‍The Beginning: When One Feature Changes Everything

Most crowdfunding campaigns stumble out of the gate because they try to say too much, or worse, say the wrong thing.

That wasn’t going to happen here.

Before a single dollar was spent on ads, TCF did what few marketers actually do: we listened. And it paid off. During early lead-gen, one truth jumped out:

People hated subscriptions.

They didn’t just want to own Circular Ring 2. They wanted to pay once and be done. That insight shaped every single piece of creative we built.

But that was just the warm-up.

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The Middle: When the Algorithm Took the Wheel (Almost)

If you've ever run Meta ads, you know it used to be about micro-targeting. Split out prospecting, retargeting, nurture flows.

Then Meta dropped Advantage+. Suddenly, the old rulebook? Out the window.

We had a choice: stick to what we knew, or ride the new wave.

We did both.

Why Advantage+ Was a Risk Worth Taking

At first it was rough.

We fed Meta our best audiences built from Prelaunch.com’s AI personas, surveys, engagement signals. But Advantage+ didn’t convert the way our old campaigns did.

Here’s what most brands would’ve done: kill the campaign, go back to comfort zones.

But we knew something they didn’t.

Advantage+ works in phases. First, it learns. Then, it scales.

So we gave it what it needed:

• 50+ creatives, including videos, banners, product shots, all mapped to user behavior
  
  

• Clean conversion signals via pixel + CAPI
• A clear objective: sales, not just traffic

And then…

The Switch Flipped

By the time Circular Ring 2 hit its live Kickstarter launch, Advantage+ had one job: bring in real buyers.

And it delivered.

The campaign exploded. Not because of a single viral post. But because every touchpoint worked together, powered by real-time data and Meta’s algorithm making smart decisions behind the scenes.

Advantage+ began:

• Retargeting people who clicked but didn’t convert
• Finding fresh audiences who matched our best buyers
• Showing new creatives, tailored to each funnel stage

Every ad was personalized, and no user saw the same thing twice. Banner fatigue? Gone.

Secret Weapon: The Catalog That Did the Selling

We pushed things further with Meta Advantage+ Catalog Ads, that dynamically selects products and creatives based on user interest.

This wasn’t just about showing “a ring.”

The catalog ads auto-rotated different visuals:

• Feature-focused benefits for comparison shoppers
• Sleek lifestyle shots for top-of-funnel browsers
• Testimonials and awards for mid-funnel fence-sitters

Every click triggered smarter decisions. The AI didn’t just optimize for CTR, it optimized for what made someone buy.

The Result: More Than Just a Launch

Most campaigns hit their funding goal and fade out. Not this one. By the time we crossed $1 million, we were building a brand.

Here’s what Advantage+ helped us achieve:

• 📈 High ROAS on cold traffic, thanks to catalog matching and AI targeting
• 🔁 Retargeting that actually converted across Meta, YouTube, and Display
• 🎯 A buyer list ready for eCommerce, which is the best possible springboard for post-crowdfunding DTC success

And here’s the best part…

What Comes Next?

The same people who backed Circular Ring 2 didn’t even know what Kickstarter was a month earlier.

Now? They’re brand fans and first-time Kickstarter backers.

All because TCF understood that smart ad tech is only smart if you know how to feed it.

We paired Meta’s Advantage+ with creative testing, data-rich targeting, and real marketing strategy. Not just “set it and forget it”, but watch, test, tweak, and scale.

Want a launch and scale like that?

Let’s talk.

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