Guides
Practical guides to creative, conversion, and the economics of DTC growth, with examples and free tools you can use.
Sep 10, 2026
How to turn a product page into a creative brief
Turn product facts, customer objections, and offer details into an actionable ad brief, with a worked example and a plan for testing the result.
Sep 10, 2026
An ad copy review checklist before you spend
Review ad copy for promise, proof, objections, and a clear next step. Use a worked rewrite and funnel metrics to decide what deserves a test.
Sep 10, 2026
How to diagnose a video ad beyond its hook rate
Connect hook rate, hold rate, clicks, and conversions to diagnose video ads. Work through one example and choose the next edit with a clear hypothesis.
Sep 10, 2026
Is it ad fatigue? A practical account audit
Separate creative fatigue from auction costs, audience changes, and page problems. Compare frequency, response, and acquisition cost before replacing ads.
Sep 10, 2026
Fix the message gap between your ad and landing page
Audit the promise, proof, offer, and destination across an ad and landing page. Prioritize concrete fixes and measure them with a fair conversion test.
Sep 10, 2026
Build a static ad concept matrix worth testing
Separate new ad concepts from visual variations, map each concept to evidence, and size a creative slate that your budget can actually support.
Sep 10, 2026
Plan a discount campaign around contribution profit
Calculate the extra orders a discount must earn, account for campaign costs, and set a profit guardrail before promoting a lower price.
Sep 10, 2026
When free shipping and bundles improve the order
Evaluate shipping thresholds and bundles using incremental contribution, basket changes, and customer behavior, with a worked example and a test plan.
Sep 10, 2026
A customer acquisition plan your cash can support
Connect CAC, contribution LTV, and payback to a practical acquisition cash plan. Use cohort scenarios to expose the gap between value and available cash.
Sep 10, 2026
A Meta ad launch checklist from approval to delivery
Check creative versions, destinations, tracking, budgets, and account access before a Meta launch, then verify publishing, delivery, and results separately.
Aug 13, 2026
The DTC unit economics stack, from margin to payback
Contribution margin, break-even ROAS, LTV, CAC, and payback: the five numbers that decide whether a DTC brand can buy growth, worked end to end.
Aug 13, 2026
The math of planning Meta ad spend
Budget to impressions to clicks to orders: how to project a Meta plan honestly, which lever moves ROAS, and when a plan is really a creative brief.
Aug 13, 2026
How to size and read creative tests
Orders per concept, sample sizes, significance, and early-kill signals: a working playbook for creative testing budgets that produce readable results.
Aug 13, 2026
ROAS, MER, ACoS, ROI: which number to trust
Four efficiency metrics, four different questions. What each one actually measures, where each lies, and how DTC teams use them together.
Aug 13, 2026
UTM tagging that survives scale
A naming taxonomy for utm_source, medium, campaign, and content that stays readable at 50 campaigns, plus the mistakes that wreck GA4 reporting.
Aug 15, 2026
Team access in StefanBrain: locks, requests, approvals
How owners and admins control which teammates can use Video, Launch, and Creative Strategist, and how members request access in one click.