.avif)
Shelter Tools has been a trusted source for high-quality timber framing and woodworking tools since the 1970s. When Pat and Patsy Hennin opened what would become Shelter Tools, they were one of the only places in the country where builders could find specialty Japanese timber framing tools—slicks, saws, chisels, and everything else needed for traditional joinery. Today, Shelter Tools remains one of the premier timber framing and woodworking retailers in the United States.
With increased competition in the ecommerce landscape and evolving customer shopping behaviors, Shelter needed a performance marketing strategy that could scale their digital presence while maintaining the authentic, craftsperson-focused voice that's been their foundation for decades. The challenge wasn't just driving sales; it was connecting with the right audience—experienced craftspeople who value quality over convenience, DIY builders planning their dream homes, and woodworkers seeking tools that last a lifetime.
We partnered with Shelter to build full-funnel, omnichannel campaigns across their core product categories. Through strategic audience targeting, continuous creative testing, and data-driven optimization across Google and Meta platforms, we developed campaigns that honored Shelter's unique positioning: if they sell it, they use it and love it. Every product recommendation and piece of ad copy reflects decades of hands-on experience in the shop and on the job site—creating authentic messaging that resonates with serious craftspeople while driving measurable business growth.
This strategic approach proved especially successful during Shelter's annual Toolapalooza sale, where loyal audiences drove the majority of sales at highly efficient rates while acquisition campaigns brought in new customers. The coordinated effort across Meta and Google resulted in a 39% year-over-year increase in online sales during the event — and across the full engagement, e-commerce sales have grown 60% year-over-year. The combination of a rebuilt digital foundation and a disciplined full-funnel paid media strategy has positioned Shelter as the go-to destination for serious timber framers and woodworkers across the country.
Reach out to First Pier and get the conversation started; the sooner, the better. They are the real deal.
Clayton Hennin, Marketing Manager — Shelter Institute
Paid media for a niche is not a reach problem. It is a finding problem.
Shelter Tools sells to people building timber frames — a small, serious, self-selecting audience who research for months and then buy a chisel that costs more than most people spend on tools in a decade. There is no version of that where you win by shouting at more people. The work is identifying the few thousand who are actually building something this year, then being unmistakably the right supplier when they go looking.
That is why the campaigns were built full-funnel and across channels rather than as a search-only spend. Someone who will buy a framing chisel in the autumn was reading about joinery in the spring, and the account has to be present for both without paying twice for the same person.
Orders rose 94% year over year and new customer acquisition 79%, at a 5x blended return. The second number is the one worth attending to. Growth from existing customers is easier and it is finite — a heritage retailer with a three-generation reputation has usually already sold to everyone who knows about them. New customers are the only version of this that compounds.
.png)
.png)
