Fix These 3 Profit-Killing Mistakes Before Scaling Ad Spend

Hey there, it’s Patrick.

I just onboarded a brand doing $200k/month, aiming to scale to $500k/month.

Most marketers would tell this brand to spend more on ads to grow.

That’s the wrong move 90% of the time.

Why?

Because most brands are suffering from ‘leaky bucket syndrome.’

You’re spending on ads, but revenue is leaking out due to gaps in your strategy.

In 2025, you can’t afford a leaky bucket.

• Ad costs are rising.

• Competition is heating up.

• Profitability matters more than ever.

Let me show you how we solve this problem before spending more on ads.

Breaking Down the Numbers:

This brand makes $200,000/month in revenue.

• $100,000/month in ad spend

• $40 AOV (average order value)

• 20% of revenue from email ($40,000/month)

Their ads are actually acquiring customers profitably.

But here’s where most brands go wrong:

3 Key Metrics That Need Fixing:

🔴 AOV (Average Order Value) is too low.

🔴 Email revenue is underperforming.

🔴 Repeat purchase rate is weak.

Here’s the Exact Plan I’d Execute:

Increase AOV by 10%

Unlocking more upfront cash improves profitability. Two quick ways to do this:

✔️ Optimize the front-end offer: Introduce a higher-value bundle.

✔️ Implement upsells at checkout: Add no-brainer complementary upsells.

💡 Test these for 30-45 days and monitor CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost). If CAC holds steady, you’ve increased AOV without hurting conversions.

Increase Email & SMS Revenue

This brand only had two email flows live. That’s leaving money on the table.

✔️ Implement four additional email flows (abandoned checkout, win-back, etc.).

✔️ Optimize campaign strategy to increase frequency & segmentation.

✔️ Expand sends to a broader list without hurting deliverability.

Drive More Repeat Purchases

Most of this brand’s sales were one-and-done.

✔️ Use email flows to push cross-sells and repeat purchases.

✔️ Strategically expand the product line to increase LTV.

The Projected Impact:

If we fix these three things before scaling ads:

📈 Revenue increases from $200k to $300k-$400k/month.

📈 Higher profit margins & cash flow.

📈 Then, scale ads confidently to $500k/month.

At that stage, we’d also ramp up creative production to ensure a pipeline of winning ads.

This growth plan was built using our C.O.R.E. Growth Audit.

Our team has room to audit three more brands this week.

If you want a custom plan to scale profitably, claim your C.O.R.E. Growth Audit here.

🔥 Claim Your Audit →

Let’s make 2025 your biggest year yet.

Keep pushing forward,

Patrick O’Driscoll

CEO, The Visionary Group