Loukas Hambi

5 years ago, I quit my job in print to start Hambi Media.

Since then, we’ve helped 150+ DTC brands scale to 7 and 8 figures and spent over £150M on creative. We leveraged:

1. Compelling performance creatives
2. Ad campaigns that drive leads and sales
3. High-production studio for ecom brands (in-house)
5. Landing pages designed to convert
5. Social media management expertise

The road wasn’t always easy.

Hambi is now almost 20 people and we’ve grown at 400% in the past year.

2 years ago, I also co-founded For You Advertising - the fastest growing TikTok agency.

We’re one of the only agencies in the UK officially partnered with TikTok.

If you want to scale your e-commerce brand with a holistic partner who does everything creative for you, reach out at loukas@hambimedia.co.uk.

Co-Founder

Converting DTC eCom Poverty into Profit 💰 $50M+ in Revenue | Meta, Google & Paid Ads Architect

Focused on impact & mastery.

Check my posts to find out more.

Felix Dragoi 🔥

If I removed ROAS from your dashboard today…
Would you actually know what’s wrong with your ads 👀

Or would you just guess❓

Most brands look at the final number

Here are 5 signals to watch before judging sales 👇

1️⃣ Thumb-stop ratio

If they don’t stop

They don’t click

If they don’t click

Nothing else matters

Weak hook = burning money quietly

2️⃣ Engagement rate

Comments
Shares
Saves

This tells you how the ad feels

Is it resonating

Or just being politely ignored?

3️⃣ Hold rate

If viewers drop in 2 seconds

Your message never landed

Attention is earned

Retention proves it

4️⃣ Add-to-cart %

Clicks are easy

Intent is different

If ATC is strong but purchases lag

It’s probably product, price, or UX

Not your ad

5️⃣ ROAS

Yes, it matters

But it’s the result

Not the diagnosis

When ROAS drops

One of the upstream signals was already warning you

Great media buying isn’t just about spending more

It’s about reading the system deeper than everyone else

If someone on your team only talks about ROAS

Send them this….

It might change how they look at the data

I Help eCom Brands with Paid Media 💰 $50M+ in Revenue | Meta, Google & Paid Ads Architect

CBO vs ABO
Let’s stop pretending this is complicated ❌

Both work

But they don’t work for the same reasons

Here’s the honest breakdown 👇

1️⃣ Why most people default to CBO

Meta controls the budget

It shifts spend to what’s working

Less manual effort
Less decision fatigue

If you’re new

Or you don’t have time to monitor daily

CBO keeps things simple

2️⃣ Where ABO becomes better

You control the budget per ad set

You decide what gets spend

Not the algorithm

This matters when

➡️ You actually know what you’re testing
➡️ You want clean data per audience
➡️ You don’t want Meta starving a test too early

Granular data = sharper decisions

3️⃣ The uncomfortable truth

Most beginners say they want control

But they don’t have the data discipline to use it

Most advanced buyers say CBO is enough

But the best still use ABO when precision matters

ABO forces structure

Equal budget splits
Cleaner comparisons
Clearer winners

CBO optimizes
ABO trains you to think

In most cases

If you don’t have time or budget

Use CBO

If you know what you’re doing

And you want precision

ABO wins

Simple

If someone on your team is still debating this without understanding the tradeoffs

Send them this

It might clarify their entire strategy

Most brands ask for the sale immediately

Discount
Urgency
Countdown

But let me ask you this

Why should they trust you yet 👀

The brands that win long term don’t just extract

They give something first

Here’s how reciprocity actually drives growth 👇

1️⃣ Free samples or trials

Remove the risk

Let them experience the product

Trust built fast beats persuasion forced

2️⃣ Exclusive content for email or SMS

Don’t make your list just a promo channel

Give value
Early access
Behind the scenes

Make joining feel like a privilege

3️⃣ Surprise loyal customers

Random gift
Unexpected upgrade
Personal note

Unexpected = memorable

Memorable = repeat revenue

4️⃣ Thank you notes in every order

It’s simple

But in a world of automation

Personal effort stands out

People remember how you made them feel

5️⃣ Giveaways for engaged followers

Reward attention

Reward loyalty

People who feel valued
Stay longer

Most brands look for hacks

Better funnels
More ads
New platforms

The best brands understand one thing

When you give more than your competitors

You earn more than your competitors

If someone you know only focuses on taking…..

Send them this

It might change how they grow

Scaling ads feels exciting
Until your ROAS drops

And suddenly you’re questioning everything

Here’s the truth most brands don’t want to hear 👇

ROAS goes down when you scale

Because scaling changes the game

1️⃣ You leave the “easy audience”

At $100/day
You’re hitting the warmest, most primed buyers

That’s why 4–5 ROAS can happen early

But when you move to $1,000/day

You expand

Colder pockets

Broader reach

Higher competition

Now a 2–3 ROAS is completely normal

2️⃣ Costs rise as you scale

More spend = more exposure

More exposure = higher CPMs

You’re not just buying the low-hanging fruit anymore

You’re buying the whole tree

3️⃣ Your business has to be built for lower ROAS

If you can’t survive at 2 ROAS

You don’t have a scaling problem

You have a margin or funnel problem

Stop chasing high ROAS

Start building a business that can win at lower ROAS

That’s how real brands scale

If this helped you rethink scaling

Save it

Or send it to someone still chasing 5x forever 🚀

If your ads aren’t converting ❌
Look at the system

Somewhere, something is leaking

And when you scale a leaking system

You just lose faster

Here’s where I’d look first 👇

1️⃣ Audience is too cold

No trust

No awareness

No real reason to care

You’re asking strangers to marry you on the first date

Warm them up

Or shift the message

2️⃣ Landing page feels off

Slow load
Cluttered layout
Bad mobile UX

You paid for the click

Then killed the momentum

3️⃣ Offer isn’t clear

If they don’t get it in 3 seconds

They bounce

Confusion kills conversions faster than price ever will

4️⃣ Creative misses the mark

Wrong hook

Wrong angle

Wrong emotional trigger

Impressions don’t matter if the message doesn’t land

5️⃣ CPMs keep climbing

Now you’re paying more
For the same broken funnel

You’re just accelerating waste

Before you touch the budget

Fix the leaks

Then scale

If someone on your team keeps pushing spend 

Without fixing fundamentals

Send them this

It might save your next campaign

Ad performance dropping again? 📉

Before you blame the algorithm…
Look in the mirror
(the digital one)

Sometimes it’s not Meta

It’s your setup

Here are 3 silent killers I see all the time

1️⃣ Ad fatigue

Same visuals
Same hook
Same angle

You think it’s “still good”

While your audience is already bored

Engagement drops first

Then CPM goes up

Then conversions die

2️⃣ Audience saturation

You’re hitting the same pocket of people

Over and over

Frequency climbs

Relevance drops

At some point they’re not ignoring you

They’re actively avoiding you

3️⃣ Fake testing

Changing a headline color isn’t testing

That’s decoration

Real testing = new angles

New positioning

New emotional triggers

If all your ads say the same thing

Just with different backgrounds

Good ads don’t last forever

Creative cycles are real

Fresh angles = fresh revenue

If someone you know keeps blaming “the algorithm” every month….

Send them this

It might save their next campaign 🚀

Most brands say they “test” ads
But honestly? 

It more so like flipping coins, rather than structured testing

Random headline

Random creative

Turning it off after 2 days

Then blaming the algorithm

Here’s what real testing actually looks like 👇

1️⃣ One variable at a time

New headline? Keep the image

New image? Keep the copy

If you change everything

You learn nothing

2️⃣ Equal audience split

Don’t let one ad get 80% of the spend

Clean budget split = clean data

Bias kills clarity

3️⃣ Minimum 7 days

The algo needs time

So does buyer behavior

Killing ads too early isn’t discipline

It’s impatience

4️⃣ Track the right metrics

CTR tells you if it hooks

CVR tells you if it convinces

AOV tells you if it scales

ROAS alone hides the truth

5️⃣ Scale with intention

When something wins, don’t just increase budget

Extract the angle

Replicate the psychology

Build it into future creatives

Testing isn’t luck
- It’s structure
- It’s patience
- It’s method

That’s how good accounts grow

If someone on your team “tests” without a system…

Send them this

It might save your next scaling phase

Is retargeting on Meta dead in 2026❓
Or are people just doing it wrong 👀

This might trigger some media buyers

But here’s my take

Yes, Meta can retarget

Yes, AI is powerful

But no, I wouldn’t build classic retargeting campaigns for most eCom brands

Here’s why 👇

1️⃣ Meta already retargets inside broad campaigns

You don’t need 17 custom audiences

The algorithm sees behavior

Site visits
Engagement
Add to carts

It adjusts automatically

The platform is smarter than your manual 30 day ATC stack

2️⃣ Creative does the targeting

Your hook decides who stops

Your message decides who feels seen

Your angle decides who converts

If your creative speaks directly to buyers

You don’t need to “force” retargeting

The ad filters for you

3️⃣ Manual retargeting can limit scale

Small audiences
High frequency
CPMs climb

Now you’re squeezing the same 5,000 people

Instead of letting the system expand

Control feels safe

But scale lives in broad

4️⃣ Where humans still win

Offer positioning
Angle selection
Understanding niche buyers

AI distributes

Humans decide what’s worth distributing

That’s the real blend

Not splitting budgets into 12 micro audiences

So is retargeting effective

Yes

Would I build my strategy around it

No

Creative is the real retargeting engine

End of story

If someone on your team is still obsessing over audience stacks….

Send them this

It might simplify their whole account

Your ad isn’t dead
It’s tired

And it’s trying to tell you something 👀

Most brands panic when sales dip

They touch budgets

They touch targeting

They touch bids

But they ignore the real problem

Creative fatigue

Here’s how you know it’s time to refresh 👇

1️⃣ CTR is dropping

People aren’t stopping anymore

Your hook lost its edge

If they scroll

You pay

2️⃣ Frequency is 3+

Same ad
Same people

Over and over

Attention turns into irritation

Irritation turns into avoidance

3️⃣ Comments feel negative or repetitive

“I’ve seen this 10 times”
“Again?”

That’s not engagement

That’s fatigue talking

Creative cycles are real

No ad lasts forever.

Ignore the signals

And you’ll slowly bleed spend with no scale

If someone on your team keeps increasing budget 

Instead of refreshing creative

Send them this

It might save your next campaign

I’ve seen brands change copy 10 times…
But keep the same weak color structures

And then wonder why CTR is flat

And no, colors won't solve any problem
But they need to be tested and used properly as well

Here’s the truth about colors👇

🔴 Red

Pushes action

Great for urgency

Bad if you overuse it and look desperate

🔵 Blue

Builds trust

If your product needs reassurance, use it

Especially on product pages and guarantees

🟡 Yellow

Interrupts the scroll

High attention

But too much = chaos

🟢 Green

Signals savings or health

Works well for natural brands or value angles

⚫ Black

Feels premium

But only works if your offer actually matches the vibe

Color sets the mood before your copy even gets read

Your buyer feels first
Then they justify with logic

Color psychology isn’t theory

If you know someone still not leveraging on colors…

Send this to them

It might save their next creative or lander

Most brands blame the ads
But let me ask you something

If traffic is coming in…

Why isn’t it converting 👀

It’s usually not the ads

It’s the funnel

When conversions stall, this is what we fix first 👇

1️⃣ Landing page

Slow load
Cluttered layout
Feels sketchy

Trust dies in seconds

You paid for the click

Don’t waste it on bad UX

2️⃣ Stronger creatives

Scroll stopping hook
Clear value
Native to the platform

If it feels like an ad

It performs like one

3️⃣ New offers

Same product
Different framing

Price
Bundles
Urgency

Sometimes it’s not traffic
It’s positioning

4️⃣ Mobile first optimization

Most traffic is thumbs

If your site isn’t built for thumbs

You’re leaking revenue quietly

5️⃣ Retarget cart abandoners

They almost bought

Something stopped them

Finish the conversation

Most scaling problems aren’t scaling problems

They’re conversion problems

Small tweaks

Big difference

That’s how you scale profitably

If someone on your team keeps increasing budget instead of fixing the funnel

Send them this

It might change how they grow

Which Meta ad format works best at each stage ❓
Most brands just pick one

And leave it on luck

Format should match intent

So here’s a simple breakdown 👇

👉 Top of funnel = attention

1️⃣ Video ads

Fast hook
Native feel
Earn seconds

2️⃣ Carousel ads

Test angles

Show multiple benefits

3️⃣ Story ads

Full screen
Immersive
Great for brand intro

👉 Middle of funnel

For most eCom brands

It’s messy

Meta blends audiences anyway

I’d rather strengthen TOF

And sharpen BOF

👉 Bottom of funnel = intent

1️⃣ Dynamic product ads

Show what they viewed

High purchase intent

2️⃣ Collection ads

Easy browsing

Low friction

3️⃣ Carousel ads

Stack benefits

Push the decision

Different stage

Different format

If someone is using the same ad style everywhere

Send them this

It might simplify their strategy

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Loukas Hambi

Felix Dragoi 🔥

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The Battle

Loukas Hambi

Felix Dragoi 🔥

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Felix Dragoi 🔥's LinkedIn Performance

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