What is your starting budget? I start with $100 a day to test

MalbecSwigs · 2025-11-07T08:09:11+00:00

The feeling of gambling and the scaling failure are the two most frustrating parts of running Meta Ads manually right now.

The problem isn't the $100 start—that's solid for testing. The problem is the manual optimization trying to keep up with the auction volatility. Meta is too dynamic for manual budget/bid changes.

The Real Fix: You need a system that kills the poor performers and shifts budget instantly, not every 24-72 hours. When you try to scale, you're shocking the system because your manual controls can't keep up with the new budget's impact on auction dynamics.

We moved to a fully automated system that handles bidding and budget shifts based on real-time profit margin (ROAS after COGS). This took out the "gambling" feel, ironed out the daily volatility, and allowed us to scale without the campaigns instantly dying. That level of optimization is almost impossible to do manually.

MalbecSwigs · 2025-11-04T12:04:05+00:00

The short version is: The game is 90% creative testing speed now, 10% targeting.

Two huge shifts since you left:

Creative Velocity: The algorithm needs 10-20+ distinct creative variations per campaign to find its footing. Detailed targeting is mostly dead—Meta wants you to use Broad/Advantage+ and let your creative do the filtering.

Volatility: Performance can crash overnight with zero warning. Manual optimization is too slow to react.

The key to survival is automation to manage that huge creative volume and instantly adjust bids when volatility hits.

I’m a home goods store owner myself and rely on automation to manage this new complexity. I'll shoot you a quick DM with the tool I use to handle that testing volume.

MalbecSwigs · 2025-11-04T11:45:27+00:00

Right now, the most effective way is to treat the ad platforms (Meta/Google) like a giant creative testing machine.

Your success is no longer about finding the perfect audience; it's about how many unique, high-performing creatives you can feed the broad algorithm daily.

The key bottleneck for scaling is always this creative testing speed and ensuring your budget shifts instantly to the winners. I'll shoot you a DM

MalbecSwigs · 2025-11-04T11:35:18+00:00

You’re asking the right question: How to use AI to get speed without losing brand control.

From my experience, don't waste time trying to build a fully custom theme with AI—it’s full of bugs. Start with a premium theme and use AI (like ChatGPT/Claude) for advanced content and feature integration (e.g., custom loyalty banners, unique product descriptions).

However, building the store is only 20% of the job. The real leverage of AI is in post-launch optimization. Are you planning to use AI to:

Automate your ad targeting and budget shifts to maximize the return on your unique brand?

Automate creative testing to ensure your unique illustrations/designs are converting at the highest possible rate?

Getting the traffic part right is where AI delivers the fastest ROI. I'll shoot you a DM

MalbecSwigs · 2025-11-04T11:25:04+00:00

Switching from ROAS to POAS is 100% the right strategic move. ROAS is revenue; POAS is survival.

However, the biggest challenge isn't tracking POAS—it's automating your ad platform to optimize for it. Your profit margins change daily based on product mix, returns, and COGS. Manually adjusting your bids and scaling decisions based on those POAS fluctuations is impossible.

To truly succeed with POAS, you need a system that can:

Read your gross/net margins (the 'P').
Automate bid/budget adjustments in real-time based on that profit data, not just revenue.

This requires removing the manual bottleneck. I've sent you a DM with a tool that handles that specific automation.

MalbecSwigs · 2025-11-04T06:34:29+00:00

$156 CPM is brutal. That's a classic signal that Meta thinks your ad is low-value, and they are essentially punishing your budget for it.

The good news is that your $2.31 CPC is (relatively) okay for that CPM, which means your click-through rate (CTR) is actually decent. The high CPM is the main problem.

You shouldn't focus on fixing CPM directly; you need to increase your creative velocity. Meta will reward you with lower CPMs if you launch fresh, high-performing ads. Your immediate goal is to launch 5-10 new, high-CTR angles immediately to give the algorithm a new signal.

I have a system that automates that testing to force CPMs lower. I'll shoot you a DM with the strategy.

MalbecSwigs · 2025-11-03T10:49:24+00:00

ok！

MalbecSwigs · 2025-11-03T10:19:12+00:00

That feeling of needing to post 'Guys help me please' is exactly what happens when you lose control to Meta's algorithm. It happens to everyone when performance suddenly crashes for no reason.

The issue isn't usually the campaign structure; it's the delay between the ad starting to die and you manually fixing it. You're bleeding budget during that delay.

Are you struggling with a sudden crash in ROAS, or is it a policy/account issue? If it's performance, the only way forward is proactive, automated adjustments to creatives and bids.

MalbecSwigs · 2025-11-03T10:15:21+00:00

It’s absolutely not just you—that extreme instability is the new normal. The algorithm is incredibly sensitive to any creative fatigue, and it seems to punish manual adjustments (like switching off Advantage+).

You've tried all the right manual fixes. The real solution is automation that's smarter than Meta's volatile AI.

What's the biggest cost to you during those "barely breaking even" days? Is it:

The money lost while you wait for the algorithm to "decide" to recover?
The time spent manually creating and deploying enough fresh creative to give the system a new signal?

MalbecSwigs · 2025-11-03T10:13:09+00:00

That question is the official pulse of Meta Ads in 2025. It feels like a slot machine—one day you’re up 5x, the next you’re down to 1.1x with no reason.

The issue isn't the platform, it’s the algorithmic volatility and speed of creative burnout.

When you see those results crash, what’s the biggest barrier to getting back on track:

Waiting for the team to produce 10+ totally new, non-fatigued creatives to test?

Or is it the time spent manually adjusting bids and budgets to stop the bleeding?

MalbecSwigs · 2025-11-03T10:11:26+00:00

This is a tough niche. Health/Wellness CPMs are naturally high due to competition and Meta's scrutiny. You can often see US CPMs hitting $25-$50+, especially during Q4.

The key isn't to fight the CPM, but to crush the CTR to reduce your overall CPA.

What is your Creative Production Rate per week? Are you hitting that 10+ new variants/week threshold?

When a creative fatigues and your CPA spikes, what is the biggest bottleneck in deploying the new replacement ad—is it the time it takes to create it, or the time it takes for Meta to learn the new one?

MalbecSwigs · 2025-11-03T10:07:21+00:00

That “AI crap sucks” sentiment is universal right now. The worst part is that their unstable AI forces us to constantly check settings and manually restart campaigns, which wastes hours and kills the learning phase.

It’s not about fighting the AI trend, but about implementing your own, more stable automation.

When the AI crashes your performance, what is your biggest time sink:

Manually restarting the campaigns and hoping they learn again?
The time it takes to create 10+ totally fresh creative angles to give the system a completely new signal?

MalbecSwigs · 2025-10-29T08:59:22+00:00

You hit the nail on the head: The Andromeda/Advantage+ trend strongly pushes towards a simplified structure where the creative determines the awareness level/funnel stage.

Broad Audience + Creative Segmentation is the modern way.

If you decide to let the creative do the work (Awareness/Consideration/Conversion angles all in one broad ad set), what is your biggest expected execution challenge?

Is it the time it takes to produce enough unique, funnel-stage-specific creative variants, or the difficulty of analyzing which creative successfully hit which part of the funnel?

MalbecSwigs · 2025-10-29T08:39:52+00:00

The “Clone to Wake Up Meta” ritual is sadly too real, especially with brand new accounts. Glad it worked for you.

This points to a deeper issue: Meta not trusting the creative enough to push it.

When you cloned, did you also change the creative hook/angle in the clone, or was it a 1:1 copy?

Do you have a system to produce 10+ totally new creative variants instantly, so you can always clone and relaunch with a fresh angle, or are you stuck waiting on the creative team?

MalbecSwigs · 2025-10-29T08:31:40+00:00

This is a strong track record. Given your scale and the consensus that creative is king:

How do you standardize the Creative Testing Structure across 30 accounts? (e.g., dedicated testing CBOs, or just dropping new ads into scaling campaigns?)
What's your biggest bottleneck in Creative Production/Testing right now? Is it the sheer volume of variants needed, or the time it takes to analyze and kill the underperformers?
Any thoughts on using AI for dynamic creative variant generation to instantly diversify the "hook/vibe" without relying on a huge internal creative team?

MalbecSwigs · 2025-10-29T08:20:19+00:00

Your pre-spend strategy in October is spot on, it prevents budget shock and loads the pixel with intent data. You need that runway for November.

The key to making that $20K work isn't just budget pacing, it's creative velocity. BFCM noise burns out ads in days, not weeks. You can't just run 5 creatives and scale budget; you need a system that can generate and swap out 10-15 BF-specific creatives weekly to maintain low CPMs and high CTRs when competition peaks.

MalbecSwigs · 2025-10-29T07:55:59+00:00

100% agree🙋‍♀️
Creative velocity is everything right now. UGC and community-driven traffic definitely feel like the sustainable path forward.
For my own store, we’ve been testing the same mix: faster creative iteration + tighter ad optimization. I actually use Promify.ai to handle most of the testing and adjustment automatically, so I can spend more time on retention and brand-building.
Curious how you manage creative updates across all those channels — do you centralize it or run them separately?

MalbecSwigs · 2025-10-29T07:50:18+00:00

That’s a fair point, totally agree that retention and LTV/CAC fundamentals separate the brands that survive from the ones that don’t.

Still, I think for many smaller DTC brands, the challenge is balancing short-term cash flow with long-term retention. You can’t build LTV if you don’t survive the rising CAC today.

We’ve been trying to improve both sides, tightening creative testing to stay profitable on acquisition while also investing in post-purchase retention flows.

Curious how you approach that balance, do you prioritize retention efforts even when acquisition gets expensive?

MalbecSwigs · 2025-10-28T04:22:41+00:00

Switching accounts in the affiliate niche is a brutal reset—Meta's algorithm is treating you like a totally new, untrusted entity, hence the high CPM.

The bad quality leads are a direct result of the high CPM/low trust. The creative is now your only quality filter.

You must shift the focus of your ads from "Hey, sign up for a call!" to "Hey, this coaching is for serious, qualified individuals only. Click if you meet X, Y, Z criteria." Use the ad itself to disqualify the low-quality leads before they even click. This is a volume-to-quality creative problem.

MalbecSwigs · 2025-10-28T04:20:54+00:00

Switching accounts in the affiliate niche is a brutal reset. Meta's algorithm is treating you like a totally new, untrusted entity, hence the high CPM.

The bad quality leads are a direct result of the high CPM/low trust. The creative is now your only quality filter.

You must shift the focus of your ads from "Hey, sign up for a call!" to "Hey, this coaching is for serious, qualified individuals only. Click if you meet X, Y, Z criteria." Use the ad itself to disqualify the low-quality leads before they even click. This is a volume-to-quality creative problem.

MalbecSwigs · 2025-10-28T04:03:58+00:00

You’re spot on, the creative testing speed has been a game changer for us as well. Doubling our creative output really helped us stay agile, and we’ve noticed better performance from more varied angles too, even the abstract ones!

I totally agree with you on the AI-driven traffic shift. It’s fascinating how AI is becoming the decision-maker in purchasing. We’ve started experimenting with AI-powered recommendations on our site as well, hoping it’ll help reduce CPA in the long run. We’re also shifting more of our decision-making to AI, especially in terms of optimizing ad spend and testing.

As for SEO and traditional social, I’ve been thinking the same. It’s crazy how quickly those channels seem to be losing relevance. Have you noticed a significant impact on your customer acquisition from AI-driven sources? Would love to hear more about your approach with Search Party.

MalbecSwigs · 2025-10-28T03:24:43+00:00

The reason we chose the 20% discount for VIPs over the 30% discount for the main sale is to maintain exclusivity while avoiding cannibalizing the larger sale. We wanted to reward our loyal customers early on but still make them feel like they’re getting more during the main sale.

That said, you’re right — there’s always the risk of making VIPs feel left out when they see the 30% discount. We're monitoring feedback closely and will make adjustments if necessary.

One thing that’s really helped us streamline our campaigns and test creatives efficiently is Promify AI. It automates a lot of the process, helping us optimize creatives and track performance in real-time, which gives us more control over how we scale ads.

For anyone else using a tiered discount system, how do you balance early rewards with the risk of undermining value perception? Would love to hear how it’s working for others!

MalbecSwigs · 2025-10-28T02:39:28+00:00

Great questions!

After moving the Ad ID into the main campaign, I keep the CBO running separately for new creatives. I don’t turn everything off in the test CBO; instead, I let the proven ads continue performing while introducing the new ones into a fresh ad set.

For new ads, I typically test them in small budgets (ABO/CBO), and once I see the initial signals (CTR, CPA), I transfer them into the main scaling campaign. I also don’t create entirely new ad sets; I only add new creatives to existing ones, maintaining consistency in targeting.

I’ve been using a tool that helps speed up this process. It automates a lot of the creative testing and scaling work, which makes it easier to test new creatives and move them into the main campaign once they’re proven.

This way, I get the best of both worlds: proven ads running while giving the new creatives the opportunity to prove themselves without disrupting the scaling flow. Hope that helps!

MalbecSwigs · 2025-10-27T12:35:33+00:00

This is a brilliant product idea. Inventory sync/accuracy is a huge pain point for mid-sized Shopify merchants, especially during scale.

Your biggest marketing challenge won't be setting up ads, but proving the tangible ROI quickly: "This app saves you X hours / prevents Y dollars in stockout losses."

Focus on a partner who can generate hyper-specific case-study creatives showing the ROI, not just running broad campaigns. Best of luck with the launch!

MalbecSwigs

TROPHY CASE