Paid social for CPG brands: direct and retail sales
CPG paid social usually means Facebook and Instagram through Meta. We also talk through TikTok, Pinterest or YouTube where your shoppers spend time. Talk through paid social for your own checkout, retail distribution or both, with product availability and the evidence you can measure at the center. Plan your next campaign around the way customers actually buy.
30 minutes: fit for your market + what a campaign looks like. No pitch deck.
Where should the sale happen?
An ad that sends people to your own checkout and an ad that encourages them to buy at a retailer are different campaigns. Direct campaigns can connect many clicks to orders on your site. Retail campaigns aim to get shoppers to pick your product on a shelf or retailer site, where the purchase usually happens out of view of the ad platform. In the conversation we clarify which path each campaign would support. Some retailers share their product catalog with brands through Meta's Collaborative Ads, which lets a brand send shoppers straight to that retailer's site or app and see the sales the retailer's own tracking reports. Not every retailer offers this, so we ask which of yours do.
Availability comes before spend
Ads should not push products people cannot buy. We ask which products are in stock on your site, which retailers carry them and in which areas, because patchy availability changes what a campaign should do. If your product is in some stores but not others, we talk through keeping ads to the areas around stores that actually carry it, so spend follows your distribution.
Product claims need support
Claims about what a product does, especially health or nutrition benefits, need proper support before they run. Your team decides which claims are approved, and any creative discussed would stay inside them. The same applies to creator and customer videos used in ads. A paid relationship needs a clear disclosure, and a creator's claim about your product needs the same support as your own.
Be honest about measurement
Sales on your own site are easier to connect to ads, but not completely: consent choices, browser privacy limits and attribution settings mean some orders go unseen, and a tracked order does not prove the ad caused it. Retail sales are harder still. Without sales data from a retailer or a measurement partner, ad reporting will not show which store purchases came from ads. We would agree which signals matter for you, such as site orders, store locator clicks, retailer link clicks or your own sales trends, and what each can and cannot show. The most direct way to see whether ads changed sales is a lift test, where a control group does not see the ads. It needs enough spend and sales to read clearly, so we talk through whether one fits your plan or whether simpler signals are the honest choice for now. If your products relate to health, such as supplements or personal care, Meta may limit which purchase events your site can share, which affects what campaigns can optimize for. We check this before planning a sales campaign.
Channels beyond Meta
Facebook and Instagram are the usual starting point, and they are not the only channels we talk through. TikTok often fits when a product can be shown in a short video, including how a creator would describe it inside your approved claims. Pinterest often fits when people are planning a purchase or saving a recipe. YouTube often fits when a longer walk-through or a pre-roll ad can explain the product before someone chooses where to buy it.
How an engagement runs
Work starts with the scoping conversation, covering the purchase path, product availability, the claims your team has approved and what you want the first campaign to do. If there is a fit, we set out a proposal for the channels, the campaign's job, the creative needed and how results will be reported. Your team reviews the proposal before any ads are built and reviews the ads before anything is published. Once ads are running, we share the signals we agreed to watch, and changes to creative, audiences or spend are proposed and approved before they go out.
Common questions
Can you show which store sales came from our ads?
Not from ad reporting alone. That needs sales data from the retailer or a measurement partner, or a lift test. We talk through which of those you have access to.
We already run ads on Amazon or Walmart. Does paid social replace that?
No. Retailer ad networks are a separate channel. Tell us what you run there and we talk through how social would sit next to it.
Do you work with brands that sell both online and in stores?
Yes. That is the main reason this conversation starts with where each sale happens.
Can you plan ads around a product launch or a seasonal campaign?
Yes. Bring the launch or season, where the products will be sold and which claims are already approved. We plan the ads so the message and the stock line up, and we do not name a go-live date until your team has approved the creative and confirmed that the product is available where the ads will mention it.
Who owns the ad creative and UGC after the engagement?
Work we produce for your ads is intended to stay with your brand when the engagement ends. Creator or customer videos follow the usage rights agreed with the person who made them. We will put our intended terms in the proposal and the contract. Please confirm those terms in the signed agreement, because this page states our intent and is not a substitute for the contract.
Bring one growth decision to the call
Are you trying to win first purchases, bring back repeat buyers, grow orders on your site, support a retail launch or reach shoppers where your products are stocked? Bring that priority, your product range, where it sells, the claims your team has approved and any sales data you already receive. The conversation starts with the purchase path, the evidence available to judge performance and whether we are the right fit.
If there is a fit, scope and pricing are discussed after the conversation. Ad spend is agreed separately.
For our wider services, see our paid social services page.