Run paid ads

Meta, Google, and messaging: ad spend that actually returns, and scales without breaking.

What founders use for run paid ads, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

  1. The best explanation available of why blended MER, not campaign level ROAS, should decide whether you scale, with the actual... Common Thread Collective Article Marketing Efficiency Ratio: How to Find Your Ideal Ad Spend Common Thread Collective
  2. The most concrete, numbers first explanation of hold rate we found: the formula, benchmark bands, and a decision tree for what... Heylect Article Hold Rate Formula: Calculate % + Benchmarks Heylect
  3. Lays out a clean cadence for which metric to look at on which day: ROAS for daily creative calls, MER for the weekly budget... Eightx Article ROAS vs MER vs Blended CAC: Which Metric Actually Matters Eightx
  4. Video These Facebook Ad METRICS Matter (Track Them This Way) Ben Heath
  5. The one structured, multi week option here, built by Meta itself, for a founder who wants to actually learn to read and... Coursera Course Meta Marketing Analytics Professional Certificate Meta
  6. Ralph Burns has run performance marketing at scale for over a decade, and this episode makes the case, with a real client story... Perpetual Traffic Podcast Episode 680 (Part 1): Why ROAS Sucks: The New Marketing Metric Everyone Should Use But Aren't Ralph Burns
  7. Andrew Foxwell runs a community of brand owners collectively spending over 250 million dollars a month on ads, and his blunt... Foxwell Digital Article ROAS Is Vanity, Profit Is Sanity: Fix Your Metrics Andrew Foxwell
  8. A ready made Google Sheets template to pull reach, CPM, CTR, ROAS, and conversion data out of Ads Manager into one view you can... Catchr Template Free Meta Ads (ex Facebook Ads) Google Sheets Dashboard Template Catchr
  9. Walks a single order through every hidden cost, COGS, fulfillment, payment fees, returns, to show a 4x ROAS campaign turning... Ask Luca Article Why Your E-commerce ROAS Is Lying to You and What to Track Instead Ask Luca
  10. Written for Indian D2C founders specifically, and useful precisely because it tells you what to ignore: it calls standalone... Wittelsbach AI Article D2C Founder Fundraising: The Meta Ads Metrics Investors Actually Care About Wittelsbach AI
  11. Apurv Singh has managed over 50 million dollars in ad spend across Indian brands, and this guide gets specific about the layer... HQ Digital Article Performance Marketing: The Complete Practitioner's Guide Apurv Singh
  12. The single most India specific resource on this list: it shows how COD and RTO, returns to origin running 25 to 30% of failed... Nurdd Article Why D2C Brands in India Must Switch from ROAS to POAS Nurdd
  13. Jon Loomer is one of the most cited independent Meta ads specialists and this piece walks the exact diagnostic order the... Jon Loomer Digital Article What to Check When Meta Ads Aren't Converting Jon Loomer
  14. The official list of exactly which edits reset the learning phase, straight from Meta, which explains why a campaign that... Meta Business Help Center Article Significant Edits and Learning Phase Meta
  15. A genuinely free (no tier, no session cap) heatmap and session recording tool that lets a founder watch real ad traffic... Microsoft Tool Microsoft Clarity Microsoft
  16. The most rigorous, primary aggregation of checkout abandonment research that exists (49 studies), useful for a founder deciding... Baymard Institute Report Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics Baymard Institute
  17. Search Engine Land is a respected trade publication and this piece gives concrete, checkable thresholds (frequency, CTR trend,... Search Engine Land Article Your ads are dying: How to spot and stop creative fatigue before it tanks performance Ann Robison
  18. Video Facebook Ads Not Working? Try THIS First Ben Heath
  19. Once tracking and the landing page are ruled out, the remaining leak is usually the offer itself, this is the most widely used... Acquisition.com Book $100M Offers: How To Make Offers So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No Alex Hormozi
  20. A free, downloadable Google Sheets audit template that turns the whole diagnostic checklist (tracking, structure, creative,... Vaizle Template Facebook Ads Audit: The Simplest Way So Far (Free Meta Ads Audit Template) Vaizle
  21. Written by a Meta ads agency specifically around this exact symptom, it lays out an 11-step sequence (objective,... GrowXme Article Why Meta Ads Get Clicks But No Sales? 7 Solutions That Work GrowXme
  22. Directly addresses why an India-based founder's dashboard ROAS lies: 50-70% of orders being COD with 20-30% return or failed... DigiSuggest Article Low ROAS on Meta Ads? What Ecommerce Brands Miss in India DigiSuggest
  23. A rare piece connecting ASCI and Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020 compliance to actual conversion economics, with a... Wittelsbach Article COD Policy + Meta Ad Copy: What Indian D2C Brands Can Promise Wittelsbach
  24. Names the specific India traps (Audience Network placements delivering cheap near-zero-intent impressions, premature tier-3... Wittelsbach Article Why Is My Meta Reach Up but Sales Flat: The Quality-of-Reach Diagnostic for D2C Wittelsbach

Show the next 24

The questions

Meta ads fundamentals 7

How Meta ads actually work for a D2C brand.

How do Meta (Facebook & Instagram) ads actually work? 19 → How do I set up Business Manager, the Meta pixel and Conversions API before running ads? 18 → How much budget do I actually need to start Meta ads for my brand in India? 16 → Should I use detailed interest targeting or go broad with Advantage+? 19 → What ROAS should I realistically expect from Meta ads for my D2C brand? 19 → All 7 questions in Meta ads fundamentals →
Structuring & managing Meta campaigns 6

Account structure, budgets, and what to touch.

How should I structure my Meta ad account from scratch? 4 → Should I use CBO or ABO for my campaigns? 4 → What is Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns (ASC) and should I run it? 4 → How much budget do I need per ad set before Meta can actually optimize it? 4 → How many campaigns and ad sets should I actually be running? 4 → All 6 questions in Structuring & managing Meta campaigns →
Ad creatives that convert 6

The creative is the targeting now, make it move.

What actually makes an ad creative convert in 2025? 4 → Should I use UGC (user-generated content) or polished studio ads? 4 → How do I set up a creative testing system instead of just guessing? 4 → How do I write a UGC script or hook that actually stops the scroll? 4 → Where do I find and brief UGC creators in India affordably? 4 → All 6 questions in Ad creatives that convert →
Google & search ads 6

Catch the demand that's already searching.

How is Google Ads different from Meta ads for my D2C brand? 3 → What is Performance Max and should I run it instead of Shopping ads? 4 → How do I set up my product feed for Google Shopping and PMax properly? 4 → How many conversions do I need before Google's AI can actually optimize my campaigns? 4 → Should I exclude low-margin products from my Google campaigns? 4 → All 6 questions in Google & search ads →
Scaling ad spend profitably 6

Add zeroes to spend without killing ROAS.

How fast can I actually increase my daily ad budget without tanking my ROAS? 4 → What's the difference between horizontal and vertical scaling, and which should I do first? 4 → Why does my ROAS drop every single time I scale spend? 4 → How do I scale from Rs 1 Cr to Rs 10 Cr in ad-driven revenue as an Indian D2C brand? 4 → Can I scale my D2C brand without just spending more on ads? 4 → All 6 questions in Scaling ad spend profitably →
ROAS, CAC & attribution 6

Know which rupee of ad spend actually worked.

What ROAS should I actually be targeting, and how do I use benchmarks correctly? 4 → How do I calculate my true CAC, not just what the ad platform reports? 4 → Why do Meta and Google both claim credit for the same sale? 4 → Should I buy an attribution tool like Triple Whale or Northbeam, or just trust platform data? 4 → What is incrementality testing and do I actually need it? 4 → All 6 questions in ROAS, CAC & attribution →
WhatsApp, SMS & messaging 6

The channels Indians actually open.

Should I use WATI, Interakt, AiSensy or Gupshup for WhatsApp marketing? 4 → How much does WhatsApp Business API actually cost per month in India? 4 → Can I actually sell products and recover abandoned carts directly on WhatsApp? 4 → How is WhatsApp marketing different from SMS, and do I still need SMS? 4 → How do I stay compliant on WhatsApp and avoid getting my business number banned? 4 → All 6 questions in WhatsApp, SMS & messaging →
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →