The Ecommerce Playbook Podcast

Hosted ByTaylor Holiday & Richard Gaffin

2020 transformed the world of ecommerce forever. For the modern DTC brand, the rewards have never been greater. But the waters have also never been choppier, and the way forward has never been more uncertain. So how do you navigate this dangerous new reality? No matter how you do it, you’d better not do it alone. That’s where the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast comes in — join Common Thread Collective’s Taylor Holiday & Richard Gaffin as they bring you guiding insights from across CTC’s portfolio of growing DTC businesses. Whether you need a clear view on the macro issues affecting the world.

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The Ecommerce Playbook | We Analyzed $1.5 Billion in Meta Spend. Here’s What We Found.

August 25, 2026 The Ecommerce Playbook Podcast 00:29:50
The Ecommerce Playbook Podcast
The Ecommerce Playbook Podcast
The Ecommerce Playbook | We Analyzed $1.5 Billion in Meta Spend. Here's What We Found.
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We connected Claude to our Statlas database and analyzed $1.5 billion in Meta spend across 320 accounts and $100 million in Google spend across 134 stores. The question: do platform bid controls actually deliver what they promise?

Tony Chopp, CTC’s VP of Media Investment, walks through what we found — and what it means for how you build your paid media foundation.

  • Min ROAS hits its target. Cost per result does not.

  • On Meta, cost per result goal achieved its target less than half the time.

  • On Google, tROAS ran above target at 1.3x. tCPA ran below at 0.8x.

  • ROAS-based bidding gives the algorithm more flexibility to find high-value buyers.

  • TikTok’s GMV Max budget scaling solves the liquidity vs. predictability tension.

  • The brands willing to spend the most to acquire a customer win the auction.

The takeaway: build your paid media foundation on ROAS-based bidding. Not because it’s a rule — because the data says it gives you the best chance to thread the needle between maximum investment and margin protection.

Show Notes: