Scaling Meta Ads: An Advanced Playbook for eCommerce Growth → Marin Ištvanić
2X eCommerce Podcast
Deep Dive
Why does Marin Istvanic prioritize consistent results over daily budget tweaks when scaling Meta ads?
Marin avoids daily budget tweaks because they resemble day trading, which is inefficient. He requires at least three days of consistent good results at the target CPA before increasing the budget.
What is Marin Istvanic's approach to structuring and scaling Meta ad campaigns?
Marin emphasizes the importance of product-market fit and a proven offer before running ads. His structure prioritizes product, offer, creative, and then technical ad account adjustments. Ads are seen as amplifiers for something already working.
How does Marin Istvanic describe his journey from a freelance media buyer to a partner at Inspire Brand Group?
Marin started as a digital marketing apprentice while studying computer science. He transitioned to freelancing and eventually joined Inspire Brand Group, where he advanced from junior to head of performance and eventually became a partner after seven years.
Why does Marin Istvanic disagree with the statement that 80% of media buying success lies in creatives?
Marin disagrees because Facebook data shows that creatives account for 56% of ad performance. The remaining 44% includes factors like product-market fit, offer strategy, and technical ad account optimizations.
What strategies does Marin Istvanic recommend for optimizing offers to improve conversion rates?
Marin suggests price anchoring and BOGO (buy one, get one) offers. For example, he increased conversion rates by 30% by tweaking a three-month bundle offer to a two-month bundle with an additional two months free, while maintaining the same margins.
How does Marin Istvanic manage creatives for his agency's clients?
Marin prefers quality over quantity, requesting four concepts per week, each with at least three variations. He focuses on maximizing the chances of finding a winning creative by testing different hooks, lengths, and thumbnails.
What is Marin Istvanic's testing and scaling process for Meta ads?
Marin uses Adset Budget Optimization (ABO) for sandbox testing, where each new ad set is a new concept. He scales winners within the testing campaign and graduates proven ads to Advantage Shopping Plus campaigns with cost caps for further scaling.
What is the significance of cost caps in Marin Istvanic's scaling strategy?
Cost caps allow Marin to set a maximum cost per result, ensuring Facebook only spends when it can meet the target CPA. This helps maintain profitability and prevents overspending on underperforming ads.
How does Marin Istvanic handle underperforming ads in his campaigns?
Marin uses a strategy called 'resurrection and handbrake.' He reduces the budget (handbrake) and duplicates the ad to give it a fresh chance (resurrection). If the ad performs well after duplication, he continues scaling; otherwise, he kills it.
What advice does Marin Istvanic give for Q4 advertising and Black Friday preparation?
Marin recommends aligning targets, ensuring inventory, avoiding ad account caps, and defining offers based on margins. He suggests using bundles to increase AOV while maintaining margins and leveraging data from previous years to forecast accurately.
- Started as a digital marketing apprentice.
- Transitioned to freelancing on Upwork.
- Became a partner at Inspire Brand Group after seven years.
- Currently juggling roles at the agency and an internal brand that hit $15 million in revenue in its second year.
Shownotes Transcript