I was speaking to a DTC brand owner who WAS spending $3million/month on ads with a ROAS of 1.25x. Now, he’s at $1million/month with a ROAS of 1.

The ads “stopped” working, and he’s no longer profitable.

As a (somewhat desperate) last resort, he’s trying to fix the unprofitability by running larger discounts and better “deals.”

Buy 1, get 2 for free. That type of stuff, all over his ad library and landing pages.

That is definitely a strategy, although I wouldn’t recommend it.

Relying on discounts on paid traffic is like trying to open a door by pushing on the hinges. The door might open, but you’re using a lot of force.

And in the end, you’re left with a broken door. It’s much easier to just open the door by turning on the handle. Smooth, easy, and effortless.

In this article, I’ll share what I told him, but I’ll go more in-depth (since I do my best thinking in writing)…

… and how I would approach this situation, with a real life “swipeable” example.

First, some quick context about the offer:

He’s selling those feminine gummies that help women with their odor “down there”.

Exceptionally underrated market.

And it’s underrated for a variety of reasons.

They’re selling gummies, for once.

And gummies are in the innovative stage of their market cycle right now.

They’re new, they’re hot, it’s a fresh claim. And most women have not tried them yet, especially not for this particular issue they have.

It’s quite “easy” to sell to them at this stage.

And the reason it’s easy to sell to them is because, well, they haven’t hit that “critical” stage yet. The critical stage is where they’re slowly becoming more aware of what’s going on.

They’ve heard claims and promises of smelling fresh down there with just a gummy or two a day, and they’ve heard it from not just one, but multiple companies.

At this stage, they might start having thoughts such as...

“Hey wait a minute, a lot of these gummy brands are not as good as they claim they are...”

“The product is kinda expensive for what you get...”

“And you know what, they don’t actually help me with my issue down there...”

And so on, and so on.

The “less ideal” experiences are starting to pile up. They might hear friends and coworkers talk about the gummies. They hear their good experiences, and their bad experiences.

At this stage, they’ve likely tried one or a few gummies for “feminine balance.”

And the results may have been inconsistent, or simply not lived up to the hype.

They’re slowly becoming more skeptical.

And once they’re skeptical, simple claims start to become noise.

Suddenly, the whole “smell fresh down there” goes into one ear and out the other.

Next, the ads “stop working” and profitability goes down (because the market changed).

The only way for the brand to get out of this noise is to start playing the game at the next stage of the market cycle.

One of my favorite ways of doing that is with a mechanism.

But most people get the mechanism wrong.

They explain “how the product works” or “why it works so well.”

But they don’t make the mechanism twofold, with both a problem mechanism AND a solution mechanism. Those two are very different.

Another way people get the mechanism wrong:

They don’t relate it back to the market, to their previous AND current experiences.

So not only do you need a mechanism…

… but the mechanism needs to be a strong one, a legit one, one that actually makes sense, that is BELIEVABLE, and that the market hasn’t heard yet.

This is one of the reasons why plagiarizing (or “swiping”) a proven offer never works as well for the brand copying it as it does for the originator.

Because the market has already heard it. You’re not “first.” There’s no “blue ocean” or “first mover’s advantage.”

For the feminine hygiene brand, they did have a mechanism, kinda, but not really.

If you can call it a mechanism, it would be a simple one.

And it’s very similar to what other brands in the same market are saying.

But they didn’t have a twofold mechanism.

Depending on the medium of your message (ad, VSL, advertorial, quiz, listicle, sales letter, etc.) there are many ways to introduce the twofold mechanism.

Here is an example of how you could communicate your mechanism at this (critical) market stage:

==

“We ordered 8 different feminine balance gummies, and after reading their ingredients list, we found something shocking in ALL of them.

Every single one was missing the #1 requirement for true feminine balance.

Which is exactly the reason those gummies didn’t work for you.

Because they were all missing this one thing that’s making all the difference for how women smell “down there.”

Most of these gummies contained “vaginal probiotics.” You’ve probably heard they’re supposed to be good for your feminine balance.

But here’s what they forgot to tell you:

Those probiotics can be good for your overall health, but for intimate issues downstairs…

… most gummies on the market are missing a little-known ingredient that’s crucial for having you smell like a fresh ocean breeze.

A lot of women think the reason they have a bad smell down there is because of X, Y, and Z reasons.

But that’s not the real problem.

What’s really going on is that their bodies are missing a fresh and oh-so-powerful enzyme called bromelain.

Bromelain is interesting because it was first discovered by Venezuelan chemist Vicente Marcano.

And what’s even more interesting is that bromelain is doing most of the heavy lifting in making things smell like flowers down there.

What exactly does it do?

Well, bromelain breaks down the bad bacteria in the vaginal walls, which is causing the bad smell.

Without this enzyme, the bad bacteria stays, which means the bad smell stays too, no matter how much you wash or wipe.

How do I know this?

Well, bromelain is actually found in pineapple.

And you may have heard that pineapple is supposed to make you smell like, well, pineapple.

But that’s kinda a big misconception, because it’s actually the bromelain enzyme that’s doing the magic, not the pineapple itself.

As soon as women hear this…

They might think:

“Oh, so the solution to my problem is to start eating pineapples or drink a lot of pineapple juice, right?”

Well, I thought so too.

But that’s not the real solution.

And the reason it’s not the real solution?

For you to get enough bromelain in your body, so you can *actually* smell fresh down there, you would need to eat the equivalent of 12kg of pineapples a day.

And that would bring you a whole laundry list of different problems. And you definitely don’t want to consume that much sugar either.

So here is what we did instead…

Something that is different from all those other gummy brands:

We sourced the purest form of bromelain we could find, straight from the South American forest.

And we PAIRED it with vaginal probiotics and prebiotics.

Because once you pair it…

… your body and your feminine flora can actually absorb everything properly…

… both the probiotics and the magic little enzyme that’s going to have the bad, odor-causing bacteria disappear….

… And after it disappears…

… it’s going to allow you to feel fresh down there again…

… around the clock, 24/7, day and night.

In one clinical study, the combination of probiotics and enough bromelain found in pineapple extract reduced the odor in the vaginal walls in 83% of all women.

That study was made by Stanford University, and it included a wide range of women, from the ages of 22 all the way up to 85.

And so, not only have we added the clinical doses to our products…

… but we’ve consulted the sharpest and brightest feminine experts in the world…

… to ensure our products are perfectly safe for consumption and for the female body overall.

More importantly, we’ve done everything we can to ensure it works.

We teamed up with Dr. _______ .

She examined our full ingredient list with 3rd party lab tests.

After she gave the clinical greenlight…

She started feeding it to some of her patients who have been stubbornly struggling with this issue for quite some time now.

And the results, well, they surprised even us.

Although the test group was small, just by combining vaginal probiotics AND bromelain for 3 short weeks…

ALL her patients reported a reduced smell in their delicate, downstairs area.

Finally, these women were allowed to feel fresh and confident again.

They now had permission to start living their life again…

Something they’ve been missing for what felt like an eternity…

Now, their dreams were coming to fruition….

Because with [product name], you and your body can finally start working together again…

In perfect harmony…

Just like it was always meant to do…

This is exactly how you were meant to feel, at all times…

And we couldn’t be more excited for you…

For the transformation you are about to have…

It’s going to show up everywhere…

People are going to perceive you differently….

You are going to be glowing…

With pure radiance…

You might even start to feel younger…

You’re certainly going to be more confident…

And when you are…

Everyone is going to be asking you…

“What changed?” Tell me your secret!”

Well, the “secret” is no longer so secret…

Because now…

If it feels okay with you…

We would love to invite you to try the…”

and then you continue with the ad, the VSL, or whatever piece you’re writing for your campaign.

==

I wrote the above blurb in one go, spontaneously, without any research.

The only thing I searched for was who originally discovered the enzyme, so I could add it for the article’s sake.

And then I cleaned up the grammar, any super obvious spelling mistakes, and so on.

As you can see, I “made up” a few things on the spot to communicate the idea.

I added the Stanford University study, the Doctor collaboration, the 12kg of pineapples, the absorption rate, and so on.

You add these elements to “make your case” for whatever you’re promoting.

They also make the copy more compelling and more “persuasive.”

It’s all EXAMPLES, by the way.

To give you an idea of how to present the twofold mechanism.

Frankly, I have no idea if what I wrote above is even correct, it’s just me going in “blind” with zero research based on what I already know.

For a real-life campaign, I would go back, read the facts, do the research, see what I find that I like and only share what is true.

If the brand I’m working with does not have a medical spokesperson…

… then I might find a clinical expert who has publicly commented on one of the ingredients in the product we’re selling.

There are many ways to play around with it.

Many ways to show “proof” and “authority” even if you don’t have that proof or authority yourself.

What I wanted to show with this example is that when a market enters this stage, the critical stage…

… my opinion is that you need more “advanced” marketing.

Twofold mechanisms are one way to pull off that advanced marketing.

Of course, it’s not the only way.

But it can be surprisingly effective.

Especially when presenting a mechanism, one that makes sense.

One that is truthful, and one your market has not heard before.

Lastly:

The above blurb I wrote could be part of a video ad, a medium or long-form VSL, a text-based ad, a sales letter, landing page, advertorial.

It could be shorter, it could be longer.

The possibilities are endless, especially when you know your shit.

At the end of the day, it’s all a message.

It’s all messaging.

And it’s the messaging that makes the money, not the medium.

So it doesn’t matter that much if you’re running a quiz, an advertorial or a VSL.

What matters the most, and what has the most impact, is how the message is being communicated.

And how your product and offer is being presented to your market during their current stage.

Namaste.