Show Notes
In this eye-opening episode of Meta Ads: Under The Hood, Megan Winter sits down with Denise, the founder of Slappa's Thongs, Australia's original arch-support thong brand. What began as a personal need during pregnancy has since evolved into a business that blends comfort, innovation, and unapologetic authenticity. Learn More About Working with Lume Marketing Hire us to run your ads for you Learn how to run your own ads Denise shares the behind-the-scenes of building a brand with integrity. From navigating copycat competitors to walking away from the relentless sales cycle. You'll discover how strategic decisions around pricing, platform choice, and marketing authenticity have helped Slappa's thrive for over 15 years without compromising their values. Why eCommerce Entrepreneurs Should Listen By listening to this episode, eCommerce entrepreneurs will learn how to honour their brand's value while resisting the pressure to compete on price or scale unsustainably. Denise offers a transparent look at the practical and emotional journey of growing a product-based business with intention. From shifting mindsets around copycats to innovating with reverse pricing strategies, this episode is packed with grounded wisdom for any brand owner looking to grow profitably, sustainably, and authentically in the Meta ads space, and beyond. Key Takeaways Purpose-Led Product Innovation Slappa's was born out of a real need. Supportive, open footwear during pregnancy, and evolved into a truly unique product through smart design and manufacturing innovation. Being the Original Pays Off As the first Australian-designed arch-support thong using a one-piece closed-cell injection process, Slappa's owns its originality, and the moulds to prove it. Copycats as Compliments Denise shares the mindset shift that helped her see imitators not as threats, but as proof of Slappas' success and desirability. Realness as a Brand Differentiator From unpolished founder videos to direct DMs, Slappas thrives by being "real", a reflection of their Darwin roots and values-led approach. Rethinking Black Friday & Discount Culture After years of participating in sales cycles, Denise made the bold decision to opt out, highlighting how endless discounts train customers to wait for deals, not value. Reverse Pricing Strategy that Works Slappas launched a campaign where prices increased instead of dropping, driving urgency, conversions, and full-price sales with minimal ad spend. Meta Ads as the Core Platform Meta remains their most effective advertising channel, proving that a focused approach, paired with email and organic content, can outperform broader, scattered efforts. Scaling with Intention, Not External Pressure Denise made a conscious choice to stay small and self-funded, maintaining control while balancing business with family life. Check Denise out here: Slappas Thongs Website Final Thoughts This episode is a powerful reminder that you don't have to play by everyone else's rules to win in eCommerce. Slappa's has built a brand that lasts. Not because they followed the crowd, but because they followed their truth. Denise's story offers the kind of grounded inspiration and strategic insight that will resonate deeply with founders ready to do things differently.
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When Denise founded Slappa's Thongs, Australia's original arch-support thong brand, she was simply looking for comfortable, supportive footwear during pregnancy. What started as a personal need turned into a business that has stood the test of time, built on innovative design, authenticity and a commitment to doing things differently. But building an original product doesn't come without challenges. Over the years, Denise has dealt with copycat competitors, the pressure to discount and the constant expectation to scale. Rather than following what everyone else was doing, she made intentional decisions about how she wanted to run her business, from staying self-funded to stepping away from traditional Black Friday sales. One of her more surprising marketing experiments involved increasing prices instead of discounting them. The reverse pricing campaign created urgency, encouraged full-price purchases and delivered results with minimal ad spend. Alongside this, Meta ads, email marketing and authentic founder-led content have played an important role in growing the brand. We're revisiting this conversation because Denise's approach to building a profitable, sustainable business is just as valuable for eCommerce founders today. In this episode, Megan and Denise talk about: - How Denise turned a personal need during pregnancy into Australia's original arch-support thong brand - What makes Slappa's product design unique and how Denise approaches copycat competitors - Why showing up authentically, even through unpolished videos and personal messages, helps build customer trust - Why Denise decided to step away from Black Friday sales and constant discounting - How a reverse pricing campaign encouraged customers to buy at full price - Why Meta ads remain an important part of Slappa's marketing strategy alongside email and organic content - How Denise has built a sustainable, self-funded business without giving in to the pressure to scale Learn more about Denise: Slappa's Thongs Website Learn more about working with us: The next 8-week mentoring program where you'll learn to run Meta ads like a pro is opening soon. Apply now. Hire me and my team to run your ads. Learn more. Learn how to run your own ads. Click here. Learn more about your host: Megan Winter is a meta ads expert, an experienced ADMA and AMI-awarded marketer and founder of Goodkind Media. As an early-adopter of digital marketing and social media advertising, she has consulted to global brands owned by Heineken and Lexus, has taught hundreds of small business owners at The Facebook Ads Academy, and presented on digital marketing at Bond University. Now, her passion is helping ethical, purpose-led brands achieve more income and impact with high-performing meta ads. Connect with Megan on Instagram @meganwinter or LinkedIn
When Carol opened The Shoe Garden in Brisbane in 2012, she was recovering from burnout and building something she knew women needed: fashionable, colourful shoes for longer feet, starting at size 10. Mainstream retailers offer women with longer feet very few options, so Carol's customers don't just buy shoes from her. They light up, and some even tear up, when they finally have real choice. Carol's niche and loyal customer base still didn't make marketing easy. After radio ads and other efforts that didn't deliver, she started working with Lume Marketing in 2024 to run Meta ads. Comparing the year before ads with the last financial year, the results were: - 79% growth in online sales - 45% increase in new customers - Around 600% return on ad spend In 2026, Carol went a step further. She completed our 8-week program and now runs her own ads, handling the tracking, analysis and optimisation herself. In this episode, Megan and Carol talk about: - How Carol built a business serving an underserved niche - Why consistency and repetition keep you top of mind with customers - Why Carol first chose to outsource her ads, and what made her ready to take them back in-house - How one-on-one training lets you apply what you learn to your own data and circumstances, beyond the general advice that's everywhere - How Carol's historical data from her time as a client gave her a head start when she took over - Why you need to either learn to run your ads well or hire experts, because doing neither stalls growth Learn more about working with us: The next 8-week mentoring program where you'll learn to run Meta ads like a pro is opening soon. Apply now. Hire me and my team to run your ads. Learn more. Learn how to run your own ads. Click here. Learn more about your host: Megan Winter is a meta ads expert, an experienced ADMA and AMI-awarded marketer and founder of Goodkind Media. As an early-adopter of digital marketing and social media advertising, she has consulted to global brands owned by Heineken and Lexus, has taught hundreds of small business owners at The Facebook Ads Academy, and presented on digital marketing at Bond University. Now, her passion is helping ethical, purpose-led brands achieve more income and impact with high-performing meta ads. Connect with Megan on Instagram @meganwinter or LinkedIn
"Fire your agency" content is everywhere right now — but is it good advice? Megan (who runs both an agency and a training program teaching people to run their own ads) breaks down the truth: there's no universal right answer, only the right fit for your business and your timing.
"Until you test, it's just a guess." You've probably heard Megan say it a hundred times — but most small businesses are still testing their meta ads the wrong way, which means they're not really testing at all. They're just guessing with extra steps. In this episode, Megan breaks down the 5 most common testing mistakes she sees, and what to do instead so your data actually tells you something useful. In this episode, Megan covers these mistakes: Testing without a strategy behind it — Throwing AI-generated creative into ads just to "see what happens" without checking it aligns with your brand and offer first. Testing rubbish still gives you rubbish. Trusting the Meta dashboard as the source of truth — Why every platform wants to claim credit for the same sale, and why your website and sales numbers matter more than what Meta tells you. Not checking that the pixel is actually tracking correctly — A real example of a client whose purchase pixel was triple-firing, making an $18 cost per purchase look like $6. Testing too many things at once — Why changing your creative, landing page, and offer all at the same time makes it impossible to know what actually worked. Panicking and adding more instead of reading the data — When results dip, the instinct is to create more. Often the real answer is hiding in the data already — like the account that was losing money until the data pointed straight to a landing page fix. Plus, two real case studies: an account that started losing money (and what the data tells us to do about it), and a client who set a target of 100 memberships, tested the plan, and sold 104 while spending 20% less. Learn more about working with us: The next 8-week mentoring program where you'll learn to run Meta ads like a pro is opening soon. Apply now. Hire us to run your ads. Learn more. Learn how to run your own ads. Click here. Learn more about your host: Megan Winter is a meta ads expert, an experienced ADMA and AMI-awarded marketer and founder of Lume Marketing. As an early-adopter of digital marketing and social media advertising, she has consulted to global brands owned by Heineken and Lexus, has taught hundreds of small business owners at The Facebook Ads Academy, and presented on digital marketing at Bond University. Now, her passion is helping ethical, purpose-led brands achieve more income and impact with high-performing meta ads. Connect with Megan on Instagram @meganwinter or LinkedIn
This week Megan welcomes Lume Marketing account manager Britt Brown for her very first podcast appearance. Britt manages a rotation of Lume clients and brings 20+ years of marketing experience to the chat, including running her own family business. The pair dive into one of their favourite team-meeting topics: marketing tactics. In this episode they discuss the Labubu craze, and what it can teach small business owners about the psychology behind why we buy. From there they unpack how the same tactics show up again and again throughout marketing history, from Prime energy drinks to the 1950s diamond ring campaigns that convinced the world "a diamond is forever." In this episode Megan and Britt cover: How Labubu's blind box format created mystery and anticipation Why manufactured scarcity (and real scarcity) drives FOMO, and how FOMO is really just anticipated regret The role influencers played in turning a toy into a cult object What happened to demand once Pop Mart scaled production from 50,000 to millions a month Social proof in action, from bootleg resellers to a packed restaurant with a line out the door How Prime drink used the same playbook, targeted at kids, and why that's a whole ethics conversation on its own Why consumers aren't as easily fooled as brands think, and the difference between a genuine limited drop and a "fake" one How small businesses can borrow these tactics authentically, without needing Pop Mart's budget or scale Real examples: Mecca's loyalty program and reward emails, Britt's Cardera Coffee subscribe-and-save, and the power of a great "About Us" page Why brand story and community will always outlast a discount code, and why tactics are "the gravy, not the meat and potatoes" People and brands mentioned in this episode: Rebecca Sparrow -- Goodkind Media client and how Britt found Megan Welds and Wood -- small business Megan purchases a floating shelf from Cardera Coffee — Goodkind Media client subscribe-and-save coffee brand, cited as an example of community/social proof driving a sale Labubu / Pop Mart — the toy craze that anchors the episode's discussion of scarcity, blind boxes, and hype Prime (energy drink) — co-founded by founded by Logan Paul and KSI (in the episode Megan says "Logan brothers or whoever it was".) Aldi — mentioned re: their toy/collectible packet promotions and kids trading them at school Coles — mentioned alongside Aldi re: bonus ticket promotions Mecca (beauty retailer) — used as an example of loyalty programs, birthday freebies, and purchase-triggered incentives Shein — mentioned twice: once re: knockoff Labubu dolls, once re: fast fashion ethics/pricing Chanel — mentioned as an example of a luxury bag Labubus were being attached to Showpo — fast fashion brand founded by Jane Lu, used as an example of selling "the vibe" not the product Learn more about working with us: The next 8-week mentoring program where you'll learn to run Meta ads like a pro is opening soon. Apply now. Hire us to run your ads. Learn more. Learn how to run your own ads. Click here. Learn more about your host: Megan Winter is a meta ads expert, an experienced ADMA and AMI-awarded marketer and founder of Lume Marketing. As an early-adopter of digital marketing and social media advertising, she has consulted to global brands owned by Heineken and Lexus, has taught hundreds of small business owners at The Facebook Ads Academy, and presented on digital marketing at Bond University. Now, her passion is helping ethical, purpose-led brands achieve more income and impact with high-performing meta ads. Connect with Megan on Instagram @meganwinter or LinkedIn