DTC Hotline

In this episode of The DTC Hotline, we unpack what actually happened during BFCM across 147 brands, representing $127M in revenue and $25M in media spend. We break down: The macro story: 8–10% YoY growth, flat order volume, rising AOV, and the surge in BNPL Why UGC video and 3–4x more creative output became the unlock in a post-Advantage+ world The shock appearance of AppLovin as the #3 channel in...

AppLovin’s incrementality is way bigger than anyone expected, and in this episode of the DTC Hotline, we break down exactly why. With Black Friday/Cyber Monday right around the corner, brands are scrambling to understand whether AppLovin is a true “next-Meta” opportunity… or just hype. After running multiple incrementality tests across CTC’s client portfolio, the results are clear: this channel is...

Everyone panics in early November… but your Meta ROAS isn’t actually broken, you’re just looking at the wrong numbers. In today’s episode of The DTC Hotline, we break down the real truth about Meta performance leading into Black Friday:why efficiency always looks terrible right now, how delayed attribution works, and why this is the single worst moment to pull back on spend. Tony, Luke, and Richar...

Your brand’s doing $3M in revenue. You’re growing fast. But how do you actually project that growth for 2026, without guessing? In this episode of The DTC Hotline, we break down how to build a growth forecast like a $30M brand — using constraints, not wishful thinking. You’ll learn: How to forecast growth when you’re in the $3M–$10M stage The Spend-to-aMER model (and why it beats ROAS) How to set...

How should your Meta Ads account be structured to win this Black Friday and Cyber Monday? In this episode of The DTC Hotline, the CTC crew Richard, Tony, and Luke break down exactly how to set up your Meta account for BFCM success. You’ll learn: The simplest campaign structure that maximizes performance during peak sales When (and why) to use separate campaigns or bid caps How to create a “phantom...

Most brands talk about hitting their Q4 goals — but few have a system to identify and close revenue gaps before they happen. In this episode of The DTC Hotline , Tony, Luke, and Richard break down how to spot and fill revenue shortfalls during the holidays, using the same daily frameworks CTC applies across top DTC brands. They’ll walk through: How to pinpoint whether your gap is in new or returni...

Most brands have no idea how many ads they actually need to scale profitably on Meta. In this episode of The DTC Hotline, Tony, Luke, and Richard  break down the creative math behind Meta ad performance revealing how to calculate your brand’s true creative demand and avoid overspending during Q4. They’ll walk through: How to know if your Meta spend has hit the point of diminishing returns The 5 cr...

AppLovin’s Rise, Google Ads Setup, and the Amazon Reality CheckWelcome back to the DTC Hotline, your direct line to hot takes, cold truths, and real e-commerce advice from the team at Common Thread Collective. In this episode, “The Professor” and “The Chopper” dig into three huge topics shaping paid media right now:-AppLovin’s Rise — Why this mobile ad platform is suddenly delivering 2× Meta’s ROI...

You can’t just “optimize” your way through Q4.In this episode, Richard, Tony, and Luke tackle two real questions from DTC Hotline listeners: What should you prioritize when your new customer file is shrinking—short-term profitability or long-term growth? How should brands structure creative, offers, and remarketing campaigns heading into BFCM? The conversation covers hard trade-offs between short-...

You can’t media-buy your way out of a product, or offer, problem. In this episode, Richard, Tony, and Luke tackle two big questions from listeners:- What can low-conversion brands do to escape Meta’s learning phase?- How do you actually measure if YouTube demand gen is working? And the answers? They don’t live in your ad account. You’ll hear hard truths about attribution, the real power of offer s...

In this week’s episode of The DTC Hotline, Richard “The Professor” Gaffin is joined by Tony “The Chopper” Chopp (VP of Paid Media) and Luke “The Weatherman” Austin (VP of eCommerce Strategy) to answer the toughest operator questions—live from the Hotline. They tackle: • How to actually scale creative production (and why most brands get it wrong) • What Loop Earplugs is doing right—and how to repli...

In this week’s episode of The DTC Hotline, Richard “The Professor” Gaffin is joined by Tony “The Chopper” Chopp (VP of Paid Media) and Luke “The Weatherman” Austin (VP of Ecommerce Strategy) to answer the toughest operator questions—live from the Hotline. They tackle: How to structure BFCM offers that boost perceived value without killing your margin Why “returning customer media” might be more in...

In this week’s episode of The DTC Hotline, Richard “The Professor” Gaffin is joined by Tony “The Chopper” Chopp (VP of Paid Media) and Luke “The Weatherman” Austin (VP of eCommerce Strategy) to answer the toughest operator questions—live from the Hotline. They tackle: • How price increases in response to tariffs are affecting brands, supply chains, and consumer sentiment • Why “creative fatigue” i...

For today's episode of The Ecommerce Playbook Podcast, we're featuring our latest episode of The DTC Hotline. Richard Gaffin is joined by Tony Chopp (VP of Paid Media) and Luke Austin (VP of Ecommerce Strategy) to take on real questions from DTC operators. They tackle: What to do when your Meta campaign suddenly “stops working” How to troubleshoot between creative fatigue vs. policy/pixel/...

In this week’s episode of The DTC Hotline, Richard Gaffin is joined by Tony “The Chopper” Chopp (VP of Paid Media) and Luke “The Weatherman” Austin (VP of eCommerce Strategy) to take on real questions from DTC operators—bringing hot takes and cold truths on today’s toughest ad challenges. They tackle: - Should you move away from ASC if Meta overspends on the “wrong” age bracket? - What to do when...

In this week’s episode of The DTC Hotline, Richard Gaffin is joined once again by Tony “The Chopper” Chopp (VP of Paid Media) and Luke “The Weatherman” Austin (VP of eCommerce Strategy) to take real questions from eComm operators and Admission members—no fluff, just clear, hard-earned answers. They tackle: • What to do when “nothing works” on Meta (and why that diagnosis is often wrong) • How to s...

In the debut of The DTC Hotline, Richard Gaffin is joined by Tony “The Chopper” Chopp (VP of Paid Media) and Luke “The Weatherman” Austin (VP of eCommerce Strategy) to take real questions from eComm operators and Admission members—no fluff, just unfiltered answers. They tackle:• Why your Meta cost caps aren’t spending (and what to do about it)• How much creative is really “a lot” in today’s ad env...

Welcome to The DTC Hotline — the eCom call-in show. Hot takes, cold truths, real advice. Episode 1 premieres this Friday, August 8th! Hosted by Richard Gaffin, Tony “The Chopper” Chopp (VP of Paid Media) and Luke “The Weatherman” Austin (VP of eCommerce Strategy), this show takes real questions from real operators and breaks them down with unfiltered insights. Got a burning DTC question? Call or t...