Background

BuildDirect is a leading online marketplace for buyers and sellers of home goods and home improvement products. Suppliers can leverage its marketplace to showcase and sell products to consumers, and homeowners can access the widest selection of home goods and home renovation products shipped directly to their doorsteps. The company’s marketplace is backed by a proprietary analytics platform and efficient and customized logistics network that reaches coast to coast and beyond. At the beginning of 2016, BuildDirect made a significant shift in its operations, expanding from an e-commerce company to an open marketplace for both buyers and sellers. In addition to broadening its function, the company set an aggressive goal to grow its active list of users within the next 12 months. To achieve this, BuildDirect teamed up with Fluent to execute its targeted acquisition campaign, given Fluent’s massive network of consumers.

Campaign

BuildDirect’s campaign with Fluent was primarily focused on bolstering its email marketing program. Fluent’s expertise in pre-qualifying and identifying engaged consumers lead to an increase in the number of users subscribed to BuildDirect’s email programs, and their engagement. Throughout the campaign, Fluent continuously optimized its targeting to enhance opt-in volume and engagement.

Based on initial campaign success, BuildDirect expanded its relationship with Fluent and was one of the first clients to employ Fluent’s new retargeting solution, ReConnect™. The first performance retargeting solution of its kind, ReConnect reengaged potential BuildDirect customers after they visited the website but did not complete a desired action, such as an email sign up or purchase. Using a lightweight pixel on BuildDirect’s site, Fluent was able to retarget site visitors with opt-in ads and specific offers to increase engagement.

“Fluent helped us improve our email marketing capabilities substantially by targeting the right users – consumers who have expressed interest – and helping us grow our active email list by 300%. Its ReConnect campaign also proved to engage users better – by about 25% – than any of our acquisition partners.”- Madison Norton, Manager, CRM at BuildDirect

Results

Both campaigns drove superb results for BuildDirect. Fluent’s flagship solution, Data Connect™, grew BuildDirect’s email list by 300% over the course of the year, helping it achieve its hefty goal of scaling its active user list. Additionally, BuildDirect was able to achieve its goal of keeping its churn rate well below 1%.

ReConnect proved to also be a successful solution for BuildDirect. In less than one month, BuildDirect found that users who were acquired through this solution were 25% more engaged than those acquired through any of its other partners.