— Performance Marketing for DTC Brands
Paid ads that grow
profit, not just revenue.
Meta-led paid acquisition for DTC brands doing $1M–$8M. We build the system, run the campaigns, and stay close to your numbers — so growth doesn't come at the cost of your margins.
For DTC brands doing $1M–$8M/year. You'll work directly with the strategist — not a junior account manager.
— The Problem
Your ads work.
Your growth doesn't.
You've proven the model. The brand has traction. But somewhere between $1M and real scale, the numbers stop making sense. ROAS looks fine on the dashboard. Contribution margin tells a different story. You hire another agency. They run the ads. The cycle continues — but the business isn't actually growing.
"We've worked with three agencies. Every one of them optimised the ad account. Nobody ever looked at our margins."
— What we hear from almost every founder we talk to
Inconsistent performance month to month
Good months feel lucky. Bad months feel like your fault. Neither gives you a framework for what to do next.
Rising CAC with no clear ceiling in sight
You're scaling spend but profitability keeps moving. The math that worked at $50K/month breaks at $150K.
An agency that manages the account but not the business
They send a report every Friday. It shows platform metrics. Nobody talks about margins, LTV, or whether the growth is actually profitable.
A creative process that's more guesswork than system
You're spending on UGC and production without a clear framework for testing it. You don't know what's working or why — and neither does your agency.
You're the one managing the agency
Chasing updates, re-briefing the new account manager, repeating context. You hired them to take things off your plate — not add to it.
— The Framework
The Vanspec Profitable
Scaling Framework.
Most agencies start with the ad account. We start with your business model. Every engagement follows the same four-step framework — because you can't build a reliable acquisition engine without first knowing what a profitable customer actually costs you.
01
Financial clarity
Before we touch the ad account, we define the guardrails. AOV, gross margin, contribution margin, CAC targets, and MER — so we know exactly how much can be spent to acquire a customer profitably.
02
Constraint Identification
We determine what's actually limiting growth. Not every metric — the single primary constraint. Insufficient volume, creative fatigue, weak funnel performance, tracking gaps. Clear focus on the one lever most likely to unlock growth.
03
Acquisition Engine
We build and optimize the Meta-led acquisition system — campaign architecture, creative testing direction, audience strategy, and CAC guardrails. Meta is the primary engine because it offers the fastest path to scalable DTC customer acquisition.
04
Profitable Scaling
Once acquisition is working, we scale while protecting business economics. Decisions are guided by CAC vs. contribution margin, MER performance, and creative velocity — not just increasing spend.
— Services
Every lever that drives profitable ecommerce growth.
Paid acquisition is the foundation. Everything else is layered in based on where the constraint actually is — not what's easiest to upsell. No bloat, no retainers for work that won't move your numbers.
Acquire
Growth Strategy
We start with your business model before touching the ad account — defining CAC targets, MER benchmarks, and contribution margin guardrails so every growth decision is anchored to your numbers, not platform metrics.
Capture
Meta Ads
Fully managed paid acquisition — strategy, campaign architecture, creative testing framework, audience build, and weekly performance reviews anchored to MER and CAC targets. Not platform ROAS.
Convert
Google Ads
Search and Shopping structured to capture the demand Meta creates — improving blended CAC efficiency without cannibalising your paid social. Coordinated, not competing.
Retain
Retention Email
Automated flows that monetise the customers your ads already paid to acquire. Welcome, post-purchase, browse abandonment, and win-back sequences — revenue at near-zero incremental cost.
— About
You'll always work directly
with a senior strategist.
When you work with Vanspec, there's no junior account manager between you and the person making decisions. The strategist on your account is the same one you spoke to on day one — running your campaigns, reviewing your numbers, and showing up to every check-in.
We work with a select number of brands at any given time, supported by a tight team of specialists in design, copywriting, and platform management. The strategy, the relationship, and the accountability stay with the same senior person throughout.
Senior-led, always
The strategist on your account is experienced, not learning on your budget.
Selective by design
A focused client roster means every brand gets the attention it deserves.
One point of contact
No handoffs, no account managers, no re-briefing someone new every few months.
Brands we've worked with
— Client Results
What we've actually delivered.
Real clients, real numbers. We don't show platform screenshots — we show business outcomes.
HAXE Fitness
A 142% increase in revenue and a 46% decrease in customer acquisition cost
Introduced a disciplined creative testing framework and built the acquisition engine from the ground up. Revenue scaled while CAC dropped — without sacrificing efficiency.
Travois Vans
A 26.2% increase in revenue and a 62% decrease in CPA
Built targeted Meta and Google campaigns, mapped the full customer journey, and launched a retargeting infrastructure that reached 17.46× ROAS with strong results from week one.
Haskalife
A 76% increase in revenue and 151% growth in subscription revenue in six months
Rebuilt the website, introduced subscriptions from scratch, and launched Meta acquisition around clear financial guardrails. Revenue and subscription revenue both compounding fast.
FVSP
A 28% lift in conversion rate and four years of compounding growth
Built targeted acquisition campaigns using historical customer data, launched retargeting to convert warm leads, and mapped the full customer journey to place creative where it actually converted.
— How It Works
From first call to live
in 30 days.
No six-week onboarding marathons. No slide decks explaining what we're going to do someday. You'll have a clear strategic read on your business within 48 hours of our first call — and campaigns live within a month.
01
Discovery Call
45 minutes. We learn your business, your numbers, and what's actually holding back growth. No pitch. If we're not the right fit, we'll say so.
02
Growth Diagnostic
We audit your ad accounts, funnel, and unit economics. You get a written breakdown of where the real constraint is — and what to do about it. Whether we work together or not.
03
Strategy & Roadmap
A 90-day plan with specific targets, financial guardrails, and a clear picture of how we'll measure success. Delivered as a short Loom — no slide theatre.
04
Launch & Iterate
Live within 30 days. Weekly performance reviews, monthly strategy sessions, and direct access to the person doing the work — not an account manager relaying messages.
— Objections Answered
What you're probably wondering.
We've worked with agencies before and it hasn't worked out. Why would this be different?
Because you'll work directly with the strategist running your campaigns — not a junior account manager who inherited your account. There's no layer between you and the person making decisions. We also do a full diagnostic before you commit, so you can see exactly how we think before any money changes hands.
We're already running Meta in-house. Would you take over, or work alongside our team?
Either works. Some clients hand everything over. Others keep their team executing while we provide strategy and oversight. We'll tell you what actually makes sense for your situation — not what maximises our retainer.
How long until we see results?
Structural improvements show impact within 30–60 days. Meaningful MER improvement and creative testing results typically appear in months 2–3. We'll set honest benchmarks upfront — not numbers designed to get you to sign.
Do you require a minimum ad spend?
We work best with brands spending at least $15K/month in paid media. Below that, data cycles are too slow for the kind of optimization that makes this partnership worthwhile — for both of us.
We don't have a big creative team. Is that a problem?
No. We build the creative strategy, identify the angles worth testing, and write the briefs — you or your existing creator executes. Most of our best-performing creative has been shot on a phone. You don't need a production budget. You need a system.
How does your pricing work?
We charge a flat monthly retainer based on your ad spend tier — not a percentage of spend. That distinction matters. Percentage-of-spend pricing gives an agency a financial incentive to scale your budget regardless of whether it's working. A flat retainer means our incentive is aligned with yours: results, not spend. You also know exactly what you're paying every month, which makes planning and cash flow predictable — something most 7-figure brands tell us they don't get from their current agency.
What does "strategic partner" actually mean in practice?
It means we're inside your business — not just managing a channel. We talk about margins, pricing, seasonality, and product decisions. You get someone who understands your P&L and treats your ad budget like it's their own money.