Before we dive in, a quick note.
If you’re celebrating Hanukkah, I hope it’s been filled with light, family, and a chance to slow down.
If you’re celebrating Christmas, I wish you a peaceful and meaningful holiday.
December tends to blur together. A lot of noise. A lot of numbers. A lot of “next year” thinking.
So whether you’re reading this between meetings or with a coffee while things finally slow down, I appreciate you being here.
Now, let's dive in.
Topics we'll cover today:
💠 680 Ads. 7 Figures in Spend. Still Stuck.
💠 Things To Do Before 2025 Ends
💠 2025 Top-Listened Podcast Episode
💠 Latest news in the DTC space
680 Ads. 7 Figures in Spend. Still Stuck.
What if I handed you 7 figures to spend on Meta next year and gave you almost 700 ads ready to launch?
Be honest for a second.
You would think your growth problems are finally solved.
More budget. More creative. More ad diversity.
Think again.
Because that is exactly the setup one brand walked into before my agency audited their account. And despite all of that, 680 ads did not fix the problem.
Here is what actually happened:
This brand spent 7 figures on Meta in 2025.
Yet:
Total revenue was down 10% YoY
Revenue from new customers was down 14%
AOV was roughly equal to LTV
That last one matters more than most people realize.
The pattern was clear. November and December looked great. The rest of the year struggled to scale with acceptable efficiency.
So even with a massive budget, the business was relying on two months to carry the year. And, as you can imagine, that doesn’t work for them.
When we looked inside the ad account, one thing stood out immediately.
A lot of activity. Very little strategy.
What we saw:
Roughly 10 active campaigns at all times, even when spend dropped to around $30K/mo → Budgets spread thin
Unclear campaign setup: ABO and CBO mixed together, multiple attribution settings used simultaneously, Lowest Cost and Cost Per Result bidding living side by side with no clear rationale
27% of the entire annual budget allocated to testing
Some testing campaigns with more than 200 ads → 80% of ads never spending even 2 CPA
Only about 10% of ads receiving enough spend to prove or disprove anything
Multiple campaigns pushing the same ads to the same audiences
Weak use of audience segments inflating new customer performance inside the ad platform
And many more things we flagged...
On paper, the account looked busy. There was A LOT of information.
In reality, most of those ads were not learning. They were just…there (80% of ads never spent even 2 CPA).
This is where most teams draw the wrong conclusion.
They assume the answer is more and better ads, more testing, or even more spend.
But here is the uncomfortable truth.
When AOV equals LTV, your constraint is not paid media. It is the business model around it.
In this case:
AOV sat materially lower for most of the year
It only spiked in November and December
Repeat purchase behavior did not expand LTV
Ads only worked when demand was already peaking
Ads cannot fix:
Weak retention
Seasonal demand cliffs
A system where the first purchase is also the last purchase
This is why I keep repeating it.
Not every business problem is an ad problem.
Yes, the ad account needed cleanup:
Fewer campaigns
Clear separation between scaling and testing
Shorter decision windows
Aggressive pruning
A structure that matches the budget, not the ego
But the real leverage lived outside the ad platform:
Demand creation beyond peak season
Better entry points
Reasons to come back
Partnerships and distribution leverage
Messaging anchored in emotional payoff, not just features
Ads do not create leverage on their own.
They amplify whatever system they are plugged into.
680 ads did not fix the problem.
Not because the team did not work hard.
But because more execution is not a substitute for strategy. And no amount of ad diversity can compensate for a system that is not built to compound.
If you’re spending serious money on ads and still have a hard time scaling profitably, this is worth a conversation.
When budgets go up, complexity usually follows. More campaigns. More tests. More activity. But not necessarily more leverage.
If you want to understand why performance stalls, where efficiency is actually leaking, and what needs to change in 2026, you can book a call with me.
We’ll look at the system behind the ads, not just the ads themselves, and get clear on what’s holding scale back.
No pressure. No hard sell. Just clarity on whether there’s a better way forward.
--
Follow me on LinkedIn for more growth marketing content in the e-commerce space.
Promote your Business to 11,000+ People in the DTC Space
The DTC Insider (newsletter + podcast) reaches a highly qualified audience of DTC founders, directors, and marketers. Learn more about the sponsorship opportunities we offer for your business.
Things To Do Before 2025 Ends
If you think the year is over. Think again.
Even though the peak season is over for many brands, there are still some things you can leverage before the year ends.
Let's go through a few of them:
🎁 New Year Sale
Typically, when BFCM is over, many advertisers lower their ad spend.
Which causes advertising costs to go down.
That creates an opportunity for many brands to offer their audience the last chance to get some good deals before the year is over.
🔍 Analyze 2025
This is as good a time as any for analyzing what happened during the year.
I'd suggest looking at the following:
Top/worst-selling months VS 2024
Top/worst-selling products
Top/worst-performing customer acquisition & retention channels
KPIs: AOV, CAC, LTV, New vs Returning Customers, Avg. orders/yr per customer, revenue, and profit margins
Go through the positive and negative reviews and post-purchase surveys.
Identify your top customers and try to find common patterns
🎯 Plan Q1
Based on your analysis of the current year, define your goals for Q1.
Or even for the entire year.
I firmly believe that to get specific answers, we need to ask the right questions.
Sounds easy, but it's not.
Here are some ideas:
What goals would you like to achieve?
What products would you like to launch/discontinue?
Where are the main bottlenecks that are preventing your business from growing?
What channels are helping you the most?
What feedback have you received from customers, and how can you incorporate it into your strategies for improvement?
Are there any recurring customer issues that need to be addressed?
What are your competitors doing successfully, and how can you adapt or differentiate to stay ahead?
Of course, the list is endless, but I believe these are very important aspects to consider when planning ahead.
--
Follow me on LinkedIn for more growth marketing content in the e-commerce space.
2025 Top-Listened Podcast Episode
Can’t wait to release Season 6! 😅
In the meantime, I wanted to share an episode I really enjoyed, and I think many of you will.
It’s the one with Black Rifle Coffee. They do $400M in annual revenue. 🤯
Think you can learn a thing or two from them?
(I certainly did!)
In this episode of The DTC Insider podcast, Brian Roisentul sat down with Donny Jensen, (now former) CMO of Black Rifle Coffee.
Check it out 👇
🎧 Tune in
We'll be back with Season 6 of The DTC Insider in January, stay tuned!
What did you think of today's newsletter?
If you found this interesting, please leave us a review. It’d mean the world to me.
Latest News in the DTC Space
📰 TikTok Signed Agreements for New US Joint Venture [read more]
📰 Temu launches an official Shopify App [read more]
📰 OpenAI launches an app store within ChatGPT [read more]
About The Writer
Brian Roisentul is the founder & CEO of BSR Digital, a growth marketing agency he started in 2013 to help e-commerce brands unlock hidden revenue by identifying misalignments between their marketing and customer behavior. He is also the host of The DTC Insider podcast, where he interviews thought leaders, founders, and directors in the e-commerce space.
Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:
Want to talk shop?
If your brand is doing at least 7 figures, apply here to get featured (for free) on The DTC Insider podcast and my team will get in touch.
Need help to grow your online sales?
Book a call with me and let’s explore how my team and I at BSR can help you.
Promote your Business to 11,000+ People in the DTC Space
The DTC Insider (newsletter + podcast) reaches a highly qualified audience of DTC founders, directors, and marketers. Learn more about the sponsorship opportunities we offer for your business. If you’d like to become a sponsor, apply here.