James Symons

Scaling ecom brands 💸

[Liam Bradshaw @liambradshw]

Hiring a Creative Strategist at Retropia.

We're a camera accessories brand on a mission to turn everyday moments into visuals that feel like a dream.

We're a feeling brand, not a tech brand.

Scaling toward $1M/mo in ad spend, and most of it still rides on one product.

The next hire unlocks the rest.

$4k/mo base + performance.
Remote.

Apply if you understand the creative industry and you've shipped winners, not just ads: https://t.co/JBMlIgTZ2F

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

Advertising in its rawest form is just using your brain to influence someone else’s brain into buying from you.

It’s human to human.

Psychology = understanding them
Copywriting = your communication
Content = how you reach them

That’s the whole game.

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

@thedennis PROMPTS

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

@adamtaylorl Meta

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

@kamal_razzak @oliverbrocato @binghott @iamshackelford @DenneyDara @sourfraser @MatthewGattozzi @pkennedy93 @thedennis @harrydelmege_ @heyitsalexP Strat

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

I’ve managed $100M+ in Meta ad spend, and there’s one concept that matters more than anything else:

Winning Ad Hit Rate.

Most brands sit at 1–5%.
That means 95–99% of ads don’t work.

That’s not failure. That’s the game.

If your hit rate is 3% and you make 10 ads a month, the math isn’t on your side.

But if you’re pushing 100?
Now you’re consistently finding winners.

Volume finds winners.
Learning improves the rate.

Stop expecting every ad to work.
Build a system where the winners pay for the losers 1,000x over.

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

@danieldwalton 100% bro

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

ABO vs CBO isn’t why your ads aren’t scaling.

Your creative is.

No campaign structure saves weak messaging.
No media buying hack fixes bad angles.
No “tactic” replaces real customer research.

Meta doesn’t scale ad accounts.
It scales winning ads.

Stop reshuffling campaigns.
Start making better ads.

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

Your ads don’t suck because of targeting.

They suck because your hook is weak.

99% of brands obsess over things that don’t matter when making ads.

And ignore the first 3 seconds.

A real hook isn’t a clever sentence.

It’s a 3-layer stack:

1️⃣ Visual — stops the thumb
2️⃣ Copy — keeps the attention
3️⃣ Audio — deepens the pull

If you only wrote a line of copy, you didn’t build a hook.

You built a caption.

And you’re paying Meta to show it to people who will never care.

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

Black Friday was fun 😏

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

The best business strategy, at its core, is just this:

Prioritisation of resources.

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

@liambradshw 🫡

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

@liambradshw You’ve been cooking bro!😤

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

@KodyNordquist CREATIVE

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

🎬 A Killer Editor/Designer Is One of Your Biggest Creative Weapons

Let’s get one thing straight: your editor (or designer) isn’t just trimming clips and syncing audio, they’re literally controlling whether someone stops scrolling or keeps moving.
That thumb-stopping power? It’s in the hands of your editor.

Here’s why they’re your secret weapon (or your biggest bottleneck):

🧠 Editors Tell Stories, Not Just Edit Videos
A trained editor understands narrative flow, they know how to build tension, reveal benefits, deliver CTAs, and land emotional punches in under 30 seconds. The structure of your ad is the strategy, and editors are the ones executing it.

⚡ Great Execution = Great Performance
You could have the best angle and concept in the world, but if the pacing is off, if the messaging isn’t framed properly, or if the transitions are jarring, it won’t convert. Your editor is the one translating your concept into a format that actually works on Meta, TikTok, and YouTube.

🎯 Platform Fluency Is the Difference-Maker
The best editors are fluent in platform culture. They know what works on TikTok vs. Meta. They know native formats, what looks organic, what feels like an ad, and how to walk the line between the two.

📉 Weak Editor = Bottleneck
Slow turnaround times. Poor format. Weak visuals. Unclear messaging. Any one of these can tank an otherwise solid ad. If you’re struggling to scale, sometimes the issue isn’t strategy, it’s execution.

🔥 What to Look for in a Great Editor/Designer
Understands ad structure & funnel flowCollaborates on messaging, hooks, and formatsThinks like a strategist, not just a technicianAsks what footage is needed, not just works with what’s givenIterates quickly and tests new variations weekly

💡 Pro Tip for Your Creative Team:
Train your editors to give feedback on briefs, scripts, and shot lists. They often see angles or issues others miss because they’re closest to the edit. Treat them like a creative partner, not just a post-production vendor.

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

🧠 Concept > Format
If there’s one thing I want every DTC brand owner, media buyer, or creative strategist in this community to lock in this week, it’s this:

The concept behind your ad will always matter more than the format in which you package it.

Let me explain 👇

What is a concept?
Your concept is the foundation of your ad.
It’s not the footage. It’s not the editing style. It’s not whether it’s a UGC or a studio ad.

A strong ad concept is built on 3 key ingredients:
🎯 Offer – What are you selling? (Product, bundle, discount, guarantee)
👤 Audience – Who is it for? (Demographic, psychographic, awareness level)
💡 Angle – Why will they care? (Pain point, desire, transformation)

That’s your concept. Get this right, and you can apply it to:
A video ad
A static ad
A carousel
A podcast-style clip
A testimonial UGC mashup
A founder story, etc.
…and all of them can work, because the message works.

Most people test formats.
Winners test concepts.
If you’re just launching a bunch of different ad formats without a clear concept behind them, you’re throwing spaghetti at the wall and praying for virality.

Instead, what the best brands do:
✅ They figure out which concept is resonating
✅ Then they build multiple formats around that
✅ And that’s how they scale

Pro Tip:
If you’re not sure what your best concept is yet, go back to your customer research, reviews, and surveys. Keep testing.
Find the “aha!” moments — the pain, transformation, or product truths your customers mention over and over again.

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

@dtcvova Let’s gooooooo baby

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

Your ad creative’s messaging is the most crucial aspect of running paid ads on Meta. Period.

Don’t believe me? 🤯 Here’s why:

🏁 First Touch Point: Your ad is the start of your entire funnel. It’s the very beginning of the relationship with new customers.

🎯 Creative Is Your Targeting: Since iOS 14’s privacy updates limited targeting capabilities, creative has become the main way to capture your target audience’s attention and differentiate your product. Engaging, relevant visuals and messaging are the new “targeting” by resonating with specific customer avatars.

🥹 Emotional Connection: Creative helps establish an emotional connection with the audience. Effective ads entertain, educate, or inspire, making users more likely to trust and engage with the brand. Storytelling, humor, and visual drama are powerful ways to engage viewers.

💤 Ad Fatigue & Iteration: Creative helps combat ad fatigue. People’s tastes evolve, and performance can drop over time without fresh, varied creative. Constantly iterating based on data helps maintain relevance and effectiveness.

🤝 Authenticity Over Perfection: In the Meta ecosystem, ads that feel genuine and less polished often perform better. Audiences resonate with real-life scenarios.

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

Do you truly understand your customers?? 👀

❌ I’m not just talking about their demographics! (age, gender, geo-location, interests, etc.)

✅ I’m talking about their needs, wants, fears, desires and previous trials & tribulations?

Here are 5 questions you NEED to be asking your customers frequently:

*make these questions niche specific & broad.

1. What is the number 1 thing you need?
2. What is the number one thing that you want?
3. What is your biggest fear?
4. What do you deeply desire of the most?
5. What have you tried in the past and what do you hate about them?

[James Symons @Jamessymonsmp4]

Anyone relate??