2025: A Year of Growth

Introducing Roqs, performance marketing specialist

Our practice this year was about distribution, but at the end of the day, the studio is about growth. It’s incredibly rewarding to provide space for people to come in, own their work, and expand. Roqs was a standout performer this year and has really helped us with Main Squeeze. I’m very proud of the work she’s doing and pleased to share her essay. Enjoy!

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Joining Moonlight marked a turning point in my professional journey.

When I came onboard, the studio was working with an external agency handling performance marketing—specifically Meta ads for Main Squeeze, our UK-based brand specializing in stylish compression socks. One of their key recommendations was whitelisting, which we implemented as part of the overall strategy. At the time, performance marketing was collaborative but externally driven. My role was observational and supportive.

That changed when the contract ended and I officially stepped in as the in-house performance marketer for the studio.

Taking full ownership was an eye-opener. Decisions now rested on my expertise, and people relied on my recommendations to drive real revenue. It pushed me into a new level of accountability—I had to not only know performance marketing but confidently execute it. This phase meant deep research, continuous learning, testing, and delivering results.

Building a Strong Testing Framework for Meta Ads

The most important observation I made before ending the agency contract was how critical structured A/B testing is to scaling Meta ads successfully. This became my first major area of focus.

Working closely with Princess, we developed multiple testing templates for Meta ads. Through trial, error, and performance analysis, we narrowed our approach to a more refined and repeatable system. The core of this system was understanding audience awareness stages—unaware, problem-aware, solution-aware, product-aware, and most aware. We made the decision to focus on solution-aware audiences, where intent already existed and acquisition could be more efficient given our constraints.

This insight shaped our creative and copy strategy. Instead of educating people on why compression socks matter, we could focus on differentiation—Main Squeeze offers cute, stylish compression socks, not just functional medical-looking ones.

Using the AIDA framework (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action), we generated creative ideas tailored to that awareness stage. For each testing phase, we clearly defined what we were testing—whether copy angles, creative formats, audiences, ad sets, or offers. Instead of testing randomly, every experiment had a purpose and a hypothesis.

This approach significantly deepened our understanding of Meta ads as a platform. More importantly, we saw the impact reflected in both ad performance and Shopify results. Main Squeeze’s unique selling point—cute, stylish compression socks—finally had messaging that matched the audience’s readiness to buy.

Solving Meta Pixel and Tracking Challenges

After stabilizing our testing mechanics, we ran into a major challenge: Meta Pixel tracking issues.

For months, we noticed discrepancies in our data. Add-to-cart, initiate checkout, and purchase events were firing, but the number of purchases reported in Meta Ads Manager was consistently lower than what showed in Shopify. The previous agency had flagged the same issue, confirming it wasn’t isolated to our setup.

I began researching potential causes and found discussions suggesting that Facebook Pixel often only fires after users accept cookies. Our initial workaround—making the cookie banner easier to accept—helped slightly but didn’t fully solve the problem.

That’s when we brought in Tosin and Taqib from the Developer team. After reviewing the setup together, we confirmed that cookie consent was the root cause. The team worked on a solution that ensured Meta tracking functioned whether or not users explicitly accepted cookies.

The first test worked on Tosin’s end but failed on mine and within GemPages. After further refinements and retesting, we finally achieved a working solution.

Current Fix

• If a user accepts cookies, the Facebook Pixel fires normally

• If a user rejects or ignores cookies, we manually listen for key events (view content, add to cart, purchase) and send them directly to Meta

• This ensures consistent tracking regardless of cookie consent

We also addressed another issue where Meta was losing visibility on users coming from its own platforms. The fix involved implementing Facebook Advanced Matching (hashed data), allowing Meta to better identify users when they land on the site from Facebook or Instagram and track their actions more accurately.

We’re currently testing this setup with live ads. The results remain stable, and tracking accuracy has significantly improved campaign performance and decision-making.

Expanding Into New Platforms

Beyond Meta, we expanded into TikTok toward Q4. Black Friday campaigns leveraged TikTok Shop promotions, which performed well. Looking ahead, we plan to launch Spark Ads in Q1, building on organic content for more native engagement.

We also have long-term plans to explore Google Ads in 2026, ensuring that expansion aligns with data maturity and budget efficiency.

Amazon Expansion

Alongside Main Squeeze, I’ve also been involved in research for Blank Body Beauty, which will be launching on Amazon soon. I’ve conducted in-depth research into Amazon ad structures, listing optimization, and publishing workflows. I’ve completed my first draft of Amazon ads and am now preparing to analyze results and learnings that will shape strategy going into 2026.

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Working with the team at Moonlight has reinforced one core belief: everyone has a strength, and the team grows by relying on those strengths. Independence in knowledge and ownership of expertise are essential. What turns individuals into professionals and teams into high-performing units is continuous learning, research, asking questions, collaborating, and improving.

I know the next year will bring even more research, testing, and execution. Moonlight is my growth environment, and I’m committed to growing it while growing with it.