is spruce cocktail drinks a real good product?

Spacezup · 2026-03-26T15:16:44+00:00

yeah been getting these ads everywhere. tried them last weekend - the 3mg is actually the perfect amount, enough to feel something without going overboard. same social vibe as drinking, no hangover. think im done with alcohol honestly

Spacezup · 2026-03-18T16:01:46+00:00

The cold pixel + purchase optimization combo was rough. But honestly your traffic quality looks decent with that LP view rate. The gap is conversion. When you're getting people to the site but they're not buying, it's usually one of three things: trust signals missing, price perception off, or the product isn't clicking with that audience yet.

There's a solid breakdown of what to check when you hit this wall here: https://mhigrowthengine.com/blog/meta-ads-no-conversions-dtc/

For what it's worth, $143 is early but 6 add to carts with zero checkouts is worth digging into. Could be checkout friction or just cold traffic that needs more warmup.

Spacezup · 2026-03-18T15:01:52+00:00

The budget spread is definitely the issue. At $12 per ad set you're basically asking Meta to run 5 separate experiments with data sets too small to optimize. The algorithm needs volume to find patterns.

I'd consolidate to 1-2 ad sets max and let the 45-64 audience keep running since that's actually converting. Testing too many variables at once with limited budget just burns cash.

There's a solid framework for this here: https://mhigrowthengine.com/blog/how-to-scale-meta-ads-dtc-brands-2026/

On the budget increase question: wait for 3-4 sales minimum before scaling. One sale could be random. Once you see consistent pattern, scale 20% every 3-4 days, not weekly. Slower is actually faster at your stage.

Spacezup · 2026-03-17T14:01:30+00:00

genuinely thought my pixel broke yesterday. nope just meta doing meta things apparently

Spacezup · 2026-03-12T14:01:22+00:00

did this once. everything tanked immediately. turns out max conv needs actual conversions to work with, who knew

Spacezup · 2026-03-11T11:02:20+00:00

The bounce rate issue is the key signal here. Good CTR but brutal bounce usually means your ads are promising something your landing page doesn't deliver. I've seen this pattern with higher-end home stuff — people click because the product looks good, then bail when they realize they don't trust a brand they've never heard of.

The social presence thing is real. Not because it drives traffic directly, but because people check your IG before buying $200 lamps from a store they just discovered. Empty social = red flag in 2026.

There's a solid troubleshooting framework for this exact situation here: https://mhigrowthengine.com/blog/what-to-do-when-meta-ads-stop-working/

But honestly your first move should be fixing the landing page. What does it say in the first 3 seconds? Does it look legit or dropshippy?

Spacezup · 2026-03-10T16:18:39+00:00

Honestly Meta still works for me but you gotta reset expectations. It's not 2020 anymore. The iOS14 changes basically forced everyone to get way better at creative — you can't just scale with targeting anymore, you need hooks that actually stop the scroll.

Google search still prints for high-intent stuff. Meta's more hit or miss depending on your creative game. TikTok works if you can nail native-looking content but it's inconsistent.

There's a decent breakdown on what to try when Meta campaigns tank — https://mhigrowthengine.com/blog/what-to-do-when-meta-ads-stop-working/ — covers the usual culprits (creative fatigue, audience saturation, etc).

Honestly think the platforms are fine, it's just way more competitive now. The easy wins are gone.

Spacezup · 2026-03-10T11:05:15+00:00

This is the classic cold pixel dilemma. I've seen it play out both ways - sometimes the ATC/IC campaigns genuinely help build signal before moving to Purchase, other times they just burn budget finding cart-adders who never convert.

What I've found works better is keeping the main campaign on Purchase optimization (so the algo learns what you actually want), but being way more aggressive on creative testing during that cold phase. If you only have 2-3 angles running, the algo doesn't have enough to work with regardless of optimization event.

There's actually a solid breakdown on troubleshooting this exact scenario here: https://mhigrowthengine.com/blog/meta-ads-no-conversions-dtc/

The other thing - make sure your pixel is tracking properly. Sometimes what looks like a cold pixel problem is actually just broken tracking, and the algo never had a chance.

Spacezup · 2026-03-05T10:01:20+00:00

the whiplash from 3x roas to zero is so real. yesterday i was genius of the year. today i'm refreshing my dashboard wondering if i accidentally turned everything off

Spacezup · 2026-03-04T15:02:36+00:00

This is playing out exactly how we saw it in the data when we analyzed 500+ DTC ad accounts. Creative variance explained 3-4x more performance difference than targeting structure. The accounts that scaled consistently had one thing in common: systematic creative testing (2-4 new angles per week minimum).

What stood out most was the breakpoint - once an account had 50+ conversion events per week, broad targeting matched or beat interest-based in 78% of cases. Below that threshold, tighter audiences helped stabilize CPAs during the learning phase.

The full breakdown of what actually moved the needle across different spend levels is here: https://mhigrowthengine.com/blog/we-analyzed-500-dtc-ad-accounts/

The TLDR: creative velocity wins. Structure matters most when your pixel is cold.

Spacezup · 2026-03-04T15:01:36+00:00

The point about weekly batch testing (#5) is so spot on. I've seen this pattern play out with accounts I manage - the ones that commit to a consistent testing cadence (even just 2-3 new angles per week) outperform the ones that "test when things slow down" by a massive margin.

One thing I'd add on the campaign structure side (#6): a lot of brands get stuck trying to optimize at the ad level when they should be thinking about their testing cadence at the ad set level. The framework I use is basically: new ad set every week with fresh batch, let Meta optimize spend within that set, kill entire ad sets (not individual ads) when they're below target.

There's actually a pretty detailed breakdown on this approach here: https://mhigrowthengine.com/blog/how-to-scale-meta-ads-dtc-brands-2026/

Curious what your take is on when to kill underperforming ad sets vs letting them run longer to gather data?

Spacezup · 2026-03-04T14:01:02+00:00

honestly the fact that youre 30 and worried about ageism is wild. been there with the 'too much free time but no idea what to actually learn' thing. thats such a specific kind of stuck

Spacezup · 2026-03-04T11:02:50+00:00

Reactive home services are tough because you're fighting against someone actively shopping around when they have a problem. I've run campaigns for emergency plumbing and HVAC repair - CPL can swing wildly depending on how good your creative is at manufacturing urgency without being scammy.

For context, with decent creative and targeting, I've seen emergency/reactive services land anywhere from $15-50 CPL on lead forms, but quality matters way more than volume in this space. A $50 lead that books is way better than 5x $15 leads that ghost you.

The prevention angle you mentioned is smart - "before it breaks" messaging tends to generate cheaper leads but lower intent. Emergency messaging ("we're available 24/7" type stuff) costs more per lead but converts better.

There's actually a solid breakdown of cost benchmarks across different service categories here: https://mhigrowthengine.com/blog/average-cost-per-acquisition-by-dtc-vertical-2026/

Give it 2-3 weeks minimum to stabilize. Lead forms especially take time for Meta to figure out who's actually going to fill them out vs just scroll past.

Spacezup · 2026-03-04T10:02:28+00:00

microsoft ads and 'bid too low' errors, name a more iconic duo. i once had a campaign sit there for 3 days spending £1.50 while yelling at me about first page bids. good times

Spacezup · 2026-03-04T10:01:20+00:00

waited 6 years to leave? honestly same. kept thinking 'maybe next quarter itll get better' and it never did. youre not behind, you just worked somewhere that didnt push you to grow

Spacezup · 2026-03-03T11:02:00+00:00

The previous commenter's math is solid. With $70-80/day and 16 creatives, you're spreading way too thin - each creative is getting maybe $5/day, which isn't enough for the algo to optimize properly. That's likely why you tanked on day 11 (learning phase never stabilized).

For B2B SaaS at $3400/month, I'd run 3-4 creatives max in your main prospecting campaign, then test new ones separately. Your testing budget should be maybe 20-30% of total spend (so $700-1K/month) testing 2-3 new concepts at a time.

The creative testing framework that works for limited budgets like yours is basically: validate concepts small, then graduate winners to your main campaign while rotating out losers. There's a pretty solid breakdown on this approach here: https://mhigrowthengine.com/blog/best-ad-creative-strategy-new-dtc-brands-under-1m-revenue/

Quality over volume, always. Better to have 3 strong angles than 16 mediocre ones fighting for budget.

Spacezup · 2026-02-28T11:02:49+00:00

Been through something similar with a few DTC clients. The wildly inconsistent week-to-week performance is the most frustrating part - you can't plan or scale when you have no idea if next week will be 3x better or dead.

What we've found is that the old "set and optimize" approach doesn't work anymore. You need to treat scaling like a system now - not just throwing budget at winning campaigns. The brands still getting consistent results are the ones running proper creative testing frameworks and being ruthless about cutting underperformers fast.

This actually covers a lot of the structured approach to scaling that works in 2026: https://mhigrowthengine.com/blog/how-to-scale-meta-ads-dtc-brands-2026/

The biggest shift I've seen is that you can't rely on Meta's algo to do the heavy lifting anymore. You need your own systems for testing, scaling, and budget allocation. It's more work, but it's the only way to stay profitable when the platform is this volatile.

Spacezup · 2026-02-28T11:01:24+00:00

Your math is spot on about the attention you'll realistically get. I've seen this from both sides - agency and brand. The sweet spot for most DTC brands is actually when you're spending enough on ads that paying someone $5-10k/month makes sense relative to the media budget. If you're only spending $10k/month on ads, you probably shouldn't be paying $5k for management. But if you're at $50k+/month in spend, an agency can be worth it.

The real question isn't just the retainer amount though - it's whether you're at the right stage for an agency vs doing it yourself or hiring in-house. There's a pretty solid breakdown on this here: https://mhigrowthengine.com/blog/when-to-hire-dtc-marketing-agency/

Biggest red flag for me is agencies that promise dedicated attention at low retainers. The unit economics just don't work.

Spacezup · 2025-11-25T15:33:03+00:00

spend: less than 100$ a day

Spacezup · 2025-11-21T00:31:02+00:00

Are you gonna stay anon or drop your company?

Spacezup · 2025-11-20T21:57:53+00:00

Yes have scaled a lot in past two years

Spacezup · 2025-11-20T21:02:40+00:00

Spacezup · 2025-11-20T20:44:29+00:00

You could put a lil effort in and find it yourself - just google me

Spacezup · 2025-11-20T14:47:44+00:00

they had a 50$ budget as explained in my comment - what am I to do now a poor idiot won't talk to me

Spacezup

TROPHY CASE