Services
One team. Four levers.
Leadership, execution, creative and measurement under one roof, for ecommerce brands spending $50K+ a month.
Plaid Testing provides four DTC marketing services for ecommerce brands spending $50K or more a month on paid media: fractional CMO leadership, paid media management, performance creative testing, and tracking and attribution. They run as one plan under one senior operator, judged on contribution margin reconciled to the bank account rather than on platform-reported ROAS.
How the four services work as one plan
Most brands at this stage do not need four vendors. They need the decisions above the ad account made by someone accountable for the whole number, and the work below it run to the same plan. Each service covers one layer.
- Fractional CMO: strategy, budget, forecast, hiring and vendor decisions, owned by one operator rather than a committee.
- Tracking and attribution: server-side events, deduplication and new customer reporting, reconciled until platform, store and bank numbers agree.
- Paid media management: paid social, paid search and shopping run as one budget and reallocated weekly on blended results.
- Performance creative testing: written hypotheses, one variable per variant and agreed kill and scale rules, while your producers keep production.
Measurement usually comes first, because every media and creative decision inherits whatever error sits in the tracking. Most brands start with one service and grow into the full plan.
Paid media channels we run
Each channel has its own mechanics, but none of them owns its budget. Channels earn spend against each other on blended new customers and contribution margin.
- Google Ads: Shopping, Performance Max and search, with branded demand separated from new demand.
- Meta ads: Facebook and Instagram run on clean signal, consolidated structure and weekly creative tests.
- Instagram ads: Reels, Stories and creator partnership ads built for each placement.
- TikTok ads: Spark Ads, Smart+ and TikTok Shop campaigns judged on blended new customers.
- Snapchat ads: catalog ads, Sponsored Snaps and vertical video, tested with a holdout first.
Proof from the work
Brands are described by category rather than by name. Every figure traces to platform exports held on file.
- Athletic apparel brand: sales up 35.7% to $9.27M in the first half of 2026 while paid media investment rose 42%, with blended ROAS held at 3.36x.
- Fashion apparel and accessories brand: sales up 249% and net profit up 205% year over year, with spend scaled 4x.
- Womens fashion brand: sales up 99% and net profit up 136%, with new customer CPA down 21% and new customer ROAS up 58%.
The full breakdowns, including what changed and in what order, are in the ecommerce case studies.
Who these services fit
Ecommerce brands investing $50K or more a month in paid media, most often in apparel, athletic wear, fashion and accessories, and wellness and supplements. The clearest signals are a founder who is still the de facto head of marketing, spend scaling while contribution margin is unknown or contested, and platform numbers nobody fully trusts.
Jason Lu is a Meta Business Partner, presented Meet Moby 2 on Triple Whale’s Customer Education Series and has spoken on a panel at The Whalies. You work with him directly, from the free growth audit onward.
Questions buyers ask before choosing a DTC marketing partner
What is the difference between a DTC marketing agency and a fractional CMO?
An agency usually owns the channels named in its contract and reports at channel level. A fractional CMO owns strategy across every channel, the budget and the measurement. Plaid Testing combines the two: senior strategy plus the team running paid media, creative testing and tracking, with no retainer required to start.
Which service should an ecommerce brand start with?
Usually measurement. If platform numbers do not reconcile to store revenue and the bank account, every media and creative decision inherits the error, so tracking and attribution often comes first. Brands that need direction above the ad account start with fractional CMO leadership, and brands with strategy in place often start with paid media management.
How much do these services cost?
Plaid Testing does not publish a rate. Scope and price are set after the free 30 minute growth audit, once the real condition of the account, the tracking and the margin structure is known. For reference, fractional CMO market rates run roughly $4,000 to $20,000 a month (GoFractional, 2026). No retainer is required to start.
What size of brand are these services built for?
Ecommerce brands investing $50K or more a month in paid media, most often in apparel, athletic wear, fashion and accessories, and wellness and supplements. Below that level the constraint is usually offer, creative volume and retention rather than senior management, and the honest advice is to spend there first.
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