How Verhelst Bouwmaterialen turned their marketing and HR teams into a well-oiled social media machine

Step 1: Starting smart with core channels

With a LinkedIn page, a Facebook page, and an Instagram account to manage, Linda Verkempinck, who leads marketing at Verhelst Bouwmaterialen, was looking for a way to streamline the company’s social media management. Posting was time-consuming, analytics were hard to track, and there was no easy way to schedule ahead. Each post had to be manually pushed out, channel by channel.

So, in August 2023, Verhelst started working with Willow to bring order to the chaos. The goal was simple: centralize content creation, distribution, and analytics. With Willow, Linda and her team could plan content across all pages in one place, and post to multiple channels with a single click. Scheduling ahead meant no more last-minute rushes. Willow made it easy to mix formats, test what worked, and keep the content fresh. The analytics dashboard showed what was working and where to double down.

Step 2: Expanding across departments

A year into the collaboration, Verhelst scaled up their efforts. They activated four additional LinkedIn pages for individual departments: Verhelst Logistics, Verhelst Prefab, Verhelst Tegels en Chape, and Verhelst Natuursteen. Each part of the group now had its own page to tell its story and connect with a more targeted audience, without adding complexity to the workflow.

And the stats speak for themselves:

Step 3: Empowering the HR team

At the start of 2025, Verhelst took another step: they brought the HR team into Willow with their own dedicated environment. This meant employer branding content and job openings could now be fully managed by HR, freeing up marketing while boosting authenticity.

It was a clear sign of trust in the tool, and a big shift toward more autonomy and collaboration across teams.

The results of their growing social media efforts

Looking at the past twelve months, Verhelst has achieved incredible results across their social media channels:

• 899,118 impressions (+63%)
• 86,216 engagements (+83%)
• 1,995 new followers (+16.5%)

On a channel level, performance is even more spectacular. Instagram engagement is up by 608%, their LinkedIn audience grew by 23%, and even Facebook saw a 50% boost in engagement. 

Whe we zoom in even more, on a post level, Verhelst has also achieved some almost mind-blowing results. Some posts reached thousands of people organically, boosted by shares from employees and consistent posting. One recent highlight: a post that reached nearly 17,000 people organically, both on LinkedIn and Facebook.

 Their reach isn’t just wide; it’s relevant. The audience includes future employees, local partners, and industry peers.

But beyond the numbers, what really changed was the way the teams work. Marketing can now plan and oversee without micromanaging. HR can lead their own content stream. And the whole company benefits from a stronger, more visible brand presence.