Performance Acquisition for a DTC Sports Brand*

A direct-to-consumer brand operating in a highly competitive environment (on Meta platforms) needed to drive consistent conversions under constrained budgets.

*Brand name withheld due to client confidentiality.

approach

Working as an e-commerce store manager, I was responsible for optimizing the entire customer journey: from the first touchpoint at Meta ads, through the website and checkout experience, to final conversion.

The approach focused not on Meta’s audience targeting capabilities, but more on deep research into the niche audience’s needs, motivations, and objections, using creative testing to identify winning creatives and scaling what performed best.

  • The strategy treated creative as the main driver of targeting. Variations of 10-15 creatives were produced weekly to test messaging, hooks, and formats to allow the algorithm to self-select high-intent users.

  • Campaigns were structured to balance scale and efficiency:

    • Conversion-optimized campaigns built around broad and lightly constrained audiences (Demo, Country), allowing the algorithm to find demand itself through aggressive creative testing.

    • Retargeting layers focused on high-intent users (site visitors, engaged users, add-to-cart).

    From a technical standpoint, this included:

    • CBO campaigns to allow spend to flow dynamically toward top-performing ad sets.

    • Daily budgets typically ranging from $100-$1000, adjusted based on performance and creative fatigue.

    • Multiple ad sets per campaign, each seeded with 5+ creative variations to test hooks, angles, and ad formats.

    • Clear separation between testing and scaling campaigns.

    • Performance decisions driven by indicators such as CTR, hook rate, cost per add-to-cart, ROAS.

  • I approach Meta media buying through three core pillars: platform trust, creative-led execution, and signal analysis.

    #1 - platform trust
    I set up campaigns on Meta so they work with the platforms’ algorithm. That means simplified setups, broad or lightly constrained audiences (Demo, Country), and sufficient budget and volume to allow delivery to stabilize (I usually start with a $100/day budget).

    #2 - creative
    Creative is the primary performance lever. I focus on constant testing of concepts, hooks, formats, and messaging angles, using creative to target audiences intents. relying on platforms’ audience targeting.

    When it comes to metrics to analyze creatives at the top of the funnel, I pay close attention to:

    • Video Hook Rate (3-second views / impressions) to assess whether the hook grabs attention

    • Video Hold Rate (ThruPlays / impressions) and average watch time to understand whether the creative holds attention.

    These signals tell me whether the problem is the hook, the story, or the CTA even before conversions start rolling in.

    #3 - signal-driven decision-making
    I follow the customer journey (from the creative to purchase) to analyze performance across the full funnel: CTR, CPC, add-to-cart rate, purchase rate, and ROAS.

ROLE

Led end-to-end performance execution across Meta, including:

  • Campaign structure and budget allocation.

  • Creative testing frameworks.

  • Performance analysis and iteration.

  • Conversion optimization and scaling decisions.

outcome

  1. Built a repeatable creative testing system for lower-funnel acquisition, producing 80+ performance-driven creatives across multiple formats and hooks.

  2. Drove $15.5K in incremental monthly revenue through optimization across creatives, upsells and cross-sells.

*Specific performance metrics withheld due to confidentiality.

Scope & Capabilities

  1. Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram).

  2. Conversion-optimized campaign structures.

  3. Creative testing and iteration frameworks.

  4. Performance analysis and scaling decisions.

Previous

CTV-First Holiday Strategy