Breaking Down Trex’s Digital Advertising Funnel
Key Takeaways
Here’s how Trex is investing in its digital advertising marketing funnel:
Advertising Overview (2020-2022)
- From 2020-2022, Trex invested $3.7M in ads. The highest ad budget increase was in 2022 (+38%).
- Spring and Summer months, Q2 ‘20 (+102%), Q3 ‘21 (+52%) and Q2 ‘22 (+183%), saw more investment than the AYS* for each quarter’s respective year.
- OTT saw the most growth from $31K to $779K (+2,404% YoY).
Marketing Funnel Trends (October 2021-December 2022)
- From October 2021 to December 2022, Trex invested $1.3M into marketing funnel ads.
- Consideration ads saw the lowest investment at $153K.
- Conversion ads saw the highest investment of $651K.
- OTT saw high ad allocation in awareness (47%) and conversion (84%) campaigns.
Ad Creatives
- Awareness: All ads allude to the emotion in building memories that a deck can help create for prospective buyers.
- Consideration: 66% of the budget went to tools to help guide at-home builders from the comfort of their laptops.
- Conversion: All ads follow through on concepts introduced earlier in the funnel. Emotion in awareness ads is repurposed with a Shop at Lowe’s CTA. Tools from consideration campaigns are repurposed to entice viewers to order samples.
*AYS = Average Yearly Spend
From 2020-2022, Trex invested $3.7M in ads. The highest ad budget increase was in 2022 (+38%).
Warm seasons saw +102%, +52% and +183% more investment than average yearly spends respectively across 2020-2022.
The substantial increase in ad spend in Q2 2022 was driven by a large investment in OTT ads ($707K).
OTT saw the most growth from $31K to $779K (+2,404% YoY).
Paid Search and Display each saw an average decrease of -24% YoY.
Facebook, Instagram and YouTube saw increases into 2021, but decreases of -27%, -5% and -100% into 2022, respectively.
Trex directed ad spend to the following marketing stages:
From October 2021 to December 2022, Trex invested $1.3M into marketing funnel ads.
December 2021, April 2022 and June 2022 saw the top spends on ads about aspirational deck plans.
Consideration ads saw the lowest investment at $153K.
From October 2021 to December 2022, consideration ads saw an average ad spend of $10K a month.
October 2021, April 2022 and July 2022 saw the top spends on planning tools, product line intros and color intro ads.
Conversion ads saw an investment of $651K.
From October 2021 to December 2022, conversion ads saw an average ad spend of $43K a month.
May and June 2022 saw the top spends on ads similar to awareness aspiration ads but with a CTA to shop at Lowe’s.
OTT saw high ad allocation in awareness (47%) and conversion (84%) campaigns.
Paid Search saw the majority of its spend in consideration campaigns (70%), followed by awareness campaigns (34%).
Facebook occupied spend in a portion of each funnel, with the highest allocation in consideration campaigns (13%).
Display and Instagram only represented an average of 5% and 2% of the ad spend across funnels.
Awareness
Ad Platforms
From October 2021 to December 2022, Trex spent $565K on awareness ads. 47% of Trex’s budget focused on OTT, followed by Paid Search (34%). Facebook (9%), Display (8%) and Instagram (3%) saw the lowest spends.
Top Ad Campaign Examples
Deck Aspirations
Spend $264K | Impressions 11M | CPM $24.77 | Click to view
More than a Deck
Spend $84K | Traffic 107K | CPC $1.28 | Click to view
HGTV Dream Home
Spend $46K | Impressions 3.9M | CPM $11.81 | Click to view
Messaging Topics
The % is share of budget allocated to high-level awareness campaigns.
- Deck Aspirations (66%)
- More than a Deck (19%)
- HGTV Dream Home (9%)
- Browse Trex (2%)
- Benefits (2%)
- Other (1%)
Awareness Campaign Takeaways
- 30-second ads saw the highest spend (49%) for OTT at $130K.
- Desktop devices (87%) saw the highest ad allocation for Paid Search in awareness campaigns.
- All ads allude to memories that a deck can help create for prospective buyers. OTT ads connect raising a child to eventually hosting their wedding on the backyard deck. Search ads use the simple “Much More Than a Deck” title. These aim to connect with the viewer on a deeper and emotional level.
- Trex participates in the HGTV Dream Home where viewers can enter to win a property with a Trex backyard. The landing page features an image gallery and information about the initiative.
Consideration
Ad Platforms
From October 2021 to December 2022, Trex spent $153K on consideration ads. 70% of Trex’s budget focused on Paid Search, followed by Display (16%). Facebook (13%), and Instagram (1%) saw the lowest spends.
Top Ad Campaign Examples
Cost Calculator
Spend $43K | Traffic 35K | CPC $1.23 | Click to view
Partner Highlight
Spend $23K | Impressions 2.4M | CPM $9.52 | Click to view
Color Selector
Spend $15K | Traffic 19K | CPC $0.79 | Click to view
Messaging Topics
The % is share of budget allocated to high-level consideration campaigns.
- Cost Calculator (50%)
- Partner Highlight (25%)
- Color Selector (11%)
- Color Introductions (9%)
- Competition (2%)
- Other (3%)
Consideration Campaign Takeaways
- 66% of the budget went to tangible campaigns like cost calculators, colour selectors, and even a deck-building academy to help guide the creators from the comfort of their laptops.
- 34% of the budget went to intangible campaigns focusing on familiarizing potential buyers with partner retailers, product sets and offerings as seen in Partner Highlight, Color Introduction and Competition campaigns.
- Trex has subdomain landing pages for both Lowe’s and Home Depot that have respective tool pages for calculating & planning.
- Desktop devices (79%) saw the highest ad allocation for Paid Search in consideration campaigns.
Conversion
Ad Platforms
From October 2021 to December 2022, Trex spent $651K on conversion ads. 84% of Trex’s budget focused on OTT, followed by Facebook (11%). Paid Search (3%), and Instagram (2%) saw the lowest spends.
Top Ad Campaign Examples
Shop At…
Spend $545K | Impressions 17M | CPM $32.26 | Click to view
Find a Retailer
Spend $38K | Impressions 5M | CPM $7.36 | Click to view
Order a Sample
Spend $22K | Impressions 2.5M | CPM $8.66 | Click to view
Messaging Topics
The % is share of budget allocated to high-level conversion campaigns.
- Shop At… (84%)
- Find a Retailer (7%)
- Order a Sample (5%)
- Find a Builder (3%)
- Other (1%)
Conversion Campaign Takeaways
- 84% of the budget featured videos similar to aspirational content in awareness campaigns, however, videos included “Lowe’s” or a “Home Depot” CTA at the end with dedicated brand landing pages.
- Trex also built a retail-finder tool to help viewers locate products in the closest proximity to them.
- 30-second videos (77%) saw the highest spend allocation for OTT in conversion campaigns.
- In consideration campaigns, color selector and detail campaigns are used to make prospects aware of their options. The ‘order a sample’ conversion campaigns follow through on those interests by encouraging buyers to test the product.
*Ad spend includes Facebook, YouTube, Display, Paid Search, OTT and Instagram.
*Spend is a directional approximation and does not include retargeting, or behavioural targeting.
*Displayed ad spend is representative of the highlight platform’s entire funnel spend for the highlighted campaign.
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