How Firecrown Modernized Its Digital Marketing And Unlocked Breakthrough Results
Firecrown Media is one of those rare publishers with brands people truly love. Trains.com, FlyingMag.com, The Space Store: each one has decades of authority and fiercely loyal audiences. What they didn’t yet have was a unified, modern digital marketing engine built for today’s intent-driven landscape.
When we began working together in 2020, Firecrown had four big goals: grow search visibility, drive more Trains.com trials, improve ecommerce performance, and build internal expertise so their team could eventually run campaigns confidently on their own. That mix of outcomes is exactly what we specialize in.
Here’s how we got there.
The Four Challenges Firecrown Needed To Solve
Stronger search visibility – Firecrown needed to win both branded searches (their magazine titles) and the high-intent, non-branded queries their enthusiasts were typing every day.
A healthier subscription funnel – Trains.com’s digital subscription model needed measurable, sustainable trial volume—not just traffic.
Better ecommerce profitability – Shop.Trains.com and TheSpaceStore.com needed a clear, trackable link between ad spend and real revenue.
An empowered internal team – They didn’t want a dependency model. They wanted to grow their own capabilities over time.
One Strategic Framework That Flexed For Each Brand
Instead of creating separate, disconnected strategies for each Firecrown property, we built one cohesive framework and customized it for each audience segment.
For Trains.com, FlyingMag.com, and Shop.Trains.com, the structure blended traditional search with advanced AI-optimized tools: Google Ads search, Performance Max, Demand Gen, Criteo, and selective geofencing. Each tool had a role. Performance Max used decades of Firecrown’s audience data to find new high-value customers. Criteo retargeted warm visitors with precision, which is especially important for subscriptions and hobby-based purchases. And because so many of their systems were third-party, we built a complex tracking layer so all meaningful conversions could be measured accurately.
The Space Store took a different path. Their team preferred to stay hands-on with daily management, so we leaned into a consultation and training model—audits, reporting, monthly training sessions, and mid-month check-ins. They kept control but gained the expertise to optimize with more confidence.
Training: The Secret Advantage That Multiplied Results
From day one, Firecrown made it clear they didn’t want digital performance locked inside an agency black box. They wanted to grow smarter.
So we built training and collaboration into the process itself. We co-developed creative, reviewed strategy together, shared every optimization rationale, and conducted monthly reviews inside Teamwork. That rhythm built confidence, sharpened skills, and created a shared language between teams. Over time, Firecrown became an active strategic partner and not just a recipient of reports.
The Results: Efficiency, Scale, And A 40% Lift In ROAS
Because the strategy prioritized quality over quantity, the results spoke for themselves:
Trains.com
Comparing a recent 30-day period to the previous year, conversions spiked from almost zero to a consistent, healthy flow. Costs decreased. Impressions and clicks dropped…but intentionally…because the targeting became tighter and waste disappeared. That’s the definition of intent-driven efficiency.
Shop.Trains.com
On the ecommerce side, impressions grew significantly and conversions more than doubled. Volume went up without sacrificing profitability, proving the structure was built to scale.
FlyingMag.com
With only modest budget increases, impressions jumped, clicks doubled, and conversions went from minimal to reliably measurable. A clear signal that the creative, targeting, and offer structure clicked perfectly with the aviation audience.
The Space Store
This is the standout. With the consultation-first model, ROAS increased nearly 40 percent year over year. They generated more revenue from fewer, more qualified clicks—exactly what happens when a team understands how to optimize for profitability instead of volume.
Why This Partnership Worked
Firecrown ultimately described the partnership like this: “Trivera didn’t just run their ads; we taught them the why behind every recommendation. That shared ownership is what turned short-term wins into a scalable, long-term system. When an internal team and an agency operate as one unit, performance compounds.”
What This Means For You
If you’re a publisher, retailer, or brand with a deep history and a passionate audience, the Firecrown story is a roadmap worth paying attention to. You don’t have to outspend your competitors. You have to out-focus them.
Here’s the distilled version of the playbook:
• Tighten your targeting around real intent
• Use historical data with the right AI-driven tools
• Build tracking and reporting that tell one clear story
• Invest in training so your team grows more capable every month
That’s how Firecrown modernized their digital marketing. And if you’re ready to do the same, Trivera can help you build a strategy that scales the right way.
