If you're running ads for an online store and doing pretty well, somewhere between $30,000 and $60,000 a month, you've probably wondered how to scale an ecommerce business past that point. One of our clients just showed what that can look like.
We got notice that this client hit $1 million in sales in 30 days. They're in the auto industry and sell all different types of products on Shopify, and they have a huge social media presence. A year and a half ago I was looking at their numbers and they were doing roughly $40,000 a month in sales. We're pretty excited about it, they're pretty excited about it, and our next goal is to see if we can get them to $1.5 or $2 million a month.
I broke all of it down in a video called "How a Client Hit $1 Million in Sales in 30 Days." A result like this isn't guaranteed, and I'm not claiming you'll automatically hit $1 million in 30 days by following it. I'm sharing what we did to help one client get there so you can apply the lessons to your own business.
Key Takeaways
- Every touch point should serve a purpose inside one advertising system that moves people from cold to customer and keeps them in your ecosystem.
- Running multiple offers tailored to where each person sits in the funnel, plus upsells, raises customer lifetime value so you can keep spending more on ads.
- YouTube ads are underused, and getting on camera yourself builds a credibility that can lift your Meta ads too.
- We scaled this client's ad spend up 20% every few days instead of jumping, because the goal is campaigns that run long term.
1. Build an Advertising Machine Where Every Touch Point Has a Job
The biggest change we made for this client was building an ecosystem. We rely a lot on Meta ads, and we combine them with YouTube ads and Google Search, so every single touch point of traffic serves a purpose. We're not looking for one magical ad. I don't even know how many ads we're running for this client. It's a lot of ads and a lot of segmentation, where this person sees this and that person sees that.
What we built is an advertising machine that's completely focused on taking a cold person, or someone who's watched a piece of content, and moving them down a journey. Once they're in the ecosystem, they basically stay there. That's the goal you should have with your advertising, and I explain the bigger picture in what a client acquisition system is.
An actual system
Every touch point has a purpose, and the whole thing runs at all times so you get the most out of the traffic you're paying for.
Random acts
Here's a special, here's a discount code, here's this, here's that. One-off promotions with nothing tying them together.
Random acts are what a lot of businesses do, and I think that's where a lot of them fail. They aren't thinking strategically about having a system running at all times. The same goes for organic, because the big misconception is that organic is free. You may not be paying for media, but you're still paying editors, team members and the tools you use to distribute it. It's really all paid, just through a different distribution channel.
2. Tailor Your Offers to Each Person in the Funnel
We're also not running one unicorn offer. We have multiple offers, and each one is tailored to where that person is in the funnel. That's the key. When the offer is highly relevant to the person seeing it, they convert.
What's even more important is what happens once someone is in the ecosystem. We show them upsells on the website and upsells in the ads. We've got retargeting ads that are educational, some that are entertaining and some that are straight direct response. Each type of ad has a different purpose, and so does each offer.
Our goal is to drive up the LTV of a customer so we can keep spending more and more on advertising, and that's the name of the game. LTV is lifetime value, meaning what a customer is worth to you over time. The more each customer is worth, the more you can afford to spend getting the next one. If you want the numbers side of that, read about CAC payback period.
3. Get on Camera With YouTube Ads
YouTube ads have been a big piece of what lifted this client's results. It's an underused platform, especially for ecommerce. A lot of businesses stay away from it because the interface is a little intimidating, and because you have to be on camera. But it's ultra effective.
That's the real opportunity if you're a business owner who's willing to take chances. Everyone's afraid to get on video, so they delegate it to AI or hire actresses, or they do everything except get on the video themselves. If you're willing to do it, you can have a competitive advantage, and it can lift the results of your Meta ads too.
We run a lot of YouTube ads for our own business, and what I've found is that people view you in a much different way when they see you on YouTube. It kind of feels like big time TV. It brings credibility, and it gives that "man, these guys are everywhere" feel. That's what you want your customers to feel. I go deeper on this in why video works.
4. Be Willing to Show Up a Lot
Most marketers know that for someone to buy, they have to see you a lot and often. That's why the "these guys are everywhere" feeling matters so much, and if you want an opportunity to win, it's what you have to do.
"People say, I don't want to annoy my customers or bombard them. Well, you kind of have to, because all they're doing is seeing ads all day and all night from your competitors."
Greg Marshall
5. Use Each Channel for a Different Stage of the Journey
For acquisition on this account we use Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Google Search. Each channel is usually speaking to a customer at a certain stage. People think totally differently on Instagram than they do on Facebook, and differently again on YouTube, on YouTube Shorts, in a Google search or when they're researching your website.
I think this is where a lot of people get it wrong. They look at each channel as if it has different people on it. Yes, there are people who only use YouTube, or only Facebook, or only Instagram. Most people use a mix of all of them, though, and each channel serves a purpose in their journey. As a business owner, you want to maximize every single channel so you get the biggest result from your dollar.
So use every channel you can, because every touch point counts. Sometimes it takes 10, 15, 20, 30 or even 100 touch points before somebody takes the next step. Use each channel to educate and nurture people right where they are. I compare two of the biggest side by side in Facebook Ads vs Google Ads.
6. Scale Your Ad Spend Gradually
When you want to scale, you can't go from zero to 100 overnight. With this client, we scaled them up 20% and just kept scaling them up 20% every few days. We didn't go from zero dollars spent to $10,000 spent and then $100,000.
The reason is simple. You do not want to throttle the algorithms, and you want to do it systematically, because our goal is to run these campaigns long term. We don't want to be overly aggressive too fast. We want to slowly build it up, kind of like building muscle. The same thing applies in business.
"You don't want to go from not exercising to bench pressing 500 pounds tomorrow, because you're probably going to get injured."
Greg Marshall
What It Really Takes to Scale an Ecommerce Business
If you want that type of growth, my answer for what to focus on is pretty much everything. Focus on making good videos and keeping the quality high, and on having a good product. Run multiple offers instead of one, get multiple channels working together, and think about building an actual marketing system instead of random acts.
The big one is your mindset. Your goal has to be to get big and scale big. This client didn't just say, hey, hopefully one day we'll kind of get there. They proactively made it a goal to reach this number. That takes a little discomfort, because you're spending more than you're used to and you've got a bigger goal, and the fear of not reaching it can creep in. Money mindset, team development and fulfillment can all scare you too.
The key is getting your mindset to the point where you feel confident but you're stretching and getting outside your comfort zone, because that's the only place growth happens. If you're already running ads and doing pretty well, maybe getting a 3 or 4x, you can definitely get much higher if you're willing to stretch your mindset, your goals and what you believe you can accomplish.
"It's not can you, it's will you. Most of the time, we as business owners don't get to the level we want only because we're getting in our own way."
Greg Marshall
And remember, it took about a year and a half to go from $40,000 months to million-dollar months. This was not an overnight success. It came from working at it, switching things up, fine tuning and knowing your numbers. Then you take the leap to get to the number you want to hit. For more on growth, read what my mentor Garrett Gunderson taught me about scaling a business.
Ready to Scale Your Online Store?
Fiture Marketing is a Utah marketing agency that builds full advertising systems for ecommerce brands, from Meta, YouTube and Google Search ads to the videos and creators that go in them. If you're working with an agency now and you're not thrilled, or you've got a bunch of people on your marketing and want to bring it under one roof, we can handle all of it.
Our free strategy call includes a full audit of your ads and marketing. We'll look at how your channels and offers are working together and how you're pacing your spend, and give you an honest read on what to fix first.
Book Your Free Strategy CallYou can watch the full breakdown in "How a Client Hit $1 Million in Sales in 30 Days" above, and if you're not ready for a call yet, there's plenty more on our YouTube channel.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you scale an ecommerce business with paid ads?
Build a system where your ad channels work together instead of relying on one ad or one offer. For this client we combined Meta ads with YouTube ads and Google Search, ran multiple offers for each stage of the funnel, used upsells to raise lifetime value and increased spend gradually.
How fast should you increase ad spend when scaling?
Gradually. With this client we increased spend 20% every few days instead of jumping from nothing to $10,000 and then $100,000. Moving too fast can throttle the ad algorithms, and the goal is campaigns that keep running long term.
Are YouTube ads worth it for ecommerce brands?
In our experience they're one of the most underused options for ecommerce. Many businesses avoid YouTube because the interface is intimidating and you have to be on camera. If you're willing to get on video yourself, it builds credibility, gives people the feeling that you're everywhere and can lift the results of your Meta ads.
Is organic social media free?
No. You may not be paying for ad spend, but you're still paying for editors, team members, people to distribute the content and the tools you use to build a community. Paid and organic are both paid. The difference is the distribution channel.
How long did it take this client to reach a $1 million month?
About a year and a half, going from roughly $40,000 a month in sales to $1 million in sales in 30 days. It was not an overnight success, and a result like this isn't guaranteed.