# Acceler8 Labs > # Acceler8 Labs > Acceler8 Labs is a performance marketing agency founded by Meta insiders that manages $50M+ in paid media annually for DTC and growth-stage brands. We combine data-driven strategy, full-funnel paid media, and performance creative under one roof — organized around our Three Pillars framework: Insight, Fuel, and Spark. Important notes: - Founded by former Meta employees with platform-insider knowledge unavailable to most agencies — we don't guess, we know how the platforms work - We are not a brand agency; everything we do is performance-first and measured against real business outcomes (ROAS, CAC, LTV) - Google Premium Partner and Clutch 100 Fastest-Growing Agency (2026); we operate across Meta, TikTok, Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Reddit, and email ## Services - [Insight — Analytics & Strategy](https://www.acceler8labs.com/services#insight): Custom analytics dashboards, attribution modeling, A/B testing frameworks, and data-driven strategy development that gives brands real-time clarity on what's working and what isn't - [Fuel — Paid Media](https://www.acceler8labs.com/services#fuel): Full-funnel paid media management across Paid Social (Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Reddit, Pinterest), Paid Search (Google, Amazon), DSP/CTV, Email Marketing (Klaviyo, Attentive, Postscript), and Retail Media (Amazon, Instacart) - [Spark — Creative](https://www.acceler8labs.com/services#spark): Performance creative strategy, UGC and video production, rapid creative testing frameworks, and data-informed creative optimization built to convert — not just impress - [Free Media Audit](https://www.acceler8labs.com/free-media-audit): A no-cost audit of your current paid media performance identifying gaps, inefficiencies, and growth opportunities across your active channels ## Case Studies - [Greenhouse Juice Co.](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/greenhouse-juice-co): How Acceler8 delivered 55%+ above ROAS target for a leading Canadian CPG brand through multi-channel paid media and creative optimization - [Email Marketing — Roo & Yoo](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-studies): Performance email marketing case study demonstrating acquisition and retention results using Klaviyo-powered automation and segmentation - [Case Studies Hub](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-studies): Filterable library of client results organized by industry and service pillar, including DTC, CPG, and retail brands ## Blog & Insights - [Insights Hub](https://www.acceler8labs.com/insights): Thought leadership from Acceler8 co-founders and senior team covering paid media strategy, creative testing, analytics infrastructure, and DTC growth - [Paid Media Strategy](https://www.acceler8labs.com/insights): Tactical articles on Meta, TikTok, Google, and Amazon advertising — written by practitioners managing $50M+ in annual spend - [Performance Creative](https://www.acceler8labs.com/insights): Frameworks and real examples for creative testing, UGC strategy, and scaling what converts ## Company - [About Us](https://www.acceler8labs.com/about): Origin story, team bios, and the Three Pillars framework that organizes everything Acceler8 does — founded by Meta insiders Niket and Uzair - [Partnerships](https://www.acceler8labs.com/partnerships): Technology partners and platform certifications including Google Premium Partner status and other key platform relationships - [Contact](https://www.acceler8labs.com/contact): Book a discovery call or send a general inquiry to connect with the Acceler8 team --- ## Pages - [Email Marketing](https://www.acceler8labs.com/email-marketing/) - [Sitemap](https://www.acceler8labs.com/sitemap/) - [Vertical](https://www.acceler8labs.com/vertical/) - [Apparel](https://www.acceler8labs.com/apparel/) - [Thanks For Your Interest - Prime Day](https://www.acceler8labs.com/prime-day-download/) - [Resources](https://www.acceler8labs.com/resources/) - [Careers](https://www.acceler8labs.com/careers/) - [Download "Agency Checklist"](https://www.acceler8labs.com/download-agency-checklist/) - [The Ultimate Q5 Playbook 2024](https://www.acceler8labs.com/ultimate-q5-playbook-for-dtc-and-retail/) - [Thanks For Your Interest - BFCM](https://www.acceler8labs.com/thanks-for-your-interest-bfcm-copy/) - [BFCM PLAYBOOK 2024](https://www.acceler8labs.com/bfcm-playbook-2025/) - [Download "#Back To School Playbook 2024"](https://www.acceler8labs.com/download-bfcm-playbook-2024/) - [Thanks For Your Interest - BFCM](https://www.acceler8labs.com/thanks-for-your-interest-bts/) - [Testimonials](https://www.acceler8labs.com/testimonials/) - [Insider Signup Confirmation](https://www.acceler8labs.com/insider-signup/) - [Acceler8 Labs](https://www.acceler8labs.com/get-started-v3/) - [Get Started B (No Video)](https://www.acceler8labs.com/get-started-b/) - [Thank You](https://www.acceler8labs.com/thank-you/) - [Get Started (With Video)](https://www.acceler8labs.com/get-started/) - [Partnerships](https://www.acceler8labs.com/partnerships/) - [About Us](https://www.acceler8labs.com/the-three-pillars-copy/) - [About Us](https://www.acceler8labs.com/about/) - [The Three Pillars](https://www.acceler8labs.com/the-three-pillars/) - [Book Free Audit](https://www.acceler8labs.com/book-free-audit/) - [Privacy Policy](https://www.acceler8labs.com/privacy-policy/) - [get-in-touch](https://www.acceler8labs.com/get-in-touch/) - [Media-Services](https://www.acceler8labs.com/media-services/) - [Acceler8 Labs](https://www.acceler8labs.com/) --- ## Landing Pages - [BFCM 2025 Guide](https://www.acceler8labs.com/bfcm-2025-guide/) - [Ecom North x Acceler8 Labs](https://www.acceler8labs.com/ecomnorth2025/) - [Download Resource · Book a Call](https://www.acceler8labs.com/download-resource-%c2%b7-book-a-call/) - [Marketing Operations Inflection Point](https://www.acceler8labs.com/marketing-operations-inflection-point/) - [Prime Day Resource](https://www.acceler8labs.com/prime-day-guide/) - [Moast - Partner Page](https://www.acceler8labs.com/moast-partner-page/) - [Stay.AI - Partner Page](https://www.acceler8labs.com/stay-ai-partner-page/) - [The Agency Trust Framework](https://www.acceler8labs.com/agency-trust-framework/) - [Clutch Landing Page](https://www.acceler8labs.com/clutch-landing-page/) - [Back To School Playbook 2024](https://www.acceler8labs.com/back-to-school-playbook-2024/) - [Book A Creative Audit](https://www.acceler8labs.com/book-a-creative-audit/) - [Creative Services](https://www.acceler8labs.com/creative-services/) - [Acceler8's Essential Prime Day Playbook - 2024 Edition](https://www.acceler8labs.com/amazon-prime-day-playbook/) - [Ad Insider Newsletter](https://www.acceler8labs.com/acceler8-insider-signup/) - [The Most Trusted Performance Agency](https://www.acceler8labs.com/most-trusted-agency/) - [Email Marketing](https://www.acceler8labs.com/email-marketing/) - [Amazon Ads & Marketing](https://www.acceler8labs.com/amazon-ads/) - [Meta Ads & Marketing](https://www.acceler8labs.com/meta-ads-services/) - [Google Ads & Marketing](https://www.acceler8labs.com/google-ads/) - [Shopify Marketing](https://www.acceler8labs.com/shopify-marketing-services/) - [TikTok Ads & Marketing](https://www.acceler8labs.com/tiktok-ads/) - [Book A Media Audit](https://www.acceler8labs.com/book-a-media-audit/) --- ## Case Studies - [RefrigiWear](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/refrigiwear/) - [KaseMe](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/kaseme/) - [KOTN](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/kotn/) - [Cookware Brand](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/cookware-brand/) - [Patient Recruitment](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/patient-recruitment/) - [Force Factor](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/force-factor/) - [Greenhouse Juice Co.](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/greenhouse-juice-co/) - [Yat Labs](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/yat-labs/) - [CSA Group](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/csa-group/) - [Body Rock](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/body-rock/) - [Wufers](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/wufers/) - [Better Rhodes](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/better-rhodes/) - [SSENSE](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/ssense/) - [LXR](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/lxr/) - [Canadian Political Party](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/canadian-political-party/) - [Canadian Sports Streaming App](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/canadian-sports-streaming-app/) - [Peace Collective](https://www.acceler8labs.com/case-study/peace-collective/) --- ## Testimonials - [Greenhouse Juice Co.](https://www.acceler8labs.com/testimonial/greenhouse-juice-co/) - [LXR](https://www.acceler8labs.com/testimonial/lxr/) - [Wufers](https://www.acceler8labs.com/testimonial/wufers/) - [Better Rhodes](https://www.acceler8labs.com/testimonial/better-rhodes/) - [Tiary](https://www.acceler8labs.com/testimonial/tiary/) - [WestJet](https://www.acceler8labs.com/testimonial/westjet/) - [Yat Labs](https://www.acceler8labs.com/testimonial/yat-labs/) - [CSA Group](https://www.acceler8labs.com/testimonial/csa-group/) - [Peace Collective](https://www.acceler8labs.com/testimonial/peace-collective/) --- ## Posts - [When your brand becomes just another SKU](https://www.acceler8labs.com/when-your-brand-becomes-just-another-sku/) - [Your agency isn't lying to you.](https://www.acceler8labs.com/your-agency-isnt-lying-to-you/) - [Your subscription is confirmed](https://www.acceler8labs.com/your-subscription-is-confirmed/) - [Do all your ads look the same?](https://www.acceler8labs.com/do-all-your-ads-look-the-same/) - [13x ROAS (from a channel nobody expected)](https://www.acceler8labs.com/13x-roas-from-a-channel-nobody-expected/) - [What makes DTC creative resonate?](https://www.acceler8labs.com/what-makes-dtc-creative-resonate/) - [Reddit has posted its strongest advertising quarter on...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/reddit-has-posted-its-strongest-advertising-quarter-on/) - [hashtag #WereHiring](https://www.acceler8labs.com/hashtag-werehiring/) - [Our team is growing again and we're looking for a talent...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/our-team-is-growing-again-and-were-looking-for-a-talent/) - [New EU tariffs are about to crush your luxury portfolio's...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/new-eu-tariffs-are-about-to-crush-your-luxury-portfolios/) - [Some earth-shaking news for DTC brand portfolios: The...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/some-earth-shaking-news-for-dtc-brand-portfolios-the/) - [Pinterest has flipped the switch](https://www.acceler8labs.com/pinterest-has-flipped-the-switch/) - [Acceler8 is looking for paid search and paid social...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/acceler8-is-looking-for-paid-search-and-paid-social/) - [Want to know what’ll separate winners in your DTC portfolio...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/want-to-know-whatll-separate-winners-in-your-dtc-portfolio/) - [Trade Desk just raised your prices](https://www.acceler8labs.com/trade-desk-just-raised-your-prices/) - [🐕 This week we walked the floor at Wufers, one of our...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/%f0%9f%90%95-this-week-we-walked-the-floor-at-wufers-one-of-our/) - [Had a great time speaking at the DTCx AI Ecommerce...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/had-a-great-time-speaking-at-the-dtcx-ai-ecommerce/) - [I recently had the pleasure of guest lecturing at the...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/i-recently-had-the-pleasure-of-guest-lecturing-at-the/) - [New research shows your portfolio companies could be...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/new-research-shows-your-portfolio-companies-could-be/) - [Is your portfolio's strategy "Camp out under one tree](https://www.acceler8labs.com/is-your-portfolios-strategy-camp-out-under-one-tree/) - [An investor came to me in a panic: "Our acquisition’s CAC...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/an-investor-came-to-me-in-a-panic-our-acquisitions-cac/) - [I see this all the time: Treating marketing as an “expense...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/i-see-this-all-the-time-treating-marketing-as-an-expense/) - [Consumer confidence is telling two stories right now](https://www.acceler8labs.com/consumer-confidence-is-telling-two-stories-right-now/) - [My apologies in advance 😂](https://www.acceler8labs.com/my-apologies-in-advance-%f0%9f%98%82/) - [Sorry to do this on Monday: but your PortCo's DTC brands...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/sorry-to-do-this-on-monday-but-your-portcos-dtc-brands/) - [PortCo CEOs: TikTok's US-only app M2 arrives September 5th](https://www.acceler8labs.com/portco-ceos-tiktoks-us-only-app-m2-arrives-september-5th/) - [Fact: Your PortCos are burning cash on Meta while Pinterest...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/fact-your-portcos-are-burning-cash-on-meta-while-pinterest/) - [Our latest 1st party data shows the platform arbitrage...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/our-latest-1st-party-data-shows-the-platform-arbitrage/) - [VCs must read: De Minimis Elimination hits today](https://www.acceler8labs.com/vcs-must-read-de-minimis-elimination-hits-today/) - [Our team found something unbelievable during a routine...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/our-team-found-something-unbelievable-during-a-routine/) - [PortCo execs: The biggest CAC killer isn’t your attribution...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/portco-execs-the-biggest-cac-killer-isnt-your-attribution/) - [Here's three metrics that actually predict VC backed eCom...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/heres-three-metrics-that-actually-predict-vc-backed-ecom/) - [I've been thinking over Google's antitrust ruling that just...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/ive-been-thinking-over-googles-antitrust-ruling-that-just/) - [I see this PortCo strategy too often: Camp out under a tree](https://www.acceler8labs.com/i-see-this-portco-strategy-too-often-camp-out-under-a-tree/) - [I've been digging into the latest research](https://www.acceler8labs.com/ive-been-digging-into-the-latest-research/) - [PortCos take note: AppLovin moved up their self-serve...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/portcos-take-note-applovin-moved-up-their-self-serve/) - [Pinterest just proved what happens when AI automation...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/pinterest-just-proved-what-happens-when-ai-automation/) - [Attention DTC brand execs: here's a reality check you need...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/attention-dtc-brand-execs-heres-a-reality-check-you-need/) - [Had some interesting conversations about Snap, and I wanted...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/had-some-interesting-conversations-about-snap-and-i-wanted/) - [The secret is out: Reddit's quietly building real DTC...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/the-secret-is-out-reddits-quietly-building-real-dtc/) - [Google just posted its first positive agency performance...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/google-just-posted-its-first-positive-agency-performance/) - [I'll be at ECom North next week in Toronto](https://www.acceler8labs.com/ill-be-at-ecom-north-next-week-in-toronto/) - [Last week, I was invited to a breakfast with Reddit, Inc](https://www.acceler8labs.com/last-week-i-was-invited-to-a-breakfast-with-reddit-inc/) - [I've said it before: your DTC portfolio companies are...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/ive-said-it-before-your-dtc-portfolio-companies-are/) - [The Acceler8 Team will be at Ecom North today in hashtag...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/the-acceler8-team-will-be-at-ecom-north-today-in-hashtag/) - [Amazon is pulling ahead in Q3 as brands move budget into...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/amazon-is-pulling-ahead-in-q3-as-brands-move-budget-into/) - [Most PE‑backed DTC brands hit the same wall](https://www.acceler8labs.com/most-pe%e2%80%91backed-dtc-brands-hit-the-same-wall/) - [You know it as well as I do: Holiday shopping doesn't start...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/you-know-it-as-well-as-i-do-holiday-shopping-doesnt-start/) - [The latest IAB Outlook Study confirms what we’re seeing on...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/the-latest-iab-outlook-study-confirms-what-were-seeing-on/) - [We're looking for paid search and paid social experts to...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/were-looking-for-paid-search-and-paid-social-experts-to/) - [Hate to say it before BFCM but your PortCo’s DTC brands are...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/hate-to-say-it-before-bfcm-but-your-portcos-dtc-brands-are/) - [I'll be honest with you - this happened to one of our...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/ill-be-honest-with-you-this-happened-to-one-of-our/) - [I'll be attending hashtag #EtailToronto this week](https://www.acceler8labs.com/ill-be-attending-hashtag-etailtoronto-this-week/) - [I'll be at hashtag #ElevateToronto this week, let's connect](https://www.acceler8labs.com/ill-be-at-hashtag-elevatetoronto-this-week-lets-connect/) - [After wrapping this week's Elevate in Toronto one thing was...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/after-wrapping-this-weeks-elevate-in-toronto-one-thing-was/) - [Across every channel and brand I see the same thing: BFCM...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/across-every-channel-and-brand-i-see-the-same-thing-bfcm/) - [Sometimes you really need to stop and ask: Do I actually...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/sometimes-you-really-need-to-stop-and-ask-do-i-actually/) - [Most PE-backed DTC brands hit the same wall](https://www.acceler8labs.com/most-pe-backed-dtc-brands-hit-the-same-wall/) - [Earlier this year, I caught myself doing something I tell...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/earlier-this-year-i-caught-myself-doing-something-i-tell/) - [Meta just rolled out Purchase Profit Optimization, so what...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/meta-just-rolled-out-purchase-profit-optimization-so-what/) - [I’m seeing this across portfolios: Brands overspending on...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/im-seeing-this-across-portfolios-brands-overspending-on/) - [CFOs love the idea of cutting agency fees, until results...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/cfos-love-the-idea-of-cutting-agency-fees-until-results/) - [I keep seeing DTC brands treat BFCM like it’s 2019 and our...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/i-keep-seeing-dtc-brands-treat-bfcm-like-its-2019-and-our/) - [Four different revenue numbers](https://www.acceler8labs.com/four-different-revenue-numbers/) - [Most DTC brands still treat Reddit like a side project](https://www.acceler8labs.com/most-dtc-brands-still-treat-reddit-like-a-side-project/) - [The Trade Desk is restructuring programmatic economics and...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/the-trade-desk-is-restructuring-programmatic-economics-and/) - [Marketers crash and burn in regulated industries](https://www.acceler8labs.com/marketers-crash-and-burn-in-regulated-industries/) - [I couldn't believe it: AppLovin now accounts for up to 10%...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/i-couldnt-believe-it-applovin-now-accounts-for-up-to-10/) - [We're looking for a paid search expert to join our rapidly...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/were-looking-for-a-paid-search-expert-to-join-our-rapidly/) - [DTC Founders obsess over ROAS](https://www.acceler8labs.com/dtc-founders-obsess-over-roas/) - [Most founders hand their board a pile of marketing metrics](https://www.acceler8labs.com/most-founders-hand-their-board-a-pile-of-marketing-metrics/) - [Boards love to say, “Let’s bring media in-house](https://www.acceler8labs.com/boards-love-to-say-lets-bring-media-in-house/) - [Every founder knows this moment](https://www.acceler8labs.com/every-founder-knows-this-moment/) - [I knew something was off the first week we met with their...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/i-knew-something-was-off-the-first-week-we-met-with-their/) - [If your entire 'growth engine' depends on viral moments,...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/if-your-entire-growth-engine-depends-on-viral-moments/) - [Thanks for a great recap and your kind words Samir](https://www.acceler8labs.com/thanks-for-a-great-recap-and-your-kind-words-samir/) - [Every founder loves that moment when a video blows up](https://www.acceler8labs.com/every-founder-loves-that-moment-when-a-video-blows-up/) - [🎉 Huge shoutout to my friend, Andre on launching his new...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/%f0%9f%8e%89-huge-shoutout-to-my-friend-andre-on-launching-his-new/) - [Your agency sent a deck with beautiful charts and 8-figure...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/your-agency-sent-a-deck-with-beautiful-charts-and-8-figure/) - [Most brands don’t actually test creative](https://www.acceler8labs.com/most-brands-dont-actually-test-creative/) - [Many founders who feel stuck right now are asking the wrong...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/many-founders-who-feel-stuck-right-now-are-asking-the-wrong/) - [Black Friday is over, and here’s the post-mortem nobody...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/black-friday-is-over-and-heres-the-post-mortem-nobody/) - [Founders get this wrong constantly](https://www.acceler8labs.com/founders-get-this-wrong-constantly/) - [What I saw this BFCM didn’t match the doom-and-gloom...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/what-i-saw-this-bfcm-didnt-match-the-doom-and-gloom/) - [I used to think the main advantage of hiring an agency was...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/i-used-to-think-the-main-advantage-of-hiring-an-agency-was/) - [Here’s something I learned this year](https://www.acceler8labs.com/heres-something-i-learned-this-year/) - [Here are a few final takeaways from our own CPM data as the...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/here-are-a-few-final-takeaways-from-our-own-cpm-data-as-the/) - [Let's be real](https://www.acceler8labs.com/lets-be-real/) - [One thing I saw in 2025 was that DTC brands getting results...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/one-thing-i-saw-in-2025-was-that-dtc-brands-getting-results/) - [Every founder tells me their team is lean](https://www.acceler8labs.com/every-founder-tells-me-their-team-is-lean/) - [2026 winners will not make more creative](https://www.acceler8labs.com/2026-winners-will-not-make-more-creative/) - [By December, most founders finally give themselves a quiet...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/by-december-most-founders-finally-give-themselves-a-quiet/) - [New year, new opportunities](https://www.acceler8labs.com/new-year-new-opportunities/) - [CRO is ignored because it’s uncomfortable](https://www.acceler8labs.com/cro-is-ignored-because-its-uncomfortable/) - [Most portfolio companies own “synergies” on paper only](https://www.acceler8labs.com/most-portfolio-companies-own-synergies-on-paper-only/) - [Thank you CanadianSME Small Business Magazine and SK for...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/thank-you-canadiansme-small-business-magazine-and-sk-for/) - [Do you want to know the silent failure that kills scaling...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/do-you-want-to-know-the-silent-failure-that-kills-scaling/) - [In 2025 our agency learned something incredible: Shopify...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/in-2025-our-agency-learned-something-incredible-shopify/) - [Most brand leaders tell me their email is working](https://www.acceler8labs.com/most-brand-leaders-tell-me-their-email-is-working/) - [We just closed out the books on 2025, and the platform...](https://www.acceler8labs.com/we-just-closed-out-the-books-on-2025-and-the-platform/) - [I keep seeing the same pattern every January](https://www.acceler8labs.com/i-keep-seeing-the-same-pattern-every-january/) --- # # Detailed Content ## Pages Is your Email Marketing stuck? It's time to Acceler8 Acceler8 Labs is the most trusted Performance Marketing agency, powered by industry insiders. Get Started Level up your Email Marketing with the Acceler8 experts. Email isn't just about sending messages; it's about crafting 1:1 connections. Our email campaigns resonate with your audience, forging relationships that stand the test of time. Acceler8 Labs partnerships with Klaviyo and Shopify go beyond the basics. Sync your Shopify store with email campaigns for cohesive customer experiences and heightened engagement, or leverage Klaviyo to seamlessly integrate your email marketing and outbound sales. Our bottom-funnel strategies compel action from the get-go. We design campaigns that captivate, entertaining your audience while sowing the seeds of brand recognition. Our campaigns are built on insights, not assumptions. Email marketing analytics fuel our strategic decisions, ensuring that every email we send has purpose and impact. If you feel like you're not reaching your Email Marketing goals, say hello to a results-oriented partnership that matches your urgency. It's time to win at Email Marketing with Acceler8 take your email marketing to new heights Email marketing is our canvas, and connections are our inspiration. We design campaigns that resonate, nurturing relationships and fostering brand loyalty. But it's not just our striking visuals: Efficiency meets effectiveness with our Email marketing automation experts. We craft journeys that guide subscribers seamlessly, from first touch to final conversion, optimizing the customer experience and reinforcing your brand's image. In a mobile-first world, our email creativity shines on every... --- Pages Client Referrals Email Marketing Sitemap Vertical Apparel Resources Careers The Ultimate Q5 Playbook 2024 BFCM PLAYBOOK 2024 Thanks For Your Interest – Prime Day Thanks For Your Interest – BFCM Thanks For Your Interest – BFCM Download “Agency Checklist” Download “#Back To School Playbook 2024” Testimonials Insider Signup Confirmation Thank You Acceler8 Labs Get Started B (No Video) Get Started (With Video) Partnerships About Us Acceler8 Labs Book Free Audit get-in-touch Media-Services Privacy Policy About Us The Three Pillars Landing Pages BFCM 2025 Guide Download Resource · Book a Call Ecom North x Acceler8 Labs Marketing Operations Inflection Point Prime Day Resource Moast - Partner Page Stay. AI - Partner Page The Agency Trust Framework Clutch Landing Page Back To School Playbook 2024 Book A Creative Audit Creative Services Acceler8's Essential Prime Day Playbook - 2024 Edition Ad Insider Newsletter The Most Trusted Performance Agency Email Marketing TikTok Ads & Marketing Shopify Marketing Google Ads & Marketing Meta Ads & Marketing Amazon Ads & Marketing Book A Media Audit Case Studies KOTN KaseMe RefrigiWear Cookware Brand Patient Recruitment Force Factor Greenhouse Juice Co. Yat Labs Canadian Sports Streaming App Canadian Political Party LXR SSENSE Better Rhodes Wufers Body Rock CSA Group Peace Collective Services Amazon Advertising Creative Design Email Marketing Meta Ads Paid Media Management Shopify Marketing TikTok Advertising --- Your Clothing & Apparel Agency Acceler8 Labs specializes in driving profitable growth for clothing and apparel brands through strategic paid media campaigns across Meta, Google, TikTok, and retail platforms like Amazon and Instacart. Learn More Previous Next Trusted By Acceler8 Your Clothing & Apparel Brand's Success Paid Media Management Email Marketing SEO & Search Marketing UGC & Creative Detailed Reporting CRO & CX Optimization I took a look at our annual sales and since you've started with us we are in a much better spot. So thank you for that! It's much appreciated. We've been ahead YoY since you started working with us! ! Mike Gettis CEO Kilne Experience proven growth strategies that brands like yours trust --- We're your apparel brands Perfect Fit. Acceler8 Labs is your D2C or retail apparel brand's trusted marketing partner with proven results. Click here Media Buying and Creative Powered By Performance And Built On Trust Learn more about the services Acceler8 Labs can provide for your brand. Media Learn More Creative Learn More Analytics Learn More Trusted by top brands Previous Next What Our Partners Say "Acceler8 Labs is a true partner. They are constantly looking for ways to improve and optimize our business whether it's within paid media, website design, or testing new platforms. They are accessible, dependable and collaborative. " Suzanne FarbCEO, Tiary. com “Acceler8 Labs helped us welcome our digital team in Toronto and provided expertise on digital media across our business. Working directly with us and our partners, they ensured we were set on the right path to success for the long term. ” Alfredo TanCMO & CDO, WestJet Airlines “Acceler8 Labs has been a fantastic marketing partner for us and was really able to help scale our LinkedIN campaigns. They brought experience and insightful strategy recommendations to the organization and we are glad to be working with them. ” Yasser PervaizDirector Growth marketing, CSA Group “The team at Acceler8 Labs have helped us scale our business goals during crucial times in our journey. They have gone above and beyond with their work ethic and their professional communication with our team. We look forward to continue partnering with them in the future” Sean HutchinsonPresident, Data Sciences “The... --- Thanks, Your Resource Is Ready! GET MY PRIME DAY GUIDE --- Thought Leadership Discover new insights and actionable playbooks written by the experts at Acceler8 Labs. Join Our Newsletter Our Top Performing Playbooks Media services Elevate your business and supercharge your ROAS. Ignite a standout campaign effortlessly. Dive into uncharted platforms or explore fresh angles you've yet to uncover. No matter your goal, we've got the tools to turn it into a reality. Thought Leadership Media services Elevate your business and supercharge your ROAS. Ignite a standout campaign effortlessly. Dive into uncharted platforms or explore fresh angles you've yet to uncover. No matter your goal, we've got the tools to turn it into a reality. --- Where passion meets performance We're an agency dedicated to trust, agility and achieving outstanding results. Explore opportunities to be a part of our team and make an impact with us today. SEE AVAILABLE POSITIONS A working environment that supports you At Acceler8, we're digital marketing veterans and Meta alumni who help ambitious e-commerce brands achieve predictable, profitable growth. Our team combines platform expertise with data-driven strategy to deliver results that matter in a fast paced, flexible work environment. What We Offer At Acceler8 we believe careers should be rewarding, flexible, and support your personal growth. We are dedicated to providing a positive experience and work-life balance to all our team members. Supportive Teams In-Person Events Flexible Benefits Paid Vacation Professional Training Adaptable schedules Work With Top Brands Learn from top brands and work with experts across the e-commerce industry. There's no better place to be than on the cutting edge. Why Join Acceler8 Labs? Work with Innovation-Driven Brands Partner with category-defining brands and scale their growth across Meta, TikTok, and emerging platforms. Work directly with founders and marketing leaders to drive measurable impact through performance marketing excellence.   Build Valuable Skills Learn platform insights directly from Meta alumni and master cutting-edge paid media strategies. Develop deep expertise in performance marketing while working alongside industry veterans who understand what drives sustainable growth. Thrive in a Growth-Focused Culture We're a remote-first team of digital marketing experts focused on outcomes, not hours. Collaborate with sharp minds, learn from industry leaders, and help shape... --- Your Download Will Start Automatically, If not, please click here. Click here --- - Categories: Playbooks The Acceler8 Labs Q5 Playbook Dive into our 2025 playbook and ignite the biggest Q5 your brand has ever seen. Book A Call Table of Contents What Makes Q5 a Goldmine for Smart Brands For many brands, the post-holiday lull is a time to catch their breath. But for those in the know, Q5—spanning the weeks after Christmas through January—offers a unique window to capture overlooked revenue. While customers are still in a spending mindset, they’re shifting focus: from gifting others to indulging themselves, pursuing goals, and capitalizing on deals. What sets Q5 apart is the combination of lower ad costs, lighter competition, and consumers actively seeking post-holiday rewards. This is your chance to re-engage past shoppers, convert hesitant browsers, and build loyalty heading into the new year. Whether clearing BFCM inventory or launching new campaigns, Q5 rewards brands that are prepared. Ready to make it count? Let’s break down how to maximize every opportunity. Most brands exhaust their budgets during BFCM and miss the Q5 opportunity completely. Smart marketers know this period offers some of the year's lowest customer acquisition costs combined with highly engaged audiences. It's not just those last few post-holiday sales - it's about building momentum for the entire year ahead. Uzair Chutani Co-Founder, Acceler8 Labs #1 Understanding Your Q5 Opportunity Before we dive into specific strategies, let's talk about what makes Q5 special for your brand. The truth is, there's no one-size-fits-all approach to this hidden quarter - your strategy needs to align perfectly with... --- Thanks for reaching out, we'll be in touch! Return Home --- - Categories: Playbooks The Acceler8 Labs BFCM Playbook Dive into our updated 2025 playbook and ignite the biggest BFCM your brand has ever seen. Book A Call Table of Contents Is your brand ready to take Black Friday / Cyber Monday to new heights? Welcome to Acceler8's ultimate Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) playbook — your guide to not just surviving, but thriving, during the busiest shopping season of the year. This isn't just about discounts: We're talking about targeted marketing campaigns, optimizing customer journeys, insightful data analysis, and more. In this playbook we drill down into the nitty-gritty, providing insider knowledge to empower your brand to score big in BFCM. These steps will cover everything from the initial inventory planning and site optimization, to crafting personalized deals and mastering the art of post-BFCM customer retention. Each step is a crucial building block, contributing to a comprehensive and robust BFCM strategy. “In today’s digital landscape, it’s not enough to just drive traffic; you need to create seamless, personalized experiences that turn one-time shoppers into lifelong customers. The real winners will be the brands that combine data-driven strategies with compelling storytelling, making every click and purchase a step in a larger, engaging journey. ” Niket Shah Co-Founder, Acceler8 Labs #1 Mobile Optimization and Site Performance. No two ways about it: this is the #1 most important step to help not just survive BFCM, but to thrive on BFCM. It is crucial to ensure that your website is not only mobile-friendly and responsive but... --- Your Download Will Start Automatically, If not, please click here. Click here --- Thanks for reaching out, we'll be in touch! Return Home --- Testimonials When it comes to being the most trusted performance marketing agency, don't just take our word for it. See what our clients have to say --- Thanks for joining The AD Insider! Stay tuned for your first edition of our newsletter. Learn More About Us --- Insider founded. Industry Respected. The Digital team you've been looking for Get Started Accelerating growth since 2017 100+ HAPPY customers $450 MILLION in ad spend under management $1. 04 BILLION in revenue generated ZERO clients wait on answers ONLY hires experienced subject matter experts NEVER miss a deadline What Our Partners Say Don't take our word for it. See what our client's say about Acceler8 Labs. “Acceler8 Labs helped us welcome our digital team in Toronto and provided expertise on digital media across our business. Working directly with us and our partners, they ensured we were set on the right path to success for the long term. ” Alfredo TanCMO & CDO, WestJet Airlines “Acceler8 Labs has been a fantastic marketing partner for us and was really able to help scale our LinkedIN campaigns. They brought experience and insightful strategy recommendations to the organization and we are glad to be working with them. ” Yasser PervaizDirector Growth marketing, CSA Group “The team at Acceler8 Labs have helped us scale our business goals during crucial times in our journey. They have gone above and beyond with their work ethic and their professional communication with our team. We look forward to continue partnering with them in the future” Sean HutchinsonPresident, Data Sciences “The team at Acceler8 was a fantastic extension of our internal team. They acted and executed like one of us and always had our best interest in mind when making decisions on our behalf. Skillset, work ethic, communication and integrity... --- Get Started Choose the Team You Can Trust with your Business Built by former Facebookers. Trusted by growing businesses, everywhere We are a highly experienced team that's delivered over $1B in revenue for clients No Intermediaries, No Offshoring - > Work directly with the team managing your business Weekly meeting cadence reviewing performance and constant campaign optimization Aligned directly to your core business objectives: We treat your $ like it's our own Get Started Get Started --- Get Readyto Accelerate Thank you for booking a call with us! If you haven’t received a confirmation, or have any urgent questions, please email growth@acceler8labs. com. We'll be in touch very soon. Check Us Out --- https://www. acceler8labs. com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/A8_2024_AllServices_9x16_v1. mp4 Get Started https://www. acceler8labs. com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Video_AllServices_16x9_v2. mp4 Choose the Team You Can Trust with your Business Built by former Facebookers. Trusted by growing businesses, everywhere We are a highly experienced team that's delivered over $1B in revenue for clients No Intermediaries, No Offshoring - > Work directly with the team managing your business Weekly meeting cadence reviewing performance and constant campaign optimization Aligned directly to your core business objectives: We treat your $ like it's our own Get Started --- Partnerships for Growth Powered by Acceler8 Labs Trust isn't just a word; it's the foundation of our business. Become a trusted Acceler8 Labs partner to give your clients the best. Find a partner Become a partner We Fuel Growth Enginespowered by partnerships Working with a performance marketing partner like Acceler8 Labs gives your business an edge in helping your clients meet their needs. From Instagram and search ads to industry leading 3D measurement and attribution, Acceler8 Labs gives you fuel to keep growth climbing, but we don't just stop there: Our hand-picked partners provide everything from stunning creative assets to stellar customer service, attribution, packaging and more. With Acceler8's transparent attribution and reporting, we provide you with real-time insights into the performance of your campaigns across our partnerships, empowering you to see results unlike ever before. Check out our partnerships below and find a trusted vendor for your business, or, partner with us to bring industry leading solutions to your customers. Our partners can take your brand to new heights All3PLAttributionCreativeCustomer ServicePlatforms MetaAcceler8 is a Meta business partner, ensuring your brand the support it needs. ShopifyThe #1 E-commerce platform for DTC retailers and subscription brands GoogleAcceler8 is a Google business partner, ensuring your brand the support it needs. KlaviyoMaster Email marketing with seamless integration from Klaviyo LinkedInThe leading solution for B2B marketing and networking. GorgiasGorgias provides unmatched remote service and support to delight customers. PopsixlePopsixle fixes iOS attribution with proprietary technology that really works OrderGridAdvanced warehousing and 3PL logistics for... --- We're an agency focused on growth, whatever that means to you. From growing your revenue to delivering app downloads, Acceler8 is the right agency to help reach your business goals, whatever they are. We know that while success may be different for every business, all success can be measured. Thats why we deliver our clients growth engines based on transparent results, not fluff campaigns using your budget to win us awards. If you feel like you're not reaching your business goals, say hello to a results-oriented partnership that matches your urgency, and goodbye to unfocused, over-billed agencies. It's time to launch your next stage of growth. How it went in 2024 1 BILLION Impressions Served 419 MILLION Video Views For Clients $54 MILLION In Generated Revenue Trust powers everything we do. With industry leading attribution and reporting, we provide you with real-time insights into the performance of your campaigns, empowering you to make informed decisions you and your team can trust. Our data-driven approach extends beyond targeting, as we leverage your 1st party data to drive our creative decisions, designing unique, thumb stopping experiences that connect with your audience on a 1:1 level. You can trust us to drive stellar ROAS for every campaign. By understanding what works and what doesn't on each channel, we optimize your campaigns for maximum impact and never waste a dollar of your budget. Brand safety is paramount to our process, as we will never put your hard earned investment in harms way. No poorly... --- Our journey started with a spark The Problem: Disparity Between Agencies and Brands During our time at Facebook, where we played a pivotal role in shaping their ad business, we encountered a glaring disparity between agencies and brands. Outdated agencies struggled to keep pace with the rapidly evolving landscape, impeding the progress of enterprise businesses. The traditional agency structure, once effective in a world of brick-and-mortar retail, broadcast, and print media, no longer made sense in the digital age, where everything moves at the speed of light. The Solution: Bridging the Gap with Expertise and Agility Unfortunately, agencies often prioritized their interests, and legacy, over the objectives of their clients. This led to recommendations and guidance that lacked focus, failing to address the true needs of the clients. The communication breakdown between agencies and clients resembled a frustrating game of broken telephone. Meanwhile, startups and smaller brands lacked institutional support and found themselves at a disadvantage against big spenders. The platforms simply couldn't accommodate their scaling needs, which were often tailored to traditional brands. This observation, based on our collaborations with Facebook across various industries, highlighted a common issue: miscommunication and a lack of clarity between agencies and advertisers. Our eureka moment. The Difference: Lean and Laser-focused Team, Outperforming Outdated Agencies Large clients often feel burdened by their size, perceiving themselves as slow-moving behemoths compared to nimble disruptor companies, while on the other hand, growing brands often feel like outsiders. Our goal is to bridge this gap by offering expertise... --- Has your growth hit a wall? It's time to Acceler8 Acceler8 Labs is the most trusted Performance Marketing agency, powered by industry insiders. LET's CHAT We're an agency focused on growth, whatever that means to you. From growing your revenue to delivering app downloads, Acceler8 is the right agency to help reach your business goals, whatever they are. We know that while success may be different for every business, all success can be measured. Thats why we deliver our clients growth engines based on transparent results, not fluff campaigns using your budget to win us awards. If you feel like you're not reaching your business goals, say hello to a results-oriented partnership that matches your urgency, and goodbye to unfocused, over-billed agencies. It's time to launch your next stage of growth. How it went in 2023 1 BILLION Impressions Served 419 MILLION Video Views For Clients $54 MILLION In Generated Revenue Trust the process Whether your goal is revenue, awareness or retention, Acceler8 has a solution you can trust to re-ignite your business. MEDIA MANAGEMENTWith our inside knowledge of platforms like META, TikTok and Google, we make sure every dollar of your budget delivers maximum ROAS. Learn more CREATIVECombining your brand DNA with our data driven insight creates scalable, thumb-stopping campaigns that delight and engage across every surface. From TikTok and Instagram to Facebook and X, we've got you covered. Learn more DATAOur integration experts solve the mysteries of attribution with transparent data and crystal clear reporting. Powered by our... --- Identify Growth Opportunities with An Acceler8 Audit We've developed a proprietary 360-degree digital audit that uncovers growth opportunities within your media mix. Maximize your digital marketing ROI with our expertise at Acceler8 Labs. LET'S CHAT LEt's CHAT Acceler8 Digital Marketing Audit Are you ready to optimize your media spend to the fullest? LET's CHAT Advertising Strategy Optimization Tactics Creative Review Competitive Landscape Customer Journey Landing Pages Review Attribution Setup LET's CHAT Other Services UZAIR CHUTANI CO-FOUNDER Uzair was instrumental in ramping up and training the global customer success team at Facebook as well as opening Facebook's Malaysia office. He built the Facebook Marketing Acceleration Program and helped dozens of companies realize their potential. He's an entrepreneur in residence at the number one University incubator in the world, The DMZ at Toronto Metropolitan University, and serves as an advisor to disruptive technology companies around the globe. Previous experiences at Accenture and OpenText have given them a unique breadth of knowledge in both enterprise and tech startups. NIKET SHAH CO-FOUNDERT As a global ambassador and head for its performance marketing business, Niket represented Facebook at CES, the Affiliate World Summit in Europe and Asia as well as the Affiliate Summit conferences in North America. Niket has continued to speak at Performance Marketing conferences globally in cities like Hong Kong, Toronto, Bangkok and more. He currently serves as an advisor to several technology startups. It's time for acceleration! Want to learn more about our process? Fill-in your details and we will get backto... --- Privacy Policy Last updated: May 26, 2023 This Privacy Policy describes Our policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of Your information when You use the Service and tells You about Your privacy rights and how the law protects You. We use Your Personal data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, You agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy has been created with the help of the Free Privacy Policy Generator. Interpretation and Definitions Interpretation The words of which the initial letter is capitalized have meanings defined under the following conditions. The following definitions shall have the same meaning regardless of whether they appear in singular or in plural. Definitions For the purposes of this Privacy Policy: Account means a unique account created for You to access our Service or parts of our Service. Affiliate means an entity that controls, is controlled by or is under common control with a party, where "control" means ownership of 50% or more of the shares, equity interest or other securities entitled to vote for election of directors or other managing authority. Company (referred to as either "the Company", "We", "Us" or "Our" in this Agreement) refers to Acceler8 Labs Inc. , Unit 8, 407 Iroquois Shores Road, Oakville, ON, L6H 1M3. Cookies are small files that are placed on Your computer, mobile device or any other device by a website, containing the details of Your browsing history... --- It's time for acceleration! Want to learn more about our process? Fill-in your details and we will get back to you to discuss your goals and how to get a free ad account audit --- What we do Media services Media services Don't just run ads, elevate your strategy. Use our enterprise-grade DSP access to supercharge your ROAS and discover fresh angles in the market. We help you dive into new programmatic ecosystems and launch standout campaigns with ease. No matter your objective, our paid media toolkit transforms your strategy from concept to reality. Creative services We bring extraordinary design across every platform, masterful video production and editing, captivating photography, compelling copywriting, and innovative creative strategy and planning. Let's collaborate to craft a visually compelling narrative that drives remarkable business results. Acceler8 Success Stories It's time for acceleration! Want to learn more about our process? Fill-in your details and we will get back to you to discuss your goals and how to get a free ad account audit --- Accelerate Your Growth Accelerate Your Growth Built by former Facebookers. Trusted by growing businesses, everywhere. Your unique business deserves a customized growth marketing solution that delivers tangible results. Your business is unique. You need a bespoke growth marketing solution that focusses on and delivers real business results. Get Started Acceler8 Success Stories What Our Partners Say "Acceler8 Labs is a true partner. They are constantly looking for ways to improve and optimize our business whether it's within paid media, website design, or testing new platforms. They are accessible, dependable and collaborative. " Suzanne FarbCEO, Tiary. com “Acceler8 Labs helped us welcome our digital team in Toronto and provided expertise on digital media across our business. Working directly with us and our partners, they ensured we were set on the right path to success for the long term. ” Alfredo TanCMO & CDO, WestJet Airlines “Acceler8 Labs has been a fantastic marketing partner for us and was really able to help scale our LinkedIN campaigns. They brought experience and insightful strategy recommendations to the organization and we are glad to be working with them. ” Yasser PervaizDirector Growth marketing, CSA Group “The team at Acceler8 Labs have helped us scale our business goals during crucial times in our journey. They have gone above and beyond with their work ethic and their professional communication with our team. We look forward to continue partnering with them in the future” Sean HutchinsonPresident, Data Sciences “The team at Acceler8 was a fantastic extension of our... --- --- ## Landing Pages - Type: landing-page the 2025 BFCM Strategy Guide Get the 2025 BFCM Strategy Guide — the definitive playbook for brands scaling past $10M ARR that want to protect margins, build retention economics, and turn one-time shoppers into subscribers. What's Inside BFCM 2024 broke every record: $241. 4B in online sales and 75% of purchases on mobile — but 95% of tracking accuracy was lost to iOS privacy changes. That’s why 2025 is different. This year isn’t about “more ads. ” It’s about better systems. Inside, you’ll learn:How to deploy platform-native AI campaigns that deliver up to 22% higher ROASThe $15 per $100 mobile conversion leak — and how to recover it with 3-second load timesThe 4. 8x ROI loyalty formula that turns BFCM spikes into year-round revenueHow to reclaim 30–40% of lost attribution with server-side infrastructureThe 90-day nurture blueprint that converts BFCM buyers into repeat customers Who Should Read This This guide was built for:DTC and PE-backed brands scaling from $10M to $100M ARRMarketing leaders tired of guesswork attributionOperators ready to replace chaos with clarityAnyone responsible for turning ad spend into sustainable profit Get the 2025 BFCM Strategy Guide Stop fighting algorithms, stop burning ad spend, and start building systems that compound. Download your copy now and get the framework Acceler8 Labs uses to drive retention economics for high-growth e-commerce brands. https://www. acceler8labs. com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/scrolly_bfcm. mp4 We're More Than Just Media At Acceler8 Labs, we're not your average media agency.  We're growth partners who drive measurable business results, making your budget go further and... --- - Type: landing-page Acceler8 Labs' 'Beyond The Duopoly' Guide The complete playbook for reducing platform risk while discovering lower-cost audiences that your competitors haven't found yet. Meta and Google addiction is killing your growth potential. While competitors cling to expensive, oversaturated platforms, smart DTC brands are discovering the unduplicated reach that drives sustainable scaling beyond $10M ARR. This comprehensive strategy guide reveals the exact framework Acceler8 Labs uses to help established e-commerce brands break free from single-channel dependency, complete with proprietary CPM data, budget allocation models, and step-by-step implementation roadmaps. Stop paying premium prices for diminishing returns and start building the multi-channel foundation that separates scaling brands from stalled ones. Presented by: We're More Than Just Media At Acceler8 Labs, we're not your average media agency.  We're growth partners who drive measurable business results, making your budget go further and work harder. Our holistic approach doesn't just boost impressions or clicks—it cultivates higher-value customers and maximizes profitability. Fuel: Powering Your Growth Engine Data-driven media buying solutions that capture attention and drive conversions. Insight: Illuminating the Path to Success We transform raw data into actionable intelligence, ensuring every decision is informed and every dollar is optimized. Spark: Igniting Engagement Through Creativity From user-generated content to polished brand assets, we craft narratives that convert. Built By Insiders Our founders' unique background as former Facebook executives sets us apart in the world of digital advertising. With 'insider' experience, we give your business invaluable insights into the inner workings of our partners, top platforms like META, Google,... --- - Type: landing-page GET MY FREE RESOURCE --- - Type: landing-page The Marketing Operations Inflection Point An Insider's Analysis for Private Equity Firms, Venture Capital Partners, and Portfolio Companies What's Inside Private equity and venture-backed DTC brands are at a critical crossroads. Traditional agencies are too costly and unpredictable. Pure in-house teams are risky and hard to scale. This analysis reveals why hybrid marketing models—a blend of internal strategy and external execution—are now driving superior EBITDA growth, higher exit multiples, and predictable performance across portfolio companies. You’ll learn:EBITDA Impact – how optimized marketing ops improve margins, growth, and exit valuationsCost Breakdown – side-by-side comparison of in-house, agency, and hybrid modelsPerformance Benchmarks – real-world CAC, LTV:CAC, and channel scaling metricsCase Studies – $67M+ in incremental value created across PE/VC-backed DTC brandsImplementation Roadmap – 100-day quick wins and 6-quarter value creation plan Who Should Read This Private Equity Partners – looking to de-risk growth and maximize exit multiplesVC Investors – seeking scalable playbooks for portfolio company growthOperating Executives – needing predictable marketing ROI for value creationPortfolio Leadership Teams – navigating stalled growth or channel complexity Why you need this Because the stakes are high:Firms using hybrid models achieve 2. 1x LTV:CAC compared to traditional setupsFour out of five PE-backed brands now shift from in-house execution to hybrid after hitting growth plateausBrands with scalable marketing engines command 1. 5–2. 0x higher exit multiplesThis isn’t a theory—it’s backed by data from 47 portfolio companies and 15 PE/VC operating partners. Download the full report now to see the framework PE and VC leaders are using to... --- - Type: landing-page 18 Essential Prime Day Strategies For 2025 Dive into our playbook and ignite the biggest Prime Day your brand has ever seen with 18 actionable tips from those who’ve done it. Inside you'll discover: - How to us personalization to boost engagement and sales. - Using AI, Rufus and Voice assisted ads. - Optimizations for listings to capture customer interest and enhance visibility. - Strategic PPC ads to maximize Prime Day visibility. - How to use past performance data to stock wisely and manage inventory. - Additional traffic drivers with exclusive deals and influencer collaborations. Don't leave your Prime Day results to chance. Download our free playbook and start implementing today. Presented by: --- - Type: landing-page Get A Free Media Audit For moast customers & Subscribers Your shopable videos and ads should be fuelling growth, not disappearing into the void. Our complimentary media audit uncovers hidden inefficiencies, wasted spend, and untapped opportunities in your current campaigns.   Get clear, data-driven insights to optimize performance, scale profitably, and put your budget to better use. GET MY AUDIT Unlock your DTC or E-Commerce Brand's Growth With This Exclusive Offer From Acceler8 Labs (a $2500 Value), Yours Free. https://www. acceler8labs. com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/MOAST. mp4 The Most Trusted Performance Agency We're More Than Just Media At Acceler8 Labs, we're not your average media agency.  We're growth partners who drive measurable business results, making your budget go further and work harder. Our holistic approach doesn't just boost impressions or clicks—it cultivates higher-value customers and maximizes profitability. Fuel: Powering Your Growth Engine Data-driven media buying solutions that capture attention and drive conversions. Insight: Illuminating the Path to Success We transform raw data into actionable intelligence, ensuring every decision is informed and every dollar is optimized. Spark: Igniting Engagement Through Creativity From user-generated content to polished brand assets, we craft narratives that convert. Partners with Top Brands Built By Insiders Our founders' unique background as former Facebook executives sets us apart in the world of digital advertising. With 'insider' experience, we give your business invaluable insights into the inner workings of our partners, top platforms like META, Google, TikTok and more. No more guessing, hoping and wondering what works. We understand each platform's algorithms, audiences,... --- - Type: landing-page Get A Free Media Audit For Stay. AI customers & Subscribers Your ad dollars should be fuelling growth, not disappearing into the void. Our complimentary media audit uncovers hidden inefficiencies, wasted spend, and untapped opportunities in your current campaigns. Get clear, data-driven insights to optimize performance, scale profitably, and put your budget to better use. Unlock your DTC or E-Commerce Brand's Growth With This Exclusive Offer From Acceler8 Labs (a $2500 Value), Yours Free. The Most Trusted Performance Agency We're More Than Just Media At Acceler8 Labs, we're not your average media agency.  We're growth partners who drive measurable business results, making your budget go further and work harder. Our holistic approach doesn't just boost impressions or clicks—it cultivates higher-value customers and maximizes profitability. Fuel: Powering Your Growth Engine Data-driven media buying solutions that capture attention and drive conversions. Insight: Illuminating the Path to Success We transform raw data into actionable intelligence, ensuring every decision is informed and every dollar is optimized. Spark: Igniting Engagement Through Creativity From user-generated content to polished brand assets, we craft narratives that convert. Partners with Top Brands Built By Insiders Our founders' unique background as former Facebook executives sets us apart in the world of digital advertising. With 'insider' experience, we give your business invaluable insights into the inner workings of our partners, top platforms like META, Google, TikTok and more. No more guessing, hoping and wondering what works. We understand each platform's algorithms, audiences, targeting capabilities, and best practices like no one else,... --- - Type: landing-page the Acceler8 agency trust framework Can You Answer This One Question? Who really controls your marketing data? If you hesitated, you're not alone. After analyzing hundreds of agency relationships during our founders' time at Facebook, we discovered a troubling pattern: most brands don't truly own their marketing destiny. The Hidden Cost of Blind Trust Agency relationships fail in predictable (and preventable) ways: Your data locked in agency-owned accounts Performance reports that raise more questions than answers "Strategic recommendations" that feel like upsells Vanity metrics obscuring real business results Introducing the Agency Trust Framework A battle-tested evaluation system developed by former Facebook insiders to measure what matters. What's Inside 7 critical evaluation areas 28 specific checkpoints Clear scoring system Actionable insights Real-world examplesBuilt by Acceler8 Labs, this framework draws on our founders' experience at Facebook and partnerships with hundreds of high-growth brands. We've seen agency relationships from both sides – and we know what excellence looks like. Download the free Agency Trust Framework and:Evaluate your current agency relationshipSpot red flags before they become disastersSet clear performance expectationsMake confident decisions about your marketing partnerships Get Your Free Copy Now → We're More Than Just Media At Acceler8 Labs, we're not your average media agency.  We're growth partners who drive measurable business results, making your budget go further and work harder. Our holistic approach doesn't just boost impressions or clicks—it cultivates higher-value customers and maximizes profitability. Fuel: Powering Your Growth Engine Data-driven media buying solutions that capture attention and drive conversions. Insight: Illuminating... --- - Type: landing-page The Most Trusted Performance Agency On Clutch We're an award winning performance marketing agency that drives Retail, DTC and E-Commerce brands to new heights.   We're More Than Just Media At Acceler8 Labs, we're not your average media agency.  We're growth partners who drive measurable business results, making your budget go further and work harder. Our holistic approach doesn't just boost impressions or clicks—it cultivates higher-value customers and maximizes profitability. Fuel: Powering Your Growth Engine Data-driven media buying solutions that capture attention and drive conversions. Insight: Illuminating the Path to Success We transform raw data into actionable intelligence, ensuring every decision is informed and every dollar is optimized. Spark: Igniting Engagement Through Creativity From user-generated content to polished brand assets, we craft narratives that convert. Partners with Top Brands Built By Insiders Our founders' unique background as former Facebook executives sets us apart in the world of digital advertising. With 'insider' experience, we give your business invaluable insights into the inner workings of our partners, top platforms like META, Google, TikTok and more. No more guessing, hoping and wondering what works. We understand each platform's algorithms, audiences, targeting capabilities, and best practices like no one else, allowing us to unlock unparalleled opportunities for your brand to reach new heights. Uzair Chutani Co-Founder, Ex-Facebook Niket Shah Co-Founder, Ex-Facebook Trusted By Leaders Like You https://www. acceler8labs. com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/A8_2024_AllServices_9x16_v1. mp4 Ready To Grow? Book a call today to get started. --- - Type: landing-page Download Our Back To School Strategy Guide Today Download our insider guide to 2024's essential trends, tips and strategies for Back To School sales success. The years latest trends Audience Insights Actionable Strategies It's time to launch your next stage of growth. ABout Acceler8 Labs Built by former Facebookers. Trusted by growing businesses, everywhere. Your unique business deserves a customized growth marketing solution that delivers tangible results. Learn More https://www. acceler8labs. com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/A8_2022Recap_16x9_v2. mp4 Previous Next Media services Elevate your business and supercharge your brand beyond ROAS. Ignite a standout campaign effortlessly. Dive into uncharted platforms or explore fresh angles you've yet to uncover. No matter your goal, Acceler8 Labs has the tools to turn it into a reality. Creative services We bring extraordinary design across every platform, masterful video production and editing, captivating photography, compelling copywriting, and innovative creative strategy and planning. Let's collaborate to craft a visually compelling narrative that drives remarkable business results. What Our Partners Say "Acceler8 Labs is a true partner. They are constantly looking for ways to improve and optimize our business whether it's within paid media, website design, or testing new platforms. They are accessible, dependable and collaborative. " Suzanne FarbCEO, Tiary. com “Acceler8 Labs helped us welcome our digital team in Toronto and provided expertise on digital media across our business. Working directly with us and our partners, they ensured we were set on the right path to success for the long term. ” Alfredo TanCMO & CDO, WestJet Airlines “Acceler8 Labs has... --- - Type: landing-page Reignite your growth. Book your Creative audit now. Let our audit experts discover what you need to fuel your growth. What if there was a surefire way to reignite your brand's growth and get your advertising performance back on track? With our comprehensive creative audit, our team will explore your current ad creatives, identify areas of optimization, and provide actionable insights to maximize your engagement. Think of us as inside guides to the biggest advertising platforms operating today. We know the quirks, what works, and what's coming next to give you and edge. This audit covers key platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, ensuring a holistic evaluation of your paid media efforts across all formats: video, static and text. Whether you're looking to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, or generate leads, our audit will help you identify any gaps and help you reach the full potential of your brand. "Acceler8 Labs is a true partner. They are constantly looking for ways to improve and optimize our business whether it's within paid media, website design, or testing new platforms. They are accessible, dependable and collaborative. " Suzanne FarbCEO, Tiary. com “Acceler8 Labs helped us welcome our digital team in Toronto and provided expertise on digital media across our business. Working directly with us and our partners, they ensured we were set on the right path to success for the long term. ” Alfredo TanCMO & CDO, WestJet Airlines “Acceler8 Labs has been a fantastic marketing partner for us and... --- - Type: landing-page Transform Your Brand with Unforgettable content We don’t just create ads—we craft captivating experiences that turn viewers into customers. View Creative Partner With Us Your most trusted creative partner Combining your brand DNA with our data driven insight creates scalable, thumb-stopping campaigns that delight and engage across every surface. You keep 100% of the creative forever. AllStaticUGCVideo  Creative content That delivers results Our approach integrates deep market insights with innovative storytelling to produce high-performance ads tailored to your brand’s needs. Our approach integrates deep market insights with innovative storytelling to produce high-performance ads tailored to your brand’s needs. Each ad is a product of strategic design and data-driven insights, ensuring your message isn’t just seen—it resonates and acts as a catalyst for action. Video Ads: Capturing Attention, Driving Conversion Elevate your brand narrative with our Video Ads. From storyboard to final edit, our videos are designed to engage and inspire your audience. Utilizing the latest tools and techniques, we create dynamic visuals and compelling narratives that enhance brand visibility and effectiveness across platforms. UGC: Authentic Engagement that scales Leverage the power of community with User-Generated Content (UGC) Ads. We curate and amplify real stories from your most passionate customers to build trust and authenticity. UGC ads tap into the existing appreciation for your products, encouraging a broader audience engagement and conversion through relatability. Let's get started. Turn Acceler8 insights into Creative success with less effort https://www. acceler8labs. com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/A8_2024_AllServices_9x16_v1. mp4https://www. acceler8labs. com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/A8_2024_Mobile. mp4 --- - Type: landing-page The Acceler8 Labs Amazon Prime Day Playbook Dive into our playbook and ignite the biggest Prime Day your brand has ever seen. Get Started Prime Day Playbook: Maximize Your Sales in 2024 Welcome to your essential guide for Amazon Prime Day 2024, powered by Acceler8 Lab's insider info to help your brand turn this global shopping event into a spectacular success both on Amazon, and beyond. Prime Day isn't just another sale—it's Amazon's largest event, driving incredible traffic and sales volumes. This year it falls on July 16th and 17th, so get ready! This playbook provides a easy to use framework to enhance your performance, focusing on listing optimization, inventory management, and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) strategies you can get started using today. Prime Day success hinges on setting clear goals and tailoring strategies to meet them so let’s dive on in: each section is designed to build upon the last, ensuring a step-by-step approach to your Prime Day preparations that will help you win big. "Prime Day is a game-changer for North American e-commerce brands, with some experiencing up to a 300% increase in sales. It’s a unique opportunity to boost revenue, engage new customers, and build lasting loyalty. " Niket Shah Co-Founder, Acceler8 Labs Get ready for Amazon Prime Day 2024 on July 16 and 17! Days Hours Minutes What is Amazon Prime Day? Launched on July 15, 2015, to commemorate Amazon's 20th anniversary, Prime Day started as a 24-hour deal frenzy across nine countries. It has since grown into a... --- - Type: landing-page Learn the latest in digital marketing... from the inside! Get exclusive insights, cutting-edge strategies, and actionable tips delivered to your inbox every week from Meta, Google, TikTok and more. Join thousands of others on the inside. Presented by: --- - Type: landing-page Fueled by growth Trusted by choice . Trust isn't just a word; it's the foundation of our business. See why industry leaders trust Acceler8 Labs as their Performance Marketing agency. Get Started Trust powers everything we do. At Acceler8 Labs, trust is our cornerstone. Our journey began within the heart of Facebook, where our founders honed their expertise helping build the world's leading social platform. With roots in Facebook's innovation hub, we understand the digital landscape like no other. Our experience shapes our strategic approach, elevating your brand above the competition and cutting through trends and industry buzzwords to deliver real world results. Our heritage drives our commitment to innovation. Just as Facebook's advancements shaped the digital world, we leverage cutting-edge tools and methodologies to redefine your brand's growth. With transparent attribution and reporting, we provide you with real-time insights into the performance of your campaigns, empowering you to make informed decisions you and your team can trust. No vanity metrics, no mysterious brand lift studies, just actionable information that counts. We're an agency focused on growth, whatever that means to you. From growing your revenue to delivering app downloads, Acceler8 is the right agency to help reach your business goals, whatever they are. You can trust us to drive stellar ROAS for every campaign. By understanding what works and what doesn't on each channel, we optimize your campaigns for maximum impact and never waste a dollar of your budget. Every impression, every keyword and every improvement to your ROAS... --- - Type: landing-page Is your Email Marketing stuck? It's time to Acceler8 Acceler8 Labs is the most trusted Performance Marketing agency, powered by industry insiders. Get Started Level up your Email Marketing with the Acceler8 experts. Email isn't just about sending messages; it's about crafting 1:1 connections. Our email campaigns resonate with your audience, forging relationships that stand the test of time. Acceler8 Labs partnerships with Klaviyo and Shopify go beyond the basics. Sync your Shopify store with email campaigns for cohesive customer experiences and heightened engagement, or leverage Klaviyo to seamlessly integrate your email marketing and outbound sales. Our bottom-funnel strategies compel action from the get-go. We design campaigns that captivate, entertaining your audience while sowing the seeds of brand recognition. Our campaigns are built on insights, not assumptions. Email marketing analytics fuel our strategic decisions, ensuring that every email we send has purpose and impact. If you feel like you're not reaching your Email Marketing goals, say hello to a results-oriented partnership that matches your urgency. It's time to win at Email Marketing with Acceler8 take your email marketing to new heights Email marketing is our canvas, and connections are our inspiration. We design campaigns that resonate, nurturing relationships and fostering brand loyalty. But it's not just our striking visuals: Efficiency meets effectiveness with our Email marketing automation experts. We craft journeys that guide subscribers seamlessly, from first touch to final conversion, optimizing the customer experience and reinforcing your brand's image. In a mobile-first world, our email creativity shines on every... --- - Type: landing-page Have your Amazon Ads hit a wall? It's time to Acceler8 Acceler8 Labs is the most trusted Performance Marketing agency, powered by industry insiders. Get Started Unleash the full potential of Amazon Ads with the Acceler8 Labs experts. Amazon is the world's biggest marketplace, and for brands to thrive it’s imperative to get your Amazon Advertising strategy right. Acceler8 Labs helps you realize your brand’s growth potential on AMZ, by helping you stand out in a crowded market, capture attention, and optimize sales on Amazon. From Amazon product listing optimization to Amazon sponsored ads, our Acceler8 insiders know how to make your campaigns soar. We know that while success may be different for every Amazon vendor, all success can be measured. That's why we deliver our clients Amazon growth engines based on transparent results and a commitment to efficiency, with real-time reporting you can trust. If you feel like you're not reaching your Amazon advertising goals, say hello to a results-oriented partnership that matches your urgency. It's time to launch your next stage of growth on Amazon. 360 degrees of Amazon Services Our experts are your guides for everything you need to successfully launch, scale or optimize your products on Amazon. From day one to day 100, we'll be there for every step of your growth journey. We pair the data-first mindset of performance marketing to Amazon PPC ads (AKA: Amazon Product Display Ads) with thumb-stopping creative that matches your brand, and proprietary reporting and analysis to rapidly scale and... --- - Type: landing-page Have your Meta Ads hit a wall? It's time to Acceler8 Acceler8 Labs is the most trusted Performance Marketing agency, powered by industry insiders. Get Started Unleash the full potential of Meta Ads with the Acceler8 Labs experts. Famously known as Facebook, our Acceler8 Labs team uses Meta ads to deliver data-driven campaigns that drive real business growth. With our co-founders combined 10+ years of experience at Meta, we can deliver personalized experiences on Meta, WhatsApp and Instagram to maximize ad dollars to get results for our clients. Acceler8 Labs helps realize your brand’s growth potential on Meta, by helping you stand out in a crowded market, capture attention, and optimize impact of your Meta Ads. From Meta product listing optimization to Meta sponsored ads, our Acceler8 insiders know how to make your Meta Ads campaigns soar. We know that while success may be different for every Meta advertiser, all success can be measured. That's why we deliver our clients Meta Ads growth engines based on transparent results and a commitment to efficiency, with real-time reporting you can trust. If you feel like you're not reaching your Meta advertising goals, say hello to a results-oriented partnership that matches your urgency. It's time to launch your next stage of growth on Meta. A Full Spectrum Of Meta Services Our Meta Ads experts serve as your guides, assisting you in navigating all the essentials to effectively initiate, expand, or refine your product presence on Meta. Whether it's from the initial launch or... --- - Type: landing-page Have your Google Ads hit a wall? It's time to Acceler8 Acceler8 Labs is the most trusted Performance Marketing agency, powered by industry insiders. Get Started Unleash the full potential of Google Ads with the Acceler8 Labs experts. Elevate your brand's digital presence with Acceler8 Labs' exceptional Google Display Ad and Search campaigns, supercharged by our Performance MAX AI Expertise. Google services are an essential part of the world's daily lives. From YouTube to Gmail, Android and Maps, Google Ads are uniquely able to reach your customers where they are online: shopping, traveling or being entertained. Acceler8 Labs helps realize a brand’s growth potential on Google by helping you stand out in a crowded market, capture attention, and optimize impact of your Google Ads across a vast network of surfaces and formats. From Google product listing optimization to Google sponsored ads, YouTube ads and even GMail placements, our Acceler8 insiders know how to make your Google Ads campaigns soar. We deliver our clients Google Ads growth engines based on transparent results and a commitment to efficiency, with real-time reporting you can trust, powered by our proprietary INSIGHT Dashboard. If you feel like you're not reaching your Google advertising goals, say hello to a results-oriented partnership that matches your urgency. It's time to launch your next stage of growth on Google. 360 degrees of Google Services Our Google Ads experts master the art of precision targeting, ensuring your ads reach the right audience segments. With PMAX, we dissect data insights to... --- - Type: landing-page Has your Shopify growth hit a wall? It's time to Acceler8 Acceler8 Labs is the most trusted Performance Marketing agency, powered by industry insiders. Get Started Unleash the full potential of Shopify marketing with the Acceler8 Labs experts. Unlock the true potential of your Shopify E-commerce business with Acceler8 Labs. 'As certified Shopify partners, we understand the platform inside out. Our experts seamlessly integrate your e-commerce website with advertising platforms, optimizing every facet for enhanced user experiences and conversion optimization. AI isn't just a buzzword for us; it's a game-changer. Our Shopify expertise helps fine-tune campaigns across Meta, Google and TikTok in real-time, amplifying performance and boosting your ROI to unprecedented levels across any channel. We leave no stone unturned with dynamic product re-marketing strategies, seasonal campaigns, improved landing pages and SEO enhanced product descriptions. Our expert retargeting ensures that potential customers are presented with tailored ads featuring products from your Shopify site they've shown interest in, supercharged with our thumb-stopping, brand driven creative design. It's time to launch your next stage of growth on Shopify. 360 degrees of Shopify Services We don't just "buy ads", we craft seamless shopping journeys that reduce friction and boost conversions. Our AI-enhanced strategies identify pain points in the customer journey, creating a shopping experience that's effortless and delightful. Whether it's from the initial launch or as far as day 1000, we'll be with you at every phase of your Shopify journey. Data holds the key to optimization. Our Acceler8 Performance specialists analyze vast... --- - Type: landing-page - Services: TikTok Advertising Need a spark in your TikTok Ads? It's time to Acceler8 Acceler8 Labs is the most trusted Performance Marketing agency, powered by industry insiders. Get Started Unleash the full potential of TikTok Ads with the Acceler8 Labs experts. Ignite a wildfire of brand awareness, identity, and sales on TikTok with Acceler8 Labs. As your strategic partner, we combine the pulse of performance marketing with boundless creativity to make your brand the talk of the platform:Acceler8 Labs holds a special partnership with TikTok, providing us exclusive insider insights and tools to craft campaigns that resonate deeply with the platform's always-on user base. Our top-funnel strategies capture attention from the get-go. We design campaigns that captivate, entertaining your audience while sowing the seeds of brand recognition. We know that while success may be different for every TikTok advertiser, all success can be measured. That's why we deliver our clients TikTok Ads growth engines based on transparent results and a commitment to efficiency, with real-time reporting you can trust. If you feel like you're not reaching your TikTok advertising goals, say hello to a results-oriented partnership that matches your urgency. It's time to launch your next stage of growth on TikTok. take your tiktok ads to new heights Our TikTok Ads experts serve as your guides, assisting you in navigating all the essentials to effectively initiate, expand, or refine your product presence on the #1 Mobile Video platform. Whether it's from the initial launch or as far as day 1000, we'll be with... --- - Type: landing-page Reignite your growth. Book your media audit now. Let our audit experts discover what you need to fuel your growth. What if there was a surefire way to reignite your brand's growth and get your paid media spending back on track? With our comprehensive paid media audit, our team will explore your current advertising accounts, identify areas of optimization, and provide actionable insights to maximize your performance. Think of us as inside guides to the biggest advertising platforms operating today. We know the quirks, what works, and what's coming next to give you and edge. This audit covers key platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, ensuring a holistic evaluation of your paid media efforts. Whether you're looking to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, or generate leads, our audit will help you identify any gaps and help you reach the full potential of your paid media initiatives. "Acceler8 Labs is a true partner. They are constantly looking for ways to improve and optimize our business whether it's within paid media, website design, or testing new platforms. They are accessible, dependable and collaborative. " Suzanne Farb CEO, Tiary. com “Acceler8 Labs helped us welcome our digital team in Toronto and provided expertise on digital media across our business. Working directly with us and our partners, they ensured we were set on the right path to success for the long term. ” Alfredo Tan CMO & CDO, WestJet Airlines “Acceler8 Labs has been a fantastic marketing partner for us and was... --- --- ## Case Studies --- ## Testimonials --- ## Posts - Categories: Thought Leadership I’m sure you’ve seen this. There are dozens of greens drinks on the market right now. Powders, gummies, capsules, strips. If you lined up the ingredient lists side by side, most of them would be hard to tell apart. But AG1, LMNT, and Grind are all growing in the same category at the same time. Same basic product concept. Very different businesses. The difference is positioning, and it's worth breaking down because the pattern applies well beyond supplements. AG1 owns the "everything in one scoop" angle. Their customer is the person who wants premium, comprehensive nutrition without thinking about it. The price point is high and they lean into that. It signals quality. Grind went the opposite direction. Gummies instead of powder. Easier, better tasting, lower barrier. They're winning the customer who looked at AG1 and thought "I'm not doing that every morning. "LMNT built around community and specific use cases. Fasting. Endurance training. Performance. Their product is simple, but the identity around it is strong enough that people feel like they belong to something when they buy it. If any of these three competed on ingredients alone, they'd be interchangeable. They'd be fighting over price. Instead, each one is the obvious choice for a specific type of customer. This is the commodity trap, and it's where I see a lot of DTC brands get stuck between $5M and $20M. The product is good. Reviews are strong. But growth flattens because there's nothing separating you from the next brand that... --- - Categories: Thought Leadership It’s the same story every time I audit a "healthy" ad account. The reports look green. The charts go up and to the right. The Account Manager has a soothing voice and a polished slide deck. But behind the "optimization" is a crime scene. I recently walked into a Canadian grocery brand. Big name. Big budget. Even bigger blind spot. They were burning $200,000 on Google keywords that had produced exactly zero results for months. Not "low" results. Zero. But because the "overall" account metrics looked "fine," nobody blinked. The agency didn't care... they were getting their percentage. The internal team didn't care... the report said they were hitting KPIs. This is the "Autopilot Death Spiral. "Agencies are incentivized to keep the peace, not find the profit. If the surface numbers keep you happy enough to pay the invoice, they won't dig deeper. Why would they? Digging deeper means more work, fresh creative testing, and admitting the "set it and forget it" strategy is bleeding you dry. Here is the "Agency Lie" you’ve been told: "We’re optimizing for the long term. "Here is the reality: They are optimizing for the report. While your budget gets flushed into keywords that haven't converted since last Christmas, your agency is already pivoting their "A-Team" to their next big pitch. You’re left with the "B-Team" junior buyer who hasn't refreshed a creative in three months. When we stepped into that grocery brand, we didn't do anything "magical. "We simply stopped the bleeding. We cut... --- - Categories: Thought Leadership Lets get real for a minute,I've watched a lot of DTC brands get excited about the subscription model over the years. And honestly, I get it. The pitch is compelling. You acquire the customer once and they pay you every month. Your revenue becomes more predictable. Your LTV goes up on paper. The board loves a strong recurring revenue line. The problem is that most brands launching subscriptions have never actually run the unit economics. They see the projected LTV number and they launch the subscribe-and-save offer, usually at 15 to 20% off, and they assume the math will sort itself out. It doesn't. Here's what the economics actually look like. Your subscriber costs more to acquire than a one-time buyer because you're leading with a steeper discount. Your payback period on that subscriber is typically three months. That means for every subscriber you bring in, your business is floating two months of negative revenue before you break even on them. And if you don't have a system in place to reduce churn in those first three months, most of them cancel before they've ever been profitable. I've seen brands get deep into the red chasing subscription revenue they thought was going to save them. They were spending acquisition dollars on people who churned at month two, over and over, without the model ever working. Here's the framework we use before any brand launches or expands a subscription model. First, is your non-subscription business profitable and stable? Subscriptions are an... --- - Categories: Thought Leadership A free newsletter with the marketing ideas you needThe best marketing ideas come from marketers who live it. That’s what this newsletter delivers. The Marketing Millennials is a look inside what’s working right now for other marketers. No theory. No fluff. Just real insights and ideas you can actually use—from marketers who’ve been there, done that, and are sharing the playbook. Every newsletter is written by Daniel Murray, a marketer obsessed with what goes into great marketing. Expect fresh takes, hot topics, and the kind of stuff you’ll want to steal for your next campaign. Because marketing shouldn’t feel like guesswork. And you shouldn’t have to dig for the good stuff. Sign Up FreeThe Speed ReadMeta's Andromeda update officially shifts the algorithm from audience targeting to creative-led discoveryIf all your creatives look similar, the algorithm treats them as one, and your reach stagnatesThe old model was campaigns. The new model is a creative calendarAcceler8 Labs ranked #15 on Clutch's Top 100 Fastest-Growing Companies of 2026Paid Media Strategy: The Biggest Shift on Meta Right NowDo all your “best performing ads” look the same? Meta said it clearly. With the Andromeda update and AI-driven optimization, the algorithm no longer relies on the same audience signals it used to. It uses creative variance to find new audiences instead. This is a fundamental shift. Most brands haven't adapted their creative process to match. This is what happens. You hit the jackpot. A campaign crushes it and you get 5x ROAS. Sales are up. Everyone... --- - Categories: Thought Leadership The Speed ReadKaseMe ran a Pinterest Performance+ catalog sales campaign in Q4 2025 and hit 13x ROASCheckout conversion rate climbed 25% month-over-month while CPA dropped 23%The campaign used static, collection, and shopping ads — all under Pinterest's Performance+ productResults were strong enough to make Pinterest a permanent channel in KaseMe's media mixThis Week's AnalysisPinterest Isn't Just for Mood Boards AnymoreOne Q4 campaign changed how Acceler8 Labs thinks about the platform entirelyThere's a version of this story that's pretty simple: brand runs holiday campaign, brand gets good numbers, brand is happy. But what happened with KaseMe during Q4 2025 is worth unpacking a little more carefully — because it says something useful about where Pinterest is right now as a performance channel. KaseMe sells phone cases, tech accessories, and everyday gadgets. Not the most obvious fit for a platform historically associated with wedding planning and home decor. But holiday shopping is a different animal. Consumers are in discovery mode, purchase intent is high, and the line between "inspiration" and "I want to buy that" gets very thin very fast. That's exactly the environment Pinterest Performance+ was built for. And the numbers from KaseMe's Q4 campaign make a pretty compelling argument that the product delivers. By the Numbers13x ROAS on the Pinterest Performance+ catalog sales campaign+25% increase in month-over-month checkout conversion rate-23% decrease in month-over-month CPA(Source: KaseMe internal data, 7/1 attribution window, CA, 2025)What Actually RanThe campaign wasn't one format — it was a mix: static ads, collection ads, and shopping ads,... --- - Categories: Thought Leadership Most marketing newsletters tell you what happened. This one tells you what to do about it. The Good Growth Brief covers three things DTC and hybrid brand leaders actually need to run better paid media:Creative Strategy — Real ad breakdowns, not theory. We tear apart what's working on Meta, TikTok, and YouTube, explain why it's performing, and give you direction you can hand straight to your team. Measurement — Attribution is broken for most brands and everyone knows it. We cover what's replacing last-click, how to set up incrementality testing without a data science team, and the frameworks that help you spend with confidence. Paid Media Strategy & News — Platforms change fast. We filter the noise and tell you which updates actually matter for your account, your budget, and your bottom line. No recycled LinkedIn takes. No vendor-sponsored hot air. Just the stuff that helps you make better decisions this week. Let's get into it. The Speed ReadLemme's TikTok-native compilation ad nails the problem-to-solution format without feeling scriptedJones Road ran two static concepts that prove you don't need video to stop the scrollMUD/WTR brought vintage, print-style creative to Meta — and it worksSeed Probiotics turned a product comparison into a spin-to-win gameThis Month's Creative BreakdownBy: Sarah Elston, Creative Strategy Lead at Acceler8 Labs. The Main Teardown: Lemme's Daily Sculpt BundleA compilation ad that feels more like advice than advertising. Lemme opened their January campaign with a hook that most people under 30 would immediately recognize: the "In your 20s,... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Reddit has posted its strongest advertising quarter on record. Your DTC investments need to move fast. The numbers show existing advertisers scaling budgets and new brands joining at accelerating rates. Tech is leading, retail/CPG are seeing serious traction. The race is on. Reddit isn't social media anymore, it's search infrastructure. Google's AI Overviews are driving massive visibility for Reddit content, creating compound effects for brands building presence there. The breakthrough is that Conversation Ads finally solved mid-funnel attribution. Combined with DPA traction, Reddit's becoming a legitimate growth channel. The portfolio play: While competitors debate TikTok, Reddit offers something rare, organic content that directly amplifies paid performance. Your DTC brands need Reddit strategies now. Early adopters are seeing ROI improvements that matter. Late adopters will pay premium CPMs for worse placement. Simple question for your next portfolio review: Which brands have active Reddit strategies? The ones that don't are missing 2025’s growth channel... . more --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership - Tags: WereHiring hashtag#WereHiring! Looking for a rockstar talent acquisition specialist to help build our growing agency! Apply using the link below or tag someone you think would be a great fit! https://lnkd. in/g2yH2D4g... more --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Our team is growing again and we're looking for a talent acquisition specialist in a contract roleApply using the link below, or tag someone you think would be a great fit. https://lnkd. in/gveS7aCu... more --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership New EU tariffs are about to crush your luxury portfolio's creative engine. The latest EU trade restrictions aren't just hitting COGS. They're systematically destroying the creative testing pipeline that drives sustainable growth across luxury DTC investments. Here's what we're already tracking across luxury portfolio companies:Fashion brands slashing influencer budgets. Premium spirits cutting exploratory spend. High-end apparel seeing CVR drops and immediately shifting to defense mode. The pattern is predictable and portfolio-wide. When margins get squeezed, creativity dies first. No more concept testing. No more offbeat angles. Everything becomes "safe. " Everything gets optimized to death. This isn't just a tariff issue. It's a competitive positioning crisis. No testing now means fewer insights later. Fewer insights means stagnant performance by fall. Your luxury investments start running blind exactly when brand differentiation matters most. Here's the dangerous part: Luxury brands that cut creative testing during margin pressure don't just slow down. They lose the premium positioning that justifies their pricing. While your portfolio retreats to "safe" creative, competitors are capturing the experimental budgets and breakthrough insights that will dominate luxury categories post-recovery. Bottom line for portfolio operators: The luxury brands that maintain creative discipline during EU tariff pressure will own their categories when conditions stabilize. Worried about how these pressures are affecting your luxury investments? Let's schedule a call to discuss strategies for maintaining brand equity and creative momentum during this uncertainty. Drop me a DM and we'll talk. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Some earth-shaking news for DTC brand portfolios: The global "de minimis" exemption ends August 29. Your portfolio's import model just became a margin killer overnight. Every low-cost international parcel now faces import duties. That $20 margin buffer? Gone. Here's what this means for your investments:Shelf-stable lead times shift. Fulfillment becomes complex. Anyone relying on direct-to-consumer import models will see margins erode rapidly. 90% of seized counterfeit goods were shipped under de minimis rules. The portfolio impact is immediate and measurable. Four questions every board should ask CMOs this quarter:1. ) Are you still shipping directly to the U. S. from China, Hong Kong, or other de minimis countries? 2. ) What's the updated landed cost per unit? Has your calculator included the new $80-$200 duty ranges? 3. ) Can your model survive shipping delays and customs friction in the U. S. postal network? 4. ) Have you evaluated near-shore or U. S. -based warehousing to avoid parcel-level duties completely? Bottom line for portfolio operators: Margin leakage at scale stays invisible until the next board deck shows the cash flow impact. The portfolio companies that address this proactively will maintain competitive pricing. The ones that wait will watch margins compress in real-time. Push this conversation to your leadership teams now. August 29 isn't movable, and neither is the math. Looking for clarity on this. Happy to answer your questions below or take a call to talk more. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Pinterest has flipped the switch. And if your DTC portfolio isn’t paying attention, they’re already behind. Performance+ went from 10% to 25% of agency spend in one quarter. 55% of partners are outperforming goals. Retail’s there. CPG’s climbing. Travel’s in. This isn’t brand fluff anymore. It’s real performance. And it’s cheap... for now. Smart money is reallocating budgets as we speak. And if your portfolio companies aren’t testing Pinterest right now? They’re missing a rare arbitrage window that won’t last. In a few quarters, CPMs will be up, competition will be brutal, and Pinterest will be “cool” again. But the advantage? Gone. If you’re tracking growth across your DTC bets and want a POV on how Pinterest’s shift is impacting real portfolios, shoot me a note. Happy to discuss . --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Acceler8 is looking for paid search and paid social specialists to join or fast growing agency Apply below or tag someone you think would be a great fit. Paid Search - https://lnkd. in/gbwvwvMJPaid Social - https://lnkd. in/gcRnHX2A... more --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Want to know what’ll separate winners in your DTC portfolio from the also-rans? Adoption speed. Meta just dropped the most efficient ad infrastructure they’ve ever built:Gemini. Lattice. Andromeda. 3-5% more conversions. 15% cheaper CPAs. It’s not theory. It’s live. It’s working. And the smart operators are already compounding that edge. ADV+ is becoming default. Gen-AI Creative is scaling fast. WhatsApp and Threads are wide open land grabs. Early adopters will build moats. Late movers will pay the price. This is the inflection point. Move fast or lose the category. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Trade Desk just raised your prices. Not with a press release. Not with a choice. They forced every agency onto Kokai... and buried the cost in “upgraded features. ”CPMs are spiking. Margins are shrinking. And portfolios that rely on TTD are getting slammed. Don’t let the UI upgrades fool you. This is structural inflation, disguised as progress. Amazon’s moving in with cheaper rates and better inventory. Yahoo’s not far behind. You’re not just behind on tech. You’re behind on economics. Audit your portfolio. Diversify your spend. Or get smoked by competitors who already did. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership This week we walked the floor at Wufers, one of our favourite clients. Not to audit. Not to pitch. To understand. Because that’s how we work at Acceler8. We don’t just manage media, we become partners in the success of the business. Whenever we can, we meet the people. Watch the process. Feel the energy. I believe you can’t do meaningful work *only* looking at dashboards. You need to really understand the business to ask better questions, and in turn, drive actual results. This visit was a great reminder of why we started Acceler8, to be closer to the clients and their journey. When you're working hand in hand, or hand in paw, with a business, you see the bigger picture. We're proud of what we’ve built with Wufers, and we’re just getting started! Thanks again to their team for having us. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership - Tags: AI, Attribution, dtc, Ecommerce, Gorgias, TripleWhale Had a great time speaking at the DTCx AI Ecommerce Intelligence Summit; huge thanks to the Triple Whale & Gorgias teams for the invite and for putting together such a forward-thinking event. Special shoutout to Jake Singer, Daniela Rouse, and Brittany Mitchell for making it all happen In my session, we dug into the realities of scaling businesses in today’s environment with respect to measurement and attribution of marketing efforts and why it’s so critical to tailor the conversation to the metrics that matter most to each stakeholder. We also explored how AI agents, like Triple Whale’s Moby, can streamline and frame insights in a way that’s aligned to each stakeholder’s priorities — making complex data actionable, faster. Appreciate the opportunity to share ideas, swap perspectives, and learn from such a sharp group of people driving innovation in ecommerce! hashtag#Ecommerce hashtag#AI hashtag#Attribution hashtag#DTC hashtag#TripleWhale hashtag#Gorgias --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership I recently had the pleasure of guest lecturing at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies thanks to an invite from my good friend Andre Beadle We covered a lot of ground from first principles of marketing (“evoke emotion before you drive action”) to building funnels that actually align with business objectives to how AI is changing the way we ideate create and analyze campaigns. I shared examples from my work across ecommerce, B2B and even politics, all with the goal of showing how different verticals can adapt the same core principles for better results. A big thank you to Megan, Ian, Hailey and peers who jumped in with thoughtful questions from clarifying what performance marketing really means today to challenging how we approach emerging platforms. Your curiosity made the conversation undoubtedly better. Always energizing to speak with the next generation of marketers and share some real world perspective --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership New research shows your portfolio companies could be tanking on Meta while competitors capture Gen-Z. We're seeing this across a sprectrum of DTC brands:Meta CPMs doubled. Attribution disappeared. DTC investments burning cash on platforms that can't reach the customers driving tomorrow's growth. Here's what they were missing: Gen Z represents 43% of global consumers by 2030, and they're shopping through gaming and entertainment platforms your brands can't access. AppLovin just cracked this code. Their eCommerce platform hit $1B run-rate with only 600 advertisers. Gaming-trained AI delivering unduplicated Gen Z reach at CPMs that actually work for DTC unit economics. We've been telling brands this for a while:Your early-mover window is closing fast. October 1st opens referral access. By 1H26, self-service launches and mainstream adoption kills the arbitrage opportunity. Portfolio companies that move now get gaming audience data that Meta can't match, creative optimization trained on high-intent users, CPM efficiency before platform saturation and first-mover positioning in the next major acquisition channel. That's why i'm open to auditing portfolios this month: + Which investments qualify for current $100M GMV threshold? + Which align with gaming/entertainment demographics? + Who's ready to optimize creative for platform performance? Early access means owning better inventory and optimization data before competitors even know the platform exists. Portfolio companies that wait will pay mainstream CPMs for inferior placement when everyone else floods in. Time to audit your AppLovin opportunity before the advantage disappears. DM me and let's set something up. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Is your portfolio's strategy "Camp out under one tree. Pick the same low-hanging fruit every day"? Would you be shocked if one day the tree's bare? That's bottom-funnel addiction. All conversion ads. All the time. What could go wrong? Here's what happens eventually: You're chomping away at all the low-hanging fruit on one platform. That low-hanging fruit starts to dry up. You're left with a problem: "Hey, Meta's not working for me anymore. "The math that's killing you:Conversion CPMs = 5-8x reach CPMsYou still need 6-7 touches to close a saleSo why pay full price for all of them? Smart portfolio operators arbitrage that CPM:- Get your first four impressions at a sixth of the cost- Fill the top of the funnel before bottom-funnel costs become prohibitive- Deliver beautiful creative that keeps you top of mind- Then swoop in with conversion ads when intent signals activateContrast that with paying seven times CPM seven times. All of a sudden you're paying a lot more. The investments that connect early and convert later will dominate. The ones that chase immediate conversions? Enjoy paying gourmet prices for bruised apples. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership An investor came to me in a panic:"Our acquisition’s CAC doubled and growth’s flat. Can you help? "They were talking about a DTC home goods brand in their portfolio. The diagnosis:1. ) Attribution broke after iOS updates → key channels looked worse than they were. 2. ) Same creative running for 8+ months → ad fatigue killing performance. 3. ) No retargeting for warm audiences → leaving low-cost conversions on the table. 4. ) Landing pages untouched for 2 years → conversion rates stagnating. The plan to fix it:- Audit and rebuild tracking so attribution is accurate. - Launch fresh UGC creative based on customer interviews. - Build retention-focused email & SMS flows. - Spin up new landing pages for rapid A/B testing. The expected impact:+ Accurate tracking lowers CAC by showing true performance. + New creative unlocks scale and improves ROAS. + Retention flows can add $100k+ in monthly revenue. + Landing page optimization can lift CVR by 28%+. No one-size-fits-all playbook exists, but when you fix the system, performance follows. With the right changes, this brand will go from reactive crisis mode to a proactive growth engine. Most “performance problems” are actually systems problems. What’s the biggest performance challenge your portfolio companies are facing right now? --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership I see this all the time: Treating marketing as an “expense line” is why so many PortCos underperform. Marketing is not a cost center. It’s capital deployment. Every dollar should be managed with the same fiduciary discipline you expect from an investor. That means tracking ROI, testing systematically, and holding teams accountable for results. Done right, paid media isn’t a gamble. It’s one of the most predictable levers for growth in a portfolio company. When leaders treat marketing spend as an investment instead of overhead, the results look very different. Curious where others land: do you see marketing as a cost center, or an asset? --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Consumer confidence is telling two stories right now. Which one is your brand preparing for? The Data Breakdown shows these ups and downs. - U. S. Conference Board: Confidence up to 97. 2 in July (from 95. 2) → stabilization after spring’s dip. - U. S. Univ. of Michigan: Sentiment down to 58. 6 in August (from 61. 7) → notable weakness in current conditions. - Canada Conference Board: Confidence rose 5. 2 points to 62. 7 in July → labor market tailwinds. - Canada Bloomberg Nanos: Index sliding toward neutral in August → softer household sentiment. What This Means:We’re not seeing a crash... or a surge. Instead, it’s selective caution. Consumers aren’t pulling back completely, but they’re becoming much more selective about where they spend. This is the most dangerous scenario for brands: Enough slowdown to break forecasts. Not dramatic enough to force obvious pivots. Across accounts we’re seeing clear vertical divergence:Stable: health, home, pet, essentials. Pressured: apparel, discretionary, and big-ticket purchases. The brands navigating this best are using these tactics:1. ) Smarter SegmentationTargeting high-intent buyers with first-party data instead of blanket promos. 2. ) Value-Based PositioningCampaigns anchored in durable utility, not urgency or discounts. 3. ) Category ReallocationDoubling down on stable SKUs while holding presence in weaker categories. 4. ) Trust-Centered CreativeMessaging built on consistency, reliability, and proven value. The challenge isn’t controlling sentiment, it’s building a brand strategy resilient to its swings. If you want to see where your brand may be exposed, we’re offering free audits... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership My apologies in advance --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Sorry to do this on Monday: but your PortCo's DTC brands are burning ~40% of their media budget. And Friday's report won’t tell you. I think back to a $10M PE-backed brand: strong top-line growth, healthy ROAS on paper, confident marketing team. Reality check: $1. 2M in wasted spend uncovered in two weeks. The red flags:• Retargeting existing customers at full acquisition cost• Audience overlap driving CPMs up 60%• No optimization for 3+ months• Attribution gaps hiding true performance• Agency holding all admin accessThis wasn’t malicious, it was operational negligence hidden behind monthly PowerPoints. Here’s what sophisticated operators demand: 1. Direct admin access to all ad accounts 2. Live dashboards with weekly reviews, not monthly reports 3. Audience audits to catch overlap and drift 4. First-party data ownership and activationGreat agencies welcome transparency. Weak ones resist it. Portfolio brands scaling from $5M to $50M can’t afford black box marketing. Growth at that velocity requires operational precision. You wouldn’t accept quarterly financials from your CFO. Don’t accept monthly marketing reports from your agency. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership PortCo CEOs: TikTok's US-only app M2 arrives September 5th. Are your DTC brands ready for day one? ByteDance is building "M2" - a completely separate US app with new algorithms, measurement, and ad infrastructure. Rumours say 170M users will need to migrate by March 2026. I'm getting asked about this more and more as the rumoured arrival date nears. Some are worried, but smart capital allocators see the opportunity. → Fresh algorithm = temporarily lower competition and CPMs→ New measurement stack = chance to fix attribution gaps from day one→ Market uncertainty = most brands will wait, creating early-mover advantageThe capital-efficient approach says don't treat this as "experimental spend. " It's good old fashioned strategic positioning. Here are your CMOs marching orders:Test M2 across 2-3 brands simultaneously to share learnings but cap M2 at 10% of social spend for first 60 days. Focus on incremental reach and CAC efficiency, not vanity ROAS to actually judge efficiency. Execution checklist:Audit creative libraries across portfolio companies - what translates? Set up unified tracking that works across old TikTok and M2Brief CMOs on coordinated testing approach across your brands Plan knowledge transfer sessions between brandsThe reality is that most agencies will tell your companies to "wait and see" or dump massive budgets into untested creative. We're prepping our portfolio partners with measurement frameworks and creative strategies that work from week one. Platform shifts like this separate growth-stage companies that think strategically from those that react tactically. How are you preparing your portfolio for the... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Fact: Your PortCos are burning cash on Meta while Pinterest delivers the same results for 60% less. Most growth investors are completely ignoring this channel. Here's what they're missing:Pinterest users aren't mindlessly scrolling. They're planning purchases. High-intent traffic that actually converts. While everyone fights over expensive Meta inventory, Pinterest quietly became a conversion machine with half the competition. The data is compelling. The opportunity window is closing. Smart capital allocators are already building Pinterest into their acquisition mix. Swipe to see the complete strategic framework → --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Our latest 1st party data shows the platform arbitrage window just cracked wide open. Our Q1-Q3 2025 data across portfolio companies reveals massive CPM shifts that smart capital allocators need to see. The dramatic changes:→ TikTok: 93% CPM decrease ($21. 01 → $1. 45)→ Pinterest: 84% CPM decrease ($17. 63 → $2. 90)→ LinkedIn: 45% CPM decrease ($7. 79 → $4. 30)→ Meta: 4% increase (relatively stable at ~$13)→ Google: 14% increase ($21. 40 → $24. 31)Why did these dramatic declines happened? Simple: LinkedIn, Pinterest and TikTok CPM drops are a function of changing how we use the platforms from a funnel perspective. More upper funnel work equals cheaper costs and attention. While everyone fights over expensive bottom-funnel inventory on Meta and Google, we shifted portfolio strategies to capture awareness and consideration on emerging platforms. The strategic implication? Brands stuck on Meta/Google are paying premium prices for saturated audiences. Meanwhile, platforms optimized for upper funnel work deliver 90% cheaper reach. Portfolio companies testing multi-platform strategies captured this arbitrage. Single-platform brands missed the window entirely. As always though, a reality check: These CPM advantages won't last. As more advertisers discover the efficiency, costs will normalize. The time to diversify portfolio spend is now. So, how are your PortCos positioned for this platform arbitrage opportunity? --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership VCs must read: De Minimis Elimination hits today. What It Means for Consumer Brand Portfolios On August 29, the U. S. eliminated the $800 de minimis duty exemption. Overnight, 1. 3B shipments a year went from duty-free to fully taxed. Impact? $47B in new annual costs across consumer brands — with some categories facing effective tariffs of 145%. For VC/PE-backed DTC brands, this isn’t a temporary trade spat. It’s a structural reset:• Landed costs are up 10–25% almost instantly• CAC jumped 40%+ since 2023• Median ROAS dropped 33% in weeks• Working capital requirements surged as duties must now be prepaid on bulk importsWe’ve already seen casualties: Sequoia-backed Ssense filed for bankruptcy, citing de minimis elimination as a key factor. More will follow. What sophisticated firms are doing now:1. Immediate tariff exposure audits across all portfolio companies2. Supply chain diversification (India, Vietnam, Mexico)3. Domestic fulfillment + bonded warehouse strategies4. Investment in customs automation + real-time landed cost systems5. Stress-testing every new deal for tariff scenariosThis is a permanent policy shift, not a negotiating tactic. Firms that act now will protect enterprise value and position their brands to win market share as weaker competitors stumble. Feels like this is too close to home? Message me, let's set up a call and talk tactics. Happy to help you find a way through this with our help. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Our team found something unbelievable during a routine audit last month. As in: I couldn't believe it when we saw it. A client's Google Ads account was showing stellar ROAS numbers. The kind that make you want to scale aggressively. But something felt off. The numbers were almost too good. Call it intuition from years of managing accounts, but exceptional performance usually has clear drivers behind it. So we dug deeper. Two GA4 properties were both sending conversion data to Google Ads. Both active. Both tracking the same purchases. Result? Revenue was being counted twice (sometimes three times) across campaigns. The "amazing" ROAS? Artificially inflated by roughly 3x. What appeared to be a scaling opportunity was actually a measurement nightmare. Every optimization decision, every budget increase, every campaign launch was based on false data. Smart Bidding was optimizing toward inflated numbers. Historical reports were meaningless. The entire growth strategy was built on quicksand. How did we fix it? 1. ) Identified the accurate Shopify-linked conversion2. ) Set duplicate tracking to secondary status3. ) Rebuilt measurement foundation from the ground up4. ) Adjusted expectations and scaling plans accordinglyThe Lesson was that great performance marketing isn't about showing impressive dashboards. It's about obsessing over accurate measurement so every dollar works harder. Your board doesn't care about vanity ROAS. They care about actual revenue and real growth. That's the difference between agencies that manage spend and partners who manage outcomes. So: How confident are you in your current attribution setup? We still have... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership PortCo execs: The biggest CAC killer isn’t your attribution model. It’s your basics. We’ve audited dozens of $10M+ DTC brands. The pattern is the same: advanced attribution models, AI-driven personalization, complex tech stacks... ... but the fundamentals are broken. It’s like trying to win an F1 race with flat tires. No matter how much fuel you burn, you're not going to finish. The misses are shockingly simple:Same creative for cold and warm trafficOne-size-fits-all email + SMS blastsNo audience-specific landing pagesA VC once brought us a DTC apparel brand with this exact problem. Their board decks bragged about sophisticated product matching and AI attribution tools. The numbers told a different story:Cart abandoners saw the same ads as first-time visitors, High-intent product viewers landed on a generic homepage and Email sequences treated $5 browsers like $500 repeat buyers. Our advice was simple: Retag the funnel with behaviour-based triggers Build landing pages by traffic source + funnel stage Personalize retargeting creative by intent signalYou don’t need the next growth hack. You need the fundamentals, done right. When’s the last time you walked your own customer journey, from cold click to conversion? If you can't answer, let's talk. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Here's three metrics that actually predict VC backed eCom brand success: (Hint: ROAS Isn't One)If ROAS is your go-to KPI, you’re not alone. You’re just not scaling sustainably. We get it. Platform-reported ROAS looks good on a pitch deck. But it’s a vanity metric in most growth-stage environments. Here’s what we look at instead:- Contribution Margin per Order tells us if growth is profitable- Time to Break Even by Channel shows us where the payback reality lives- LTV:CAC at 90 Days predicts retention, not just first-order winsWhen you optimize for these, ROAS takes care of itself. When you chase ROAS, you often chase your tail. Want to benchmark your portfolio against brands doing it right? Let’s talk metrics that actually matter. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership I've been thinking over Google's antitrust ruling that just came down and what it means for DTC. First, here's what Google Must Do:- End exclusive search distribution contracts (including the Apple deal)- Share search index and user data with qualified competitors- Provide search syndication services to rivalsWhat Google Keeps: Chrome browser (no forced sale) Android OS (stays integrated) Ability to pay for search placement and preloadingThis ruling doesn't create overnight competition. But it does crack open a market that's been essentially locked for over a decade. For DTC brands, the most immediate impact will likely be around the Apple contract. When that exclusive deal ends, iPhone users might start seeing different default search engines. The data sharing requirement is interesting... competitors will get access to Google's search index and user interaction data (but not ads data). Whether this actually helps them build competitive search products remains to be seen. What's Unclear? Timeline for implementation, definition of "qualified competitors" and how much market share alternatives can realistically captureMost brands won't feel immediate changes. Google still owns 90%+ market share, and consumer behaviour doesn't shift overnight. But this is the first real structural change to search distribution in years. Worth watching? Absolutely. Worth panicking about? Not yet. What's your take? Do you think this actually creates meaningful search competition? --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership I see this PortCo strategy too often: Camp out under a tree. Pick the same low-hanging fruit daily. Then execs act shocked when the tree's bare. That's bottom-funnel addiction. All conversion ads. All the time. What could go wrong? Here's what happens eventually: You're chomping away at all the low-hanging fruit on one platform. That low-hanging fruit starts to dry up. You're left with a problem: "Hey, Meta's not working for me anymore. "The math that's killing you:x Conversion CPMs = 5-8x reach CPMsx You still need 6-7 touches to close a salex Why pay full price for all of them? Smart portfolio operators arbitrage that CPM:- Get your first four impressions at a sixth of the cost- Fill the top of the funnel before bottom-funnel costs become prohibitive- Deliver beautiful creative that keeps you top of mind- Then swoop in with conversion ads when intent signals activateContrast that with paying seven times CPM seven times. All of a sudden you're paying a lot more. The investments that connect early and convert later will dominate. The ones that chase immediate conversions? Enjoy paying gourmet prices for bruised apples. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership I've been digging into the latest research. Meta’s Q3 gains are real, at least according to the data. Cleveland Research just dropped their latest partner survey, and the signals are clear:1. ) eComm + retail spend rebounding2. ) ROI hitting near all-time highs3. ) Gen-AI tools gaining traction (especially for copy ideation)4. ) Early wins from Value-Based Optimization + Incremental Conversion modelsOne standout stat is that omnichannel ads are driving 10%+ ROI lift for retail brands in early testing. Meta’s automation tools aren’t just saving time, they’re driving better outcomes. Partners are seeing it in Advantage+ lead gen and improved attribution clarity. Even Gen-AI is getting smarter usage: teams using it upstream for concepts, then layering in human oversight and creative direction downstream. We've learned that’s the right balance. The catch? This is partner data, not neutral analysis. And “all-time high ROI” means different things depending on your baseline. But across the board, PortCos and their brands are reporting real traction. If it holds through Q4, Meta could regain share from platforms that haven’t evolved as quickly. Your move is to double-check if your portfolio's Meta playbook includes the new stuff... or if you’re still running last year’s strategy on this year’s CPMs. Are you seeing similar performance shifts on Meta this quarter? Let’s compare notes. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership PortCos take note: AppLovin moved up their self-serve launch to Oct 1st and they're coming for eCommerce spend in a big way. - $11B in ad spend (now comparable to Pinterest, Snap, Twitter)- Targeting 20-30% growth over next few years- 1B+ daily active users across gaming inventory- Hundreds of eCommerce advertisers already testingWe love numbers, but what's Actually Launching? October 1st brings referral-based rollout of Axon Ads Manager to international markets and web customers. Full self-serve availability expected sometime in first half of 2026. Right now, new advertisers need referrals from existing partners or approved agencies. The eCommerce Play is where AppLovin's positioning is interesting. They're benchmarking success directly against Meta. If an advertiser gets 2x ROAS on Meta, AppLovin considers it a win if they deliver the same 2x ROAS. Their thesis: Gamers will leave games to purchase advertised products, then return to gaming. Early pilot data suggests this behaviour is real. The Broader Strategy is in gaming supply growing double-digits annually, with plans to expand beyond current in-app gaming to the $100B in-app purchase monetization market. Longer-term targets include CTV and social networks. They're also building LLM tools for customer support, campaign analytics, and generative AI creative, claiming good creative outperforms poor creative by at least 2x. But wait: This is management commentary, not independent verification. And "encouraging results" from a soft launch doesn't prove scale viability. But the gaming inventory scale is real, and if they can actually deliver Meta-competitive performance at potentially lower costs, it becomes... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Pinterest just proved what happens when AI automation actually works: the numbers show up. Cleveland Research’s latest agency survey put real data behind what we’ve been seeing in the field. Performance+ is delivering for DTC brands: 20–30% better ROI on direct response (sometimes more) 75% of partners beating goals (up from 55% last quarter) DR is now 40% of Pinterest’s ad revenue Adoption jumped from ~10% in Q1 to ~50% in Q3 Net-new advertiser momentum is accelerating into Q4This isn’t fluff. When 3 out of 4 partners are beating targets, something’s actually working. Mid-size eComm brands are finally getting profitable scale on Pinterest, a platform many wrote off as “just upper funnel. ”And the bigger picture? Pinterest’s AI-driven bidding and creative optimization are outperforming manual setup. The shift from “test and hope” to “test and scale” is what growth-stage brands need right now. If you’re not testing Pinterest in Q4, ask yourself: what happens when this 50% adoption rate becomes 80%? The cost gap closes. Early mover advantage disappears. We’re helping brands set up clean tests now, smart targeting, creative direction, and real benchmarks. DM me if you want in before the window tightens. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Attention DTC brand execs: here's a reality check you need to hear about AI Max. Google is claiming 14% conversion improvements from AI Max. But there's more ot this story:The Reality is more like: "Pretty mid results" from early testing One agency saw 1. 5x ROAS vs their usual 2. 6x after 3 weeks Multiple contacts calling Google's 14% claim questionable "Large advertisers that are well optimized aren't seeing it"Google's Response? They're forcing adoption by tying AI Overview ad access to AI Max campaigns. Classic platform move... create artificial scarcity to drive product adoption. What This Means for Your Portfolio (aka, what you need to ask in your next board meeting)If you're being pitched on AI Max as a game-changer for Q4, pump the brakes. The early data from agencies managing hundreds of brands suggests Google's performance claims don't match reality for sophisticated advertisers. The agencies testing this aren't seeing the promised lift, and some are actively skeptical of the 14% figure Google keeps promoting. For PE-Backed Brands this means don't let your teams get caught up in the AI Max hype for holiday planning. Focus on what's actually working: YouTube Demand Gen is showing real momentum, search fundamentals remain solid, and Performance Max with proper setup still delivers. The lesson? When platforms make bold performance claims, wait for independent validation from agencies like ours managing real budgets across the DTC and Retail space. Ready to audit what's actually driving performance in your search campaigns? Book your fall audit now,... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Had some interesting conversations about Snap, and I wanted to share what we're seeing in the data vs. what's happening on the ground. My Co-founder Niket attended their "Performance in a Snap" event recently and saw:- Expanded ad products including Sponsored Snaps showing promise- Strong focus on measurement partnerships (WorkMagic, Triple Whale, Fospha, Measured, Northbeam)- Clear messaging around reaching younger demographics with performance focus- Investment in creative tools and direct audience connectionAll great signs things are moving in the right direction! But, the latest inside info from our research data shows:- North American DAUs dipped 2% YoY (Pinterest +4%, Reddit +11%)- ROI is improving on new ad products... but incremental spend isn’t following yet- Competition is heating up across the boardSo what’s really happening? This isn’t a “Snap is bad” post. It’s a repositioning moment. For DTC brands over-leveraged on Meta, Snap offers something critical: unduplicated reach into younger demos. But to win dollars, Snap needs bulletproof measurement, which is why the attribution partner focus Niket saw matters so much. If you treat Snap like a *primary* growth engine, you’ll probably be disappointed right now. But if you treat it like your “beyond Meta” move with the right tracking in place? You’re playing smarter than most. We’re helping brands diversify without diluting efficiency. DM me if you want to audit your Q4 media mix and layer Snap in the right way. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership The secret is out: Reddit's quietly building real DTC performance momentum. So what do you do now? First, let's see the proof. The latest research is clear:• New advertiser momentum is climbing• Existing advertisers are scaling spend• Shopping DPA adoption is growing and actually converting• Reddit Max (their automation tools) is in alpha with solid partner feedbackThe timing makes sense. TikTok growth is slowing, Snap's losing share, and Reddit's capturing that displaced spend. Plus Reddit content is showing up more in AI Overviews and LLM outputs, creating extra brand exposure and search relevance. For DTC brands, this matters because Reddit isn't just a forum anymore. They're building real lower-funnel performance capabilities to match their reach. Shopping DPAs converting means Reddit cracked something in their conversion path. Combined with automation tools in testing, it's becoming a viable option for lean media teams trying to stretch budgets further. If you're still treating Reddit as experimental, you're behind. It won't be your primary channel, but it's a smart diversification play if you're over-indexed on Meta / Google and need proven performance alternatives. DM me if you're testing Reddit this quarter or want help building a structure that actually works. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Google just posted its first positive agency performance trends in six quarters. Worth a closer look. What’s improving: Search ROI is stabilizing CPCs are inflating predictably AI Overviews are boosting conversion rates YouTube still trending up, especially via Shorts and CTVInstead of cannibalizing traffic like everyone predicted, AI overviews are improving it. Agencies are seeing better conversion rates on users coming from AI-generated snippets. Oh, and ChatGPT's “threat”? Minimal impact... different use case, no ads yet, Google engagement holding steady. Smart brands aren’t treating it as a near-term risk. Mixed results from AI MAX. Not surprising. But most clients still want in. That says more about the roadmap than this quarter’s ROI. What’s limiting Google right now? Not AI. Meta. Social platforms are outperforming on ROAS and taking budget. That’s the real competitive pressure. The takeaway for DTC brands in your portfolio is this: Google’s getting back on stable footing. If you’ve pulled back spend, this might be the time to re-evaluate. Seeing similar trends? Or still skeptical? Let’s compare notes. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership I'll be at ECom North next week in Toronto. Brands: I still have a few passes if you wish to attend! Drop me a line, or catch me on the floor. See you there! ... more --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Last week, I was invited to a breakfast with Reddit, Inc. COO Jen Wong, and the conversation sparked a thought that has stayed with me. I asked her about Reddit Answers, their new AI powered Q&A product, and how it might stand apart from other tools, and it led me to reflect on the scale of opportunity ahead for Reddit. Most of us use AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini when we want quick answers or to research something in depth. But every so often, they come up short. The answers can be shallow, vague, or completely missing the target. When that happens, the experience just ends. The system doesn’t know where else to go. That’s what sparked this reflection: what if Reddit Answers didn’t stop there? Reddit is a platform with a living, breathing network of communities covering just about every topic imaginable. So what if, instead of drawing a blank, Reddit Answers could post the question directly into the right subreddit and ask real people for their input, and then bring those responses back to the person who originally asked? That would create something we don’t really have today with chat based AI platforms: a human-AI-human loop. It wouldn’t just answer the question. It would drive new conversations, spark engagement, and enrich the platform’s knowledge base over time. It might even bring more people to Reddit in the first place, because they could see their question out in the world, answered by real people, not just algorithms. And... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership I've said it before: your DTC portfolio companies are leaving serious money on the table. While teams obsess over Meta’s rising CPMs, YouTube sits under-utilized, delivering the same audiences at a fraction of the cost. We’ve audited dozens of DTC media plans. The pattern is the same: brands put 70%+ of budget into expensive Meta inventory while YouTube gets scraps. Our data shows YouTube consistently outperforms on upper-funnel efficiency. And now, it's turning into a conversion powerhouse. Here’s where most brands are missing out:1. ) Cost advantageYouTube CPMs run 30–40% below Meta for similar reach. That means more reach with the same budget... or better unit economics at the same scale. 2. ) New audience accessRoughly 86% of YouTube viewers aren’t reached by Meta campaigns. That’s net-new potential customers. 3. ) Revenue upsideBrands that measure properly are seeing 15–25% revenue lifts when they commit real budget. What’s working now: shorter videos built for YouTube, clear brand positioning in the first 5 seconds, and a mix of skippable and non-skippable formats. The brands winning here aren’t just running ads. They’re building measurement systems that capture the full-funnel impact. They understand YouTube drives the awareness that makes performance channels work harder. Your competitors are still ignoring this. The only question is: how long will you? --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership - Tags: Toronto The Acceler8 Team will be at Ecom North today in hashtag#Toronto! Drop me a line, or catch me on the floor. See you there! --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Amazon is pulling ahead in Q3 as brands move budget into its ad products. What’s driving growth? - Q3 spend is up. Search is steady, and DSP use is climbing. - Amazon Search ROI continues to outperform other platforms. - DSP is gaining traction with Prime Video and lower platform fees. - Netflix and Roku integrations are adding new CTV inventory. Amazon DSP is taking share from Trade Desk and others because it delivers results. NFL price hikes didn’t slow demand, and NBA coverage sold out. Growth is coming from performance, not discounts. Advertisers point to ROI, lower fees, and access to first-party data. Add streaming reach across Prime, Netflix, and Roku, and the audience footprint expands even further. This isn’t just retail, it’s full-funnel. Amazon is moving beyond being only a ROAS channel. Its stack is expanding with tools like Image Optimization aimed at conversions, not just impressions. Non-endemic advertisers are entering. If that trend holds, Amazon becomes a real player beyond retail. Are you seeing the same DSP performance gains, or do you still view it as retail-only? --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Most PE‑backed DTC brands hit the same wall. This report shows how to climb it... and we’re giving it away. Here’s the challenge many brands face:Pure in-house teams = high fixed costs, talent churn, slow scaleTraditional agencies = retainers with little accountability, uneven resultsBrands that break through use a hybrid marketing model, they own strategy and core channels internally, while outsourcing performance, surge, and scale execution to specialist partners. In our analysis of 47 PE/VC-backed DTCs ($5M–$100M ARR), we uncovered:1. 80% of new clients shifted from in-house to hybrid after growth stalled2. Hybrid models drove an average 27% drop in CAC3. LTV:CAC improved to 2. 1× (vs 1. 3× in-house, 1. 1× pure agency)4. Brands on hybrid models commanded up to 2× higher exit multiplesA brand went from $12M → $28M revenue, increased margins from 18% → 24%, and generated $67M in extra enterprise value in just 4 years under a hybrid model. This isn’t about chasing the next channel. We've all heard enough about that. It’s about building marketing as a value creation engine, at the same level as finance or supply chain. Inside the report, you’ll get:A breakdown of costs vs. returns (in-house vs. agency vs. hybrid)Stage-based playbooks for scaling $5M → $60M+ brandsReal-world portfolio case studiesIf you’re a PE partner, portfolio executive, or growth leader, please, read this before your next board meeting. Get your free copy here: https://lnkd. in/gSy3gY92 (no email required) --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership You know it as well as I do: Holiday shopping doesn't start in November anymore. Now we have proof. According to new data from Google, searches for "holiday gift ideas" jumped 42% in August. Not October. Not after Thanksgiving. August. Canadian shoppers are tracking interest rate cuts like hawks, searches up 1600% YoY—waiting for the signal to start spending. And when they do, they're not just hitting Amazon and calling it done. 74% of Prime Day shoppers cross-shop at least 3 other retailers before buying. That's your window. Here's what matters for brands in Q4:October is your cheapest high-intent traffic. CPCs in October are $0. 24 compared to $0. 32-$0. 33 in November and December. Same intent, 25% cheaper. Early holiday = longer consideration cycles. Shoppers are using 5+ word search queries (growing 9x faster than short queries). They're researching, comparing, and waiting for the best deal. If you're not live by early October, you're late. Amazon Prime Day (Oct 7-9) kicks off a week-long retail event blitz. Walmart, Best Buy, Target... everyone's launching competing sales. The "Prime Day effect" lifts search volume across almost every retail category. What this means tactically:Front-load your Q4 budget into October. You get cheaper traffic, longer engagement windows, and first-mover advantage before competition floods in. Optimize for longer-tail queries. Generic "gifts" keywords are flat. Specific queries like "best gifts for 10 year old girl" are up 800% YoY. Match that intent. Assume cross-shopping is default behaviour. Your competitor's customer is also your potential customer.... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership The latest IAB Outlook Study confirms what we’re seeing on the ground: brands are pulling back. Ad spend growth for 2025 just dropped from 7. 3% to 5. 7%. That’s not a small dip, it’s a sign that economic pressure is real. Tariffs are squeezing margins. Auto, retail, and consumer electronics are taking the biggest hit. When margins tighten, ad budgets are the first to get cut. Performance is the only priority. Sixty-four percent of brands say customer acquisition comes first. Forty-two percent are moving spend to lower-funnel tactics. If you can’t show ROI, you’re out. The channel mix is shifting fast. Social media (+14. 3%) and CTV (+11. 4%) are growing. Linear TV is down 14. 4% and dropping faster. Money is moving to channels that prove outcomes in real time. None of this is a surprise. When budgets shrink, brands cut what they can’t measure and double down where they see revenue. That’s why we built Acceler8 around performance-first strategies from day one. What brands should do now:1. Review your channel mix. If you can’t prove results, shift budget to channels with clear attribution. 2. Prioritize repeat purchases. CAC is climbing. Growth comes faster from getting more value out of existing customers. 3. Stay flexible. The strongest brands pivot quickly instead of getting locked into rigid commitments. The economy is tough, but it’s exposing the difference between brands with real growth strategies and those just spending money. How are tariffs and economic pressure changing your media mix? ...... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership We're looking for paid search and paid social experts to join us Paid Search - https://lnkd. in/g6Gc8fRC Paid Social - https://lnkd. in/gKFTs_sG... more --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Hate to say it before BFCM but your PortCo’s DTC brands are likely burning 40% of their media budget. (And Friday’s report won’t tell you this)We audited a $10M PE-backed brand. On paper, it looked fine: steady growth, healthy ROAS, confident team. Two weeks later, we found $1. 2M in wasted spend. Retargeting existing customers at acquisition cost. Overlapping audiences driving CPMs through the roof. No optimization in months. An agency holding the keys to the accounts. Not sabotage, just negligence, dressed up in PowerPoints. Sophisticated operators don’t wait for a slide deck. They demand direct access, live data, and audits that actually surface problems. You wouldn’t let your CFO hand you quarterly numbers and call it a day. Don’t let your agency do the same. Scaling from $5M to $50M takes visibility, not "good vibes". DM me if you’re ready for a real audit we still have some spots left before the year ends. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership I'll be honest with you - this happened to one of our clients just last month. Three different revenue numbers. One very awkward board meeting. Meta's showing $2. 1M in revenue. Google Analytics says $1. 8M. Shopify's reporting $1. 9M in actual sales. CFO looks across the table and asks the question that makes every marketer's stomach drop: "Which number should I believe? "Here's what we've come to learn over the years working with businesses at this scale:The problem isn't the platforms. The problem is that most agencies and marketing teams are optimizing for the wrong thing. They're chasing platform metrics instead of business outcomes. So we completely rebuilt how we approach measurement for our partners. Instead of managing three different dashboards, we created one source of truth that aligns with how the finance team actually reports business performance. Now our clients walk into board meetings confident, not defensive. The real insight here is this: executives don't need perfect attribution - they need consistent decision-making frameworks. And that's something that, you know, requires understanding the business beyond just the advertising platforms. What's your experience been with measurement alignment? Are you seeing similar challenges with your marketing teams? --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership - Tags: EtailToronto I'll be attending hashtag#EtailToronto this week! Drop me a comment or a DM and let's connect! --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership - Tags: ElevateToronto I'll be at hashtag#ElevateToronto this week, let's connect! Drop me a comment below to talk more. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership After wrapping this week's Elevate in Toronto one thing was clear:AI is finally doing what it’s good at. Not as a bolt-on feature or chatbot, sprinkled on every dashboard just to say “we use AI. ”It’s becoming the operating system under everything. Quiet. Functional. Integrated. Another big positive for us was that Elevate and eTail happening at the same time! Both jam-packed with people flying in from all over to work with world-class Canadian businesses. The energy was quite different this year. Less pitch deck flash. More “let’s build something that actually works. ”The big names: OpenAI, Aurora, Kids Help Phone... they weren’t talking about generative this or predictive that. They were talking about systems. Using AI to automate the boring, repeatable stuff so humans can stay strategic. To break everyone out of box-checking drudgery. In DTC and retail especially, it’s not about showing off plugins and tools anymore. It’s about using AI to quietly power things that actually makes businesses grow: Promo testing, Support routing, Inventory workflows and CRM optimizationThose essential things that don’t trend on LinkedIn, but move real metrics. If you left Elevate or eTail wondering if you’re doing enough with AI, chances are, you’re asking the right questions. Because it’s not about being first anymore, it’s about building the foundation. Think of AI as an operating system, not a novelty. That’s where it’s going. And Canada’s already in motion. Thanks to everyone who met and talked with us, it was a great time and I'll see... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Across every channel and brand I see the same thing: BFCM strategy for 2025 changed. Amazon moved Prime Day to October. Retailers are starting sales earlier. Shipping cutoffs are tighter than ever. Here's what this means for your brand:The old playbook of going hard on Black Friday weekend is dead. Consumers learned that the best deals aren't always on Black Friday. Sometimes they're the week before. Sometimes they're scattered throughout November. Smart brands are extending their sale window. Starting late October. Running consistent promotions through November. Building momentum instead of betting everything on one weekend. This works. You capture demand while inventory is full. You avoid shipping anxiety. You spread revenue across weeks instead of hoping for one spike. The brands still planning to "flip the switch" on Black Friday are going to get crushed by those who started early and stayed consistent. Start launching your holiday promotions now. Not November. Now. This week we'll be sharing our annual BFCM playbook so you can do just that. Stay tuned. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Sometimes you really need to stop and ask: Do I actually need to be attending this meeting? - Are you learning specific concepts and ideas that will drive your work forward? - Are you contributing to a decision or discussion? - Are you fostering a business relationship? If the answer is no to all of the above, leave. That’s it, that’s the post. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Most PE-backed DTC brands hit the same wall. This report helps fix that. And we're giving it away. Pure in-house teams: high fixed costs, talent churn, slow to scale Traditional agencies: bloated retainers, little accountability, unpredictable resultsThe brands that break through? They build hybrid marketing models, keeping strategy and owned channels internal, while leveraging specialized agency execution for performance, scale, and surge capacity. In our latest analysis of 47 PE and VC portfolio companies ($5M–$100M revenue), we found:1. ) 4 out of 5 new Acceler8 Labs clients in the past 12 months shifted from in-house execution to hybrid after plateauing growth2. ) Hybrid models cut CAC by 27% on average3. ) LTV:CAC ratios improved to 2. 1x (vs. 1. 3x in-house, 1. 1x agency alone)4. ) Brands running hybrids hit exit multiples up to 2x higherCase in point? A consumer brand went from $12M → $28M in revenue, lifted margins from 18% → 24%, and achieved a 4. 2x exit multiple... creating $67M in incremental enterprise value in just 4 years. This report isn’t about chasing channels or growth hacks. It’s about structuring marketing operations as a value creation lever, just as core as finance or supply chain. Inside, you’ll get:- Cost breakdowns of in-house vs. agency vs. hybrid models- Stage-based recommendations for $5M → $60M+ revenue brands- Case studies from real PE/VC portfolio transformations- A 100-day roadmap to stabilize, diversify, and accelerate growthIf you’re a PE partner, VC investor, operating executive, or portfolio company leader, this is a playbook... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Earlier this year, I caught myself doing something I tell my team not to do. I was busy reacting. Answering emails, fixing small issues, clearing my to-do list. It felt productive. But it wasn’t progress. A few hours of clear strategy would’ve been worth more than those three days of “busy. ”When our team doubled, that became obvious. We were moving fast, but not always forward. Here’s what changed when we started operating with more intention:We measure real progress. Checking tasks off feels good. Moving closer to long-term goals feels better. We schedule strategy time. It’s not something we do “when we can. ” It’s blocked on the calendar like any client meeting. We stay patient. Quick wins give instant feedback. Strategic work feels slow—but it compounds. In practice, that looks like:Dedicated “strategy blocks” on the calendarChoosing work for long-term impact, not convenienceMaking small wins visible so the team feels movementBalancing delivery with long-term goalsThe hardest part isn’t planning, it’s staying disciplined when results take time. I’m curious: how do you make space for strategic thinking in your week? What’s one “urgent” task that keeps stealing time from what actually matters? --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Meta just rolled out Purchase Profit Optimization, so what does this actually mean for DTC brands? Previously, you could only optimize for Purchase Value. Now Meta lets you optimize for profit by creating a "net_revenue" parameter that factors in your COGS. How It Works:Your COGS data flows from Shopify → CAPI provider → Meta's algorithm. Meta then optimizes toward profitable customers rather than just high-value orders. The distinction matters: a $200 order with $150 COGS is less valuable than a $150 order with $50 COGS, but traditional optimization treats the first one as better. This could fundamentally change bidding strategy for brands with variable margin products. But we're in early days... Meta's claims about new features don't always match real-world performance. Brands are testing this now but staying skeptical until they see sustained results across multiple accounts and categories. For Your Brand? If you have significant margin variance across SKUs, this is worth evaluating. If your margins are consistent, traditional Purchase Value optimization probably still works fine. The implementation requires clean COGS data in Shopify and a CAPI setup that passes net revenue. Not trivial, but not impossible. Are you seeing this rolled out to your accounts yet? Curious what early results look like beyond Meta's claimed improvements. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership I’m seeing this across portfolios: Brands overspending on Meta when Pinterest gets results for 60% less. Most investors aren’t even looking at it. Here’s what they’re missing. Pinterest users don’t scroll to kill time. They’re there to plan and buy. That’s high-intent traffic. As ad costs climb on Meta, Pinterest has quietly turned into a conversion engine with half the competition. The numbers are clear, and the window’s closing fast. The sharp investors are already adding Pinterest to their playbook. Swipe to see how to put it to work → --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership CFOs love the idea of cutting agency fees, until results drop. But smart brands know the truth. - Your $2M ad spend media team only learns from $2M. An agency learns from $30M. - In-house means you pay full freight for mistakes. Agencies already made those elsewhere. - A single wrong hire can set growth back 12 months. I've said it before: agencies are not a cost they’re a shortcut (if you pick the right one). --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership I keep seeing DTC brands treat BFCM like it’s 2019 and our data shows why that’s killing performance. Last year’s BFCM hit $241B in online sales (75% on mobile). But with iOS privacy changes wiping out 95% of tracking accuracy, most brands are still running blind. Here’s what the best are doing differently Platform AI campaigns: +22% ROAS when fed properlyServer-side tracking: recovers 30–40% of lost dataLoyalty sign-ups: +119% during BFCMRetention systems: 4. 8x ROI on loyalty program membersWe've compiled everything, platform automation, privacy infrastructure, loyalty economics, and retention systems — into one complete 2025 BFCM Strategy Guide built for brands scaling to $10M ARR. If you want the framework that separates sustainable brands from those burning ad spend for weekend GMV, comment “BFCM” below and I’ll send it to you. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Four different revenue numbers. One tense board meeting. This happened again to another one of our clients last month. The CFO asked one question: “Which number should I believe? ”The issue wasn’t the platforms, it was priorities. Most teams chase dashboard metrics instead of business results. They stay stuck on islands. We built a single source of truth that matches how Finance measures performance. Now board meetings start with alignment, not confusion. Perfect attribution isn’t the goal. Consistent decisions are... . more --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Most DTC brands still treat Reddit like a side project. That’s a miss. What Changed: In late 2025, more advertisers joined Reddit as ROI improved and the platform started showing up in AI search results. Reddit is gaining ground on Snap and holding steady against TikTok, thanks to faster user growth and stronger conversion performance. Platforms rarely deliver both reach and conversions. When they do, budgets move quickly. Shopping DPA adoption keeps growing with strong ROI, and Reddit Max automation is driving real results. Reddit’s audience doesn’t just scroll (and argue)... they buy. That’s why Shopping DPA results are so strong. For lean media teams juggling many platforms, Reddit Max automation is showing big savings in time as well as money. For DTC brands trying to sustain growth and move beyond a Meta-heavy mix, Reddit offers scale and measurable performance. I’ll be blunt: This isn’t an experiment anymore. It’s becoming a required performance spend. Reddit has finally figured out how to turn engagement into sales. Don’t wait for competitors to prove Reddit works. Establish your beachhead there now while costs are still low. For those already on the platform: are you seeing similar results, or still treating Reddit as experimental spend, one toe in the water? --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership The Trade Desk is restructuring programmatic economics and your media budget is stuck in the middle. For a lot of DTC brands, 15-25% of your programmatic spend currently disappears into supply chain fees before ads reach publishers. You're funding intermediaries, not impressions. Trade Desk's solution? OpenPath, a direct publisher connection that bypasses traditional SSPs. Instead of the 10-20% SSPs charge, Trade Desk now takes 5% directly from publishers. Sounds efficient. But here's what they're not emphasizing. Margin consolidation - Trade Desk capturing more at every level: 5% from publishers via OpenPath, reduced payouts to data providers, tighter control over supply chain economicsCompetitive pressure - Amazon DSP taking 10-20% share from endemic Trade Desk advertisers, forcing your brands to manage yet another platformPerformance opacity - OpenPath claims efficiency gains, but are your CPMs and conversion rates actually improving, or is Trade Desk just keeping more of the dollar? Ask yourself this: Is their latest restructuring improving your unit economics, or is Trade Desk simply capturing margin that used to flow to other intermediaries while your results stay flat? If you're spending $500K+ annually on programmatic your team should be auditing OpenPath performance versus traditional supply right now. Not next quarter... now. Because this isn't a pilot program anymore; adoption is accelerating across publishers facing traffic pressure from AI search and looking for any edge they can get. So, let's discuss what this means for your specific portfolio. If your CMO can't explain how this affects your media efficiency, we should talk.... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Marketers crash and burn in regulated industries. You can’t wing it when the rules keep changing. Most agencies still try to use one playbook for every industry. That’s why they struggle with healthcare, cannabis, finance, or real estate. The reality is different everywhere. Rules shift by country, by platform, sometimes by week. “Healthcare” could mean DTC ads, clinical trials, or hospital services, each with its own policy maze. We’ve run more than $100M in regulated ad spend and learned this:The winners don’t just stay compliant. They move faster because they know where the lines are. What gets blocked on Meta might perform great on Google. A missing “Paid for by... ” tag can tank a campaign. A cannabis disclaimer that works in California won’t fly in Ontario. Most marketers see compliance as a wall. We see it as the blueprint. We build systems that know the rules and adjust when they change. Disclaimers update automatically. Campaigns flex by platform and geography. If every month feels like starting from scratch, let’s talk. We’ve probably solved that exact problem before. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership I couldn't believe it: AppLovin now accounts for up to 10% of DTC ad budgets after only one quarter. If your brands haven’t tested it yet, they could be leaving performance on the table. AppLovin CPMs are higher than Meta’s, which can surprise new buyers. Yet brands are still increasing spend because ROAS is holding steady. The company argues that its non-skippable inventory justifies the premium and says it has no supply constraints even as spend rises. U. S. advertisers expanding into international markets are seeing similar ROAS and roughly 30% lower CPMs than domestic campaigns. One clear limitation remains: AppLovin still lacks a “new customer only” targeting option. Many brands say they would spend more if that existed, meaning growth is coming despite that constraint. If your portfolio brands are already past $10M in scale, this might be the right time to test AppLovin. The platform moved from experimental to a 5-10% budget line in months, not years. The real question now: are your brands testing, or watching others move first? --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership We're looking for a paid search expert to join our rapidly growing team Apply Here: https://lnkd. in/gHpEjQi4... more --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership DTC Founders obsess over ROAS. Boards obsess over revenue. But ask yourself: who owns attribution? Your marketing manager’s guessing between platforms, meaning your board gets fuzzy answers to hard questions. Until you align success metrics, your marketing is guesswork. Start with the foundation: how to measure success. Only then can growth really follow. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Most founders hand their board a pile of marketing metrics. CTR. CPM. CPC. ROAS. Boards don’t care. And they shouldn’t. At growth stage, marketing is one function among many. And the only thing a board wants to understand is: How does marketing contribute to revenue? And at what efficiency? That’s it. Here’s the reporting format that actually lands:1. Total advertising cost as a percentage of revenue. This is the cleanest way for boards to compare performance over time. 2. Marketing efficiency ratio. MER tells the truth ROAS never does. 3. Incremental revenue contribution. What’s the lift from marketing activities? Not last-click nonsense. Real lift. 4. Channel mix at the highest level. Not the weeds. Just where investment is flowing and why. 5. Clear story. What worked. What didn’t. What we changed. What’s next. No CPM bingo. No dashboard spaghetti. Boards don’t need more data. They need a narrative that ties dollars spent to dollars earned. If your report doesn’t do that, the numbers don’t matter anyway. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Boards love to say, “Let’s bring media in-house. We will save the agency fees. ”Founders hear this all the time. And every time, the math is off. Here is what never shows up in the spreadsheet:The speed of change:Ad platforms are some of the fastest-moving companies on the planet. Features shift weekly. Algorithms change monthly. An in-house team only learns from your spend. An agency learns from dozens of accounts running at once. The mistakes you avoid:One wrong placement, one broken feed, one bad attribution setup, and six figures can disappear. CFOs rarely assign value to the disasters that never happened. Tooling:MMM tools, creative analysis tools, feed tools, incrementality platforms. Agencies negotiate strong pricing because of volume. Your team pays full price and wastes weeks in demos. Talent utilization:Your media manager ends up doing five jobs at once: operations, analytics, strategy, briefs, platform setup. Burnout becomes part of the role. Going in-house does not save money. It just hides the costs until the results slip. If you want efficiency, do not cut the agency. Cut the wishful thinking. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Every founder knows this moment. Meta costs climb. Your CEO hears a competitor mention Pinterest. A board member forwards a Reddit case study. Suddenly the question becomes, “Should we expand? ”Here is the real answer:You do not add a platform because it is new. You add it because it is cheaper. Meta and Google already reach your full audience. They just get expensive at scale. When CPMs rise, you need lower cost reach at the top and middle of the funnel. That is when Pinterest, Reddit, TikTok, and even DOOH start to make sense. The test is simple:Are your mid-funnel costs risingLook at CPMs, not ROAS. Does the platform have a real community that matches your ICP? If not, skip it. Do you have the measurement to track it? If you lack incrementality testing, post-purchase surveys, or MMM anchors, you are guessing. Can you retarget the new audiences on lower-funnel channels? Top funnel only matters if it flows into revenue. That is the framework. ? Not “our competitor is testing it. ”Shiny objects drain budgets. Structured experiments make money. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership I knew something was off the first week we met with their media manager. Reports were late. A Google ad quietly burned six thousand dollars. A promo campaign kept running past the deadline. Nobody could explain where yesterday’s revenue came from. The founder assumed the team had gotten sloppy. I knew it was something else. After one day of watching this media manager work, it clicked. It wasn’t incompetence. It was switching cost. She was bouncing between Meta, Google Ads, GA4, GMC, two attribution tools, a feed provider, and a CEO who kept sending her links to new platforms. Every switch blew up her focus. Twenty minutes gone here, twenty minutes gone there. By lunch, she had lost half the day. No one can think clearly inside that kind of chaos. Mistakes were not surprising. They were guaranteed. So we fixed it. We stopped assigning work by platform. We assigned by function. One person owned measurement. One owned creative ops. One owned platform execution. We set one weekly reporting ritual. Everything rolled into a single narrative instead of eight dashboards. We told the founder the truth: one person cannot run the whole stack at their scale. It was never realistic. Within two weeks, performance lifted. The media manager looked ten pounds lighter. The problem was never her. It was the structure surrounding her. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership If your entire 'growth engine' depends on viral moments, you don’t actually have a growth engine. Too many DTC founders confuse attention with demand, and that mistake shows up fast in their numbers. Viral spikes mask funnel leaks. When the surge fades, so does the illusion of growth. Real growth comes from daily, measurable systems. When your operations are tight, you can absorb spikes without breaking, and every viral moment becomes an accelerant instead of a crutch. If the majority of your wins come from one channel, you’re not scaling... you’re gambling. Want to build a growth system that works without a single trending TikTok? Let's talk. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Thanks for a great recap and your kind words Samir. It was so great to meet the group; I really enjoyed the thoughtful questions and participation all around. I'm grateful to my dear friend Andre for inviting me! --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Every founder loves that moment when a video blows up. Traffic fires. ROAS spikes. Slack is cheering. And then two months later, everything falls off a cliff and nobody knows why. It’s not your fault. You were taught to trust the numbers. But viral traffic hides all the broken things underneath. I’ve seen this pattern too many times. One creator. One video. One lucky moment on TikTok driving 60 to 70 percent of revenue. It looks like scale. It feels like scale. But it’s a trap. Here’s 3 pieces of real, tactical advice on how to tell if your growth is real or just a viral sugar high:1. ) Check conversion rates. If CTR is insane but your site still barely converts, the virality is masking the lethargy. 2. ) Audit your mix. If one creator or one piece of content dominates, that’s not a channel. That’s a dependency. And dependencies snap. 3. ) Look at repeatable systems. Real growth shows up in tuned email flows, a balanced paid mix, and a website that converts even when traffic is cold. Viral hits are great. They just aren’t a business model. Durable growth only happens when the whole engine works together. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership - Tags: BrandStrategy, Consulting, FractionalCMO, RevenueGrowth, UofT Huge shoutout to my friend, Andre on launching his new venture, 633 Consulting & Solutions! It takes immense instinct and drive to go out on your own. Having partnered with Andre back in our days on the Rogers Sportsnet business, I know firsthand the strategic clarity and drive he brings to a team—he was instrumental in aligning our marketing performance with revenue goals. Now, through 633 Consulting & Solutions, Andre serves growing SaaS and SMB companies as a Fractional CMO and Revenue Architect. Andre is the rare expert who balances two worlds: he brings both the practical pressure of driving revenue and the foundational clarity of an academic. This dual expertise ensures his clients get scalable, enduring strategies, not just fleeting tactics. If your business needs senior-level strategy to unlock sustainable growth, connect with the man who truly wears many hats! Best of luck on this exciting new chapter! hashtag#Consulting hashtag#FractionalCMO hashtag#BrandStrategy hashtag#UofT hashtag#RevenueGrowth --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Your agency sent a deck with beautiful charts and 8-figure impressions. But something's missing... What revenue came from it? What margin did it drive? What customer behaviour did it change? You're an E-com or DTC brand. You’re not in the attention business. You’re in the value business. Real demand answers in dollars, not dashboards. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Most brands don’t actually test creative. They think they do. But they don't. They run a new ad at low spend, wait a few days, watch the metrics, then shut it off. There’s a reason strong ideas fail to scale. Almost no one on your team knows why. This part matters:Your creative lives or dies in the first 1,000 impressions. Not the first week or the first $50. The first 1,000 impressions. That small window is where the platform decides whether your ad gets lift or gets buried. If early engagement is strong, costs fall and the ad has a real chance to scale. If early engagement is weak, the platform deprioritizes it fast. Timing is usually the issue. This is why many founders assume their creative is the problem when it isn’t. Most ads never get a fair first 1,000. Here’s how the best brands protect that moment:1. They avoid random testing times. Midday Tuesday isn’t the same as Thursday night when people are active. 2. They retest strong ideas. Same creative, better timing. I’ve seen “failed” ads become top performers by getting a fresh first 1,000. 3. They isolate tests so the signal is clean. No overlapping optimizations or sloppy setups. Clear inputs lead to smarter delivery. 4. They keep a creative bench. Not winners and losers. A set of ideas rotated until the signal shows up. Most teams think they need better creative. They usually need better conditions for creative to work. Your biggest wins often come... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Many founders who feel stuck right now are asking the wrong question and it's easy to understand why. They keep asking how to get performance ads working again. The better question is why the ads stopped working in the first place. Platforms have already merged brand and performance. Meta needs more creative variety. Google is pushing broad match hard. TikTok rewards stories more than targeting. These systems ignore how you structure teams or how you label work. They only respond to clear signals. Consistent messaging. Useful memory cues. Clear creative. And steady reach so people know you before they ever see a conversion ad. You know... . good old fashioned, top-funnel brand building. When this is missing, bottom-of-funnel slows down. It is not your media buyer. Your brand is not giving the system enough context to find the right people at the right price. Here is what strong operators do:They run creative like a product. New ideas each week, fast tests, clear calls on what stays or goes. They keep some top-of-funnel running at all times. They keep their message consistent across the whole path. They measure lift, not what the platforms claim. Do this and your conversion ads start working again. Your CAC steadies. Your MER climbs. Not from harder optimization, but because the system finally knows who you are and who you serve. Brand and performance work together. Brand supports performance. It's never one or the other. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Black Friday is over, and here’s the post-mortem nobody wants to run. A lot of brands crushed BFCM. But when I look under the hood, most of that performance had nothing to do with brilliant media buying. It was demand that already existed. Which is exactly why so many founders are waking up this week asking the same question:“Why did our numbers look great during BFCM... but fall off a cliff the moment the promo ended? ”Here’s the uncomfortable answer:If you’re only running conversion ads, you’re renting growth. And BFCM masks that problem better than any week of the year. Here are the three biggest red flags I’m seeing in post-BFCM audits:Your MER looked amazing during the sale, but reverted immediately after. That means you harvested intent. You didn’t create any. Your retargeting pool was your profit engine. Great for November. Terrible for January. Your CAC from cold audiences was 2 to 4 times higher than BOF. Classic sign of a starved top-of-funnel. So what do you actually change going forward? Build a 52-week TOF plan, not a seasonal one. 5 to 15 percent of spend. Broad audiences. Your goal is cheap reach and fresh eyes, not immediate ROAS. Lock in three reusable memory assets. One founder story. One category POV. One problem-to-solution explainer. These feed every stage of the funnel. Track BOF efficiency against TOF volume for the next 8 weeks. If your conversion ads get cheaper as reach grows, you found your flywheel. BFCM tells you how well... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Founders get this wrong constantly. Pinterest looks cool. Reddit is trending. Apple Ads feels shiny. So they throw their media manager at it. The reality is this:You rarely add a new platform because Meta or Google no longer work. That only applies to brands spending at massive scale. Most teams add a new platform because the economics shift. When CPMs on Meta and Google climb, when you move into full-funnel acquisition, when the cheap wins at the bottom of the funnel dry up, that is when it makes sense to look at Pinterest, Reddit, CTV, or DOOH. Here is the real process:1. Watch your upper and mid-funnel CPMs. If those rise, your reach is getting expensive. 2. Look for places where attention costs less. Platforms like Pinterest and Reddit often give you cheaper reach. 3. Build reach at a lower cost. Then retarget on Meta and Google where conversion performance is strongest. 4. Prove it with real measurement. Post-purchase surveys. UTM-controlled pages. Brand lift tests. Deduped revenue inside Triple Whale or Northbeam. Incrementality experiments. 5. Scale once the loop closes and the numbers hold. That is how you add a platform without burning budget. Skip this process and you are buying lessons the hard way. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership What I saw this BFCM didn’t match the doom-and-gloom predictions. Demand didn’t disappear. It moved toward brands that came in prepared. The brands that won didn’t wait for the market to improve. They created their own momentum. Here was the myth I kept hearing:“Consumers just aren’t spending. ”Consumers ARE spending. But they skipped brands that weren’t ready. The winners this BFCM did their work long before November. They built offers that created real value instead of relying on discounts. Their creative explained why the product mattered at that moment. Their media plan started with unit economics instead of CPM guesses. That last point is where many operators fall behind. If you treat media planning like a simple budget exercise, you’ll miss how the business actually performs. This year confirmed something I have believed for a long time: media planning is business planning. In our accounts, the gains came from knowing what changed when we spent more. AOV shifts. Shipping savings from bundling. Duties, tariffs, and SKU-level margins all play a role. When these levers move, your media plan either scales profitably or drains cash. I stopped thinking of myself as a media buyer years ago. The work often feels more like running operations than just buying ads. When you understand the economics, you stop chasing revenue and start shaping offers that create profitable growth. For like minded DTC founders: what changed in your outcomes once you focused on unit economics rather than channels or budgets? And if you aren't... why? --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership I used to think the main advantage of hiring an agency was extra hands or cheaper overhead. Wrong. I've learned the real advantage is speed to insight. Most brands underestimate how long it takes an in-house team to learn from their own data. If you spend two million a year, your team learns from two million a year. Your agency learns from thirty million. That gap compounds fast. Here is what that looks like in practice. An in-house media manager might run one creative test a week. An agency like ours sees dozens across industries, audiences, formats, and platforms. We know within 48 hours if an angle is fading, scaling, or needs a new edit because another client already paid for that lesson. You get the answer without the cost. It works the same way with platforms. Your team tests new Google features slowly because every mistake hits your revenue. We already know what breaks, what inflates CAC, which settings to avoid, which surfaces never convert, and which betas are worth trying early. Speed to insight is not theoretical. It shows up in the work. Three places where it pays off fast:Creative iteration. We see which concepts fatigue first because they watch the decay curve across many accounts. Attribution clarity. We have already run MMM, incrementality tests, and cross-platform checks for companies with similar spend and cycles. Scaling decisions. We recognize whether rising CPMs come from seasonality, a platform issue, or weak messaging because they see the pattern across a... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Here’s something I learned this year. Most DTC brands still treat Reddit like a side project. That turned out to be a mistake. What changed is not hype. In late 2025, advertiser adoption picked up as ROI improved and Reddit started showing up inside AI driven search results. That combination matters. Reddit is now gaining ground on Snap and holding its own against TikTok. User growth is stronger, and conversion performance is holding. Platforms rarely deliver both reach and conversions at the same time. When they do, budgets shift fast. Shopping DPA adoption keeps climbing, and the returns are real. Reddit Max automation is also doing what it promises. Less manual work. Better efficiency. Real savings for lean media teams running too many platforms at once. The audience matters here. Reddit users do not just browse and debate. They buy. That is why Shopping DPA performance looks the way it does. For DTC brands trying to keep growing without leaning even harder on Meta, Reddit is no longer just an awareness channel. It is delivering scale with measurable performance. I will be direct. This stopped being an experiment. Reddit has figured out how to turn engagement into revenue. Waiting for competitors to validate it is how you end up paying higher CPMs later. If you are serious about performance, now is the time to establish a real foothold while costs are still reasonable. If you are already investing there, I am curious. Are you seeing similar results, or are you... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Here are a few final takeaways from our own CPM data as the year comes to a close. First, Google stood out for us. CPMs climbed, no question. But the value showed up where it mattered. High intent traffic kept converting, which made the spend worth it. A lot has been said about AI changing Search. From what we saw, people are still searching when they are ready to buy. Meta was a good reminder of the basics done right. Running a true full funnel approach helped us avoid the worst of the November CPM pressure. Prospecting, mid funnel, and retargeting all played their role. The balance mattered more than any single tactic, and it kept campaigns efficient through a noisy month. Pinterest was the quiet surprise. It was the only platform where CPMs declined month over month across our client base. It is still a smaller slice of total spend, but the trend caught our attention. Less competition and improving efficiency is always worth watching. Big picture, this year reinforced one thing for me. Higher CPMs are not the enemy. Poor alignment between spend and buyer intent is. As we head into next year, the teams that win will not be chasing the cheapest impressions. They will be intentional about where buyers are in the journey and adjust early instead of reacting late. Curious to hear from others before we close the books. Did you see similar trends, or did your mix tell a different story? --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Let's be real. By December, most founders are exhausted. Marketing feels chaotic. Finance feels nervous. Everyone is arguing about what “worked. ”I’ve seen this time and time again. The problem is rarely effort. It’s translation. Marketing celebrates ROAS. Finance cares about margin and predictability. They talk past each other all year. It’s not your fault. Nobody teaches teams how to connect these dots. In my career, the healthiest brands all did a few unsexy things really well:1. Marketing understood the business mathNot just CAC. Actual margins. What breaks even on a first order. 2. Finance understood how offers affect performanceBundles. Discounts. Shipping. These are marketing levers, not just cost lines. 3. Reporting rolled up to business truthRevenue. Profit. Cash. Not just platform screenshots. If I could walk into a brand at the end of the year and give one piece of advice, it would be this: Don’t plan next year until finance and marketing agree on what “good” actually means. That alignment alone turns growth from stressful to scalable. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership One thing I saw in 2025 was that DTC brands getting results didn't make perfect decisions. They made timely ones. Looking back, that stood out because so many smart teams did everything right on paper and still struggled in the moments that mattered most. Performance would shift. Spend would spike. Something would clearly break. And the instinct was to slow down. Wait for the report. Get more context. Revisit it tomorrow. I understand that instinct. I have followed it myself. Most of us were trained on weekly cycles for a reason. Clean data feels safer than fast action. But what this year made clear is that during high spend moments, waiting has a real cost. Every hour you pause is budget you do not get back. By the time the story is tidy, the damage is often already done. What gave me optimism was seeing how fixable this is. The teams that held performance together were not guessing wildly. They were comfortable acting with incomplete information. They adjusted budgets in real time. They responded to signals instead of explanations. They chose movement over debate. They also made it easier on themselves. Decision windows were short and clearly defined. Ownership was clear. One person made the call. And instead of documenting everything upfront, they moved first and wrote things down after. Most performance issues this year were not caused by bad strategy or weak teams. They came from hesitation in moments that needed speed. That is the hopeful part. Going into... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Every founder tells me their team is lean. By December, I can usually tell if it has tipped too far. Not because deadlines were missed. But because nothing new is happening. I learned this the hard way earlier in my career. Teams do not break when they fail. They break when they stop trying new things. And this is not a discipline problem. It is exhaustion. Q4 drains people. Everyone shifts into survival mode. The goal becomes getting through the year, not pushing it forward. That is human. By the end of the year, a few patterns start to show up. Creative starts “lasting longer. ”Not because it is outperforming. Because no one has the time or energy to replace it. Testing quietly disappears. Same platforms. Same angles. Same playbook, just run longer. New initiatives keep getting pushed. New products, channels, or ideas are always planned for next quarter. Teams stay in their comfort zone. They do what they know how to do without thinking. Everything else waits. None of this means the team is weak. It usually means they are stretched too thin for too long. If I could give one lesson to a brand for 2026, it would be this. Lean is good! Stagnant is not. The end of the year is actually the best moment to reflect. One simple question tells you a lot. What did we stop doing because we were too busy? That answer is not a failure. It is a roadmap. Fix that before... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership 2026 winners will not make more creative. They will understand why it works. This is something I learned the hard way over my career. Every December, I hear the same conclusion. “We just need more creative next year. ”More angles. More videos. More iterations. More output. And every year, most of that effort goes nowhere. That is not a failure of effort. It is a shift in reality. For a long time, volume worked. You could ship a lot, see what stuck, and move on. CPMs were forgiving. Platforms were simpler. Competition was lighter. That world is gone. I was reviewing 2025 performance with a team recently. They had run thousands of ads. When we looked closer, only a small fraction drove real results. And no one could clearly explain why those few worked. That is the real risk heading into 2026. If you do not understand why something worked, you cannot repeat it. You can only hope it happens again. Here is what I would tell any brand in Q5, before locking next year’s plan. Stop celebrating winners you cannot explain. If an ad worked but you do not know why, it is not a win. It is a lucky data point. Treat creative like a learning system, not a production line. The goal is not output. It is insight. Look for patterns across your top performers. Hooks. Structure. Claims. Pacing. Framing. Accept that humans cannot spot every pattern at scale. When you are running hundreds or thousands of... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership By December, most founders finally give themselves a quiet moment to look back. Not at dashboards in isolation, but at the year as a whole. What actually worked. What barely held together. What quietly stopped working while no one was watching. And almost every time, someone says a version of the same thing. “Maybe ads will get cheaper next year. ”I understand why that hope shows up. I have felt it myself. Rising CPMs feel personal. Margins get thinner. Scaling feels heavier. Every new dollar carries more pressure than the last one did. It is natural to want relief. But looking back on this year, one pattern kept repeating. The teams that stayed healthy were not waiting for costs to fall. They assumed they would not. That is not because they were pessimistic. It is because they adjusted to reality. For a long time, growth rewarded finding the next platform, the next channel, the next gap in the market. That playbook worked, and it trained all of us to think that way. This year made it clear that era has passed. I spoke with teams who were spending more than ever and doing everything “right” in paid media. The gains did not come from new traffic sources. They came from squeezing more value out of the traffic they already had. More clarity after the click. Better monetization paths. Stronger post-purchase flows. More repeat behavior. Nothing flashy. Just focus. If there is a reset worth making in Q5 before planning 2026,... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership New year, new opportunities! We're looking for a Paid Social Specialist to join our team. https://lnkd. in/gQP_Srep --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership CRO is ignored because it’s uncomfortable. Most CMOs know this is the truth. They just don’t want to touch it. Spending more on ads is easy. Fixing conversion rate is scary. CRO needs engineers. It involves risk. Something might break. So instead, brands throw another $50k into Meta and hope. Here’s the uncomfortable math. A 0. 2 percent lift in conversion rate can outperform six figures of extra ad spend. But it doesn’t show up as a green bar inside the ad platform. It shows up as profit. The safest way to do CRO is not touching your core site at first. Build independent landing pages. Drive paid traffic there. AB test in isolation. When something wins, then roll it into the main experience. No downtime. No guessing. No hero moves. If paid media feels like it’s getting harder every quarter, it probably is. At some point, growth stops coming from more spend and starts coming from making what you already have work harder. That moment arrives faster than most founders expect. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Most portfolio companies own “synergies” on paper only. Same vertical. Same customer type. Zero shared learning. Every brand runs in its own silo. Separate data. Separate loyalty. Separate shipping rules. It feels organized. It’s actually wasteful. The customer is the one paying for it. They buy from Brand A. Then leave your ecosystem entirely to buy Brand B. Same owner. Same warehouse. No bridge. That’s not a branding problem. It’s an operating one. The unlock is thinking in customers, not brands. Who buys across multiple brands? What triggered the second purchase? What offer or message moved them? Real house of brands operators do three things well. They recognize multi brand customers as a distinct segment. They reward them with tangible value like shared shipping or cross brand perks. They build loyalty at the house level, not just the logo level. The goal is simple. Losing a sale hurts. Losing a customer from the entire portfolio is unforgivable... . more --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Thank you CanadianSME Small Business Magazine and SK for the chat! Can't wait for the episode to drop --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Do you want to know the silent failure that kills scaling brands? It's when nothing “breaks. ”But everything starts slipping. Instagram performance dips. Google Shopping half works. TikTok creatives go stale. Email runs on autopilot. All managed by one very tired person. This is the most dangerous phase of growth. Not early stage. Not massive scale. It’s the $100k to $500k per month zone. It’s not incompetence. It’s math. Marketing today is too complex for one human to execute and strategize at the same time. Platforms change weekly. Feeds need constant refresh. Attribution overlaps. Reporting gets fuzzy. The single point of failure is the person, not the channel. Smart brands fix this by splitting roles. One internal leader owns direction. They think 90 days ahead. Messaging, priorities, budget allocation. Execution gets outsourced to a team whose only job is coverage. Creative refreshes. Merchant Center errors. Attribution cleanup. Daily platform hygiene. If your entire growth engine lives in one person’s head, you are one bad week away from regression. Scale requires redundancy, not heroics. With the right partner, your team can get out of the weeds and start seeing things at a higher level. And that's what you pay them for. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership In 2025 our agency learned something incredible: Shopify Ads aren’t broken. They need training. You're a DTC brand. You turn on Shopify Ads. It feels like free money. No attribution headaches. You only pay when someone buys. Sounds great right? Then reality hits. Two purchases one day. Zero the next. Spend refuses to scale. It’s not your fault. Shopify Ads look risk free, but the algorithm is terrified of you. Here’s what most brands do wrong. They set one ROAS target. Either it’s too low to be profitable or too high for the system to trust. So nothing happens. What actually works is treating Shopify Ads like a portfolio. We use a staircase setup. Start one campaign slightly below your ideal ROAS. Just enough spend to get conversions. Layer the next campaign one step closer to your real target. Then one at your true goal. Then one slightly above. Each step gets more budget than the last. You are feeding the system confidence instead of demanding perfection on day one. Once Shopify sees it can win at lower levels, it earns the right to scale higher. Trying to launch at peak ROAS is like asking someone to sprint before they can walk. Train first. Scale second. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership Most brand leaders tell me their email is working. What they mean is it just sort of... . exists. There’s a 10 percent pop up. A welcome email. Maybe an abandoned cart flow from three years ago. Revenue trickles in, so nobody touches it. That’s the trap. Email feels cheap, so expectations stay low. But email is the thing doing the final conversion work for traffic you already paid for. If you’re spending on Meta or Google and not rebuilding email, you’re leaking money. The mistake is thinking email is a channel. It’s not. It’s the monetization layer. As your product catalog grows, email has to evolve with it. Cross sell logic. Post purchase sequencing. Behavior based triggers. Different paths for first time buyers vs repeat customers. When we rebuilt flows before Q4 for several clients, email revenue didn’t inch up. It multiplied. In two cases, total Q4 revenue quadrupled year over year and email was the difference. Same traffic. Same ads. Different system. Email doesn’t need more campaigns. It needs a strategy that matches how customers actually buy. Does this sound like your current strategy? Drop a comment below and let's fix it. --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership We just closed out the books on 2025, and the platform performance data is kind of wild. TikTok went from $16 CPAs in January to under a dollar by July, then climbed back to $9 by December. That's not a trend line, that's a roller coaster. If you had your entire budget there in Q1, you were bleeding. If you pulled out completely in Q2, you missed the recovery. Google hit $16+ in November and December. Meta stayed boringly consistent around $8-12 all year. Reddit barely moved from $1. 50-$3. 30 range and nobody talks about it. Here's what matters if you're scaling a DTC brand or managing a portfolio:You need at least 3-4 platforms running simultaneously. Not because diversification sounds smart in a deck, but because any single platform can spike 2x in cost with zero warning. We saw it happen twice this year. Your Q4 budget models are probably wrong. Google costs jumped 40% from October to November. If you're doing holiday planning based on Q3 numbers, you're already underwater before Black Friday hits. The platforms everyone obsesses over (TikTok, Meta) are not necessarily your best performers. Reddit delivered the most stable, lowest-cost results all year and I'd bet most brands aren't even testing it. For PE firms: if your portfolio companies are heavily concentrated in one or two channels, that's a portfolio-level risk. Platform volatility is no longer an edge case, it's the baseline. Your brands need the infrastructure to shift budget weekly, not quarterly. The winners... --- - Categories: LinkedIn Posts, Thought Leadership I keep seeing the same pattern every January. Brands come out of a killer Q4, run the same playbook in January, and wonder why their ROAS falls off a cliff. Here's what's actually happening: your customers just spent December getting hammered with urgency. "Last chance! " "Final hours! " "Don't miss out! " They bought gifts, they bought for themselves, they cleared out their inboxes just to make it stop. And then January 1st hits and you're still doing it. Another sale. Another countdown timer. Another "exclusive offer. "But people are tapped out. Not just financially—mentally. They're not in buying mode anymore. They're in research mode, comparison mode, "do I actually need this" mode. The brands that do well in Q1 aren't the ones pushing harder. They're the ones who shift the conversation entirely. Instead of "buy now," they're explaining why their product matters. They're talking about the problem it solves, not the discount they're offering. I saw this with a supplement brand last year. They killed it in Q4 with 20% off promos. January came and they tried the same thing... crickets. Switched to educational content about ingredient quality and third-party testing, and engagement went back up within two weeks. Same audience, different message. Upper funnel content actually works in Q1 because people have time to pay attention again. They're not in holiday panic mode. Give them something worth reading and they'll remember you when they're ready to buy in March. Most brands don't fail in Q1 because demand... --- ---