I built and sold 2 ecommerce brands and generated $10million+ in revenue using direct response e-commerce funnels. I make YouTube content and write long-form value emails about copywriting, VSLs, advertorials, and direct response marketing.
The 3 Ad Types Working in Ecom Right Now
The Current State of the Market (Ecom & Supplements)When it comes to performance marketing in ecom/supplements, I see 3 main top-of-funnel ad types. First, image ads. Image ads can crush it at the top of the funnel, going to a listicle or advertorial (I prefer image to long advertorial). The best images drive curiosity clicks from the target audience. This means they are related to the niche in their visuals and first line of ad copy (calling out the problem in copy), and they incorporate weird, bizarre open loops like a strange mixture, a weird home remedy, or a complex 3D illustration. These ads work great top of funnel and work for huge audiences. They get high CTRs and drive traffic to the advertorial where we can educate and convert the prospects. Second, VSLs. The gold standard is the 5-10 minute VSL ad which crushes across niches and levels of market awareness on the top of funnel. When done right, these ads fly under the skepticism radar by being valuable, informative, interesting and fun to watch (drive emotional swings, interesting stories, shocking information, empathetic hero's journey). I also see plenty of 2-3 minute mini-VSLs that follow the same structure in their script as longer VSLs, but condensed for markets that don't need tons of education. And finally the monster VSL ad, which I'm seeing less of in feed, at 30-60 minutes. I usually see VSLs directing traffic to advertorials, and that's what I've always had success with (with $100+ AOV offers). Third, the performance short. These are 30-60 second ads that follow similar structures to VSLs, but extremely condensed. They pack a punch, and every sentence has direct response elements baked in. The visuals are either a mashup of viral-looking highly engaging action-based clips with minimal b-roll setting the scene, or a spokesperson taking up most of the scenes. These ads are great for capturing cold traffic in markets where a VSL wouldn't be profitable, such as low AOV products or markets that don't respond to long VSL ads. I think the future of performance marketing in ecom/supplements, with the direction Facebook is going with the ads algorithm, is more variety of creatives top of funnel (mainly these 3 plus direct response UGC) and strong BOF retargeting style ads for offer aware traffic. The core thread in all of this is copy and direct response skills. If I were just getting into the industry, my priority would be to improve my direct response and copy skills as much as possible. I would also use as much AI as I can, combined with a simple, organized creative testing system, to crank out as many high-quality DR ads as I could. If you want to learn more about these 3 ad types and become a master of direct response marketing, I've created the most comprehensive performance marketing community on the internet. Learn more here: https://www.skool.com/ecom-blueprint1 |
Fernando Oliver
I built and sold 2 ecommerce brands and generated $10million+ in revenue using direct response e-commerce funnels. I make YouTube content and write long-form value emails about copywriting, VSLs, advertorials, and direct response marketing.
When it comes to scaling winning offers to $10k/day, $50k/day, $100k/day and beyond, what matters most is having a scientific process. That means you have inputs (your actions) that directly correlate to outcomes (more ad spend at your target ROAS/CPA). Naturally, a scientific scaling system is key to consistent long term success in digital marketing and ecommerce. So how do we turn scaling into a science, rather than a hit or miss "art"? First of all, we have to understand what actually...
Most ecom owners obsess over ads. They rewrite hooks, test new creatives, and tweak angles endlessly—yet their performance flatlines. The truth is that most offers fail long before the ad has a chance to do its job. The bottleneck is the funnel. A strong ad drives traffic. A strong funnel converts that traffic into profit. If your funnel is weak, no amount of creative brilliance can save you. The Misplaced Focus on Ads An ad’s job is simple: get the right person to click. That’s it. When the...
The Meta Ads Algorithm Guide (Andromeda Update) Here’s a detailed breakdown of how the Meta Andromeda update affects the Meta Platforms (Facebook/Instagram) ads algorithm: what changed, why it matters, and how you should adapt. I’ll keep it as tactical as I can so you can apply it directly in your ad accounts. This is based on deep conversations with my custom GPT and some big players in the game who are on top of the new update. 1. What the Meta Ads Algorithm Is (Pre-Andromeda) The core ad...