How a Florida interior design firm used Cotality to elevate digital advertising and trade partnerships

A regional interior design firm set ambitious goals in 2024, aiming to strengthen trade partnerships and increase revenue from both commercial and consumer segments in the Florida market. Recognizing the need to expand into new markets and engage interior designer showrooms, the firm turned to Cotality’s Precision Marketing Solution. By deploying digital advertising strategies, they sought to elevate brand visibility and optimize revenue generation.

Goal #1: Growing trade partnerships in new markets

Solution:

To establish trade partnerships, the firm launched a targeted digital advertising campaign aimed at 20 interior designer showrooms in two key Florida markets. By specifically targeting devices (mobile, desktop, etc.) of interior designers browsing relevant industry sites, the campaign aimed to boost brand awareness and drive designers to visit the firm’s trade partner portal.  

Results:

• Five interior designer showrooms in the targeted Florida markets visited the firm’s trade partner site after engaging with digital ads.
• Two designers joined the firm’s Trade Partner program, which provides special pricing and other benefits to professionals in the commercial and trade industries.

Challenges:

• Brand awareness: Building awareness in niche markets like interior design can be difficult, making it hard to drive direct revenue from initial campaigns. ‍
• Limited marketing-sales collaboration: A lack of coordination between marketing, business development (BD), and sales teams resulted in limited targeting insights.

Key takeaways:

• First experience with programmatic advertising: The firm had previously relied solely on social media and Google ads, making this a learning opportunity in advanced digital marketing.
• Education on programmatic advertising: The CMO gained a clearer understanding of how programmatic advertising could support trade partner marketing.
• ‍Enhanced  tracking with a 3^rd parties web-to-home pixel: This technology allowed for precise tracking of device visits and IP addresses, even capturing users who visited the site without clicking directly on an ad.

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Goal #2: Increasing revenue from trade partnerships and consumers

Solution:

Building on the initial engagement, the firm sought to drive revenue by retargeting website visitors who had shown interest in specific areas of their site (e.g., commercial or eCommerce). Using the web-to-home pixel, they segmented visitors into three primary groups:

1. Visitors who viewed specific products (e.g., faux beams) in the eCommerce section.
2. Visitors to the commercial section who visited at least twice but did not join the trade partner program.
3. Visitors who abandoned the “Join the Trade Program” form.

Results:

• $9.5K in revenue generated over three months, with a 137% Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
• Only $2K of the $7K monthly retargeting budget was allocated towards web visitor retargeting, demonstrating efficiency.

Challenges:

• Creative improvements: Initial ad creatives lacked engagement. The firm collaborated with its creative team to develop more compelling ads inspired by successful brands. ‍
• Optimizing the “Join the Trade Program” form: The user journey needed refinement to create a more compelling and streamlined path for potential trade partners. ‍
• Managing stakeholder expectations: Key stakeholders frequently wanted to tweak audience segments, requiring education on the importance of consistency and scale.  

Key takeaways:

• Easy pixel implementation: The web-to-home pixel was simple for the firm’s team to integrate, providing immediate insight into campaign performance. ‍
• Rich data sharing: The firm’s willingness to share order data (including billing and shipping addresses) allowed for precise tracking of targeted visits and actual purchases. ‍
• Enhanced customer journey tracking: Implementing the pixel in late June provided a clean and detailed customer journey, enabling accurate assessment of campaign impact.

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Conclusion

In 2024, this Florida-based interior design firm made a strategic move into programmatic digital advertising, achieving measurable success despite the inherent challenges of brand awareness and stakeholder management. Partnering with Cotality expanded their marketing capabilities and helped refine trade partner engagement and consumer sales strategies.

With valuable lessons in creative optimization, campaign segmentation, and advanced pixel technology, the firm is now well-positioned to scale its marketing efforts and deepen its trade partnerships in key markets.

This case study underscores how digital innovation, smart targeting, and strategic creative development can drive tangible growth, even in specialized industries like interior design.

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For more information about Cotality Precision Marketing, visit https://www.cotality.com/products/precision-marketing.

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