Hi there,
Thanks for reaching out! It's a very common situation to be in, so don't feel disheartened. Spending £1k to get £1.5k back feels like you're on the edge of something working, but it’s not quite there yet. After costs, you're likely just about breaking even, or maybe even losing a bit. That's a frustrating place to be.
I'm happy to give you some of my initial thoughts and guidance based on what you've described. You're asking about structure, which is important, but I think the problem runs a bit deeper than just how your campaigns are organised. The structure is often the last piece of the puzzle, not the first. Getting the foundations right first is what will make any structure you choose actually work.
The Real Reason Your Ads Aren't Profitable
Right, lets be blunt. The issue isn't really your ad structure, it's a symptom of a bigger problem. With a £30/day budget aimed at a broad UK audience, you're essentially giving Facebook a fiver and asking it to find a needle in a haystack the size of England. The algorithm is powerful, but it's not a mind reader, especially with a small budget.
There's an uncomfortable truth about how these platforms work. When you run a campaign with a very broad audience and a low budget, especially without a lot of historical purchase data, the algorithm often defaults to finding the cheapest people to show ads to. These are the people who browse a lot, maybe even click, but rarely ever buy anything. They're not in demand by other advertisers, so their attention is cheap. You are, in effect, paying Facebook to find you an audience of non-customers. You're getting clicks and traffic, which creates the illusion of progress, but it's not translating into profitable sales because it's the wrong traffic.
Your 1.5x ROAS is the direct result of this. You're spending money to reach people who were never going to buy your comfort wear in the first place. So, before we even think about changing the campaign structure, we need to fix who you're talking to and what you're saying to them.
We'll need to look at who you're *really* selling to...
You said you sell 'comfort wear'. That's a category, not a customer. Who is this person? And I don't mean "Women, 25-45, in the UK". That's a demographic, and it's almost completely useless for writing ads that actually connect with someone and persuade them to buy.
You need to get obsessed with their problem, their 'nightmare' scenario, even if it's a small, daily one. Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) isn't a person; it's a problem state. What is the specific, urgent frustration that your comfort wear solves?
Let's brainstorm a few possibilities:
-> The Work-From-Home Professional: Her nightmare is feeling sloppy, unproductive, and unmotivated in her decade-old pyjamas, but the thought of putting on 'real' clothes to sit at her kitchen table feels ridiculous. She needs to look presentable for surprise Zoom calls but craves the comfort she's used to. Her pain is the daily friction between comfort and professionalism.
-> The Busy Mum: Her nightmare is the school run. It's 8:30am, she's been up for three hours, the kids are finally in the car, and she catches her reflection in the rearview mirror. She looks and feels exhausted. She wants clothes that are practical for chasing a toddler but don't make her feel like she's given up on herself. Her pain is the loss of identity and style in the chaos of motherhood.
-> The Eco-Conscious Millennial: Her nightmare is fast fashion. She sees the environmental damage and feels a pang of guilt every time she thinks about buying clothes. She wants to be comfortable and stylish, but her purchases need to align with her values. She'll happily pay more for something sustainable and ethically made. Her pain is the conflict between consumerism and her conscience.
See the difference? When you know this, you know what to say. Your ad copy stops being about "soft fabrics and nice colours" and starts being about solving their specific, emotional problem. You can't figure out your ad targeting or your messaging untill you have this figured out. Who are you for? Be specific. Being for everyone means your for no one.
I'd say you need to fix your message before your ads...
Once you know who you're talking to, you can craft a message they can't ignore. Right now you have 5 videos and 3 descriptions. I'd wager they are all variations of "Check out our new amazing, comfortable clothing". This is what every other clothing brand on the planet is saying. It's white noise.
Let's use a framework called Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS). It’s simple but incredibly effective.
Let's take our 'Work-From-Home Professional' ICP:
Problem: "Still taking Zoom calls in your partner's old hoodie? That line between 'work life' and 'sofa life' is getting blurry."
Agitate: "You feel a bit of a mess, your motivation is dipping, and you dread the camera turning on unexpectedly. Getting properly dressed feels like too much effort, but staying in your PJs all day is killing your productivity."
Solve: "Introducing [Your Brand Name]. The comfort wear designed for the home office. Feel as cosy as your duvet, but look sharp and put-together for any meeting. Get your workday mojo back. Shop the collection now."
That message speaks directly to a specific person's daily struggle. It shows you understand them. That's how you stop a scroll. You need to rewrite your ad copy and probably reshoot your videos to reflect this specific angle. Stop selling comfort wear; start selling the feeling of being put-together and productive while working from home, or the feeling of stylish confidence on the chaotic school run. We worked with a women's apparel client and focusing on this kind of targeted messaging was a huge part of how we acheived a 691% return on their ad spend. It really does work.
You'll need a proper campaign structure, not just one ad set...
Okay, NOW we can talk about structure. Your current setup—one broad ad set—is doing everything at once, which means it's doing nothing well. We need to split things up based on who we're talking to and how familiar they are with your brand. This is often called a funnel approach (Top of Funnel, Middle of Funnel, Bottom of Funnel).
With a £30/day budget, we have to be smart and efficient. Here's a simple structure I would test to start with. This gives the algorithm clear instructions on what to do with each part of your budget.
| Campaign (Objective: Conversions/Sales) | Daily Budget | Ad Set & Targeting | What It Does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign 1: Prospecting (ToFu) (CBO Enabled) |
£20 |
Ad Set 1: Interest Stack A (e.g., Target people interested in competitor brands like Me+Em, The White Company, Hush + WFH-related interests) Ad Set 2: Interest Stack B (e.g., Target people interested in publications like Stylist, Grazia + interests in premium loungewear, organic cotton) |
This finds completely new people who have never heard of you but fit your ideal customer profile based on their interests. We use the PAS ad copy here. The Campaign Budget Optimisation (CBO) will automatically push more of the £20 to whichever ad set is performing better. |
| Campaign 2: Retargeting (MoFu/BoFu) (CBO Enabled) |
£10 |
Ad Set 1: Website/Social Engagers (Last 30 Days) (Target anyone who visited your site, or liked/commented/saved a post. Exclude purchasers.) Ad Set 2: High-Intent (Last 14 Days) (Target people who Added to Cart or Initiated Checkout. Exclude purchasers.) |
This is for showing ads to people who already know you but didn't buy. For Ad Set 1, you might show them different products or customer testimonials. For Ad Set 2, you could use an ad with a reminder like "Did you forget something?" or even a small, first-time buyer discount to get them over the line. These audiences are much more likely to convert. |
This simple, two-campaign structure is a world away from what your doing now. It separates your cold and warm audiences, allowing you to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time. It's a much more controlled and intelligent way to spend your limited budget.
You'll need to know your numbers to scale this
The final peice of the puzzle is understanding what a customer is actually worth to you. This is what separates amateur advertisers from professionals. The question isn't "how low can my cost per purchase be?" but "how much can I afford to spend to get a new customer and still be very profitable?" The answer is in the Customer Lifetime Value (LTV).
Let's run a hypothetical calculation. You'll need to swap in your real numbers here, but this shows the logic.
1. Average Order Value (AOV): What's the average customer spend per order? Let's guess £70.
2. Gross Margin %: After the cost of the goods, payment processing, etc., what profit is left? Let's say it's 60%.
3. Purchase Frequency: How many times does a customer buy from you in a year? As you're new, let's be conservative and say 1.5 times per year.
4. Customer Lifetime: How many years do you keep a customer? Let's say 2 years.
Now, let's do the maths.
Example LTV Calculation
Revenue per customer per year: AOV (£70) x Purchase Frequency (1.5) = £105
Gross Margin per customer per year: Revenue per year (£105) * Gross Margin (60%) = £63
Total Lifetime Value (LTV): Gross Margin per year (£63) * Customer Lifetime (2 years) = £126
In this scenerio, each new customer you acquire is worth £126 in gross profit to your business over two years. A healthy ratio for a growing business is to spend about a third of your LTV to acquire a customer. This is your target Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).
Target CAC = LTV / 3 = £126 / 3 = £42
Suddenly, things look different. You can now afford to spend up to £42 to get a sale from a new customer and be on a very healthy track for profitable growth. This number is your north star. When you're looking at your Prospecting campaign, you're no longer panicking if a sale costs £30, because you know it's a profitable investment that will pay you back multiple times over. This frees you from the tyranny of trying to get £5 sales, which is almost impossible with cold traffic.
Finally, how to know what's broken
Once you have the new structure running, you need to be able to diagnose problems. Your ad metrics will tell you a story about where people are dropping off.
-> Low Click-Through Rate (CTR) (below 1%): This means your ad creative and copy (the hook) isn't working. People are seeing it but scrolling right past. Your message isn't resonating with the audience you've chosen. You need to test new images, new videos, and new PAS-style headlines.
-> High CTR but low Add to Carts: People are interested enough to click, but something on your product page is putting them off. It could be the price, poor product photography, a lack of detailed descriptions or sizing information, or slow page load times. Your ad did its job, but your website is failing.
-> Lots of Add to Carts but few Purchases: This is the classic checkout abandonment problem. The most common culprit is unexpected shipping costs. Be upfront about them. Other issues could be a lack of trust signals (no reviews, no secure payment logos), or forcing people to create an account. This is the final hurdle, and any friction here will kill your sales.
By looking at these three simple steps in the journey, you can pinpoint exactly where the problem is and focus your efforts on fixing it, instead of just randomly changing things in your ad account and hoping for the best.
This is the main advice I have for you:
I know this is a lot to take in, so I've summerised the main recommendations for you below. This is your action plan for the next month.
| Actionable Step | Why It's Important | How To Do It |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Define Your REAL Customer | To stop writing generic ads and create a message that resonates deeply and drives action. | Pick ONE of the ICPs we discussed (or a new one). Write a paragraph describing her daily frustration that your product solves. |
| 2. Rewrite Ad Copy | Your current copy is likely invisible. You need to stop scrolls by speaking to a specific pain point. | Use the Problem-Agitate-Solve framework to write 3 new ad copy variations for your chosen ICP. |
| 3. Implement New Campaign Structure | To stop wasting money on the wrong people and efficiently guide prospects from awareness to purchase. | Set up the two-campaign Prospecting & Retargeting structure I outlined above. Allocate the £30/day budget as suggested. |
| 4. Calculate Your LTV & Target CAC | To know what you can afford to pay for a customer, freeing you from unprofitable short-term thinking. | Use the formula I provided with your own business numbers (AOV, Margin, etc.). This gives you your North Star metric. |
| 5. Diagnose & Optimise | To make data-driven decisions instead of guessing what's wrong with your ads. | After a week, analyse your funnel (CTR -> Add to Cart -> Purchase). Identify the biggest drop-off point and focus on fixing that one thing. |
Following these steps will put you in a vastly better position than you are today. However, it's also a lot of work. Getting the ICP right, writing compelling copy, managing the campaigns, analysing the data, and constantly testing and optimising is a full-time job in itself. It’s what we do all day, every day for our clients.
While the plan I've laid out is a powerful starting point, the real magic—and the difference between a 2x ROAS and a 7x ROAS like we saw with our women's apparel client I mentioned—comes from relentless, expert execution over time. An expert can often spot opportunities and fix issues much faster because we've seen these patterns hundreds of times across many accounts.
If you go through this plan and start to see progress but feel you could be moving faster, or if it feels a bit overwhelming, we offer a free, no-obligation strategy session. We can take a proper look inside your ad account and at your website and give you a more tailored plan of attack. It might be worth a chat.
Regardless, I hope this has been genuinely helpful and gives you a much clearer path forward. You've got the start of something here; it just needs a bit of expert focus to unlock its potential.
Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh
