Scalability School

Question: How should DTC brands plan their Black Friday ad spend and offers?Direct answer: Plan Black Friday around contribution margin, not a ROAS number. Run the exact offer weeks early so cart, checkout and discount-code problems surface before the big weekend, and set acquisition targets that account for the higher return rate after the promo ends. During the sale, use time-boxed incentives such as a one-hour free gift with purchase instead of a deeper percentage discount, track orders by channel by the hour against target, and put creative effort into founder-led storytelling ads rather than new landing pages. Zach Stuck's best customer cohort ever came from spending $100K before 9 AM on the Saturday after Black Friday, because the 12-month contribution margin on those customers still came out ahead.Last Black Friday weekend's ad strategy started with a mistake that paid off: Zach Stuckspent $100K before 9 AM on the Saturday after Black Friday, his team panicked,and those customers became his best cohort ever on 12-month contribution margin.Andrew Foxwell, Brad Ploch and Zach walk through how to plan BFCM spend andoffers: test the offer in October, set ROAS targets that account for returns,run a one-hour free gift with purchase, pace orders by the hour, and filmfounder ads instead of building new landing pages.We discuss:- Why your Black Friday ad won't save a weak business-as-usual setup- Testing your Black Friday offer in October to find what breaks- Setting ROAS targets that account for post-holiday returns- Whether discount customers are really worse (and how to measure them)- The one-hour gift with purchase that tripled hourly sales- Building an hourly pacing sheet by channel, with Claude- Why bonuses and gift cards beat a bigger percentage off- Why a lower AOV can scale better on Meta- Founder ads, yapper ads and the "source of the week" creative process- AI character ads and turning blackhat tactics white hatGet the Scalability School newsletter (free, short, no spam):https://www.scalabilityschool.com/scalability-newsletterWatch last year's BFCM recap with Zach: https://youtu.be/3POPSecWu_MGet the newsletter: https://www.scalabilityschool.com/scalability-newsletterLearn more: https://www.scalabilityschool.comTo connect with Andrew Foxwell send an email [email protected] connect with Brad Ploch send him a DM at https://x.com/brad_plochTo connect with Zach Stuck send him a DM at https://x.com/zachmstuckThis episode of the Scalability School podcast is sponsored by NorthBeam and they just launched Northbeam Incrementality. Northbeam Incrementality gives you easy, automated, self-service incrementality tests, while protecting you from the major mistakes so many people make while running incrementality tests. Your MTA handles the daily tactics, your MMM guides the long-term planning, and Incrementality provides the causal truth. It’s a closed loop that allows you to scale what works and cut what doesn't. Right now when you head over to www.northbeam.io/incrementality, they’re offering Scalability School listeners 50% off unlimited tests for a year when you join. Just tell them we sent youThis episode of Scalability School is sponsored by Alia, the AI-powered pop-up platform. Head to aliapopups.com, book a demo, and mention AI DTC WTF for an extended 45-day free trial.Scalability School is a weekly show from Andrew Foxwell, Brad Ploch, and ZachStuck about what is actually working right now in DTC growth. No theory, norecycled LinkedIn takes, just the numbers and decisions behind real brands andreal ad accounts.Chapters00:00 Black Friday ad strategy: the $100K morning and why the basics win02:10 Test your Black Friday offer in October03:58 Set Black Friday ROAS targets that account for returns05:49 Sale cohorts, BOGO and keeping evergreen ads cranking08:04 Are discount customers worse? The $100K Saturday cohort11:13 The one-hour gift with purchase that tripled hourly sales13:05 How to pace Black Friday by channel and by the hour20:59 Why a lower AOV can scale better on Meta23:40 Black Friday creative: founder ads beat new landing pages34:45 AI character ads and turning blackhat tactics white hat

What BFCM tactics actually work for DTC brands running Meta ads?Answer: The BFCM tactics that worked best last year were planned around specific hours, not just the weekend: a one-hour free gift with purchase flash sale sent by plain-text email and SMS, which roughly tripled hourly revenue, and a pacing plan built from last year's daily and hourly Shopify revenue and matched to the day of Black Friday rather than the calendar date. On Meta, run BFCM-specific creative alongside evergreen ads, build a dedicated BFCM campaign on min ROAS with a pre-built volume campaign as backup, and give lapsed customers their own one-day-click retention campaign with a ROAS target two to three times higher than acquisition. Then make sure shoppers can actually qualify for your best offer, because a threshold set too high prices them out.These BFCM tactics come straight from what worked last Black Friday Cyber Monday:a one-hour free gift with purchase flash sale that roughly tripled hourly revenue,a pacing plan built by the day and by the hour, and BFCM-specific creative runningalongside evergreen ads. Andrew Foxwell and Brad Ploch walk through seven tacticsto set up now, including campaign structure, a dedicated retention campaign,landing pages for new vs returning customers, and why lowering your offerthreshold can help you scale.We discuss:- How a one-hour free gift with purchase flash sale works, and when to rerun it- How to pace Black Friday Cyber Monday revenue by day and by hour- Why Cyber Monday landing on November 30 changes your December comps- Whether BFCM-specific ads beat evergreen on Meta (last year, they did)- Black Friday ad ideas: founder warehouse videos, gift guides, ugly ads, the  "We're sorry" ad, Christmas tree product shots and comment replies- BFCM campaign structure: min ROAS, cost caps, 1-day vs 7-day click- Why you should pre-build backup campaigns before the weekend- How to set up a Meta retention campaign for lapsed customers- Landing pages and pop-ups for new vs returning customers- Why Hollow dropped from buy 3, get 3 free to buy 2, get 2Subscribe for a new episode every week.Watch last year's BFCM recap with Zach: https://youtu.be/3POPSecWu_MGet the newsletter: https://www.scalabilityschool.com/scalability-newsletterLearn more: https://www.scalabilityschool.comTo connect with Andrew Foxwell send an email [email protected] connect with Brad Ploch send him a DM at https://x.com/brad_plochTo connect with Zach Stuck send him a DM at https://x.com/zachmstuckScalability School is a weekly show from Andrew Foxwell, Brad Ploch, and ZachStuck about what is actually working right now in DTC growth. No theory, norecycled LinkedIn takes, just the numbers and decisions behind real brands andreal ad accounts.This episode of the Scalability School podcast is sponsored by NorthBeam and they just launched Northbeam Incrementality. Northbeam Incrementality gives you easy, automated, self-service incrementality tests, while protecting you from the major mistakes so many people make while running incrementality tests. Your MTA handles the daily tactics, your MMM guides the long-term planning, and Incrementality provides the causal truth. It’s a closed loop that allows you to scale what works and cut what doesn't. Right now when you head over to www.northbeam.io/incrementality, they’re offering Scalability School listeners 50% off unlimited tests for a year when you join. Just tell them we sent you!Chapters03:03 The one-hour free gift with purchase flash sale08:07 How to pace Black Friday Cyber Monday revenue by day and hour14:11 Do BFCM-specific ads beat evergreen on Meta?18:20 Black Friday ad ideas: ugly ads, "We're sorry" and Christmas trees21:24 Black Friday campaign structure: min ROAS, cost caps, click windows26:37 Backup campaigns and the Black Friday retention campaign29:46 Black Friday landing pages for new vs returning customers33:43 Pop-ups and offer consistency before and during Black Friday35:36 Offer thresholds: why buy 2, get 2 scaled better than buy 3, get 3

Question: What are category entry points, and how do you use them in Meta ads?Direct answer: Category entry points are the buying situations that make someone think of a category, like standing front row at a concert or lying awake next to a snoring partner, and the more of them a brand is linked to, the larger its share of mind and its share of sales. To use them, map situations across the whole category with the 7 W's rather than relying on your own customer surveys, score each one on size, frequency and brand fit, then launch ads that call out and show the situation. Tyson Drake recommends that situation-led ads carry more than half of ad account spend, ideally 60 to 80 percent, with roughly 80 percent of creative effort going into proven entry points and 20 percent into new ones.Category entry points are the buying situations that make someone think of yourcategory, and the more of them your brand owns in a customer's head, the more ofthe category's sales you take. Brad Ploch sits down with Tyson Drake, former CMOof The Oodie and now a fractional CMO for eight and nine figure DTC brands, toturn the Ehrenberg-Bass research into a tactical playbook for Meta ads. You'lllearn how to find category entry points with the 7 W's, how to prioritize themby size, frequency and brand fit, and how to launch, tag and scale the creative.We discuss:- What a category entry point is, and why nobody wakes up thinking "I need  testosterone"- How mental availability works, and why brands thought of in more buying  situations sell more- Category entry point examples, from front row at a Metallica show to a  snoring partner- The difference between a persona and a category entry point- Why your own post-purchase surveys bias the research, and where to look  instead- The 7 W's framework for mapping buying situations- How to prioritize entry points with ICE scoring, search data and frequency- Why situation-led ads should carry more than half of your ad spend- Statics vs video, and the naming conventions that make entry points  trackable- The 80/20 explore vs exploit split, and how Loop grew beyond festivalsThis episode of the Scalability School podcast is sponsored by NorthBeam and they just launched Northbeam Incrementality. Northbeam Incrementality gives you easy, automated, self-service incrementality tests, while protecting you from the major mistakes so many people make while running incrementality tests. Your MTA handles the daily tactics, your MMM guides the long-term planning, and Incrementality provides the causal truth. It’s a closed loop that allows you to scale what works and cut what doesn't. Right now when you head over to www.northbeam.io/incrementality, they’re offering Scalability School listeners 50% off unlimited tests for a year when you join. Just tell them we sent you!Follow Tyson Drake on X: https://x.com/tysondrakeGet the newsletter: https://www.scalabilityschool.com/scalability-newsletterLearn more: https://www.scalabilityschool.comScalability School is a weekly show from Andrew Foxwell, Brad Ploch, and ZachStuck about what is actually working right now in DTC growth. No theory, norecycled LinkedIn takes, just the numbers and decisions behind real brands andreal ad accounts.Chapters01:25 How Tyson Drake scaled The Oodie and taught himself marketing08:05 Mental availability: the research behind category entry points11:23 Category entry point examples: concerts, flights, snoring partners17:01 Category entry points vs personas: what's the difference?19:17 How to find category entry points with the 7 W's28:56 How to prioritize category entry points: ICE, size and frequency33:47 Why mental market share predicts sales market share38:36 How to launch entry point ads: statics, video and naming conventions47:07 Explore vs exploit: how to scale a winning entry point (01:25) - How Tyson Drake scaled The Oodie and taught himself marketing (08:05) - Mental availability: the research behind category entry points (11:23) - Category entry point examples: concerts, flights, snoring partners (17:01) - Category entry points vs personas: what's the difference? (19:17) - How to find category entry points with the 7 W's (28:56) - How to prioritize category entry points: ICE, size and frequency (33:47) - Why mental market share predicts sales market share (38:36) - How to launch entry point ads: statics, video and naming conventions (47:07) - Explore vs exploit: how to scale a winning entry point

What should DTC brands A/B test to increase revenue per visitor?Test the variables that change how the offer is perceived before you test reassurance. In Brad Ploch's recent split tests, cutting a $279 product's sale price from $229 to $199 lifted revenue per visitor 44%, adding six problem-focused questions to a quiz doubled it, and swapping the post-purchase offer took upsell revenue per visitor from about $2 to $10. Trust signals went the other way: a bolder warranty line cut conversion 7.5%, full reviews lost 10% of profit per session to an AI summary, and USP blocks at checkout changed nothing.The ecommerce A/B tests that paid off this season all changed how the offer is framed: the price point, how long a quiz lets shoppers sit in their problem, how plainly a headline states the USP, and where Meta sends the traffic. The "trust signal" best practices most brands assume are safe (a louder warranty, more reviews, reassurance at checkout) lost or did nothing. Andrew Foxwell and Brad Ploch walk through more than a dozen real split tests from DTC brands, with the numbers behind the winners and the losers.We discuss:- Why dropping a $279 product from $229 to $199 lifted revenue per visitor 44% and more than covered the margin hit- The six extra quiz questions that doubled revenue per visitor, and the switcher review that cost 8%- Why these "trust" signals ultimately backfired- How a plain USP headline beat ALL of the clever ones during a collection page headline test on $2M in revenue- Why USP and review blocks at checkout changed nothing- One ad, five landing pages, one CBO: how weekly spend doubled & efficiency improved- The post-purchase offer swap that took upsell revenue per visitor from about $2 to $10- Longer product pages for premium products, and preorder vs. sold outSubscribe to never miss an episode.Get the newsletter: https://www.scalabilityschool.com/scalability-newsletterThis episode of the Scalability School podcast is sponsored by NorthBeam and they just launched Northbeam Incrementality. Northbeam Incrementality gives you easy, automated, self-service incrementality tests, while protecting you from the major mistakes so many people make while running incrementality tests. Your MTA handles the daily tactics, your MMM guides the long-term planning, and Incrementality provides the causal truth. It’s a closed loop that allows you to scale what works and cut what doesn't. Right now when you head over to www.northbeam.io/incrementality, they’re offering Scalability School listeners 50% off unlimited tests for a year when you join. Just tell them we sent you!To connect with Andrew Foxwell send an email [email protected] connect with Brad Ploch send him a DM at https://x.com/brad_plochTo connect with Zach Stuck send him a DM at https://x.com/zachmstuckScalability School is a weekly show from Andrew Foxwell, Brad Ploch, and ZachStuck about what is actually working right now in DTC growth. No theory, norecycled LinkedIn takes, just the numbers and decisions behind real brands andreal ad accounts.Chapters00:00 Ecommerce A/B tests: what won, what lost, and why02:06 Price testing: why $199 beat $229 by 44% revenue per visitor07:08 How to build a quiz funnel in Claude, and the button that added 20%12:04 "Sit in the problem longer": the quiz change that doubled revenue22:30 Why more trust signals lowered conversion: warranty, reviews, AI summaries33:53 Clear beats clever: a collection page headline test on $2M in revenue38:18 Do USP and review blocks at checkout lift conversion?41:55 One ad, five landing pages: how weekly spend doubled47:41 How to audit your post-purchase upsell50:54 Longer product pages for premium products, plus preorder vs. sold out (00:00) - Ecommerce A/B tests: what won, what lost, and why (02:06) - Price testing: why $199 beat $229 by 44% revenue per visitor (07:08) - How to build a quiz funnel in Claude, and the button that added 20% (12:04) - "Sit in the problem longer": the quiz change that doubled revenue (22:30) - Why more trust signals lowered conversion: warranty, reviews, AI summaries (33:53) - Clear beats clever: a collection page headline test on $2M in revenue (38:18) - Do USP and review blocks at checkout lift conversion? (41:55) - One ad, five landing pages: how weekly spend doubled (47:41) - How to audit your post-purchase upsell (50:54) - Longer product pages for premium products, plus preorder vs. sold out

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