Hi,

The paid media landscape is changing. Costs are climbing, tracking is broken, and ads that once scaled for months now burn out in less than two weeks. What used to be a simple growth engine has become one of the hardest (and most expensive) parts of eCommerce.

In today’s newsletter, we’ll break down some of the challenges facing paid media and how we, at Vivaio, leverage key strategies to keep paid media profitable.

Paid media traditionally comes in two main forms: paid search, triggered by active intent, and display ads, which put brands in front of audiences who weren’t searching directly. For much of the 2010s, both channels delivered predictable reach, conversions, and ROI.

The mid-2010s marked a golden era for Meta ads. CPMs averaged just $3–$4, Meta Pixel gave near-perfect attribution, and even a simple product photo could scale a brand. Growth was cheap, straightforward, and fast.

That era has ended, ads that once lasted weeks now fatigue in under ten days as feeds overflow with user-generated content, privacy changes have made performance measurement harder, and CPMs have surpassed $12 according to Shopify. So, the real question is: can paid media still be profitable?

These are the answers to a survey carried out on 13k marketers by NP media asking if the paid ads they were running were profitable…

Two main areas separate the profitable few from everyone else:

Attention is difficult to capture in today’s media landscape. Ads not only compete with brands - but also with content creators who are producing new and original content daily.

So how do winning brands stay ahead? They treat ad production like a content studio. Instead of relying on a single hero creative, they:

With Meta’s targeting weaker than ever, creative now determines who you actually reach. It’s no longer about demographics, but about understanding what your audience fears, wants, or values and designing content that speaks directly to those drivers. The brands that win are those producing content that feels native, authentic, and personal at scale, while everyone else risks burning budget.

Great ads can drive traffic, but they can’t save a broken funnel. If your site doesn’t have a simple checkout, automations in place, and a clear brand story, clicks won’t convert. And ads alone won’t build a brand anymore. They’re costly, crowded, and one-directional. Sustainable growth stems from trust, encompassing PR, influencers, community, real-world experiences, and effective storytelling. That’s what turns paid clicks into lasting customers.

The work done with one of our partner brands, Amì Milano, demonstrates how the right mix of organic brand content and paid media can drive profitable growth.

On social media, Amì Milano’s three founders lead the way sharing their daily lives and producing engaging content that feels authentic and relatable.

For paid campaigns, we repurpose this high-quality organic content, testing different hooks and aesthetics while continuously refreshing ads to maximise performance and prevent fatigue.

The result? A Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) consistently above 6 and year-over-year growth exceeding 80%!

In today’s crowded feeds, the right creative format can be the difference between scroll-past and click-through.

Brands that focus on the production of varied high quality content consistently see higher engagement, faster learning cycles and in turn better ROAS.

We built a practical creative library to help our partner brands create ads that truly perform. It spans shoes, bags, fashion, jewelry, beauty, and home & living.

The library is organized into proven formats such as UGC and trend-driven content, modular layouts, styling, collages, dynamic close-ups, product focus, and product-in-motion. Each section features real-world examples with insights into why they work.