For DTC brands spending $30k+ a month on ads
Every ad dollar gets a job.
Zero Fluff Marketing plans and buys paid media for DTC ecommerce brands as one budget across Meta, Google, TikTok and CTV. Every channel gets a job and a number to hit. Every month, money moves to whatever is bringing in new customers at a profit.
Bought hands-on
- MetaLead channel
- TikTok
- CTV
- Snapchat
- X
- Criteo
What we cut
Five things DTC brands put up with. We cut all five.
Every platform grades its own homework, and the ROAS adds up to more revenue than Shopify shows
One scoreboard read against Shopify: blended MER, new customer CAC and contribution margin
Budget split by habit, with each channel run by a different person in a different silo
One plan across every channel, with money moved each month to wherever it works hardest
A senior strategist on the pitch, a junior in the account after you sign
The person who builds your plan runs your ad accounts
Monthly decks full of impressions, CTR and screenshots
A short weekly note: what moved, why it moved, and what we’re doing about it
6 to 12 month contracts with exit fees
Month to month, with 30 days notice
How we think about the funnel
Every dollar has one job, and one number it answers to.
Every platform claims the same sale. So we decide up front what each dollar is for, judge it first on that one number, and read the total against Shopify.
- 01Reach
Get seen by new buyers
Video built for the screen it plays on, from the living room TV to the phone. This is where next quarter’s customers come from.
- CTV
- YouTube
- TikTok
- Meta video
- Snapchat
Answers toCost per incremental new customer
Also watched: Reach and frequency in the target audience, branded search lift
- 02Acquire
Turn attention into first orders
Proof, demos, reviews and offers that answer the questions a first-time buyer actually has, put in front of the people most likely to buy.
- Meta Advantage+
- Meta prospecting
- TikTok
- X
- Creator and UGC ads
Answers toNew customer CAC
Also watched: Hook rate, add-to-cart rate, new customer share
- 03Capture
Close the demand you created
Be there when they search, compare and come back, without paying full price for sales you would have made anyway.
- Google Search
- Shopping
- Performance Max
- Retargeting
- Criteo
Answers toIncremental orders
Also watched: Non-brand new customer CAC, blended MER
What you get
A media plan you can read in two minutes.
Before anything changes in your accounts, you get the plan: budget by channel and by month, the job each one does, and the number it is judged on. It is built from the bottom up:
- Start from margin. Work out the new customer CAC you can afford on the first order and over 90 days. That is the bar every channel has to clear.
- Fund the engine, then reach. The channel that brings in new customers most profitably gets funded until the next new customer costs more than the ceiling. Reach channels like CTV come next, once the engine can catch the demand they create.
- Always keep a test budget. Five to ten percent goes to new channels and formats, so the next growth lever is found before the current one plateaus.
| Channel | Share | Its job | Judged on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta prospecting and Advantage+ | 42% | Main engine for new customers | Judged on: New customer CAC |
| Google Search, Shopping and PMax | 22% | Capture demand, defend the brand name | Judged on: Non-brand new customer CAC |
| TikTok | 12% | Reach younger buyers, find new creative angles | Judged on: New customer CAC |
| CTV | 10% | Reach at TV scale, lift search and direct traffic | Judged on: Cost per incremental new customer |
| Retargeting (Meta, Criteo) | 6% | Bring back high-intent visitors | Judged on: Incremental orders |
| Test budget (Snapchat, X, new formats) | 8% | Find the next channel before you need it | Judged on: Pass or fail against the CAC ceiling |
Services
Planned as one budget. Bought by the person who planned it.
Full-funnel media planning
One budget across every channel. Each one gets a job, a share and the number it answers to, re-cut every month on evidence.
Learn more02Meta Ads
Our lead channel. Account structure, Advantage+, a weekly creative testing system, and scaling judged on new customer CAC.
Learn more03Google Ads
Search, Shopping, Performance Max and YouTube, set up to capture demand without paying for customers you already had.
Learn more04TikTok Ads
Native creative, Spark Ads and creator content, scaled on new customer CAC and read against your blended results, not TikTok's dashboard.
Learn more05CTV advertising
Streaming TV for reach at scale, planned alongside paid social and measured with geo holdouts, not view-through guesswork.
Learn moreAlso hands-on
- Snapchat. Low-cost reach to under-30 buyers, judged on new customer CAC and lift.
- X. Conversation-led launches and retargeting.
- Criteo. Retargeting and commerce media, sized by holdout.
How it works
From first teardown to a signed-off plan in about two weeks.
Free outside-in teardown
No logins needed. We review your live ads on Meta, Google and TikTok, your site and your offer, and send a recorded walkthrough of what we’d change first. Yours to keep.
The numbers, if you want them
Share a Shopify sales export and spend by channel, or read-only access to your ad accounts and GA4 under an NDA. We work out your real blended MER and new customer CAC.
A 90-day plan
Budget by channel and by month, the job each dollar does, the number it answers to, and the tests we’ll run. You sign off before anything changes.
Hands-on buying
We build and run the campaigns, brief creative with your team, move budgets daily within agreed limits, and re-cut the channel split every month on evidence.
Who runs your account
No hand-offs. The strategist is the buyer.
I'm Anthony. I build every plan and I run every account myself. I started as a copywriter, and watching good copy get wasted on badly planned media pulled me into buying the media myself. Meta is home turf, then Google and TikTok, with hands-on budgets in CTV, Snapchat, X and Criteo.
Zero Fluff borrows the way large agencies plan media: one budget, every channel with a job, results read against real sales. It just leaves out the layers between you and the person doing the work.
Clients
What clients say about working with Anthony.
From earlier copy, funnel and messaging work.
“We have had financial gains in a big way because his copy and his design with the funnels play a big role in the conversions.”
“During his tenure with us at Immortal Coffee, Anthony was always ahead of schedule and responsive to deadlines. He conducted thorough research and analysis, and conducted himself as a consummate professional at all times.”
“He condensed and streamlined the language into an amazing messaging document that has been so valuable. I reference it time and time again for all of my messaging and outreach needs. He is creative, competent, efficient, and an expert in tight language that can convert.”
Insights
How we think, in plain numbers.
How to split a DTC ad budget across Meta, Google, TikTok and CTV
A step by step way to split a DTC ad budget across Meta, Google, TikTok and CTV, starting from margin instead of last year's habits.
MER vs ROAS: which number should run your DTC ad budget?
MER vs ROAS: what each measures, why platform ROAS double counts, and why DTC budgets should be set on blended MER and new customer CAC.
When CTV advertising is worth it for a DTC brand (and when it isn't)
Connected TV can lift search, direct traffic and paid social for DTC brands, or burn budget. Three conditions that tell you whether CTV is worth it yet.
What does a full-funnel paid media agency do for a DTC brand?
It plans and buys media across every stage of the funnel as one budget. Instead of running Meta, Google and TikTok as separate silos, every dollar gets a job (reach new buyers, win first orders, or capture existing demand), a share of the budget, and the number it is judged on. Zero Fluff Marketing does the planning and the hands-on buying, then moves money to wherever it is growing new customers profitably.
Which ad platforms does Zero Fluff run?
Meta is the lead channel, followed by Google (Search, Shopping, Performance Max and YouTube) and TikTok. Zero Fluff also buys connected TV (CTV), Snapchat, X and Criteo hands-on, and adds them to a plan when they earn a place.
How do you measure whether the ads are working?
Against Shopify, not the ad platforms. The main numbers are blended MER (net revenue divided by total paid media spend), new customer acquisition cost and contribution margin after ad spend. Channels that platform reporting tends to over credit, like retargeting and branded search, get holdout or geo tests before they get more budget. MER vs ROAS, explained
Who is the best fit?
DTC ecommerce brands spending roughly $30,000 to $250,000 a month on paid media, usually on Shopify, that want one plan across channels instead of a separate agency for each. We take on a small number of brands at a time, so every account gets daily attention.
Do you need access to our accounts to start?
No. The first teardown uses only what is public: your live ads in the Meta Ad Library, Google Ads Transparency Center and TikTok Creative Center, plus your site and offer. Account access comes later, only if you want the full numbers, and can sit behind an NDA.
Do you make the ad creative?
We write the creative strategy: briefs, hooks, angles and the testing plan, and we review every asset before it runs. Production stays with your in-house team, your creators or your creative agency, and we work alongside them.
How does pricing work, and is there a contract?
A flat monthly fee based on the channels and spend in scope, quoted after the free teardown. No percent-of-spend markup, no setup fee and no long contract: it runs month to month with 30 days notice.
Free ad teardown
Find out where your ad budget leaks.
No logins to start. We review your live ads, site and offer, and send a recorded walkthrough of what we'd change first within five business days. Free, and yours to keep.