Solved: Boost Florida Sales for Coastal Home Decor Brand

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! It's a really common problem you've got there, that seasonal slump is something a lot of brands struggle with. You've got the right idea wanting to be proactive about the Florida market before winter hits.

I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance. Your idea of a low-budget campaign to "warm up" the market is where most people start, but from my experience, it's often a fast way to burn cash with very little to show for it. I think there's a much more direct and profitable way to approach this that'll get you actual sales, not just vague 'awareness'. Let's get into it.

We'll need to look at your customer, not your location...

Right, first things first. Let's scrap the idea that your customer is just "a person in Florida". That's a demographic, and demographics don't buy things. Problems, desires, and emotions do. Your advertising will become ten times more effective the moment you stop targeting a location and start targeting a feeling.

You need to become an expert in their specific, urgent desire. Your ideal Florida customer isn't just a person living near the coast; she's someone who has invested in a property there and is now facing the 'nightmare' of it feeling sterile and impersonal, just another condo in a sea of identical ones. Or she's dreaming of transforming her home into a permanent sanctuary, a place that feels like a high-end coastal resort every single day. Her pain point isn't a lack of decor; it's the risk of her expensive home feeling bland and failing to deliver on the promise of the coastal lifestyle she's bought into.

Once you've isolated that feeling, you can find them. Where do these people hang out online? They're not just searching for "coastal decor".

• -> They follow high-end decor brands like Serena & Lily, Pottery Barn, or maybe even local Florida interior designers on Instagram.
• -> They have interests in yachting, belonging to exclusive beach clubs, or subscribing to magazines like Coastal Living or Veranda.
• -> They are probably homeowners in specific affluent zip codes along the Florida coast – think Naples, Palm Beach, or the 30A corridor.

This is the intelligence that forms the bedrock of a successful ad campaign. Your ads shouldn't just say "New Florida Collection". They should speak directly to that desire: "Is your Florida home missing its soul? Transform it from a property into a personal paradise." Do this work first, or you have no business spending a single pound on adds.

You probably should forget about 'warming up' the market...

Here’s the uncomfortable truth about what happens when you tell a platform like Meta (Facebook/Instagram) you want to "warm up" a market. You'll likely choose a campaign objective like "Reach" or "Brand Awareness," maybe "Traffic." And when you do that, you are giving the algorithm a very specific, and very dangerous, command: "Find me the largest number of people for the lowest possible price."

The algorithm, being a ruthlessly efficient machine, does exactly what you asked. It scours Florida for the users who are cheapest to show an ad to. And who are those people? They're the ones who scroll passively, never click, never engage, and definitly never, ever buy anything. Their attention is cheap because no other advertiser wants it. You are literally paying the world's most powerful advertising platform to find you the absolute worst possible audience for your products.

It's a complete waste of money for a business like yours. Awareness is a byproduct of making sales and having happy customers, not a prerequisite for it. The goal isn't to get your name out there; the goal is to get your products into people's homes.

From day one, your campaign objective must be 'Sales' or 'Conversions'. This gives the algorithm a totally different command: "Find people in my target audience who are most likely to actually make a purchase." Yes, the cost per impression will be higher. But you're paying for quality, not quantity. You're paying to be put in front of buyers, not just viewers. It's the single most important setting in your entire ad account, and most people get it wrong.

I'd say you need a message they can't ignore...

Once you're targeting the right emotion and using the right campaign objective, you need ad copy and creative that stops the scroll and speaks directly to their soul. Don't just show a picture of a cushion. Sell the transformation.

We use a framework called Before-After-Bridge. It’s incredibly effective for visual products like yours.

The Before: You paint a picture of their current, frustrating reality.
"Your Florida patio is beautiful, but does it feel... empty? Another generic space that could be anywhere."

The After: You show them the dream, the ideal future state.
"Imagine stepping out into a coastal oasis that's uniquely yours. A space that breathes tranquility, where every sunset feels like a private celebration."

The Bridge: You introduce your product as the clear, simple way to get from the Before to the After.
"Our new 'Key West Coral' collection is the bridge. Handcrafted textures and sun-bleached hues designed to bring the authentic spirit of the coast right to your doorstep. Shop the exclusive Florida launch now."

This structure works for your ad copy, your video scripts, even your email subject lines. For the visuals, don't just use clean product shots on a white background. Use lifestyle imagery. Show your products in a stunning, aspirational Florida home. Help the customer see themselves in that "After" state. We've seen how powerful the right creative can be. I remember one campaign we ran for a maps & navigation eCommerce brand that generated $71k in revenue with an 8x return on Meta Ads. It makes all the difference.

You'll need a way to calculate what you can actually afford to spend...

This brings us to the most important question: budget. You mentioned a "low budget," but that's subjective. The real question isn't "How little can I spend?" but "How much can I profitably afford to spend to acquire a customer?" The answer is your Customer Lifetime Value (LTV).

Most small business owners get this wrong. They see a £50 Cost Per Purchase and panic, thinking it's too high. But what if that customer goes on to spend £500 with you over the next two years? Suddenly, paying £50 to get them in the door seems like an incredible bargain. Knowing your LTV frees you from the tyranny of cheap, low-quality traffic and allows you to grow aggressively and intelligently.

Let's break it down:

• Average Order Value (AOV): What's the average amount a customer spends in one transaction?
• Purchase Frequency: How many times does a customer buy from you per year?
• Customer Lifetime (Years): How long, on average, does a customer keep buying from you?
• Gross Margin %: After the cost of goods, what percentage of the sale is profit?

Once you know these numbers, you can calculate your LTV. And once you have your LTV, a healthy business can typically afford to spend about one-third of it to acquire that customer. This is your target Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).

I’ve built a simple calculator for you below. Play around with the sliders to get a feel for your own numbers. This isn't just an academic exercise; this number should dictate your entire marketing budget.

You'll need a simple, powerful campaign structure...

Right, so you know who you're talking to, what you're saying, what your objective is, and what you can afford to spend. Now, how do you actually structure the campaign? Don't overcomplicate it. For your goal, I'd recomend a simple structure on Meta to start with.

I would usually prioritize audiences based on how close they are to making a purchase. The further down the funnel, the better they usually perform. For an eCommerce brand like yours, it looks something like this:

I’d start with one single campaign using Campaign Budget Optimisation (CBO). Inside that campaign, you'll have different 'ad sets', each one targeting a different audience.

1. Ad Set 1: Prospecting - Interests. This is your 'cold' audience. Target people in Florida with the interests we discussed earlier: high-end decor brands, yachting, specific coastal magazines, etc. Layer them to narrow down the audience.
2. Ad Set 2: Prospecting - Lookalikes. If you have a list of past customers (especially your best ones), upload it to Meta and create a 1% Lookalike audience in Florida. This tells Meta to find more people who look just like your existing best customers. This is often the most powerful audience you can build.
3. Ad Set 3: Retargeting - Warm. This is your 'warm' audience. Target everyone who has visited your website or engaged with your Instagram/Facebook page in the last 30-60 days, but hasn't purchased. Show them ads featuring your new collection and customer testimonials.
4. Ad Set 4: Retargeting - Hot. This is your 'hot' audience, and it's where the easy money is. Target people who have added a product to their cart or started the checkout process in the last 7-14 days but didn't complete it. Hit them with a gentle reminder, maybe even a small incentive like "Complete your order and get free shipping."

By using CBO, Meta will automatically distribute your budget to the best-performing ad set in real time. If the Lookalike audience is bringing in sales at a lower cost, it'll get more money. If the Interest audience starts to perform better, the budget will shift there. It takes the guesswork out of it for you.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

This whole process isn't about just flicking a switch and hoping for the best. It's about building a systematic, repeatable engine for growth. It requires understanding your customer deeply, crafting a message that resonates, structuring campaigns methodically, and knowing your numbers inside and out. It can be a lot to handle, especially when you're also trying to run a business, manage inventory, and design new collections.

That's where getting professional help can make a huge difference. We've managed campaigns for dozens of eCommerce brands, including a women's apparel store where we achieved a 691% return on ad spend. We live and breathe this stuff every day, so we can implement this entire strategy for you, manage the optimisation, and ensure every penny you spend is working as hard as it possibly can to grow your brand.

If you'd like to chat through this in more detail and see how we could apply this directly to your brand, we offer a completely free, no-obligation initial consultation. We can take a look at your website and your goals and give you an honest assessment of the opportunity. Feel free to book a time that works for you.

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh