Scalability School

What BFCM tactics actually work for DTC brands running Meta ads? Answer: The BFCM tactics that worked best last year were planned around specific hours, not just the weekend: a one-hour free gift with purchase flash sale sent by plain-text email and SMS, which roughly tripled hourly revenue, and a pacing plan built from last year's daily and hourly Shopify revenue and matched to the day of Black Friday rather than the calendar date. On Meta, run BFCM-specific creative alongside evergreen ads, build a dedicated BFCM campaign on min ROAS with a pre-built volume campaign as backup, and give lapsed customers their own one-day-click retention campaign with a ROAS target two to three times higher than acquisition. Then make sure shoppers can actually qualify for your best offer, because a threshold set too high prices them out. These BFCM tactics come straight from what worked last Black Friday Cyber Monday: a one-hour free gift with purchase flash sale that roughly tripled hourly revenue, a pacing plan built by the day and by the hour, and BFCM-specific creative running alongside evergreen ads. Andrew Foxwell and Brad Ploch walk through seven tactics to set up now, including campaign structure, a dedicated retention campaign, landing pages for new vs returning customers, and why lowering your offer threshold can help you scale. We discuss: - How a one-hour free gift with purchase flash sale works, and when to rerun it - How to pace Black Friday Cyber Monday revenue by day and by hour - Why Cyber Monday landing on November 30 changes your December comps - Whether BFCM-specific ads beat evergreen on Meta (last year, they did) - Black Friday ad ideas: founder warehouse videos, gift guides, ugly ads, the "We're sorry" ad, Christmas tree product shots and comment replies - BFCM campaign structure: min ROAS, cost caps, 1-day vs 7-day click - Why you should pre-build backup campaigns before the weekend - How to set up a Meta retention campaign for lapsed customers - Landing pages and pop-ups for new vs returning customers - Why Hollow dropped from buy 3, get 3 free to buy 2, get 2 Subscribe for a new episode every week. Watch last year's BFCM recap with Zach: https://youtu.be/3POPSecWu_M Get the newsletter: https://www.scalabilityschool.com/scalability-newsletter Learn more: https://www.scalabilityschool.com To connect with Andrew Foxwell send an email [email protected] To connect with Brad Ploch send him a DM at https://x.com/brad_ploch To connect with Zach Stuck send him a DM at https://x.com/zachmstuck Scalability School is a weekly show from Andrew Foxwell, Brad Ploch, and Zach Stuck about what is actually working right now in DTC growth. No theory, no recycled LinkedIn takes, just the numbers and decisions behind real brands and real ad accounts. This episode of the Scalability School podcast is sponsored by NorthBeam and they just launched Northbeam Incrementality. Northbeam Incrementality gives you easy, automated, self-service incrementality tests, while protecting you from the major mistakes so many people make while running incrementality tests. Your MTA handles the daily tactics, your MMM guides the long-term planning, and Incrementality provides the causal truth. It’s a closed loop that allows you to scale what works and cut what doesn't. Right now when you head over to www.northbeam.io/incrementality, they’re offering Scalability School listeners 50% off unlimited tests for a year when you join. Just tell them we sent you! Chapters 03:03 The one-hour free gift with purchase flash sale 08:07 How to pace Black Friday Cyber Monday revenue by day and hour 14:11 Do BFCM-specific ads beat evergreen on Meta? 18:20 Black Friday ad ideas: ugly ads, "We're sorry" and Christmas trees 21:24 Black Friday campaign structure: min ROAS, cost caps, click windows 26:37 Backup campaigns and the Black Friday retention campaign 29:46 Black Friday landing pages for new vs returning customers 33:43 Pop-ups and offer consistency before and during Black Friday 35:36 Offer thresholds: why buy 2, get 2 scaled better than buy 3, get 3

Question: What are category entry points, and how do you use them in Meta ads? Direct answer: Category entry points are the buying situations that make someone think of a category, like standing front row at a concert or lying awake next to a snoring partner, and the more of them a brand is linked to, the larger its share of mind and its share of sales. To use them, map situations across the whole category with the 7 W's rather than relying on your own customer surveys, score each one on size, frequency and brand fit, then launch ads that call out and show the situation. Tyson Drake recommends that situation-led ads carry more than half of ad account spend, ideally 60 to 80 percent, with roughly 80 percent of creative effort going into proven entry points and 20 percent into new ones. Category entry points are the buying situations that make someone think of your category, and the more of them your brand owns in a customer's head, the more of the category's sales you take. Brad Ploch sits down with Tyson Drake, former CMO of The Oodie and now a fractional CMO for eight and nine figure DTC brands, to turn the Ehrenberg-Bass research into a tactical playbook for Meta ads. You'll learn how to find category entry points with the 7 W's, how to prioritize them by size, frequency and brand fit, and how to launch, tag and scale the creative. We discuss: - What a category entry point is, and why nobody wakes up thinking "I need testosterone" - How mental availability works, and why brands thought of in more buying situations sell more - Category entry point examples, from front row at a Metallica show to a snoring partner - The difference between a persona and a category entry point - Why your own post-purchase surveys bias the research, and where to look instead - The 7 W's framework for mapping buying situations - How to prioritize entry points with ICE scoring, search data and frequency - Why situation-led ads should carry more than half of your ad spend - Statics vs video, and the naming conventions that make entry points trackable - The 80/20 explore vs exploit split, and how Loop grew beyond festivals This episode of the Scalability School podcast is sponsored by NorthBeam and they just launched Northbeam Incrementality. Northbeam Incrementality gives you easy, automated, self-service incrementality tests, while protecting you from the major mistakes so many people make while running incrementality tests. Your MTA handles the daily tactics, your MMM guides the long-term planning, and Incrementality provides the causal truth. It’s a closed loop that allows you to scale what works and cut what doesn't. Right now when you head over to www.northbeam.io/incrementality, they’re offering Scalability School listeners 50% off unlimited tests for a year when you join. Just tell them we sent you! Follow Tyson Drake on X: https://x.com/tysondrake Get the newsletter: https://www.scalabilityschool.com/scalability-newsletter Learn more: https://www.scalabilityschool.com Scalability School is a weekly show from Andrew Foxwell, Brad Ploch, and Zach Stuck about what is actually working right now in DTC growth. No theory, no recycled LinkedIn takes, just the numbers and decisions behind real brands and real ad accounts. Chapters 01:25 How Tyson Drake scaled The Oodie and taught himself marketing 08:05 Mental availability: the research behind category entry points 11:23 Category entry point examples: concerts, flights, snoring partners 17:01 Category entry points vs personas: what's the difference? 19:17 How to find category entry points with the 7 W's 28:56 How to prioritize category entry points: ICE, size and frequency 33:47 Why mental market share predicts sales market share 38:36 How to launch entry point ads: statics, video and naming conventions 47:07 Explore vs exploit: how to scale a winning entry point (01:25) - How Tyson Drake scaled The Oodie and taught himself marketing (08:05) - Mental availability: the research behind category entry points (11:23) - Category entry point examples: concerts, flights, snoring partners (17:01) - Category entry points vs personas: what's the difference? (19:17) - How to find category entry points with the 7 W's (28:56) - How to prioritize category entry points: ICE, size and frequency (33:47) - Why mental market share predicts sales market share (38:36) - How to launch entry point ads: statics, video and naming conventions (47:07) - Explore vs exploit: how to scale a winning entry point

What should DTC brands A/B test to increase revenue per visitor? Test the variables that change how the offer is perceived before you test reassurance. In Brad Ploch's recent split tests, cutting a $279 product's sale price from $229 to $199 lifted revenue per visitor 44%, adding six problem-focused questions to a quiz doubled it, and swapping the post-purchase offer took upsell revenue per visitor from about $2 to $10. Trust signals went the other way: a bolder warranty line cut conversion 7.5%, full reviews lost 10% of profit per session to an AI summary, and USP blocks at checkout changed nothing. The ecommerce A/B tests that paid off this season all changed how the offer is framed: the price point, how long a quiz lets shoppers sit in their problem, how plainly a headline states the USP, and where Meta sends the traffic. The "trust signal" best practices most brands assume are safe (a louder warranty, more reviews, reassurance at checkout) lost or did nothing. Andrew Foxwell and Brad Ploch walk through more than a dozen real split tests from DTC brands, with the numbers behind the winners and the losers. We discuss: - Why dropping a $279 product from $229 to $199 lifted revenue per visitor 44% and more than covered the margin hit - The six extra quiz questions that doubled revenue per visitor, and the switcher review that cost 8% - Why these "trust" signals ultimately backfired - How a plain USP headline beat ALL of the clever ones during a collection page headline test on $2M in revenue - Why USP and review blocks at checkout changed nothing - One ad, five landing pages, one CBO: how weekly spend doubled & efficiency improved - The post-purchase offer swap that took upsell revenue per visitor from about $2 to $10 - Longer product pages for premium products, and preorder vs. sold out Subscribe to never miss an episode. Get the newsletter: https://www.scalabilityschool.com/scalability-newsletter This episode of the Scalability School podcast is sponsored by NorthBeam and they just launched Northbeam Incrementality. Northbeam Incrementality gives you easy, automated, self-service incrementality tests, while protecting you from the major mistakes so many people make while running incrementality tests. Your MTA handles the daily tactics, your MMM guides the long-term planning, and Incrementality provides the causal truth. It’s a closed loop that allows you to scale what works and cut what doesn't. Right now when you head over to www.northbeam.io/incrementality, they’re offering Scalability School listeners 50% off unlimited tests for a year when you join. Just tell them we sent you! To connect with Andrew Foxwell send an email [email protected] To connect with Brad Ploch send him a DM at https://x.com/brad_ploch To connect with Zach Stuck send him a DM at https://x.com/zachmstuck Scalability School is a weekly show from Andrew Foxwell, Brad Ploch, and Zach Stuck about what is actually working right now in DTC growth. No theory, no recycled LinkedIn takes, just the numbers and decisions behind real brands and real ad accounts. Chapters 00:00 Ecommerce A/B tests: what won, what lost, and why 02:06 Price testing: why $199 beat $229 by 44% revenue per visitor 07:08 How to build a quiz funnel in Claude, and the button that added 20% 12:04 "Sit in the problem longer": the quiz change that doubled revenue 22:30 Why more trust signals lowered conversion: warranty, reviews, AI summaries 33:53 Clear beats clever: a collection page headline test on $2M in revenue 38:18 Do USP and review blocks at checkout lift conversion? 41:55 One ad, five landing pages: how weekly spend doubled 47:41 How to audit your post-purchase upsell 50:54 Longer product pages for premium products, plus preorder vs. sold out (00:00) - Ecommerce A/B tests: what won, what lost, and why (02:06) - Price testing: why $199 beat $229 by 44% revenue per visitor (07:08) - How to build a quiz funnel in Claude, and the button that added 20% (12:04) - "Sit in the problem longer": the quiz change that doubled revenue (22:30) - Why more trust signals lowered conversion: warranty, reviews, AI summaries (33:53) - Clear beats clever: a collection page headline test on $2M in revenue (38:18) - Do USP and review blocks at checkout lift conversion? (41:55) - One ad, five landing pages: how weekly spend doubled (47:41) - How to audit your post-purchase upsell (50:54) - Longer product pages for premium products, plus preorder vs. sold out

How do you build a DTC offer that raises profit without hurting conversion rate? Simplify the offer so a shopper understands it in seconds, then raise MSRP so you can show a bigger discount at a higher final price. The offers scaling DTC brands run today are buy more save more, a discounted first subscription order, or tiered dollar-off bundles. Brian Ng of Digital Ride raised one brand's MSRP to $74.95 behind a 50% discount and saw conversion rate hold steady while the brand moved from a monthly loss to profit. In this episode, Andrew Foxwell, Brad Ploch and Zach Stuck talk DTC offer strategy with Brian Ng of Digital Ride, covering how to raise prices without losing conversions, the three offers scaling brands run right now, and how a $10M a month brand manages creative with outside agencies. You'll learn why raising MSRP behind a bigger discount can lift profit at the same conversion rate, how to test a new offer with a single URL parameter, and why more creative volume often makes performance worse. We discuss: What a bad DTC offer looks like, and why confusing offer pages lose the sale The three offer structures scaling DTC brands use: buy more save more, subscription-first, and tiered bundles How Brian raised MSRP to $74.95 behind a 50% discount and turned a monthly loss into profit How to test offers with Convert or Intelligems experiments versus sending ads to a new landing page How to forecast ecommerce revenue year over year and why you shouldn't scale before new customer ROAS is there Running a $10M a month brand's creative through three agencies with no in-house strategists Pricing psychology: why $39.99 beats $35.99, and a $30 price change that lifted profit per session 40% Get the newsletter: https://www.scalabilityschool.com/scalability-newsletter Learn more: https://www.scalabilityschool.com This episode of the Scalability School podcast is sponsored by NorthBeam and they just launched Northbeam Incrementality. Northbeam Incrementality gives you easy, automated, self-service incrementality tests, while protecting you from the major mistakes so many people make while running incrementality tests. Your MTA handles the daily tactics, your MMM guides the long-term planning, and Incrementality provides the causal truth. It's a closed loop that allows you to scale what works and cut what doesn't. Right now when you head over to www.northbeam.io/incrementality, they're offering Scalability School listeners 50% off unlimited tests for a year when you join. Just tell them we sent you! To connect with Brian Ng: https://x.com/briannjho To connect with Andrew Foxwell send an email [email protected] To connect with Brad Ploch send him a DM at https://x.com/brad_ploch To connect with Zach Stuck send him a DM at https://x.com/zachmstuck Learn more about the Foxwell Founders Community at https://foxwellfounders.com Learn more about the The Hive Haus Creators Community at http://HiveHausUGC.com Scalability School is the podcast for media buyers, agency owners and DTC operators who want to grow without guessing, hosted by Andrew Foxwell, Brad Ploch and Zach Stuck. Chapters 00:00 DTC offer strategy: why $39.99 beats $35.99 02:35 How Digital Ride grows DTC brands as a growth partner 05:27 How to forecast ecommerce revenue year over year 08:56 Can creative agencies replace an in-house creative team? 14:26 How much creative a $10M/month brand launches 22:29 The 3 offers scaling DTC brands run right now 23:55 How to test a new offer: Convert experiments vs new landing pages 25:29 How raising MSRP turned a monthly loss into profit 30:25 Pricing psychology: the $30 price change that lifted profit 40%

How do you scale a subscription app with Meta ads? Start with an offer whose value is obviously outsized for the price, then test the packaging rather than the product. Format Finder moved from a single $97 plan to $29, $59, and $97 tiers, and the single change that moved AOV the most was toggling annual billing on by default. Free trials failed outright because the cost to acquire a trial on Meta never backed out. Target customers with a need rather than a want, since need-driven buyers churn less and complain less, and turn your best users into your ad creators by paying them a percentage of the spend their ads carry. Scaling a subscription app with Meta ads comes down to the offer, the pricing packaging, and where the creative comes from. Brad Ploch and Zach Stuck sit down with Naveed, who went from affiliate marketing to a 45-person performance agency to an ecommerce brand to Format Finder, the app he built in three weeks and now runs at $20,000 to $25,000 a day in Meta ad spend. You'll learn how he builds an offer, the pricing tests that worked and the one that failed, the campaign structure behind the spend, and the creator flywheel that turns his own users into his best-performing ads. We discuss: - How to tell whether an offer is worth running before you spend a dollar - Why problem-solution fit matters more than unit economics at the start - The move from a single $97 plan to $29, $59, and $97 tiers, and why the free trial never backed out on Meta - The pricing change that moved AOV the most, and it was not the price - Why customers with a need churn less than customers with a want, and how a realtor funnel tested that theory - Why he runs one CBO split by geo, no ABO testing, and no interest targeting - The creator flywheel: users who hit a million views make his ads and take 5% of the spend those ads carry - What a one-click AI video editor actually costs to run, and how SaaS margins survive per-user API fees - How he runs the ad account, customer service, and product development through AI agents in Telegram and Slack - Why the harness around the model matters more than the model Subscribe for a new episode every week. Get the newsletter: https://www.scalabilityschool.com/scalability-newsletter Learn more: https://www.scalabilityschool.com Connect with Naveed https://x.com/navuud To connect with Andrew Foxwell send an email [email protected] To connect with Brad Ploch send him a DM at https://x.com/brad_ploch To connect with Zach Stuck send him a DM at https://x.com/zachmstuck Learn more about the Foxwell Founders Community at https://foxwellfounders.com Learn more about the The Hive Haus Creators Community at http://HiveHausUGC.com Scalability School is a weekly show from Andrew Foxwell, Brad Ploch, and Zach Stuck about what is actually working right now in DTC growth. No theory, no recycled LinkedIn takes, just the numbers and decisions behind real brands and real ad accounts. Chapters 00:00 How to scale a subscription app with Meta ads 00:29 Meet Naveed: Switch Research to Format Finder 02:45 From affiliate marketing to a 45-person performance agency 04:06 Getting banned by Meta and what it exposed 05:45 Why the ecommerce inventory cycle burned him out 08:10 How One Peak turned viral videos into a course business 10:10 Building Format Finder in three weeks with AI 11:50 What the app does, from format quiz to finished cut 13:15 Why the offer is the biggest lever nobody talks about 16:18 How to price a subscription without killing conversion 19:15 The pricing change that moved AOV the most 19:55 Why customers with a need beat customers with a want 22:05 A word from Northbeam 23:20 Why your ad does the targeting, not your audience settings 24:45 Ad account structure: one CBO, no ABO testing 25:31 The creator flywheel: paying users 5% of ad spend 28:35 How the video editor cut churn and unlocked scale 29:35 SaaS margins when every user burns API tokens 32:50 Why the TAM for creator tools is enormous 37:50 Running ads, support, and dev through AI agents 42:00 Where to find Naveed