Most e-commerce brands are stuck in a performance plateau – and they don’t know why.
They’ve got the paid media budget.
The agency or freelancer managing campaigns.
The pretty site. The smooth UX.
But the numbers? Flat.
Here’s the inconvenient truth:
Most brands obsess over the wrong levers.
This week, we’re going to dig into the counterintuitive factors I learned from working with multiple 9-figure brands that separate the pros from everyone else – and why conventional wisdom is costing brands millions in untapped revenue.
Let’s dive in.
Everyone optimizes for performance. Few understand what actually moves the needle.
Most performance marketing is built on a house of cards:
- CPMs go up
- Clicks stay the same
- Conversion drops
- And everyone blames the algorithm
Here’s what pros do differently:
1. They don’t chase ROAS. They engineer AOV and LTV.
The amateur chases ROAS because it’s a clean, dashboard-friendly metric.
The pro knows ROAS is the effect, not the cause.
Want higher ROAS? Raise your AOV.
That means:
- Bundles, not just discounts
- Cross-sells before the cart, not just after
- Intelligent product sequencing that tells a story and lifts spend naturally
Rookie brands focus on ads that sell.
Pros focus on offers that scale.
2. They don’t obsess over homepage design. They build modular landing systems.
The homepage is the ego piece.
But the real conversions? They happen on high-intent, frictionless landers built for paid traffic.
Pros build:
- Product-specific funnels
- Intent-matched offers
- Segmented storytelling (different entry points, different angles)
One message to one person with one job:
Click → Buy.
Everything else is noise.
3. They don’t start with “brand story.” They reverse-engineer from customer objections.
Founders want to lead with their mission.
Pros lead with what’s blocking the conversion.
Before they write a headline, they ask:
- Why wouldn’t someone buy this right now?
- What anxiety are they feeling?
- What have they seen 10 times before that makes them skeptical?
Then they dismantle those objections one by one:
- With reviews
- With visuals
- With mechanisms and proof
Conversion copywriting isn’t persuasion. It’s risk removal.
4. They don’t “test creatives.” They test angles.
Most brands throw up new ad variations and hope one sticks.
Pros test strategies, not colors and CTAs.
That means mapping out:
- Pain-driven angles
- Curiosity hooks
- Social proof narratives
- Product mechanism stories
- Urgency + offer combos
The best creative isn’t always the prettiest – it’s the one that reframes the product in a way that finally makes it click.
The takeaway
Conversion is not about better buttons, fonts, or slight CRO tweaks.
It’s about knowing the psychological journey your customer is on – and building a full-funnel experience that removes friction at every step.
Here’s the shift:
From “How do we get better ROAS?”
To “How do we create an offer that’s irresistible – so ROAS becomes inevitable?”
This is what I’m seeing the largely successful e-commerce operators do behind the screens.
Until next time.