Client Success: Boosting Ad Performance and ROI for Omaha Home Improvement Nonprofit

Building local brand awareness in the shadow of more established industry rivals is difficult for any local business. For nonprofits working with limited resources, the task can be even more daunting.

This is the challenge one Midwest-based home improvement nonprofit faced when attempting to attract new clients to their physical location. As a nonprofit operating a home improvement outlet selling discounted materials and merchandise, the organization’s business model was a direct threat to for-profit home improvement retailers, including multinational corporations dominating the home improvement space.

With surplus materials on sale at a 50 to 75 percent discount, the nonprofit had plenty to offer local homeowners working on DIY projects—and particularly homeowners seeking more environmentally friendly options for sourcing and repurposing materials. But building brand awareness and drawing new clientele to the retail location proved to be an ongoing challenge for the organization.

To address the challenges it was facing in growing its brand, the retailer turned to Cox Media for help.

The Goal

The top advertising goal of the local home improvement nonprofit was building brand awareness that increased foot traffic to its physical location. While the business had already been investing in advertising to build its brand, the results of those campaigns were well below the organization’s expectations: the campaigns were generating less revenue than the budgets funding the ads, delivering a negative return on investment that was unsustainable for the nonprofit.

The organization wanted to improve its ad targeting to increase engagement with its ads and reach a relevant audience more likely to visit its property, purchase materials, and become repeat customers. After struggling financially during the pandemic, the organization needed an ad campaign that would deliver positive ROI and boost sales revenue.

The Solution

After consulting with the organization to understand its advertising goals, Cox Media’s experts implemented an ad strategy that used TV Everywhere, combined with targeted video and display campaigns, to reach a focused audience based on the buyer personas those individuals represented.

Those buyer personas included individuals who were renovating a home, bargain shoppers seeking deals for materials used in DIY projects, as well as contractors looking for cost-effective supplies and materials for their building projects.

Ads were also targeted to home renovators seeking a place to donate surplus materials and supplies, which the nonprofit could use to restock its inventory over time.

The Results

After the initial run of the client’s ad campaign was finished, the nonprofit home improvement outlet reported the following achievements:

• More than three million impressions delivered to local prospects;
• A 98.4 percent video completion rate for video ads;
• Monthly sales performance that beat the company’s sales goal by three percent;
• A dramatic rise in month-to-month customer foot traffic;
• A reduction in the budget-to-revenue gap from 20 percent to less than three percent.

Thanks to these strong numbers from the client’s initial ad campaign, Cox Media was able to demonstrate how ongoing digital advertising could turn ad spend into a revenue-generating investment for the company, increasing sales and expanding the nonprofit’s client base within its local market.

With continued refinements and campaign optimization, Cox Media was able to lay a foundation for even greater advertising success in the months and years to come. Find out how our advertising experts can deliver the same results for your organization—contact us today to learn more.