Recognizing an Underperforming Vendor and Executing the Fix
THE CHALLENGE
In my first weeks as Fractional Head of Marketing & E-Commerce for a DTC home fragrance brand in late October 2025, it was clear the incumbent paid media agency wasn’t delivering: ad spend wasn’t translating into new customer growth, and we relied too heavily on Google search and branded terms. I had to get the brand through Black Friday 2025, while also beginning a search for an appropriate paid media partner as the brand headed into a critical growth year.
THE APPROACH
Starting in late Q4 2025, I ran a structured agency search, evaluating finalists against acquisition cost and blended ROAS benchmarks, and managed a clean handoff: offboarding the prior agency and bringing in a new paid media partner fully live by the beginning of February 2026, with no gap in paid coverage. The rapid improvement in revenue and new customer acquisition demonstrated the importance of quickly assessing vendor health and executing agency changes without losing momentum. The revenue growth this unlocked can be found in a companion case study.
THE RESULTS
In the last month before our agency transition (January 2026), revenue was down 33% YOY, and new customers were down 63% compared to January 2025. The month the new agency partner went live (February 2026), both metrics turned positive immediately: revenue up 77% YOY, and new customers up 132% YOY.
Every month since has shown accelerating year-over-year growth, including a 997% jump in new customers in April 2026.
Q2 2026 (the first full quarter under the new partnership) closed at +270% revenue growth and +579% new customer acquisition improvement compared to the prior year.
Data from internal forecast and Triple Whale, comparing matched calendar months and quarters in 2025 and 2026.