Issue 210: Founder Meta Ads Over Everything

+ 1 fix to save Q4 (even b4 it starts)

August 29, 2025

| THE INTRO

Ahoy! It’s officially happening. We’re doing the long-requested SoCal Merchant Meetup, workspace6 style, for Commerce Roundtable.

You want in? Sure ya do. Because there’s only 35 spots.

So, consider this your cue: If you’re going to Commerce Roundtable (discount tickets below 👇️) then you definitely wanna be at this soiree. 🧐 

| EVENT CITY ROCK & ROLL

Wanna get together IRL?

Commerce Roundtable hooked us up with a discount.

Sept 22–23 in San Diego.

We’ll be there. If you’re local or want an excuse to be, come jam.

Bring your team if they’ll get something out of it.

Register here: commerceroundtable.com → (40% off code: W6VIP)

If you’re bringing teammates, make sure they register by Sept 1.

| TWEET OF THE WEEK

| YOUTUBE UNIVERSITY

Why I'd Choose Founder Ads on Meta Over Everything

Black Friday Thanksgiving GIF by NBC

🔥 This 1 Fix Can Save Q4

Your Q4 isn’t broken. But it’s definitely limping.
There’s a surprisingly dumb thing most brands screw up right when the stakes are highest—and it’s dragging down your biggest quarter. One switch flips the whole thing back on.

  • The invisible “conversion tax” you're probably paying right now

  • Why your Q4 promos feel loud but land soft

  • What actually makes a landing page print money

  • The tweak that makes high-intent buyers stop bouncing

This isn’t theory. It’s a fire alarm for anyone betting big on Q4.
👉️ Here’s what the sharp brands are fixing before October

| TOGETHER WITH DOSS

Doss is an Adaptive Resource Platform (ARP) that molds to your business processes, not the other way around. Built on a composable architecture, Doss unifies your entire operation into a single source of truth that adapts to your unique workflows: orders, inventory, procurement, production planning, warehousing, and accounting. With built-in business intelligence and reporting, you get instant insights where your data lives, without juggling multiple point systems or wrestling with integrations.

Traditional ERPs like NetSuite and Dynamics promise comprehensive features but deliver comprehensive headaches. Even newer platforms like Odoo and Cin7 trap you in the same cycle: expensive and lengthy implementations, constant technical debt, and systems that break when your business changes. Pick a system that grows with your business, and cares to understand it.

| QUICK SHOTS

Maurice Rahmey Meta quietly rolled out a new feature called Optimize Website Destination — and it could have a huge impact on how your ads perform.

Barry Hott Stop worrying about your day over day Meta ads performance.

Sarah Levinger 15 years as a marketer and I'm just now learning this...DID YOU GUYS KNOW THIS??

Andrew Farris The way you stated this is really important for thinking through this whole issue:

Sarah Levinger 33 things I wish more marketers knew 🧵👇

| HERE FOR THE MEMES

| AND IN OTHER NEWS…

Dollar General builds a rural delivery edge over Walmart and Amazon—and it’s taking their higher-income shoppers, too

Even higher-income shoppers are now “value-seeking,” Dollar General CEO said.

Skutopia raises $38 million to roll out more robot warehouses

Skutopia has raised $38 million, reaching a $100 million valuation as it expands its automated fulfilment network in Australia.

American Eagle’s Travis Kelce collab extends celebrity-led marketing streak

A capsule collection with the NFL star’s Tru Kolors brand features high-impact outdoor, podcast and social media buys.

NBCUniversal Research: Consumers Won’t Skimp on Back-to-School — but They Will Spend Carefully - Retail TouchPoints

Schools are already open in some parts of the country, but the 2025 back-to-school (BTS) shopping season still has a few weeks, if not months, to run.

Back-to-college marketing playbook—how brands are turning campuses into content engines

Brands such as Poppi and Urban Outfitters are doubling down on their college marketing efforts this year.

'No longer that underdog': How chief brand officer Terence Reilly is scaling Crocs and Heydude

Terence Reilly, who previously lead Stanley, speaks with Modern Retail about his plans to build Crocs and Heydude.

| GET LINKED

You don't scale a brand by targeting everyone with your ads.

You scale by targeting many niche market segments.

After auditing $50M+ in ad spend across premium e-commerce brands, here's the framework that's actually driving profitable scale:

The Cascade Targeting System

Most brands get targeting backwards.

They optimize for reach instead of resonance.

Here's the 3-layer framework that's generating a 3X-10X MER:

| RECOMMENDED SOFTWARE & SERVICES

  • "Good enough" can quietly kill your ability to scale. If your influencer program's gaining traction (congrats!), you don't need "good enough"; you need the best.  Enter Modash, the influencer marketing platform built for Shopify brands. It helps you scale recruitment, comms, logistics, and tracking without a bloated price tag. Try for free for 14 days.

  • BoxFort Commerce helps clothing & high-sku brands scale with efficient Shopify fulfillment. Unlike the Bobs & Monks of logistics, we ship hundreds of thousands of orders for 3 of our own clothing and jewelry brands, so it’s imperative that our processes are built around saving money & consistency. Learn more here.

  • Doss is an adaptive ERP that connects your fragmented systems and data into a single source of truth for orders, inventory, procurement, and finance. Skip the lengthy implementations, massive upfront costs, and business disruption of traditional ERPs. Go live in weeks with free implementation and start scaling immediately. Book a demo.

| STAT ATTACK

| THE OUTRO

Don’t forget! You def. wanna be at the SoCal Merchant Meetup. Reserve your seat, thusly:

💪 Workspace6

☝️☝️☝️
They’re reaching 7, 8 and 9 figure merchants.

Talk to us about sponsoring this newsletter.