Breaking Down Trex’s Digital Advertising Funnel

The Purpose of This Research

• ‍Identify how competitors are reaching viewers in the awareness, consideration and conversion stages of the marketing funnel.
• ‍See how spend, messaging and ad creative fluctuates over time at each stage of the funnel.
• ‍Understand competitor priorities toward involving buyers in the discovery of their brand through campaigns that are made up of a variety of tactics in each respective funnel.

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Key Takeaways

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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 

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From 2020-2022, Trex invested $3.7M in ads. The highest ad budget increase was in 2022 (+38%).

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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).

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OTT saw the most growth from $31K to $779K (+2,404% YoY).

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Paid Search and Display each saw an average decrease of -24% YoY.

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Facebook, Instagram and YouTube saw increases into 2021, but decreases of -27%, -5% and -100% into 2022, respectively.

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Trex directed ad spend to the following marketing stages:

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From October 2021 to December 2022, Trex invested $1.3M into marketing funnel ads.

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December 2021, April 2022 and June 2022 saw the top spends on ads about aspirational deck plans.  

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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.

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October 2021, April 2022 and July 2022 saw the top spends on planning tools, product line intros and color intro ads. 

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Conversion ads saw an investment of $651K.

From October 2021 to December 2022, conversion ads saw an average ad spend of $43K a month.

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May and June 2022 saw the top spends on ads similar to awareness aspiration ads but with a CTA to shop at Lowe’s.

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OTT saw high ad allocation in awareness (47%) and conversion (84%) campaigns.

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Paid Search saw the majority of its spend in consideration campaigns (70%), followed by awareness campaigns (34%).

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Facebook occupied spend in a portion of each funnel, with the highest allocation in consideration campaigns (13%).

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Display and Instagram only represented an average of 5% and 2% of the ad spend across funnels.

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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

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 (1) features an image gallery and information about the initiative. 

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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

‍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.

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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

‍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. 

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*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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Reference:

1. Trex At the HGTV® Smart Home 2022