Kill Cliff - Driving 2x ROAS from Top of Funnel Traffic
Kill Cliff - Driving 2x ROAS from Top of Funnel Traffic
Kill Cliff is best known as a DTC CBD energy drink, and boasts an impressive partnership with Joe Rogan. Despite having a huge influencer like Joe Rogan, the energy drink company still struggled digital with their Meta Advertising campaign efforts. They approached the team at Optimize to take a look and see what could be done.
Kill Cliff is best known as a DTC CBD energy drink, and boasts an impressive partnership with Joe Rogan. Despite having a huge influencer like Joe Rogan, the energy drink company still struggled digital with their Meta Advertising campaign efforts. They approached the team at Optimize to take a look and see what could be done.
Category
May 15, 2024
B2C, Energy Drinks
B2C, Energy Drinks
Services
May 15, 2024
Meta Ads, Google Ads
Meta Ads, Google Ads
Client
May 15, 2024
Kill Cliff
Kill Cliff
Year
May 15, 2024
2023
2023
Problem
Kill Cliff, best known for its CBD energy drinks and high-profile partnership with Joe Rogan, had a strong brand but struggled to make Meta Advertising profitable.
Despite their influencer reach, they faced several challenges:
Underperforming Meta campaigns — ad spend wasn’t translating into profitable sales.
Slow learning cycles — campaign structures and creative testing processes weren’t yielding fast insights.
Strict ad policy restrictions — Meta’s prohibition on CBD-related advertising limited targeting and messaging options.
Without an optimized paid media approach, Kill Cliff risked missing out on top-of-funnel traffic that could drive sustained DTC growth.
Solution
We conducted a deep Meta Ads audit and implemented an aggressive, structured testing and compliance strategy to maximize ROI:
Account Audit & Opportunity Mapping — Identified AB testing opportunities and inefficiencies in targeting, bidding, and creative strategy.
Rapid Testing Framework — Launched three concurrent AB tests, including:
Campaign-level bid strategy adjustments.
Ad group targeting refinements by product line.
Creative variation testing tailored to each audience segment.
This approach allowed us to triple the speed of learnings compared to standard testing timelines.
Creative & Policy Compliance — Navigated Meta’s CBD ad restrictions by replacing “CBD” with “hemp” in creative and landing pages.
Gateway Landing Page — Built a separate “compliance-safe” site to serve as a gateway, allowing campaigns to run without triggering policy violations.
Sales Attribution Clarity — Integrated Shopify data to track performance by audience, creative, and campaign — enabling precise scaling decisions.
Results
In a short timeframe, the new approach delivered clear, measurable impact:
2x return on ad spend (ROAS) from top-of-funnel traffic.
Accelerated campaign learning cycles, identifying high-performing audiences and creatives faster.
Successful navigation of Meta’s strict ad policies without account shutdowns.
Clear attribution mapping from ad click to sale, enabling Kill Cliff to double down on the most profitable activities.
Ongoing strategic advisory relationship to refine and expand DTC growth efforts.
By pairing data-driven testing with creative policy workarounds, we transformed Kill Cliff’s Meta Ads into a scalable top-of-funnel growth engine.
Problem
Kill Cliff, best known for its CBD energy drinks and high-profile partnership with Joe Rogan, had a strong brand but struggled to make Meta Advertising profitable.
Despite their influencer reach, they faced several challenges:
Underperforming Meta campaigns — ad spend wasn’t translating into profitable sales.
Slow learning cycles — campaign structures and creative testing processes weren’t yielding fast insights.
Strict ad policy restrictions — Meta’s prohibition on CBD-related advertising limited targeting and messaging options.
Without an optimized paid media approach, Kill Cliff risked missing out on top-of-funnel traffic that could drive sustained DTC growth.
Solution
We conducted a deep Meta Ads audit and implemented an aggressive, structured testing and compliance strategy to maximize ROI:
Account Audit & Opportunity Mapping — Identified AB testing opportunities and inefficiencies in targeting, bidding, and creative strategy.
Rapid Testing Framework — Launched three concurrent AB tests, including:
Campaign-level bid strategy adjustments.
Ad group targeting refinements by product line.
Creative variation testing tailored to each audience segment.
This approach allowed us to triple the speed of learnings compared to standard testing timelines.
Creative & Policy Compliance — Navigated Meta’s CBD ad restrictions by replacing “CBD” with “hemp” in creative and landing pages.
Gateway Landing Page — Built a separate “compliance-safe” site to serve as a gateway, allowing campaigns to run without triggering policy violations.
Sales Attribution Clarity — Integrated Shopify data to track performance by audience, creative, and campaign — enabling precise scaling decisions.
Results
In a short timeframe, the new approach delivered clear, measurable impact:
2x return on ad spend (ROAS) from top-of-funnel traffic.
Accelerated campaign learning cycles, identifying high-performing audiences and creatives faster.
Successful navigation of Meta’s strict ad policies without account shutdowns.
Clear attribution mapping from ad click to sale, enabling Kill Cliff to double down on the most profitable activities.
Ongoing strategic advisory relationship to refine and expand DTC growth efforts.
By pairing data-driven testing with creative policy workarounds, we transformed Kill Cliff’s Meta Ads into a scalable top-of-funnel growth engine.
Problem
Kill Cliff, best known for its CBD energy drinks and high-profile partnership with Joe Rogan, had a strong brand but struggled to make Meta Advertising profitable.
Despite their influencer reach, they faced several challenges:
Underperforming Meta campaigns — ad spend wasn’t translating into profitable sales.
Slow learning cycles — campaign structures and creative testing processes weren’t yielding fast insights.
Strict ad policy restrictions — Meta’s prohibition on CBD-related advertising limited targeting and messaging options.
Without an optimized paid media approach, Kill Cliff risked missing out on top-of-funnel traffic that could drive sustained DTC growth.
Solution
We conducted a deep Meta Ads audit and implemented an aggressive, structured testing and compliance strategy to maximize ROI:
Account Audit & Opportunity Mapping — Identified AB testing opportunities and inefficiencies in targeting, bidding, and creative strategy.
Rapid Testing Framework — Launched three concurrent AB tests, including:
Campaign-level bid strategy adjustments.
Ad group targeting refinements by product line.
Creative variation testing tailored to each audience segment.
This approach allowed us to triple the speed of learnings compared to standard testing timelines.
Creative & Policy Compliance — Navigated Meta’s CBD ad restrictions by replacing “CBD” with “hemp” in creative and landing pages.
Gateway Landing Page — Built a separate “compliance-safe” site to serve as a gateway, allowing campaigns to run without triggering policy violations.
Sales Attribution Clarity — Integrated Shopify data to track performance by audience, creative, and campaign — enabling precise scaling decisions.
Results
In a short timeframe, the new approach delivered clear, measurable impact:
2x return on ad spend (ROAS) from top-of-funnel traffic.
Accelerated campaign learning cycles, identifying high-performing audiences and creatives faster.
Successful navigation of Meta’s strict ad policies without account shutdowns.
Clear attribution mapping from ad click to sale, enabling Kill Cliff to double down on the most profitable activities.
Ongoing strategic advisory relationship to refine and expand DTC growth efforts.
By pairing data-driven testing with creative policy workarounds, we transformed Kill Cliff’s Meta Ads into a scalable top-of-funnel growth engine.
