Hey y’all! Molly here.
If you’re planning for Q4 (and I really hope you are), then good news: we have 3 wins you can steal for your big holiday plan.
In this article, you’ll learn:
- The new BFCM anticipation builder that’s outperforming VIP lists
- How we overhauled Pretty Farm Girl’s ad account and helped boost revenue 60%
- And the “Creative Framework” we use to help our clients scale their ads while avoiding creative fatigue
All of these strategies have been proven through our agency clients, and they’re simple ways to boost your results during the most exciting (and most competitive) time of the year.
Let’s dig in!
Win #1 – Build BFCM Anticipation with a Conversion-focused Giveaway
Instead of starting your Black Friday push with the typical “Join our VIP list” messaging, try this:
Run a high-value giveaway that primes people to buy.
This idea came from one of our senior media buyers, the amazing Attila. It’s short (just 2 weeks), profitable, and simple to execute.
Here’s how it works:
- Offer a prize that aligns with your audience, like a bundle of your products or something lifestyle-focused.
- Use conversion campaigns, not just lead gen (you’ll see why).
- Add an offer to the thank you page—i.e., early sale access, a hero product, or even a small discount—so you can judge success by metrics like ROAS, not just CPL.
Case Study with Antler Rings
This strategy worked really well for one of our clients, Antler Rings.
Instead of giving away one of their own products (which can get a little stale), they gave away:
- A trip to a rodeo
- And a really cool custom antler chandelier
These prizes were super exciting but, more importantly, they were also extremely relevant to their target audience of outdoor lovers.
That ensured the giveaway would produce qualified leads for their promo, and by adding a hero offer to their thank you page, they were also able to run this campaign at a profit. Pretty good!
Then, right before the official promo kicked off, they wrapped the giveaway with a live winner drawing (you can do this on Instagram or Zoom).
It’s a great way to capture attention before your sale officially starts!
Win #2 – The Ad Account Overhaul that Helped Pretty Farm Girl Grow Revenue by 60%
One of our biggest client wins this year came from Pretty Farm Girl—a tallow-based skincare brand out of Florida.
They had a lot working for them already, including:
- A charismatic founder
- Trendy product
- Solid organic traction
But when we started working together, our media buyers saw a lot of room for opportunity in their ad account.
Here’s what we changed in the first 60 days:
1. Funnel clarity
With Meta’s newer campaign setups, you have to be intentional about splitting audiences. We added exclusions and separated acquisition from retention, so we could actually measure growth, not just engagement.
2. Creative segmentation
Next came a full creative overhaul. Yes, they had good video content, but it all relied on the same personality and format. We diversified with new ad styles and messaging tailored to different personas—based on age, lifestyle, and skin concerns.
That level of segmentation helped us speak to specific pockets of customers more directly, which boosted performance across the board.
3. LTV-driven goals
Instead of obsessing over day-one ROAS, we helped them calculate what a customer is worth over 30, 60, and 90 days. That gave us a better idea of how much we could spend on acquisition, allowing us to scale aggressively with confidence.
4. Landing page upgrades
No more sending people straight to product pages. We tested collection-style “evergreen discount” landers with no nav, better UGC, and more bundles—which immediately boosted conversions by 22%.
* * * * *
Pretty Farm Girl had more clarity on their customers, their funnels, and their numbers, and quickly saw a 60% jump in revenue.
Win #3 – The Creative Testing & Scaling Framework We Use for Every Client
Creative is more important than ever.
As Meta’s algorithm has taken control of many tasks previously handled by media buyers (including aspects of targeting and budget), your creative has an even greater impact on who sees your ads.
And whether you spend $5/day or $50,000/day, this Creative Framework will help you test, optimize, and scale creative that Meta’s algorithm will love.
Phase 1: Discovery
We test 10–15 new concepts/week, each at $15–20/day. After 3 days, we evaluate performance beyond just ROAS (think CTR, CPC, thumb stop).
Sometimes a piece doesn’t convert immediately, but the engagement shows potential. We aim for a 20–30% hit rate and roll forward 2–3 winners from each round.
Phase 2: Optimization
Next, we repurpose what worked. That way, we’re giving Meta a diverse collection of creative that they can use to target different audience segments
Here’s how we do that:
- Turn statics into GIFs and animations
- Add badges or other trust signals to high performers
- Or turn a high-performing carousel into a short video
These are low-effort, high-impact updates that keep winners fresh.
Phase 3: Scaling
Then we isolate the top 2–3 performers and start feeding them into scale campaigns:
- Increase budget by 20% every 3 days (if CPA is 50% under target)
- Build lookalikes, test new audiences, and launch new landing pages/email flows around winning messages
- Think big picture: adjust for LTV, not just short-term metrics
Oh, and always keep an eye on frequency—anything over 2 starts to raise red flags.
Tip: Beat Creative Fatigue with 3 Levels of Iteration
First off: the best way to beat creative fatigue is to have new creative variations ready before you scale.
From there, keep in mind that not every test has to be a brand-new idea. Often, our best results come from remixing proven winners.
We think in 3 levels of iteration: easy, medium, and advanced.
- Easy means changing the format—turning a static image into a GIF, for example.
- Medium is about changing the context. Maybe that same message works better in a lifestyle setting or with seasonal relevance.
- Advanced means a new perspective: having a customer tell the story instead of the founder, or shifting from a “problem” focus to a “solution” angle.
We’re never too far from the original hook—we just give it room to evolve.
Now Go Start Your Q4 Prep!
Don’t just settle for last year’s holiday strategies.
Steal these 3 easy wins to more effectively build anticipation for your sale (at a profit), overhaul your ad account structure for higher ROAS, and launch and scale more impactful ad creative.
If you want to work closely with me and the Smart Marketer Team to grow your business, you can:
- Apply to join Mentor Table (our new mastermind + coaching program)
- Apply to work with the Smart Marketer Agency (ads, email and/or creative services)
See y’all in the next one!
