When was the last time anyone questioned the financial outcomes of retention marketing activities?

Going by the logic:

Every action you take must have a future expectation of results...

Nothing should be left to best practices or "experience".

This is the baseline of all good marketing.

And no one should ever settle for less.

Yet this is pretty typical for many agencies...

Trust-me-I'm-an-expert "strategy".

Nurturing customers, meeting the customer where they're at in the journey, personalisation.

Makes sense in theory, but what’s the incremental lift?

Is it the most efficient use of your limited resources?

At the 7-figure mark, trying to break 8-figures, this is an ever more crucial time.

That's what CTC's Global Accelerator Program solves for.

1. Better alignment with traditionally siloed growth <> retention teams.
2. Better agility to support a very dynamic marketing calendar.
3. Better analysis of activities that impact your P&L.

Together with Growth Strategists, Retention Strategists make this work.

At CTC, we always sign our names on the bottom line.

Because we know that’s what it really means to win.

If this speaks to you, let's chat and see if we'll be a good fit for each other.

Josh Tay

Some good stuff from this month.

Because everyone still asks to see designs. So here we go :)

Director of Retention, Common Thread Collective | Building the world’s strongest retention program for 7 & 8 figure DTC brands

Just because you sell skincare, doesn't mean you need to only talk about skincare.

In this example, we tested running traffic to 2 quizzes.

Quiz 1: Which smoothie matches your personality
Quiz 2: Which beauty routine is right for you

We didn't expect the smoothie version to outperform by so much.

Most people would've stopped just after creating a quiz.

Or maybe compared quiz AOV/LTV vs non-quiz takers.

But we thought this would be a worth-while test.

Lesson: Think about your customers' lifestyle. 

And alternatives (not complementry) for your product. 

Weave them together.

Now this is a fascinating insight that our retention team passed to the growth team.

Client industry: Apparel

And we found that customers who bought designs with dogs had much higher LTV than those who didn't.

What brand will be doing:

- Add new filter for dogs for easier nav
- Test new designs with dogs

What we'll be doing:

- Dedicated dog ads
- Find more of such niches

How much time is your team investing into drawing insights?
Is your team reporting on metrics or taking action?
Are you asking the right questions?

Giving discounts in your flows to increase AOV?

What criteria do you have to determine who receives a discount?

Everyone?
Non-customers only?
Discount with threshold? But which amount?

To answer that, you'll need to look at your AOV histogram.

1. If you based it off AVERAGE order value, you might be pretty off

- Averages lie
- If we had set it at the mean, there'd be a very big chunk of people who wouldn't have moved
- Purely because their cart value might've been too far (see how far mode is from mean)
- Mean is getting pulled up by select customers who spend enornmous amounts
- Question is, where are most of your customers?

2. Look at MODAL order value for help

- Your objective is to move people one bucket up
- Moving the bulk of customers up will translate to higher AOV by default
- It's the same for how you'd create free shipping thresholds or free gift with thresholds in your gamified cart drawers.

There's math to most of these things.

Only do things when it makes sense for the business.

You might win on revenue, but at what cost?

(Long post ahead!)

Today I want to breakdown a real post-mortem of a recent play we did for women’s headwear brand.

And exactly how we still hit the forecast while mitigating downside risk. 

Context:
Client wants to repeat last year’s promo mechanics and marketing calendar.

Expectation:
Client looking for 1.5x rev growth with 20% higher CM.

So unfortunately, that means getting more out of email and sms channels

Problem:
Based on projections following last year’s cadence, we weren’t likely to hit target revenue desired by client.

Constraint:
At the end of the day, it’s the client’s business, and we’re here to deliver results. So it’s our job to best solve for it.

Is this sustainable? 

Nope. But it’s the best stop-gap measure before we have a conversation on expectations, while still delivering on performance to prove we can.

👀 Observation of historical:

Every major promo (BFCM, Mother's Day, Labor Day, Independence Day) did generate more revenue YoY. 

Revenue up 87%, but they had to send to 133% more people to get there. 

At some point, we’ve just been adding subscribers who don't convert into the campaign mix…

Dragging down the economics of the entire channel.


🧠 Insight 1:
RPR declined every single time—ranging from -7% to -42%. 

What was happening is that they were running the same plays to bigger lists and getting diminishing returns per subscriber.

It was reusing the same promo mechanics promo on promo, because “it worked”.

And expanding audiences toe extract more revenue.

What was “working” was going to crash real soon.


🧠 Insight 2:

The correlation between campaign frequency and RPR was actually positive (+0.25).

More campaigns in a month didn’t tank performance. 

What does correlate with declining performance though, was list size growth:

Early period: 56K avg recipients/campaign → $0.0326 RPR
Late period: 126K avg recipients/campaign → $0.0261 RPR

As the send sizes expanded 2-3x, engagement metrics collapsed.


🔬Analysis:

Most would think we have a list fatigue problem.

Initial thought is to reduce sends.

But we actually don’t have a demand elasticity problem.

We are just dealing with the law of shitty cohorts.


👎 The wrong things to do:

1. Expand audiences to get more impressions.
(This will trigger law of shitty cohorts)

2. Reduce send volume
(This wouldn’t allow us to hit rev targets)


👍 What to do:

1. Increase send volume to tighter engagement segments since list has been proven to be able to handle.

2. Product promos only to go out to product-interest segments.

This is why we never skip forecasts.

The forecast allows us to gap-find and it’s based on the exercise of rigorous forecasting that we uncover these insights that we’d otherwise have missed out on, which might have resulted in incorrect execution.

When creating any post-purchase upsells/cross-sells, always rely on your product journey map.

The common way:

Person adds sample > They buy regular next

Data might show otherwise.

In this case, person goes straight into bundle.

Even for singles, they seem to not replenish the same product.

Instead, they gravitate towards bundles, and stay on bundle orders.

This could drastically change the way you push for repurchases.

Interestingly, this mystery item was the fourth most purchased item.

This item's added to the cart drawer as a default upsell on every product.

Avg item price: $35
Mystery item: $15

Objective: How can we liquidate slow/dead inventory faster?

Go-forward questions:

1. Should we create a mystery bundle option too?
2. Can we create "mystery gift" as a front-end offer?

These will all be tests to be conducted.

Ask the right questions...

... Come up with the right hypotheses

... Test the right things

... Take the right actions


Client niche: Accessories

Klaviyo audits alone are insufficient to determine what to do for your retention program.

How should you prioritise activities?

Of the flows recommended, what will the content/angle be?

It's one of the reasons why we look through everything.

Based on this finding, we're:

- Doubling down on resources for refer-and-earn program
- Creating multi-bundles and quantity break discounts
- Include more creative for influencers in pre-purchase flows

(we found that most people who said instagram, youtube, tiktok, also meant influencers and creators)

To do a sanity check, we looked at codes redeemed and saw that most first time customer codes redeemed were from affiliates.

Sometimes things like these we're overthinking.

But we're actually seeing higher lead:conversion efficiency across the board in the last 90 days vs previous period.

So we know that's working.

---
Client niche: Fitness equipment

4 mistakes I made when first forecasting email revenue and how you can avoid it too.

I wish we could figure this out faster too.

But the retention scape in this aspect is still in its infancy.

We're doing our best to fail faster.

To come to a clearer truth.

Here's 4 things I got wrong and how we're solving for it now:

1. Not taking monthly volume into account (rev degradation)

❌  As we increase campaign volume, unsubs might increase and RPR might decrease.

What should've been done was to create a weighted average of RPR based on volume of sends per week over time, split by promo vs non-promo

---

2. Not taking post-promo revenue dips into account

❌ From the last promo sent, you need to determine the "cooldown period" before demand picks back up again.
---

3. Not taking last-year-same-period's email volume into account

❌ For the sake of simplicity, I naively assumed last year's RPR to be same as this year's. 

I just applied a seasonality factor on top with a YoY growth factor.

But the diminishing returns from higher volume played a bigger role than I anticipated.
---

4. Not discounting active subscriptions in email campaigns

❌ If you send a general educational campaign to your engaged list with active subscribers in there...

You'd have been inaccurately attributing revenue.
---

Now we're factoring all that and building it into our forecasting algorithm.

And fully automating this to eliminate human error.

Humans are terrible at extrapolating data.

Worse if we need to incorporate several other aspects.

Tech enablement is the future of marketing.

Built upon solid reasoning, 
asking the right questions, 
with an endless desire to improve, 
and relentlessness to follow-through on the outcomes we promise on

Your cart drawers, checkout upsell, post-purchase upsell funnel will bump your LTV up more than a bounce-back post-purchase email will.

On these pages, you have 100% open rates.

With the highest purchase intent.

Take advantage of it.

Different products in cart might need different upsells based on:

- LTV growth by product
- Total LTV by product (including AOV)
- Balance with product demand (volume)
- Product journey
- Frequently bought together

Then once you have your various funnels/upsells in place, there should be monthly measurement to identify what needs improvement.

How equipped are you and/or your retention team right now to execute this?

Reviews immensely help reduce friction to the purchase.

People look at the number of reviews to know if this brand/product is trustworthy.

It makes sense to build your review war chest.

In post-purchase surveys, we've asked specifically about reviews.

Question 1: "What made you choose to shop with us?"

Options: "Reviews", "Referrals from friends", "Video tutorials", "Others"

Of those who selected Reviews, we had a logic to ask the next question...

Question 2: "How did the reviews help you make a decision today?"

Options: "Other customers' stories", "Photos/Videos of products in use", "Number of reviews vs other brands"

And we saw high photo/video review responses.

This isn't a theory propogated by review apps.

We personally tested this.

That's how we know what to do.
(Always be skeptical and own your own data. Everyone on the internet lies. Maybe I'm lying too)

But if you're too lazy to test, here's what you can do to set up.

1. Go to your review app
2. Create coupon tiers
3. Customise review request emails to let customers know about the added incentive
4. Set an expiry on the discount
5. Send reminders to customers who left respective reviews, to claim their discount

Optional:
A/B test with Intelligems or a similar tool, with and without reviews on your PDP.

Or with the number of reviews stars right above your product name.

And see how that affects conversion rate.

Who said retention was only emails and sms?

Is your retention person supporting you with these?

Always nice to know we're pacing on target, within <10% delta.

We still have big moments we're expecting towards end of month.

Tracking performance this way takes away guesswork.

The worst thing an agency can do is to come up with excuses to justify underperformance.

Over and over again.

When all that was needed was accountability.

We're now more than 90 days past BFCM.

You know what that means?

Time to reactivate your black friday shoppers who are unengaged on digital.

Looking at your repurchase windows, you'll see that majority of LTV lift for new customers happen within first 90 days. 

(typically)

If you're a brand with replenishable products...

Or you sell things with high novelty/"new drop" factors...

This is definitely something you'll want to get in on.

Relook at past year's data and you'll also find this:

Your black friday buyers are a lot more sensitive than other promo period shoppers/evergreen.

(I've had a post with some of this data before if you wanna check that out.)

So if we're nearing the end of the highest probablity curve of repurchase and they're still not coming back...

Much less engaging...

You'll want to do something about that.

1. Offer
Again, we know holiday shoppers typically only buy with discounts

2. New channel
If they're not engaging on email, sms, try new mode of communication

And this is the perfect time to start.

+ you only have a very short window to execute.

You'll want to run your winbacks for this group of customers before the next major sale.

Which for most US brands, is going to be Memorial Day and 4th July Sales.

If you start right now, you'll need a couple of days to get post cards delivered to doorsteps.

Then, people don't take action immediately.

Postcards might sit on their desks or coffee tables for a while.

That's why we wait out with a 60-day maturity period.

🚨 IMPORTANT:
You don't want your winback offer clashing with your site offer.

Because now that just muddies data and the offers cannibalise each other.

Timeline:
Now > 14 Mar = Plan your campaign, offers, creative, segments
15 Mar > 20-ish Mar = Delivery
20 Mar > 20 May = 60-Day Maturity Period

Just in time for memorial day promo launch date.

And you can do your usual holdouts.

But this is a crucial time to strike.

If you want to run a proper winback campaign, do it once, do it right.

Have an Amazon store that gets more traction than your .com?

Consider an exit intent popup redirecting traffic there.

Targeting:
- triggered on PDPs only
- $0 cart value
- stayed more than 15sec
- or scrolled more than 50%

Create specific popups for each key product, with relevant redirects.

Instead of wasting that visit, send them to somewhere you know people are actively converting on.

We're doing this with a home improvement brand that sells DIY light kits right now.

If people want to shop on amazon, we can't force them not to.

Return rates on amazon for this brand aren't crazy high.

So this will be our interim solution before the growth team solves for the conversion issue.

There's no one way to use popups.

Everything is just a tool.

What matters is how you use it to benefit your business.

“Bundles increase AOV”

Logically, that should translate to higher LTV.

So many people default to bundles, which might not always work.

In this case, I’m specifically talking about pre-set bundles, which is the most common way of bundling. 

Sometimes customers just want to pick out exactly what they want.

Forcing a bundle may actually end up reducing conversions.

Ideas like:
Hero product with slow movers
Hero with high LTV product to push profit
Hero with accessories that go well together

These are valid pairings.

But again, we’re assuming people want the next product we’re recommending.

What you want to sell might not be what customers want to buy.

There are two ways to go about this.

Product journey + frequently bought together analyses

Which I’ve talked about before in previous posts.

Let people choose on their own

Aka Build Your Own Bundle.

This works especially well (and much easier to implement) for brands with similar AOV products in the catalogue.

And you can gamify this with the typical tiered discounts with threshold.

I’ve seen bundle take up rate go up to 20% with dedicated BYOB pages in the nav bar.

Example 1 
We have a client selling canned tea. They have 12 flavours. Instead of forcing 6 packs of single varieties then force customers to buy multiple carton to try different flavours, you select your own quantity of flavours for each 6-pack.

Structured like a quiz

Step 1: Select how many cartons you want
Step 2: Carton 1 - Which flavours do you want
Step 3: Repeat for however many cartons selected
Step 4: Would you like to add another carton for X% off? (Progress bar of discount at top of page to)

If AOV varies widely, adopt a similar strategy as how you’d buy a computer.

Base product
+ one add on from category 1 at $X
+ one add on from category 2 at $Y
+ one add on from category 3 at $Z

Each of these are optional.

Example 2
Another client selling sofas. That’s base product. Category 1 are removable spill proof covers. Category 2 are pillow sets. Category 3 is a 2-year warranty.

In our frequently bought together widget below, we still have opportunity to cross-sell sofa extenders and poufs.

Now you give customers lots more flexibility while maintaining some level of control of options.

No fluffy customer journey theory.

Just real stuff that you can implement right now.

And all the data points you need.

Feel free to take this and run with it.

Client niche: F&B, subscription

How to overcome weak subscription program take-up rate

"Multi-month" cohorts almost always will have higher LTV than monthly subscription cohorts.

More specifically, I’m talking about cumulative LTV.

Which is at the end the most important thing to the business. 

That $ value.

So this is definitely something every subscription brand should be testing.

In this example, brand sells soaps.

- One-time orders
- 15% monthly subscribe and save
- 19% for double pack bundle
- 23% for triple pack bundle

Your CAC might be higher on these multi-packs.

Largely also due to much higher AOV.

But not only is cumulative LTV higher, margin LTV per customer beats monthly subs hands down.

Essentially you’ve collected ltv upfront. 

Which is great. 

You don’t have to worry about churn as much. 
CAC payback’s shorter. 
So is your cash conversion cycle.

Definitely a test worth trying.

LTV comes in many forms.

Do what's right for your financial outcome.

Are you levergaging Web Push notifications?

- Welcome
- Browse abandons
- Cart abandons

If you find your lead:conversion rate on these email/sms flows are weak, it might make sense to have another channel to support.

At the end of the day, it's about impressions.

So where do your customers hang out, that you also be on?

Show up there and drive them back to site.

Then track lead:conversion efficiency

The way you structure a tiered loyalty program must take psychological triggers in mind + factor in unit economics.

Weak participation rate = Poor incremental revenue

= unnecessary complexity 

= useless extra cost to run the program

Three post-purchase micro surveys conducted across three different brands.

All had one same option:

"When there's a sale on"

In all instances, that came up as the highest volume response.

This is probably the reality for most ecommerce brands.

People are most likely to shop when there's a sale or a discount.

Knowing this, it's ever more important to bake the discounts already into the price of your product.

So that you can afford to "discount" when necessary.

Without having a really strong, notable brand, is it really possible to never go on sale, and still maximise your growth potential both on new and returning rev?

What do you think?

Creative Media Buyer | Sharing what I learned after generating $100M with Facebook and TikTok ads. Posts, newsletters and courses about the strategies I use

⚠️↓ Book a FREE Strategy Call With Me ↓⚠️

Deividas Tokaris

I'm speaking at Affiliate World Dubai.
7 years ago, I was living on noodles and €300/month as an unpaid intern.
 
Now I'm speaking at the same conference that's hosted:
 
→ Neil Patel
→ Ryan Holiday
→ Ezra Firestone
→ Nick Shackelford
→ Kasim Aslam
 
And 30+ other performance marketing legends over the years.
 
7,000 attendees. 110+ countries.
 
My imposter syndrome is having a field day.
 
What I'll be talking about:
 
→ The new era of creative performance
→ The creative testing system behind $60M in Meta ad spend
→ How we scaled Triple Scale from €200K to €800K in one year
 
If you're going to Dubai, please come say hi.
 
Discounted affiliate link in the comments.
 
P.S. I'll be on the same website as Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle Is The Way.
 
I still remember reading his books 5 years ago, when I couldn't afford a ticket to this conference lol

Founder @Triple Scale | Creative Meta Ads Growth Engine For 6+ Figure eCommerce Brands

I've hired 20+ media buyers and creatives for Triple Scale.
 
Each bad hire costs me $10K+ in wasted time.
 
That's why I built a complete hiring system.
 
The DTC Hiring Framework: Media Buyers & Creatives
 
What's inside:

→ Hiring decision tree
→ 3-step screening process
→ Interview question bank
→ Upskilling roadmap
→ Red flags checklist
 
Want it?
 
Like this post and comment "HIRE" below.
 
I'll send it your way. Make sure we're connected so I can DM you.

🔴 WANTED: European Media Buyers & Creative Strategists 🔴

Triple Scale is:

- 100% remote culture agency
- Flexible working time
- Growth-oriented
- Fast paced

We spend $60M per year on Meta ads and are looking for talent.

We are looking for someone who has at least 1-2 years of e-commerce experience.

It is a client-facing role, so we are looking for someone with decent English and communication skills.

Creative Strategist Application: https://lnkd.in/dNpgYJYu

Media Buyer Application: https://lnkd.in/dyd-t5qB

We will reach out to you if we feel that you are a fit.

undefined undefined

Courses Taken:
Year 1: Art Of Negotiation, Business English I/II, Entrepreneurial Competencies, Management, Political Philosophy, Microeconomics, Business English II/II, Business Mathematics, Business Statistics I/II, Macroeconomics, Business Psychology, Rhetoric.
Year 2: Accounting, Marketing, Business Statistics II/II, HR, Corporate Communication, War Studies, Cross-Cultural Management & Communication, Business Law, Knowledge & Innovation Management, Sales, Business Ethics & Social Responsibility.
Year 3: Digital Marketing, Research & Marketing Efficiency, International Business, International Marketing Strategy, International Trade & Marketing, Course Work, Final Thesis.

Final Thesis Grade: 10

I was living in United Kingdom for nearly 5 years, as a result, I had a chance to finish Middle school there. I have certificates of high English proficiency.

Subjects taken (Examination grades): Film studies (A), Religious studies (B), Mathematics (C), Statistics (C), English Literature (B), Cambridge IGCSE English Syllabus (B), Additional Science (B), Science (B).


Scale Your E-Commerce or Info Business To $2M+/mo Without Expensive Creative Production 🚀 Predictable Revenue With Facebook Ads, Creatives and Funnel Strategy 

You can scale an e-commerce or info product business to $2M/month with ugly Meta ads alone.

You don't need:

❌ Professional shot creatives
❌ Influencer marketing 
❌ TikTok channel
❌ CRO testing

We all have been lied to.

In reality, it's all about these 3 components:

✅ Acquisition channel efficiency to drive quality traffic
✅ Product market fit 
✅ Irresistible offer

Creative is just a medium to transfer the message to acquire traffic.

That is why our team at Triple Scale focuses on a holistic business view instead of only pressing the buttons in the ads manager.

To scale your brand to $2M/month in predictable revenue, you need the following:

✅ A reliable partner that will free up your time to focus on the product
✅ Holistic strategy approach to grow your business
✅ Effective creative strategy

Over the past 5 years, I spent $30M on Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat ads and helped 30+ e-commerce and info product businesses grow to over $2M/month.

Our goal at Triple Scale is to help even more brands like this.

Why?

We want to help you reach:

→ Dreams
→ Social Status
→ Lifestyle Freedom

We also share free education for up-and-coming media buyers who want to impact this world.

Subscribe to my newsletter to get access to free learning resources: https://www.scaletriple.com/newsletter

If you are an e-commerce or infor product owner wanting to grow to $2M/month in predictable revenue, DM me!

1:1 STRATEGY CALL

NEWSLETTER

Triple Scale

Jana Koleva

🔴 WANTED: Taylor Swift of Creative Strategy 🔴

We are looking for an ambitious Creative Strategist based in Europe.

We are:

- 100% remote culture agency
- Flexible working time
- Growth-oriented
- Fast paced

We are looking for someone who has at least 1 year of experience crafting Meta ad creatives.

It is a client-facing role, so we are looking for someone with decent English and communication skills.

If you know someone who is a fit, connect us, and we will give you a referral fee!

DM me if interested.

I hand-picked over 500 high-performing Meta ads.

This is a full library of creatives I started collecting 6 years ago.

This is an all-in-one template that my team uses to:

✅ Get fast results within the first week.
✅ Increase creative production efficiency.

These ads work for:

📦 Consumer packaged goods
🚚 Subscription products
🐕 Pet products
🏡 Home Decor
👄 Cosmetics
🏋️ Fitness
👠 Fashion
And many more...

Some of the templates include:

✅ Buzzfeed Style
✅ Before & After
✅ Bullet Points
✅ Carousels

This will help you:

→ Increase creative performance in a week.
→ Give your designer examples to copy.
→ Ideas and inspiration for your brand.

Comment "Templates" + Connect, and I will send it to you.

In 2025 Mark Zuckerberg declared war on media buyers.
 
In an interview he said "we're going to get to a point where you tell Meta what your objective is, and we do everything else - targeting, copy, creatives."
 
Most media buyers panicked. I didn't.
 
Because Zuckerberg also said: "You won't need anything, except being able to read the results that we spit out"
 
And THAT'S the key part.
 
Because even if AI creates infinite ads and does all the targeting...
 
Businesses will still need someone to read the results. Interpret them. And make strategic decisions out of them.
 
That someone is a Creative Strategist 🔥
 
If you're a media buyer, do this:
-Learn how to read the story data tells
-Learn WHY people buy
-Learn what makes a business scale vs get stuck (it's more than ads)
 
That's what brands will pay $10K+/month for.
 
What's your take on Zuck's vision? Are you worried or excited?
 
P.S. Share this to help other media buyers see what's coming. I shared this in 2025 but it's now more relevant than ever.

I haven't cooked or cleaned my house in years.
 
My partner doesn't mind.
 
Here's why...
 
For years, I thought I had to do everything myself in my agency to keep quality high.
 
I was stuck at $10K/month launching campaigns, briefing creatives, and handling client calls.
 
Until I realized there's only so much one person can do.
 
Now?
 
→ Media buyers handle campaigns.
→ Creative strategists handle ideation.
→ Project managers handle operations.
 
We manage $60M+/year in ad spend while I focus on strategy, relationships, and growth.
 
→ Freelancer mindset: "I need to do it myself to keep quality"
→ Agency owner mindset: "I need to build systems so others can deliver quality"
 
→ Freelancer income: Capped at your hours × your rate
→ Agency owner income: Scales with team output
 
→ Freelancer growth: Linear (you get better)
→ Agency owner growth: Exponential (team gets better)
 
The hardest part?
 
Letting go of control.
 
Trusting someone else to do the work.
Training them to think like you.
Building SOPs for everything.
 
But once you do...
 
You unlock a completely different level of scale.
 
What's holding you back from building a team?

My 2025 wrapped:
 
✅ Did my first Hyrox and half marathon
✅ 4x revenue compared to 2024
✅ 5x profits compared to 2024
✅ Travelled 15+ countries
✅ Bought my first home
✅ Got my dream car
 
Sounds great, right?
 
Here's what it actually cost:
 
❌ Gained 5kg from stress eating
❌ Slept 4-5 hours per night for 6 months straight
❌ Cancelled plans with friends about 47 times
❌ Had 3 moments where I genuinely questioned if it was worth it
❌ Survived on kebabs and energy drinks
 
The team:
 
→ Grew from 8 to 20 people
→ Spent $60M+ on Meta ads for clients
→ Became the only Lithuanian agency endorsed directly by Meta
 
Leadership lessons I learned the hard way:
 
→ Hiring A-players is expensive. Not hiring them is more expensive.
 
→ Delegating feels like losing control. Not delegating means you stay stuck.
 
→ Your team will make mistakes. Fire the mistake, not the person (unless they don't learn).
 
The best part of 2025?
 
The people.
 
My team is insane (in the best way).
 
Shoutout to everyone who helped make this happen.
 
To 2026: Let's do it again, but with more sleep.
 
What was your biggest win in 2025?
 
P.S. I got the whole team Triple Scale jumpers for Christmas. We all wore them on our last team call. Looked like a cult. 10/10 would do again. 😂

When to Kill Ads.
(Reality After Spending $60M/Year)
 
Your ego has no place in media buying.
 
What separates good from great media buyers is speed of execution.
 
Ask:
 
Has this creative spend at least 1x my target CPA?
 
→ If NO, let it run.
→ It YES, ask:
 
Did it bring at least 1 sale with that spend?
 
→ If NO, kill it.
→ If YES, let it run.
 
Keep monitoring. As long as it brings sales within the target CPA, let it run.
 
Nothing else matters. The market decides, not you.
 
Affiliate marketers get this. They're not emotionally tied to the product. They just care about getting a sale.
 
That's the mindset you need.
 
It either gets a sale or it doesn't.
 
Be ruthless with data. Your job is to find winners and scale them.

You don't need school to make money.
 
I'm living proof.
 
The university rejected me.
 
So I took an unpaid internship instead.
 
12 hours a day. €0 salary.
 
Living on €300/month.
My friends were partying.
 
I was learning Meta ads.
 
3 years later?
 
I was making $10K/month.
 
Now I run a 20-person agency managing $60M/year in ad spend.
 
The market doesn't care about your diploma.
It cares about:
 
→ Can you solve problems?
→ Can you deliver results?
→ Can you prove it?
 
School teaches theory.
The real world pays for skills.
 
And skills come from:
 
→ Working for free to get access
 
→ Documenting everything you learn
 
→ Testing, failing, iterating
 
→ Getting on high-spend accounts fast
 
→ Becoming indispensable
 
A degree might open doors.
But skills keep them open.
 
And in 2026, you can learn any skill for free.
 
What will you master?

What I'd Tell My Younger Self

If you're unsure what skill to master in the age of AI, here's what to do:
 
1. Write down every skill you've learned in the past 3 years
2. Circle the ONE thing people ask you for help with most
3. Delete everything else from your calendar for 30 days
4. Spend 80% of your time on that one skill
5. Say no to everything that doesn't make you better at it
 
The goal isn't to be good at 10 things. The goal is to be exceptional at one.
 
I spent years trying to be good at everything: Design, copywriting, sales, strategy.
 
Then I focused on one thing: Creative testing for Meta ads.
 
Now brands pay us to do that 1 thing exceptionally well.
 
Looking back at old photos, I realized I was always a leader. I just didn't know it yet.
 
This is a picture of my class and me during our graduation ceremony. I was always seeking to be in the front and lead people.
 
Success isn't about addition. It's about subtraction.
 
What's the one thing you can be top 10% in the world at?

How to Find Success In Business

Most eCommerce brands are ONE Zuckerberg update
away from shutting down. 👇
 
All it would take is:
 
"Your ad account has been restricted."
And they'd be in serious trouble.
 
Just put yourself in that situation:
You wake up to the notification.
 
Your stomach drops.
You try to stay calm…
 
But the math hits you.
 
80% of your revenue comes from Meta ads.
 
You can't cover:
 
→ Inventory costs
→ Team salaries
→ Your own bills
 
And now?
 
No traffic.
No sales.
No cash flow.
 
Panic kicks in.
You start scrambling:
 
→ Appeal the restriction
→ Try Google Ads
→ Beg influencers for posts
→ Post desperately on social
 
But the reality is:
 
Google takes weeks to learn.
Influencers want $10K upfront.
Organic won't pay the bills this month.
 
This is the nightmare scenario most eCommerce founders fear.
But in reality?
 
It's easily avoidable if you have strong business fundamentals.
I know because I've managed $60M in Meta ad spend.
 
I've seen brands get wiped out by account restrictions.
And I've seen brands barely flinch.
 
The difference?
 
The ones that survive don't just run good ads.
They run good businesses.
 
Here's what protects you:
 
→ High LTV (customers come back without ads)
 
→ Strong email list (you own the audience)
 
→ Repeat purchase rate above 30%
 
→ Diversified traffic (Meta + Google + organic)
 
→ Healthy profit margins (can afford higher CPMs)
 
Because here's the truth:
 
Meta WILL change the algorithm.
Your account MIGHT get restricted.
CPMs WILL spike during Q4.
 
But if your business fundamentals are solid?
 
You'll survive.
 
Because your business isn't held together by one traffic source.
 
It's held together by customers who love your product and keep coming back.
 
So stop building a house of cards on Meta's platform.
 
Start building a business that could lose Meta tomorrow and still be fine.

I worked without pay for months.
My friends didn't understand.
 
That happened 6 years ago when I started as an unpaid intern.
 
But... I kept going.
 
And fast forward to today, I've:
 
→ Managed $60M+ in ad spend
→ Built a 20-person agency
→ Scaled 40+ ecommerce brands
→ Hit $100K/month revenue
 
But it wasn't easy.
 
Back then, I was grinding 12-hour days while my friends were partying.
 
I worked 2 unpaid internships at the same time during summer.
 
My first paycheck was $700. I bought a TV and a PlayStation 4.
Life felt good.
 
But now, I've built systems that run without me.
 
→ Media buyers handle campaigns
→ Creative strategists handle ideation
→ Project managers handle operations
 
And we manage $60M+ annually.
 
You still need resilience.
You'll still face rejection.
 
But now you can scale 10x faster with the right team and systems.
 
So if you ever felt behind, rejected, or stuck...
Be patient.
It's building you.
 
But make sure you're learning from people who've been there.

Success as a Media Buyer

4 Business Metrics Media Buyers Must Understand
(What Founders Care About)
 
Most media buyers talk ROAS, CPA, and CTR.
But founders care about profit.
 
If you can't speak the language of business, you'll never get paid like a strategist.
 
There are 4 metrics that matter:
 
Metric 1: Average Order Value (AOV)
 
How much revenue you generate per transaction.
 
Higher AOV = you can afford higher CPAs and still be profitable.
 
I always try to shot for $150+ AOV. It allows room to scale.
 
How to improve it: Bundle products, add upsells at checkout, offer quantity discounts.
 
Metric 2: Lifetime Value (LTV)
 
The total revenue a customer generates over their entire relationship with the brand.
 
→ Subscription brands can afford 0.6x ROAS on first purchase
 
→ One-time purchase brands need 2-3x ROAS minimum
 
→ High LTV brands win long-term
 
With solid LTV you can lose money on the first sale and still scale.
 
Metric 3: Conversion Rate (CVR)
 
The percentage of people who buy after clicking your ad.
 
Aim for at least 3%.
 
It it's below, you have a funnel problem, not an ads problem.
 
→ Test your landing page copy
→ Simplify checkout
→ Match your ad promise to the landing page
 
Metric 4: Profit Margin
 
This is what business owners actually care about.
 
How much money they have in their pocket after marketing + operations.
 
My advice: Shoot for at least 30% profit margin. The more the merrier.
 
If you want to get paid like a strategist ($10K+/month), understand:
 
→ How to increase AOV
→ How to maximize LTV
→ How to optimize CVR
→ How to protect profit margins
 
That's the difference between a media buyer and a growth strategist.

Why Founders Fire Media Buyers

Stop trying to become a leader.
You're either born one or not.
 
That's terrible advice...
 
Leadership isn't something you suddenly become.
 
It's something you've always been.
 
Two photos prove it.
 
→ 1st grade, 2006: I'm standing in front during the ceremony.
 
→ University graduation, 2018: Same thing. Front row.
 
12 years apart. I didn't plan it.
 
But looking back, the pattern was always there.
 
Fast forward to today:
 
→ I lead a 20-person agency
→ Manage $60M+ in ad spend annually
→ Make decisions that impact 40+ brands
 
Everyone has leadership in them.
You just haven't recognized YOUR style yet.
 
Some people lead by building systems.
 
Some lead by connecting people.
 
Some lead by being in front.
 
The question isn't "Am I a leader?"
 
It's "What's MY leadership style?"
 
Because once you recognize it, everything changes.
 
You stop trying to lead like everyone else.
 
You stop forcing yourself into roles that don't fit.
 
And you start building around YOUR natural strengths.
 
What's your leadership style?

I was the team leader. We fought all season to get there.
Then, right before the finals, I broke my toe.
 
The pain was sharp. Every step hurt.
 
But I insisted on playing anyway. Because how you show up in hard moments defines you.
 
Not when things are easy. Not when everything's going your way.
 
When it hurts. When no one would blame you for sitting out.
 
That's when you see who you really are.
 
I was 13 years old playing in the finals at Copper Box Arena, London. Years later, I still think about that game.
 
I learned your team doesn't need you when things are easy.
 
They need you when things are hard.
 
That's leadership.
 
In business, it's the same:
 
→ When a client campaign tanks and you stay up fixing it
 
→ When ad costs spike and you figure out a new strategy
 
→ When a team member struggles and you coach them through it
 
You don't earn respect by showing up when it's easy.
 
You earn it by showing up when it's hard.
 
I played that finals game on a broken toe.
 
We lost. But I'd make the same choice again.
 
Because the alternative is living with the regret of not trying.
 
And that's worse than any loss.

Two days before I was supposed to speak in Dubai, war broke out in Iran.
I was already there.
 
The conference got cancelled. Bombs flew over my head. I was stuck for days.
 
I couldn't fly back home.
 
That was supposed to be my first major speaking gig at Affiliate World.
 
Instead, I spent days watching a war zone from my hotel window.
 
I remember thinking: "This is insane. I came here to speak about Meta ads."
 
The airport was closed. Flights were grounded. Every day felt like a coin flip.
 
Would I make it home?
 
Fast forward to now. I'm speaking at Affiliate World Europe.
 
July 9-10, 2026.
 
This time, I'm not taking it for granted.
 
Here's what I'll be covering:
 
→ The new era of creative performance
→ The creative testing system behind $60M in Meta ad spend
→ How we scaled Triple Scale from €200K to €800K in one year
 
7,000+ attendees. 35+ speakers. 110+ countries.
 
If you're going to be there, let me know.
 
Discounted affiliate link in the comments.
 
P.S. If you're on the fence about going, just book it. Life's too short to skip opportunities like this. Trust me on that one.

In 2026, AI Creative Strategists will be the dark horse of DTC.
 
Automation creates a new opportunity.
 
When AI handles the execution, human strategy becomes MORE valuable.
 
Here are the 3 skills that will skyrocket in demand:
 
Skill 1: Turning data into profits
 
AI can generate thousands of reports.
 
But someone needs to interpret them and DIRECT what the next move is.
 
→ Why did this creative work?
→ What are people buying most?
→ How do we replicate past success?
 
We've had ad reports for decades. It's turning them into money what changes the game.
 
Skill 2: Understanding WHY people buy
 
Brands need strategists who understand sales psychology.
 
→ What makes someone stop scrolling?
→ What objection is holding them back?
→ What emotion drives the purchase?
 
AI can create 1,000 ads. But it's a black box.
 
It can't generate truly new ideas and find what's missing in the ad account.
 
You're the creative director.
 
Skill 3: Leading creative teams
 
Managing designers, copywriters, and video producers is an art.
 
When AI automates ad creation, someone still needs to:
 
→ Set the creative direction
→ Brief the team on what to test
→ Connect creative strategy to business goals
 
Leadership is the one thing automation can't touch (for now).
 
Strategy. Creative direction. Leadership.
 
Media buyers who master these 3 skills will be the GOATS of DTC in 2026 and beyond.

The New DTC GOATs

Meta made ads easier to run.
But that created a bigger problem.
 
Now everyone can launch campaigns.
 
But most people still can't make them profitable.
 
The difference? Creative testing.
 
I'm speaking about this at Affiliate World Dubai on March 4th.
 
7,000 attendees. 110+ countries. The biggest performance marketing event in the world.
 
Here's what I'll cover:
 
→ The new era of creative performance
→ The creative testing system behind $60M in Meta ad spend
→ How we scaled Triple Scale from €200K to €800K in one year
 
My presentation will be 40% frameworks, 60% war stories from managing $60M/year in ad spend.
 
If you're going to Dubai, let's meet.
 
I want to hear what's working in your ad accounts right now.
 
Discounted ticket link in the comments.

We helped Lukas scale his fashion brand from basic ads to record Q4 revenue.
(here is how we did it)
 
When we started working together, he didn't have a creative testing strategy or a scaling structure.
 
Here is how we helped him break through:
 
Step #1: Identify the weak spots in the business.
 
→ Triple Scale audited the entire operation.
→ Found gaps in creative testing and scaling.
→ Mapped out a clear path forward.
 
Step #2: Introduce proper creative testing strategies.
 
→ Implemented our creative testing framework to find winning angles.
→ Taught the team how to test fast and kill losers faster.
→ Built a system to increase creative win rate.
 
Step #3: Fix the scaling approach.
 
→ Showed Lukas how to scale profitably without burning budget.
→ Connected him with specialists who made a significant impact.
→ Set up best practices for sustainable growth.
 
As a result of working with Triple Scale, Lukas:
 
→ Doubled revenues and profitability
→ Hit record Q4 revenue
 
"Triple Scale helped us to double our revenues and profitability. The team is very professional. They introduced us to best practices and helped us understand the next steps. I would recommend anybody who feels lost and wants to scale to work with them."
 
Proud to be part of the journey.

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