How to Set Up Blended ROAS and MER Tracking (So the Scorekeeper Stops Being the Player)
Monday, 9:04 a.m.
Sutton field notes
Notes for the people carrying the growth number.
Media buying, measurement, operating risk, and the economics behind the growth decision.
Coverage
- Measurement & P&L
- Agency vs In-House
- Fees & Incentives
- Choosing & Switching
- The $30M Wall
- AEO & SEO
01 / Latest field note27 published
Key Person Risk in Marketing: What Happens the Day Your Head of Growth Quits
It's 1:52 a.m.
Read the field note ↗02 / The archive
Read by the decision in front of you.
Clear positions on the numbers, incentives, and operating choices behind growth.
Contribution Margin for DTC Brands: The Number That Tells You If You're Actually Profitable
The deck goes up first, the way it always does.
The Quarterly Agency Audit: Four Questions the Deck Is Built to Avoid
The room is warm.
What DTC Marketing Agencies Actually Cost at $30M+ (The Fee Benchmark Nobody Publishes)
She has been waiting three weeks for this number, and it arrives on a Tuesday as a PDF attached to an otherwise unremarkable email.
The Handover Is the Whole Job: How to Switch Marketing Agencies Without Losing a Quarter
The relief lasts about nine days.
The In-Housing Playbook Nobody Writes: What to Own, What to Delegate, and Why Running It Yourself First Changes Everything
Connor MacDonald is staring at an invoice.
The Record Quarter Was the Warning
You close the best quarter the brand has ever posted, the number goes up in the all-hands deck, and somebody claps.
The $30M Wall Isn't One Problem. It's Three, and They Break at Once.
You walk out of the quarterly business review with a deck full of green arrows.
Open the full archive18 more notes+
Your Creative Team Isn't the Problem. The Brief Is.
Picture the Head of Growth at a $40 million skincare brand in Q1.
The CRO Agency Question Is the Wrong Question
You open the quarterly deck from your CRO agency.
Google Ads Agency for Ecommerce: The One Line in the Contract That Predicts the Whole Relationship
The deck was good.
Agency, In-House, or the Fourth Option: What a $30M+ Brand Actually Trades Away in Media Buying
The deck is thirty-one slides. Slide fourteen shows a 4x ROAS on Meta, and the account lead pauses so the room can register the number before moving on.
Not That Sutton: What getsutton.ai Is (and the Two Companies It Isn't)
Say you run growth at a $40M skincare brand.
The One Question That Sorts Every Media-Buying Agency (And Why the "Best Of" List Won't)
The slides are clean. Four-x platform ROAS. The account is "scaling nicely." The recommendation: increase budget.
The Fractional CMO Answers the Wrong Question
The slide changes. Platform-reported ROAS: 4.2x. The senior partner leans back, satisfied.
The Only Scorecard That Can't Grade Its Own Homework Is Yours
It is Monday morning. She opens three tabs.
AI Marketing Agency for Ecommerce: How to Tell the Real Ones From the Rebrands
The deck is the same deck as last quarter.
Answer Engine Optimization for DTC: The Buyer Now Asks an AI, and It Either Names You or It Doesn't
She asked her friend the way you ask which restaurant is worth trying on a Friday night.
The Button Everyone Still Wants to Press
Sean Frank runs eight figures at Ridge.
Agency or In-House: Two Ways to Buy the Same Ceiling
The slide says ROAS 4x.
The Day Your Agency Stopped Managing Your Growth (And Started Managing You)
There is a tell. Most growth leaders at $30M+ DTC brands have never noticed it, but it surfaces every time a bad performance day hits.
The Fee Model Is an Incentive Decision, Not a Price Decision
You have sat in this room.
The Meter Is the Message: Why Your Agency Bills a Cut of Your Spend
Picture the Q4 agency QBR.
MER vs ROAS: Why the Platform's Number Is Grading Its Own Homework
It is Monday morning. Two windows are open on the same screen.
Meta Says 4x ROAS. Your P&L Says You Lost Money. Your P&L Is Right.
It is Monday morning.
What Is Sutton (getsutton.ai)? The Fourth Option a $30M+ DTC Brand Reaches for After the Agency, the Hire, and the Tool All Come Up Short
The deck was showing 4x ROAS. Her laptop was showing a loss.
From analysis to action