Essays, playbooks, and things worth thinking about.
Practical writing on paid ads, ecommerce growth, and building a business, from Emma and the Fiddle Leaf team. Nothing here is gated. Everything here is stuff we actually use with clients.
Landing Page vs. Product Page: Where Should Your Ad Traffic Go?
Ecommerce ads usually convert best landing on the product page itself; service-business ads usually need a dedicated landing page built around the offer.
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A Pinch-Me Moment: Fiddle Leaf in Authority Magazine
Authority Magazine interviewed me about the five things it takes to build a successful service-based business. Here's the story behind the feature, and the short version of the five.
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CPM, CPC, CPA: What Do These Ad Metrics Actually Mean?
CPM is cost per 1,000 impressions, CPC is cost per click, and CPA is cost per result. Each measures a different stage of the funnel, and none tells the whole story alone.
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Do I Have to Be on Camera to Run Good Ads?
No — founder-facing video can work well, but it's one creative style among many. UGC content, testimonials, and text-driven ads all convert with a clear message and a strong offer.
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How Much Should a Small Business Spend on Ads?
Most small businesses should start with $1,000–$3,000/month in ad spend, or 5–10% of revenue once ads are proven. Here's how to pick the right number for your stage, and when to scale.
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What Is a Good ROAS? Real Benchmarks for Small Businesses
A good ROAS for most small ecommerce brands is 3x–4x, but the real answer depends on your margins. Here's the break-even formula, benchmarks by margin, and when a lower ROAS is actually fine.
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Google Ads vs. Meta Ads: Intent vs. Demand (and Why We Run Both)
Google captures intent — people already searching for what you sell. Meta creates demand — people who didn't know you existed. They're not competitors: here's why they perform best as a team.
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How Long Does It Take for Paid Ads to Work?
Expect first signals in 2–4 weeks, trustworthy numbers by 60 days, and a fair verdict at 90. Here's the honest month-by-month timeline, and the mistake that resets the clock.
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How to Choose a Marketing Agency: 10 Questions to Ask First
The 10 questions that reveal how an agency will actually treat your business — account ownership, who does the work, how they report, and the red flags founders miss until it's too late.
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Your Q4 Ad Checklist: What to Do Before Black Friday
The 12-step checklist we walk every client through in September so their Q4 ad accounts are ready to scale, not scramble. Includes creative, budget, and reporting prep.
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Why Most Small Business Ads Fail (and How to Fix Them)
Nine times out of ten, it’s not the media buy that’s broken. It’s the offer, the creative, or the landing page. Here’s how to diagnose which one is costing you money.
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Trust Signals Every Small Business Website Needs to Boost Conversions
Great ads to a mediocre site is money in the trash. The eight trust signals that consistently move conversion rate for the small-business sites we audit.
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Roots & Realities: Where Motherhood Meets Marketing
On building a boutique agency while raising two little humans, and why the two things aren’t as separate as we’re told they should be.
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What Canadian Sellers Should Know About the End of the U.S. De Minimis Exemption
The regulation change that affects every Canadian brand shipping to U.S. customers. What it means for margins, pricing, and paid ads targeting.
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Before You Run Paid Ads, Read This: Why Clarity and Coaching Come First
The three things that need to be true before your first ad dollar goes out. If any of these are missing, you’re paying to test a broken hypothesis.
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20+ ChatGPT Prompts to Help You Grow Your E-Commerce Business
The prompts we actually use with our own agency clients, from ad copy to customer research to product descriptions. Copy, paste, adapt.
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Creative Ways to Increase Average Order Value
Nine offer, product, and merchandising moves that lift AOV without discounting. Real examples from clients who’ve moved theirs 20–40%.
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Optimize Your Marketing: Leveraging Organic vs Paid Social Media
When to invest in organic, when to invest in paid, and how the two feed each other. The framework we use to allocate our clients’ time and budget.
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Maximizing Marketing Impact: Integrating Search and Social in a Full Funnel Strategy
Why running Meta and Google in silos is leaving money on the table, and the funnel structure we use to make them multiply each other.
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Reading is great. A live conversation is better.
If any of these essays sparked a question about your own business, book a free 60-minute strategy call with Emma. Talk it through with a human.