebook, performance lifted significantly:

- 122,000+ impressions (up 141%)‍

- 66,873 people reached (up 147%)‍

- 11,781 engagements (up 115%)‍

- 7.8% engagement rate (up 113%)‍

- 40% increase in page views

On Instagram, growth was even more pronounced from a smaller base:

- Views increased by 20,458%‍

- Reach increased by 13,236%

- Engagements increased by 9,850%

- Likes increased by 7,600%

- Followers doubled (100% growth)

This wasn’t just growth for growth’s sake. It reflected a meaningful increase in how often Merriwa’s work was being seen, understood, and engaged with by both the community and potential partners.

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What Really Changed

Before working with Propel, Merriwa’s impact was largely happening behind the scenes. Since implementing a structured content and capture system, their work became visible, repeatable, and recognisable. The organisation moved from sporadic posting to a consistent digital presence that reinforced credibility, scale, and professionalism. This helped shift external perception from “a local social enterprise doing good work” to “a capable, commercial-grade partner creating real social impact.”

The Takeaway

Good work doesn’t automatically build awareness. Visibility needs structure.

By turning Merriwa’s day-to-day operations into a consistent digital narrative, their brand presence began compounding over time. The lesson for social enterprises and purpose-led organisations is clear: impact only creates opportunity when it’s visible, understood, and consistently communicated.

What’s Next

With strong brand visibility now established across social, the next phase is focused on conversion and commercial outcomes. Propel has also been selected to design Merriwa Industries’ new website, creating a central digital home that more clearly communicates their services, ethos, and genuine connection to the community.

Once launched, the website will act as a revenue-driving platform, supporting new business enquiries and partnership opportunities. The next stage of the strategy will focus on directing growing social visibility into this owned asset, strengthening enquiry pathways, improving clarity for potential corporate partners, and turning awareness into measurable commercial impact.

This shift moves Merriwa from simply being seen to being chosen.

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