Sharad Thaper

Structuring your subscription offer the right way has a dramatic impact on how many first-time buyers opt in. To go from the average 20% to 35%+ take rate, optimize your product page as follows: 1. Default to subscriptions (don’t leave it to chance and have users actively opt into it) 2. Front-load the incentive (strong offer for the first order) 3. Show flexibility and remove risk from subscribing (show ability to skip, pause, cancel and any money back guarantee) 4. Improve choice architecture (multiple subscription options that anchor on the middle option) 5. Make value obvious (not just price) 6. Match customer behavior (match cadence to how customers actually use the product)

My best ads are the ones with the lowest frequency in the ad account and a ton of ad spend. Makes sense since this is a great indicator of an ad that is converting cold traffic very well.

A solid mini-VSL ad. 1. Strong unique mechanism tied to Native American rituals and backed by science 2. Opening could be a little stronger by promising a bigger payoff, but the ad works and has been scaling 3. Doesn't introduce the product until after 2 min in

Great article. A few related thoughts: 1. A higher AOV isn't always the best idea. As your AOV increases, the audience pool that is likely to buy at that given moment shrinks. Sometimes it's easier to scale at a lower AOV. 2. Many times, more ad impressions are needed to convert that smaller audience at the higher price point, leading to higher frequencies and higher CACs (which is also being driven by the higher CPMr). However, a higher CAC isn't always a bad thing (see point 3 below)... 3. Not only do CRO and media buying need to be tied together, but retention and LTV modeling also need to be a part of the same conversation. It's easy to declare a “winner” based on CAC/ROAS/conversion rate, but that can be misleading if you’re not looking at the downstream effects of the ads, landing pages, and offers. Sometimes, a landing page variant with a higher CAC can lead to a better 3-month/6-month LTV.

Posted a 4+ hour long video on building advertorials with AI on YT. Link in bio.

Have seen landing page tests where a variant with worse CAC actually led to better LTV over time. Easy to declare a “winner” based on CAC/ROAS/conversion rate, but that can be misleading if you’re not looking downstream.

When we're analyzing subscription churn, we rely on a comprehensive framework to understand why customers are leaving and where the opportunities are to improve retention: 1. Overall churn trends We start by looking at total churn and blended churn rate over time. This helps us quickly spot volatility, seasonality, or recent changes that may have impacted retention. A flat average can hide a lot of swings underneath—so trend lines matter. 2. Cohort-based churn Next, we analyze churn by original order date and relative lifecycle milestones (Day 30, Day 60, etc.). This is where patterns emerge: Are customers dropping off early? → onboarding or expectation mismatch Are they churning later? → product fatigue or pricing sensitivity 3. Product-level churn Not all products behave the same. Breaking churn down by SKU often reveals: Hero products with strong retention Underperforming products dragging overall churn up This is usually where the fastest wins come from (bundling, swaps, or repositioning offers). 4. Churn rate over time by product We layer in time to see if specific products are trending worse (or better). This helps isolate: Inventory or fulfillment issues Changes in customer experience External factors (seasonality, promotions, etc.) 5. Subscription lifetime distribution Looking at average + median lifetime and the distribution curve gives us a reality check: Are we relying on a small group of long-term subscribers? Is there a sharp drop-off early in the lifecycle? This informs LTV assumptions and how aggressive we can be with acquisition. 6. Cancellation reasons (what's the reasoning behind their decision?) The qualitative data provides the story behind the raw data and allows us to improve customer service while optimizing the email and SMS flow messaging and timing. How we turn this into action: Once we identify the patterns, we map them to specific interventions: Early churn → onboarding flows, education, trial optimization Mid-cycle churn → replenishment timing, reminders, incentives Product-specific churn → swaps, bundles, or reformulation Late churn → loyalty, subscriptions perks, or pricing strategies

This is a space that works well with strong direct response tactics. Several profitable brands in the multiple 8 figure range are selling similar products with the following strategy: 1. Mini-VSL ads 2. Advertorials 3. Custom checkouts with volume discounts and upsells 4. Aggressive email strategy to promote subscriptions

Funny how copywriting has become one of the least important elements of my businesses. Putting comprehensive frameworks into place has made generating angles and writing copy very systematized. What's become more important is creating a cohesive ecosystem of tech integrations and proper monthly planning: 1. Retention 2. Subscriptions 3. Data analytics 4. Financial forecasting And much more. Yes, copy is still important, but the system and building leverage is a much bigger needle mover of course.

80% gross margins + $100+ AOV with consumable products and 2 to 3 hero SKUs makes scaling a lot easier.

Harsh truth: Brands that don’t give discounts and run sales are leaving significant money on the table. 99% of the time you don’t have a “brand” or reputation to protect. Instead, create offers that protect your margins and support customer retention.

Great advice for any brands below or around $100k/month. Biggest mistake I've seen is brands let their OpEx get out of control. Have to be lean and scrappy to succeed.

This is something many people don’t understand. Meta ads are all about stability at volume. And the best ads are the ones you can spend the most on. They don’t necessarily have the best ROAS or CPAs. But they can scale.

These ads are just gimmicks and shared by marketers who don't understand how to scale ads on cold traffic. Before creating any ad or following any trend, ask yourself the following question: Will the ad I'm creating effectively persuade someone who has never heard of my business before to take immediate action and purchase? Ads for which you can answer with "yes" are the ones that have the highest probability of success.

Skill issue really. Those who say statics work better just don’t have the copywriting, video editing, etc. needed to make short-form or long-form video work.

Ecom brands that have the highest rate of success with Meta ads have several characteristics in common. Here are six of the most important ones: 1. High margins (70%+ gross margins) 2. $100+ AOV 3. LTV/CAC is at least 4x 4. Consumable products 5. Returning customer rate is at least 20% 6. For subscriptions, one month retention is 85% and six-month retention is at least 50%

As a business owner, you should never pay a percentage of revenue to your email marketing agency.

This is what I call the "local maximum" problem. By testing only similar variations of what has worked in the past, you'll have a tough time moving beyond the natural cap set by the initial winning asset and the target audience. The only way to counteract this is by testing a wide range of content types (video, statics, etc.) and angles. Don't be fooled by the local maximum created by the winning asset and limit your reach by only testing variations of what worked in the past.