case studies / CinnaBalm
case study
revenue up 436% from one paid channel
A natural 2-in-1 bite balm with a loyal summer following. We focused the budget on Meta, rebuilt the creative around real use & found the brand a second season.
personal care · DTC · 2024 vs 2023
+436%
revenue, year on year
~7-figure
revenue at its peak, just shy of seven figures
5×
off-season revenue, year on year
category
Natural bite balm
sales channel
DTC ecommerce
services
Creative strategy, creator & influencer production, Meta account structure, server-side tracking, off-season positioning
the problem
Founder Emily McCallum launched CinnaBalm in 2022 with a product people love once they try it, and an early following from 4×4 and caravan shows. The next step was building an online engine that could grow it year round.
That meant working within the realities of a focused, single-category brand: one hero product range, a $35 price point that keeps order values modest and margins tight, and demand that peaks in summer. Every acquisition had to pay its way quickly.
the call
one channel, & a reason to buy bite balm in winter
Self-funded growth rewards focus. Rather than spreading a careful budget across several platforms, we concentrated on systematic creative testing and scaling on Meta, where a demonstration of the product could do the selling.
Then we treated seasonality as a positioning opportunity. Australians camp less in winter, but they travel overseas. Repositioning for travellers in the off-season grew those months five-fold year on year and smoothed cash flow.
why it works
Concentration beats coverage when budget is small: one channel run with enough creative volume to learn from beats four run thin.
what we did
story-led creative
We built brand storytelling that proves the product in real situations, made with creators and influencers, and the audience shifted younger.
volume through tooling
Creative analysis, production and AI tools let us test at the volume Meta's delivery system rewards.
profit-first account management
Account structure built to Meta's current best practice, emerging creative formats, and first-party server-side data to give the algorithm better signal.
capability the founder keeps
Emily brings marketing strategy experience of her own, so we built the team's in-house capability alongside research on emerging trends.
the creative
results
Revenue index: 2023 = 100. Index points, not dollars, used to keep period revenue confidential.
How we measured: Source: Shopify & Meta Ads Manager, calendar 2024 vs 2023.
the takeaway
Concentrate before you diversify, and treat a seasonal dip as an audience you haven't found yet.
We'll 3X your investment in us
That's our pinky promise to you! You'll see measurable improvement in results within the first 90 days with better ads and higher conversions.
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