
If you could create your own fantasy board of directors, who would be on it? CO— connects you with thought leaders from across the business spectrum and asks them to help solve your biggest business challenges. In this edition, we ask an innovative e-commerce entrepreneur about his tried-and-true AI marketing tips.
In this edition of "Ask the Board," we feature Alfred Chehebar, Founder of ObjectsHQ, a breakthrough e-commerce platform that offers curated modern luxury furniture. Chehebar shared the AI-centered marketing tips that have been pivotal to his success.
I founded ObjectsHQ during the COVID-19 pandemic as a pivot from my luggage business, Genius Pack. At that time, demand for luggage plummeted by approximately 90%. It was a pivotal moment in my career, and I needed to act quickly. My goal was to provide direct-to-consumer pricing on luxurious furniture so anyone could shop designer looks without breaking the bank.
These tips can help you make the most out of AI marketing.
Invest in digital marketing
At ObjectsHQ, we focus on product curation and customer acquisition through digital marketing and have seen success with AI-powered advertising campaigns on Meta platforms, which increased our average order value by 60% and improved our conversion rates.
Experiment with and test new AI advertising tools
We launched a retargeting campaign, leveraging AI tools to magnify other customers who look like our customers to both win back old customers and acquire new customers with similar behaviors as our existing fan base.
ROAS, or return on ad spend, is a crucial metric — at least in my eyes.
Alfred Chehebar, Founder of ObjectsHQ
Focus on the user experience
Most e-commerce brands see the bulk of their traffic from their paid ad efforts. It's critical to pay attention to users' behaviors once they arrive at the site, and not just pay attention to the revenues generated.
Instagram and Facebook, collectively, have billions of users; therefore, driving traffic will never be a problem. There are a variety of factors as to why users will click through and never consider a purchase — and it's important to remain curious and learn from how users interact on the site.
Learn from experiments that fail
In this game, you will need to experiment often. And results will come short of your expectations in the vast majority of events, based on my experience.
It's crucial to identify what went wrong and what characteristics of the campaign (copy, creative, offer) or audience caused the performance to lag. If advertisers learned one or two things from each failed experiment, they would surely see incremental improvements as their brand matures.
Consider lifetime value creation
ROAS, or return on ad spend, is a crucial metric — at least in my eyes. ObjectsHQ is self-funded and therefore consistent profits are necessary for the business to fund itself month over month.
Unlike venture-funded companies, we can't afford to spend on brand awareness without immediate returns. We need to focus on campaigns that deliver results and have little tolerance for nonperformers.
However, ROAS is just one metric. It's important to consider the purchasing behavior of your customers and the likelihood of a second conversion coming in a few months from a customer you acquired today.
Continuously monitor performance
E-commerce businesses looking to scale will see significant customer acquisition costs appear on their profit and loss (P&L) statements. In many cases, it's the largest expense line on your P&L after COGS (cost of goods sold), yet many advertisers forget to log in and track the performance of their campaigns regularly.
There should be many metrics to look at daily, which would enable you to learn and optimize accordingly. Some of the things we look for include the breakdown of amounts spent per product ID served and the breakdown of ads delivered by gender, age, platform, and placement. We also look at the frequency (how many times viewers see our ads on average).
Pay attention to your competitors
Many business owners concentrate heavily on their own operations, site, and ad efforts, which is undoubtedly important. However, they often overlook the broader market landscape.
In 2025, we operate in a fully transparent marketplace where customers have numerous options and are constantly comparing prices and quality from different merchants. While it's essential to stay focused on your own efforts, it's equally important to pay attention to what's going on around you.
CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.
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