Health,Supplements&Wellness
Compliance landmines. Repeat purchase economics. PMAX consolidation risk. Brand vs generic tension that determines whether your acquisition strategy builds value or destroys it.
This is what we see. This is how we think about it.
Part of our approach to
Subscription Brands
Supplement brands share the subscription economy challenges: repeat purchase economics, LTV visibility, and customer quality over first-order volume.
Sector Reality
What we observe in health and wellness accounts.
What breaks in this sector
- Compliance disapprovals destroy momentum without warning
- Repeat purchase economics get ignored in favour of first-order ROAS
- Performance Max consolidates campaigns before you understand what converts
- Generic vs branded spend ratios drift without margin visibility
Where Google Ads misleads
- ROAS looks healthy while CAC erodes payback period
- Conversion tracking counts trials, not retained subscribers
- Smart Bidding optimises for volume, not customer quality
- Attribution windows hide the LTV reality
Why ROAS lies here
- A 4x ROAS on a one-time buyer is worth less than 2x on a subscriber
- Promotional orders inflate metrics while destroying margin
- Return rates vary wildly by acquisition source
- Compliance costs are invisible to the platform
Common agency failure
Optimises for first-order conversion volume. Ignores compliance risk until account suspension. Treats all customers as equivalent regardless of retention probability. Scales spend without visibility into repeat purchase rates or subscription churn.
What big agencies optimise
- • Conversion volume and CPA
- • ROAS on first purchase
- • Impression share on category terms
- • Shopping feed completeness
This weakens the business over time because it prioritises acquisition metrics over customer quality. The account looks healthy while customer lifetime value declines and compliance risk accumulates.
Commercial Decisions That Matter
What we constrain, protect, and let scale.
What we constrain
- Spend on non-compliant ad copy variations
- Generic term investment without margin visibility
- PMAX consolidation before signal clarity
- Promotional dependency that erodes LTV
What we protect
- Compliance record and account health
- Repeat purchase contribution margin
- Brand term efficiency
- Customer quality signals from high-retention cohorts
What we let scale
- Campaigns targeting subscribers over one-time buyers
- Ad copy with proven compliance track record
- Search terms with verified LTV correlation
- Remarketing to high-retention segments
Signals We Look For
What tells us risk is rising. What triggers intervention.
Risk indicators
- Repeat purchase rate declining while acquisition scales
- Compliance warnings increasing without copy changes
- Generic spend growing faster than branded revenue
- PMAX taking credit for brand conversions
- First-order ROAS stable but payback period extending
Intervention triggers
- Account health score drops
- Subscription churn exceeds acquisition
- Promotional orders exceed 30% of volume
- CAC payback exceeds 90 days without LTV justification
Fit Assessment
Who this is and is not for.
This applies if
- ✓Spend above £30k monthly with established repeat purchase data
- ✓Commercial maturity to share margin and LTV metrics
- ✓Decision ownership sits with someone who understands unit economics
- ✓Willingness to constrain volume for customer quality
This does not apply if
- ✗New brands without repeat purchase history
- ✗Teams that optimise for first-order metrics only
- ✗Organisations where marketing and finance do not communicate
- ✗Anyone seeking volume growth without commercial scrutiny
Sector Insights
Deep-dive articles for supplements and wellness brands.
Related Resources
Further reading for health and wellness brands.
Choosing an Agency?
How to Choose the Best Google Ads Agency for Supplements
Compliance, subscription LTV, and ingredient targeting - what separates specialists from generalists.
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