Solved: Need Facebook Ads Expert for Fashion E-commerce Brand

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. I saw your post looking for some help with a fashion e-commerce brand and it sounds like a frustrating situation. Happy to give you some of my initial thoughts and guidance based on what you've described. It's a scenerio I've seen quite a few times before, unfortunately.

The fact that the campaign has been stagnant for two years is a massive red flag. In the world of paid ads, especially on platforms like Meta, two years is an eternity. Things change so fast, from the algorithm to what kind of creative works, that not experimenting is basically a guarentee for leaving money on the table. With a £5k monthly ad spend, there's more than enough budget to be doing some proper testing and optimisation.

It sounds like your contact is right to feel that the account isn't getting the attention it deserves. Let's break down what I think is likely going on and what should be happening instead.

We'll need to look at the current account structure...

My first guess, without even seeing the account, is that the current agency is running a very basic setup. Probably one campaign for prospecting (targeting a broad audience) and one simple retargeting campaign. This is the kind of 'set it and forget it' approach that bigger agencies sometimes take with smaller accounts. It's lazy, and it definetly won't get you the growth you're looking for.

For a fashion brand, you need a much more thought-out campaign structure that reflects the customer's journey. We always break this down into a funnel: Top of Funnel (ToFu), Middle of Funnel (MoFu), and Bottom of Funnel (BoFu). It's not just jargon, it's a way of making sure you're showing the right message to the right person at the right time.

Top of Funnel (ToFu - Prospecting): This is your cold audience. People who've likely never heard of the brand before. The goal here isn't necessarily an immediate sale (though that's a bonus). It's about introduction and awareness. You're trying to catch their eye, show them what the brand is about, and get them to click through to the website. The ads here should be engaging, maybe show off the brand's unique style, or feature your best-selling items.

Middle of Funnel (MoFu - Warm Retargeting): This is for people who've shown some interest. They've visited the website, maybe looked at a few products, or watched a percentage of your video ads. They know who you are, but they're not convinced yet. Here, you can show them different products, maybe offer some social proof like customer reviews or press mentions, or show them user-generated content (UGC) of real people wearing the clothes. You're trying to build trust and keep the brand top of mind.

Bottom of Funnel (BoFu - Hot Retargeting): These are the people who are close to buying. They've added something to their cart, initiated checkout, or spent a lot of time on a specific product page. The goal here is to get them over the line. These ads need to be direct. Dynamic Product Ads (DPAs) are brilliant here – they'll automatically show the exact product someone was looking at. You might also test a small incentive, like a "complete your purchase" reminder or a small discount if that's part of your strategy. A sense of urgency can work well too.

A proper structure might look something like this, just as a starting point:

Just by implementing a structure like this, you create seperate environments for testing. You can see exactly which part of your funnel is weak. Is the problem getting new people interested (ToFu)? Or is it converting the people who are already interested (BoFu)? The current agency's "one tired campaign" approach mashes it all together, so you can't possibly know what's truly working and what isn't. It's just not a proffesional way to manage an account.

I'd say you'll need a solid audience testing strategy...

This leads directly into the next point. Your contact said the agency isn't "trying to branch outwards." This tells me they aren't testing audiences. With fashion, your audience is everything. You can have the best clothes in the world, but if you're showing them to the wrong people, you'll get nowhere.

The £5k/month budget is plenty to systematically test new audiences every single month. Sticking with the same audience for two years is madness. Audiences get fatigued, costs go up, and you miss out on huge pockets of potential customers.

Here’s how I would prioritise audience testing, based on the funnel we just talked about:

#1 Start with your best data: Retargeting & Lookalikes

Your lowest-hanging fruit is always the people who've already interacted with you. As I mentioned in the BoFu/MoFu sections, you need to segment these audiences. Don't just lump all "website visitors" into one group. Seperate out the high-intent ones (Add to Cart, Initiate Checkout) from the lower-intent ones (page viewers). This lets you tailor your message.

But the real power comes from Lookalike Audiences (LALs). You give Meta a list of your best customers (e.g., a list of everyone who has purchased, or even better, a list of your top 10% of customers by lifetime value), and it goes and finds millions of people who share similar characteristics. This is usually the most powerful tool for prospecting (ToFu).

A good testing plan would involve creating Lookalikes from various sources and testing them against each other:

• -> LAL of all Purchasers
• -> LAL of high Lifetime Value (LTV) customers
• -> LAL of people who Added to Cart
• -> LAL of your email list subscribers

I'd bet my hat the current agency hasn't tested more than one of these, if any.

#2 Get specific with Interest Targeting

While Lookalikes are often the best performers, you still need to test detailed interests, especially for a fashion brand where aesthetics and brand affinity are so important.

Again, this is where laziness often creeps in. An agency might just target a broad interest like "Fashion" or "Shopping". That's useless. It's far too broad. You need to think about the specific sub-culture your brand fits into. What other brands do your customers buy? What magazines do they read? Who do they follow on Instagram? What music do they listen to? It's about building a detailed persona.

For example, if the brand sells sustainable, minimalist linen clothing, you wouldn't target "Gucci". You'd target interests like:

• -> Brands: Everlane, Cuyana, COS
• -> Magazines: Kinfolk Magazine, Cereal Magazine
• -> Concepts: "Sustainable fashion", "Slow fashion", "Minimalism"
• -> Influencers who fit that aesthetic

You group these related interests into themed ad sets and test them. This systematic approach lets you discover new, profitable audience pockets continuously. It’s an ongoing process, not a one-time setup.

I remember one client, a women's apparel brand, where we achieved a 691% return on Meta Ads. A huge part of that success was down to rigorous, methodical audience testing. We didn't just find one audience and stick with it; we were constantly looking for the next winner.

You probably should get a lot more creative with the ads...

The "same tired campaign" almost certainly means "same tired creative." For fashion, your ad creative is your shop window. If it's boring, uninspired, or just plain bad, people will walk right on by. With a £2,500 retainer, the agency should be actively involved in creative strategy and testing. That means more than just sticking a product photo on a white background and calling it a day.

You need a constant stream of new creative to test, for two main reasons. First, to fight ad fatigue. People get sick of seeing the same ad over and over, and performance drops off a cliff. Second, because you never know what's going to work. An image you thought was average might be a huge winner, and a video you spent ages on might flop. You have to test to find out.

Here are the types of creative that should be in the mix for a fashion brand:

• High-Quality Static Images: This is the baseline. You need crisp, beautiful photos. A mix of studio shots (product on a plain background) and lifestyle shots (models wearing the clothes in a real-world setting) is ideal. Lifestyle shots usually work better for prospecting as they sell the dream, not just the product.
• Video is Non-Negotiable: In 2024, if you're not using video, you're losing. This doesn't have to be a big-budget production.
  • -> Simple Model Videos: A model simply walking, turning, and showing how the fabric moves can be incredibly effective.
  • -> User-Generated Content (UGC): This is massive. Getting real customers to send in photos or videos of them wearing the clothes is marketing gold. It's authentic social proof and builds huge trust. You can incentivise this or work with micro-influencers.
  • -> Styling Videos: Short videos showing "3 ways to style our classic white shirt" for Reels or TikTok. This adds value beyond just selling.
• Carousel Ads: These are perfect for fashion. You can use them to:
  • -> Show different angles of a single product.
  • -> Showcase multiple products from a new collection.
  • -> Tell a story, like a step-by-step styling guide across the cards.
• Collection Ads: This is a mobile-only format that is super powerful for e-commerce. It shows a main video or image, with a grid of related products underneath. When a user taps it, it opens an Instant Experience storefront, all without leaving the Facebook or Instagram app. It reduces friction and can lead to great results.

The agency should be testing different formats against each other (e.g., video vs. image), different hooks in the first 3 seconds of a video, and different copy. If they're not asking for new creative assets or providing ideas for what to shoot, they are not doing their job.

You'll need to expand beyond just Meta...

The post mentions "eventually Google," and that's exactly the right way to think. While Meta (Facebook/Instagram) is fantastic for creating demand and for visual-first products like fashion, you are missing a huge piece of the puzzle by not being on Google Ads. They work together perfectly.

Meta is like a billboard on a busy street – you're showing your brand to people who might be interested. Google is like having a shop assistant who helps people who are already looking for what you sell.

Here's what a Google Ads strategy should include:

• Search Ads (Branded): At the very least, you need to be bidding on the brand's own name. If you don't, competitors might, and you'll lose customers who are actively searching for you.
• Search Ads (Non-Branded): This is for targeting people searching for specific items you sell, like "black leather biker jacket" or "women's linen summer dress". This is high-intent traffic.
• Performance Max / Standard Shopping: This is an absolute must for any e-commerce brand. This is what puts your product images, price, and name directly into the Google search results and the Shopping tab. If you search for any item of clothing, the first things you see are Shopping ads. Not being there is like having a shop on the high street with the shutters down.

And then there's Pinterest. For the women's apparel client I mentioned earlier, a big part of their 691% ROAS came from combining Meta with Pinterest Ads. Pinterest is not a social network; it's a visual discovery engine. People go there specifically to get inspiration for things to buy, especially in fashion, home decor, and weddings. It's a high-intent platform where the ads feel native and are often welcomed by users. For a fashion brand, it's a natural fit and a channel the current agency should have at least suggested testing.

So, what results are realistic?...

Your contact is right to want to prove up the return on the existing budget before scaling. Tbh, in paid advertising, you can never promise specific results. There are too many variables – the products, the website's conversion rate, the competition, the creative. Anyone who guarantees a certain ROAS is lying.

However, what you can expect is a clear strategy for growth and a methodical process of testing and optimisation. The goal is to consistently beat the previous month's performance. A stagnant campaign is a guarantee of stagnant results, or worse, declining results as costs creep up.

Based on our experience with similar e-commerce brands, a well-managed account should be aiming for a ROAS of 4x or higher, but this can vary massively. For the women's apparel client, I talked about, we hit 6.91x (691%) on Meta and Pinterest Ads. For a subscription box client, we hit 10x on Meta Ads. For a brand selling maps, we generated $71k revenue at an 8x return on Meta Ads. Strong results are absolutely possible when the account is managed actively.

The key is to focus on ROAS (Return On Ad Spend), not just a low Cost Per Purchase. It's better to have a £20 Cost Per Purchase that results in a £100 order (5x ROAS) than a £10 Cost Per Purchase that results in a £30 order (3x ROAS).

With a proper funnel, audience testing, and creative strategy, you should see the ROAS start to improve on the existing £5k spend. Once that happens, you have a predictable engine for growth, and you can start scaling the budget with confidence, knowing that for every £1 you put in, you're getting £4, £5, or even more back out.

This is the main advice I have for you:

Switching from a large, inattentive agency to a dedicated freelancer or smaller, specialised shop sounds like exactly the right move. This brand needs attention to detail and an expert who is willing to get in the weeds and do the actual work of testing and optimising. I've summarised my main recommendations below in a table.

Implementing all of this takes time, effort, and real expertise. It's not something you can just set up and leave. It requires someone to be in the ad account daily, checking performance, turning off losing ads and audiences, and scaling up the winners. That's the kind of hands-on attention a dedicated specialist can provide, and it's what's needed to turn this account around and start seeing the growth the brand deserves.

I hope this has been helpful and gives you a clearer picture of what 'good' looks like. It sounds like a great brand with a lot of potential that's just being held back by a poor agency partnership.

If you'd like to chat through this in more detail and have us take a look at the account to provide a more specific plan of action, we offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation. We could walk through the current setup together and show you exactly where the opportunities are.

Let me know if that's something you'd be interested in.

Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh