services / Meta & TikTok Ads
Meta & TikTok Ads
meta & tiktok ads that scale profitably for DTC brands
We run Facebook, Instagram and TikTok advertising for Australian DTC brands spending A$30k to A$200k a month. The work starts with the creative and ends with contribution margin, because the creative now does most of the targeting and margin is the number that pays wages.
if you’re reading this, one of these is probably true
- Every time we push budget, cost per purchase blows out and we pull it back again.
- Meta says 4x ROAS. The bank account disagrees.
- Our agency sends a long report every month and I still can’t tell if the ads made money.
- We launch new ads every week and Meta keeps spending on the same three old ones.
- I need more creative than one designer and a freelancer can make.
- The CFO wants one number I can defend. Platform ROAS isn’t it.
These look like media buying problems. Almost all of them start in the creative and in the scorecard.
why do meta ads stop scaling?
Meta’s delivery system now does most of the targeting itself. Its retrieval layer, Andromeda, matches ads to people by what each ad is about, and in practice ads that look and sound alike get treated as close to one ad. Ten videos built on one idea with ten different opening lines behave like one. When that idea tires, all ten fade together, and the account looks saturated when it has run out of different ideas.
The second problem is the scorecard. Platform ROAS counts every sale Meta can see, including people who were going to buy anyway, and ignores what each sale cost to make, pack and ship. Scale on that number and revenue can grow while profit shrinks. We wrote about the gap in MER vs ROAS.
So the job has two halves: feed the system ideas that are genuinely different, and judge them on a number that reconciles to your P&L.
what it costs to leave it
optimisation events a week per ad set is roughly what Meta’s learning phase needs. Split the budget across too many ad sets and none of them learn.
of one brand’s 297 live ad variants made the same comparison. To a system that groups ads by meaning, that is close to one idea.
click window is what most accounts are judged on. Ads keep working after it closes, so prospecting gets cut for doing its job slowly.
how we run meta & tiktok accounts
The same five-part system on every account. What changes is the calibration: your margin, price point, buying cycle and how deep your creative library is.
diagnose before we touch anything
We code your last 90 days of ads by persona, desire and awareness stage using our PDA Matrix, read your reviews and comments, and rebuild the numbers from Shopify up.
you getan account and creative audit that shows which ideas carry the spend
set a scorecard you can take to finance
We agree a contribution MER floor and a target cost per purchase from your real margins, then draw kill and scale lines from them. Every ad sits on one map: lifetime spend against cost per purchase.
you getan ad map, refreshed monthly
simplify the account
Fewer campaigns, more signal for the algorithm. Usually one campaign to test new concepts and one to scale proven ones, with the Conversions API checked so Meta learns from purchases the pixel misses.
you geta consolidated structure and clean conversion data
brief new ideas every month
Each batch covers different buyers and at least two awareness stages, so Meta finds new people instead of re-serving the same ones. Creator video, statics, founder-led and demos, written from the words in your reviews.
you geta monthly concept batch with a test plan
decide weekly, check quarterly
Kill, iterate and scale calls every week against the agreed lines. Budget allocation monthly. Each quarter we test the platform’s story against blended MER and new-customer revenue, and run a lift or holdout test when spend can support one.
you getdecisions you can trace back to a number
where tiktok fits
We run TikTok once Meta is stable and you have creators who can carry native content. We use Spark Ads through creators’ own posts, because TikTok ads that look like ads get scrolled past. For many Australian brands selling to buyers over 35, it is usually a second channel, and we’ll tell you if that’s you.
your first 90 days
audit & scorecard
Account, creative and tracking audit. Margin-based targets agreed with you. Nothing gets switched off until we know what it’s doing.
restructure & first batch
Consolidated structure live, Conversions API verified, first batch of new concepts in test against the agreed kill line.
scale what proves out
Winners moved to scale, losers cut on the numbers, second batch briefed from what the first one taught us.
results from accounts we run
Creative rebuilt around real use, server-side tracking, and an off-season repositioning for travellers that grew winter revenue five-fold.
Separate creative streams for the two hero products, the chainsaw and lawn mower sharpeners, selling the problem before the sharpener. Meta ROAS beat the prior year in 10 of 10 comparable months.
Account cut to two campaigns, one to test and one to scale, and product pages rebuilt before buying more traffic. Conversion rate doubled.
“Thrive has worked like our own internal team from day one. They’ve helped us grow our DTC channel with fresh creative angles and aggressive Meta ads account management. We’ve entrusted our entire owned DTC channel to them.”
is this a fit?
- You sell direct online, with a hero range and demand that repeats.
- You spend A$30k or more a month on Meta, or are ready to.
- You’ll share margin data as well as revenue.
- You want a senior operator in the account, not an account manager passing messages along.
- You want a set-and-forget media buyer. This model needs new creative every month.
- Your stock, fulfilment or margin can’t absorb more demand yet. Fix that first. We’ll tell you if we see it.
- You want a ROAS number promised before anyone has looked at your margins.
frequently asked questions
How much should a DTC brand spend on Meta ads each month?
Enough for each ad set to get through Meta’s learning phase on the event you optimise for. Meta’s guidance is around 50 optimisation events per ad set in a week. At a A$60 cost per purchase, that is about A$3,000 a week, or roughly A$13,000 a month, for one ad set in learning. Our model works best from about A$30k a month, where there is room to test new concepts and scale winners at the same time.
Do you manage TikTok as well as Facebook and Instagram?
Yes. We run TikTok when the brand has creators who can carry native content and Meta is already stable. We use Spark Ads through creators’ own posts. For brands whose buyers skew older, TikTok is usually a second channel, and we’ll say so before you spend on it.
How do you measure whether Meta ads are working?
On three numbers, read together: contribution MER (whether the growth is profitable), new-customer revenue (whether the base is growing) and, when spend allows, a lift or holdout test (whether the ads caused the sales). Platform ROAS is a steering signal inside the account, never the verdict.
How many new ads does a Meta account need each month?
It depends on spend and how fast your ads fatigue, but difference matters more than count. Each batch should cover different buyers and at least two awareness stages. Twenty edits of one idea are one test. Five distinct concepts are five.
Can you work alongside our in-house team?
Yes. Some clients keep creative in-house and give us the account and strategy. Others keep the account and use us for creative strategy and production. We agree who owns which decision in week one.
Do you lock clients into long contracts?
No. Engagements start with a defined first 90 days, and we earn the next quarter on results.
related services
Ad Creative Production
UGC, creator, static and TV ads, briefed from customer language and tested on purchases.
Conversion Optimisation
Product pages, landing pages and offers rebuilt around the reasons people don’t buy.
Brand & Creative Strategy
Positioning, buyers and creative territories built from what your customers say.
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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