Your reliable winner stopped carrying the account
Has the ad worn out, or has the promise stopped getting a response?
Give the creative team a test that separates the execution from the promise and tells them when to move on.
Find what stalled your DTC growth in 14 days
For DTC brands spending $50,000+ a month on ads, I investigate your account, margins and customer research to find what’s holding growth back and give you a clear plan for getting it moving again.
You should keep reading if you are here.
I help DTC brands find what’s holding growth back, then use Brandformance to rebuild the positioning, story and messaging to help turn more of your ad spend into profitable sales. Your team gets the strategy, copy and briefs to give more buyers a reason to choose you, with a test plan for measuring the difference.
Your team has different answers for the stall, and I test them before you spend more
Your agency wants fresh ads while finance worries about margins. When customers praise a benefit those ads barely mention, it gets harder to know which fix deserves your budget.
I use the Method’s 5-cause diagnostic to test those explanations against your account, margins and customer research, so you know what to change first and how to measure whether it’s helping growth.
First, we agree on the question
We use the intake call to agree the growth problem we’re investigating and review what you’ve already tried. Once we have the information needed to investigate, the 14-day diagnostic begins.
Then I test the possible causes
I look at why customers choose you and where others hesitate, then compare that with your ads and what each sale earns. By connecting the buyer’s experience with your results, I can identify what needs attention before you spend more.
On day 14, you get the verdict
You leave with a written diagnosis of what’s limiting growth and a plan for fixing it. We work through that plan together, so your team knows where to start and how to judge whether the changes help.
Once we know what’s limiting growth, we can decide what needs to change across your brand positioning, ads, product pages and lifecycle marketing. Your team can act on the diagnosis, or continue into the Method for the positioning, brand story, copy and creative briefs that help those parts of your marketing work together.
A flat growth curve can mean 5 very different problems
A new creative round may repeat a promise buyers have tuned out, while an unprofitable order needs work on the offer. The ad account, margin sheet and buyer response each leave different clues. I check them before recommending a fix.
One visible plateau
- Creative fatigue
- Audience saturation
- Message-market mismatch
- Offer economics
- Trust deficit
Find the cause behind the slowdown
Creative fatigue
You keep making new ads, but sales keep slipping
As your best ad loses sales, your team tries new versions to win them back. If those versions keep making the same promise, you still need to find out whether buyers have tired of the ad or lost interest in the benefit.
Find the cause
I look at what changed in the results and what customers still value, so we can decide whether to refresh the ad or give people a different reason to buy.
Know what to change
Your creative team gets a clear direction for the next test, with a reason behind the change.
Audience saturation
More spend reaches the same people without bringing enough new buyers
As you raise the budget, the same people see your ads more often, so each new customer can cost more to win. To keep growing, you need to understand who else would want your product and what would make them choose it.
Find the cause
I check how far your current audience can take you, then use customer research to look for another buying situation your product can serve.
Know what to change
You leave with a direction for reaching new buyers and a message to test with them.
Message-market mismatch
Your ads miss the reason customers choose you
Your customers may love a benefit that barely appears in your ads. With that reason missing, new buyers can understand the product and still struggle to see why they should choose it.
Find the cause
I compare what customers say they value with what your ads promise, then check which buying reason your team should lead with.
Know what to change
Your team can build the next campaign around a reason to buy that customers recognise.
Offer economics
Sales grow, but too little money stays in your business
More orders can still leave you short of profit if winning and serving each customer costs too much. To understand what you can afford to spend, you need to see what is left from those orders and whether customers return.
Find the cause
I put ad costs beside your margins and repeat purchases to check whether the way you sell can support the growth you want.
Know what to change
You know whether to improve the offer or repeat purchases before putting more money into ads.
Trust deficit
Interested buyers leave because they still have doubts
A buyer can want your product and still hesitate because they cannot find enough proof to trust it. If your ads and pages leave that doubt unanswered, another visit may end with the same decision to wait.
Find the cause
I follow the journey from the ad to the purchase to find the questions buyers still need answered and the proof your team can provide.
Know what to change
Your team knows which doubts to answer and where to put the proof, so buyers can make an informed decision.
Start with your growth assessment
Explore what may be slowing your growth and get a starting point for a closer look. Your assessment uses your answers; the paid diagnostic checks them against evidence from your business.
Decide what your business needs before you launch the next campaign
Growth can stall for different reasons, so the next campaign needs to respond to the problem you have. These situations show how finding that problem helps your team choose where to focus.
Orders grew, but contribution did not
Can the margin and repeat purchases support what you now pay for a customer?
Decide whether the offer needs work before spending more on messaging.
The product needs a buyer you have not reached yet
Will that buyer care about the same benefit as the people who already buy?
Build a message for the new buying situation, with claims you can back up.
Visitors need proof before they buy
Which concern stays unresolved between the first click and checkout?
Put the answer where the buyer needs it instead of asking another ad to do the whole job.
Go from knowing what’s wrong to knowing what your next campaign should say
You work directly with me, David Mankovics, for 8 weeks. If the diagnosis points to messaging, we turn that finding into a reason to buy, with the copy and proof to support it. We review the direction together before the writing and audience testing, and each week you see the work completed and what comes next.
Weeks 1 to 2: diagnose before writing
I start with your results and what customers say about buying from you. Together, those sources help me check the possible causes of the stall and recommend where your team should act first. We discuss the findings before deciding whether messaging needs work.
You receive
A written diagnosis, the evidence behind it and a plan for your next decisions.
Week 3: decide what the brand should say
With the cause clear, we decide who the message needs to reach and why that person should choose your product. I develop that direction from the research, and you review it before I begin the campaign and page copy.
You receive
A clear reason to buy, with the proof your team can use to support it.
Weeks 4 to 5: write for the buying journey
I turn the approved direction into the words buyers will see in your campaigns and on your pages. Those words explain why the product matters and answer the doubts that can delay a purchase. We review the copy together before putting it in front of target buyers.
You receive
Your brand story and page copy, with campaign angles and guidance for keeping the message consistent.
Weeks 6 to 8: test, brief and hand over
People from your target audience review the draft messaging, so we can see what they understand and where they still have questions. I use that feedback to refine the work, then give your team briefs and a plan for testing it in market.
You receive
Creative briefs and a playbook your team can use to produce the campaign and measure the results.
The work your team needs to launch with a clear direction
Before your team makes another ad, we establish who it needs to persuade, the buying reason to lead with and the proof the product can support. That strategy becomes the story, page copy and creative directions below. You keep the research and baseline alongside them, so your team can launch a coordinated campaign and judge whether the changes improve conversion, acquisition cost and what a new customer earns the business.
The diagnosis and commercial baseline
Plateau Diagnostic report
The cause to act on first, competing explanations and the changes to investigate.
Customer-language analysis
Checked customer phrases, buying concerns and the comparison with your campaign language.
Baseline scoreboard
The starting figures and definitions for judging acquisition cost, conversion and contribution.
The strategy behind the campaign
Message architecture
The buyer, purchase trigger, lead promise and the reasons that make the promise matter.
Category position and claim map
How you compare with the alternatives, what you can credibly claim and the proof needed.
The words and angles your team works from
Brand story and hero line
The central idea and opening message that introduce the product to a new buyer.
Product and conversion narratives
Copy and page logic that explain the benefit, show proof and answer buying questions.
Scored message pillars
The strongest themes ranked against the research, so campaigns have distinct reasons to buy.
Objection pack and campaign angles
Answers to the concerns that delay a purchase, developed into creative directions.
Verbal identity guide
Writing rules and examples that help your team keep the approved message consistent.
The production and testing handoff
Ad briefs
Directions your creative team can produce, refined using feedback from target buyers.
Messaging playbook
The approved strategy, research, copy, buyer feedback and test plan in one working reference.
Give buyers a reason to picture your product in their day
For this fictional US sparkling drink, a product description becomes a campaign about an afternoon break. DAYPOP is an illustrative concept with generated imagery; it shows a change in message, with no client results attached.
Start with the missing buying reason
“Peach and orange sparkling drink” tells you what is in the can. A buyer still needs a reason to reach for it, so this concept explores the afternoon break as a moment the brand could speak to.
Give the campaign a direction
That moment becomes “Make a little room for your afternoon.” The drink now has a place in the buyer’s day, giving the creative team an idea to build the campaign around.
Check the idea before scaling it
For a real brand, I would check that buying situation with customers before developing the message. We would then test the campaign against the existing direction to see whether it helps people understand and choose the product.
You work with David Mankovics, from the first question to the final brief
Over my career, I’ve helped 50+ companies change their messaging, including work for and inside multinational businesses. With ScaleGrove, you work directly with me throughout the engagement. I handle the research and writing myself, and we go through the work together each week before your team puts it into production.
Settle the scope, the risk and your team's part before you commit
You should know what the first 14 days ask of you, what you keep and how I will handle gaps in your data. We talk through those points before you sign.
What am I buying for $2,500?
A written verdict on the 5 possible causes, the account and customer findings behind it, and a recommendation for the next 90 days. You also get a 45-minute readout where you can challenge the conclusion. Before signing, we check that your question and data give us enough to investigate.
How is this different from a free account audit?
The Plateau Diagnostic is a paid product with a defined handoff. You keep the report, the customer-language analysis and the baseline. Its recommendation can point away from my own offer. If the numbers point to the offer before the message, that is what the report will say.
What if the answer is not messaging?
You still get the report and a next step for the person who can act on it, whether that is finance, your agency, product or another specialist. Buying the Method is a separate decision. The diagnostic can stand alone.
Will this step on my agency's work?
Your agency keeps running the account. I examine the ad history, order economics and buying journey to identify what needs attention. At intake, we agree what the agency already owns, what I need from them and how I will share the findings.
What do you need from us?
Access to the relevant ad data and your lifecycle marketing assets, including email and SMS campaigns and flows. Share your messaging book if you have one, along with margin figures and customer reviews. I’ll also need help arranging customer interviews and 1 person on your side who can make decisions. We agree which accounts and files I can view, and who is responsible for providing them, before the 14-day clock starts.
What if our data is incomplete or sensitive?
We agree what you can share before setting the scope. The report names gaps that could change the verdict. Access and confidentiality terms go into the services agreement, which you review before sending sensitive material.
What if the readout tells us nothing new?
Tell me on the day-14 call. You pay the diagnostic fee upfront. If the readout adds no new insight, I refund 100% of that fee. The guarantee is written into the agreed terms and applies to that diagnostic.
When should revenue improve?
I cannot promise a date or a number. The diagnostic tells you where to act, and the Method develops and tests messaging when that is the constraint. Revenue also depends on your offer and how your team puts the recommendations into market. We set a baseline so later results can be measured.
What does the 8-week Method include?
The diagnostic, a research-backed message direction, brand and product copy, feedback from people in your target audience, ad briefs and a playbook. You review the direction and copy with me before audience testing. The customer findings and baseline stay with your team.
What is outside the Method's scope?
Your agency or specialists keep day-to-day media buying and final creative production. Visual identity, site development, email-flow builds and work on a second product line or segment need a separate scope. These boundaries go into the services agreement.
Can we use the work after the engagement ends?
Yes. You keep the deliverables and the research behind them, including the baseline and tools for judging later tests. Your team can use the briefs and playbook without me. Any work beyond the agreed scope is a separate decision.
Is this only for one type of DTC brand?
There is no fixed category list. Fit depends on the problem, the data you have and whether you spend at least $50,000 a month on ads. On the intake call, we discuss your product and the buying problem you want to solve.
Start with the diagnostic and decide the rest with the report in hand
We talk about your brand and what changed before any paid work starts. If there is enough to investigate, I send a scope and services agreement for you to review. The diagnostic stands on its own. Continue into the Method within 60 days and its full fee comes off the price.
The Plateau Diagnostic
$2,500 over 14 days
Put your next 90 days of budget behind a fix you can explain.
- Find which of the 5 causes is holding growth back and what to change first.
- Give your team a plan they can act on over the next 90 days.
- Measure the changes against acquisition cost and the margin each order leaves.
- Challenge the findings in a 45-minute readout and keep the report.
At $50,000 a month, you spend $150,000 on ads in 3 months. For 5% of that monthly ad budget, you get a clear plan for what to fix before spending more.
Start with the diagnosticThe fee credits in full against the Method within 60 days.
The Stall Point Method
$10,000 over 8 weeks
Give more of the people you pay to reach a reason to buy.
- Give your team campaign and page copy, with creative briefs and a playbook to guide production.
- Hear from target buyers before putting media budget behind the message.
- Review the direction and copy with me before audience testing.
- Use a test plan and baseline to judge conversion, acquisition cost and what each order contributes.
Scope and payment terms are agreed before signing.
Still exploring? Take your growth assessment
The diagnostic guarantee
Pay $2,500 upfront. If the day-14 readout gives you no new insight, tell me on the call and I refund 100% of the diagnostic fee.
Tell me what changed
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