The 3 Ad Buckets Framework

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One team grew social reach from 7 million to 12+ million impressions.
 Engagement exploded. Video views were up.

ROAS? 7–8x.

And yet… single-game ticket sales stayed flat.

In this episode, Jeremy breaks down why awareness alone doesn’t create growth, the difference between monetizing demand vs. multiplying it, and how to structure your funnel so reach actually turns into repeat buyers.

Key Topics

• Why a strong ROAS can still hide a growth ceiling
• Monetizing demand vs. multiplying demand
• The 3 Ad Buckets every sports team must use
• Why frequency problems get mistaken for awareness problems
• The overlooked “Game 2 Strategy”
• Database growth as a revenue multiplier
• Why timing sales ads to 24–48 hour buying windows matters

The Core Lesson

This team didn’t hit a wall.
 They hit a ceiling.

Their ads worked.
 Demand exists.

But their funnel wasn’t engineered to move fans from awareness → intent → repeat behavior.

The 3 Ad Buckets Framework

Every ad must live in one of three buckets:

1. Audience Building - Build familiarity and retargeting pools.
2. Buyer Warming - Reduce friction and drive traffic.
3. Buyer Ready - Sell tickets.

If every ad says “Buy Now,” none of them function like true sales ads.

Platforms optimize for engagement — not wallet behavior.

They’ll find people who:

• Watch
• Like
• Comment
• Share

They are not automatically optimizing for:

• Selecting a date
• Bringing a family
• Buying multiple games

That behavior must be engineered.

This team likely:

• Re-activated past buyers
• Sold to an existing pool
• Improved efficiency

But didn’t expand the buyer base.

That’s a frequency problem — not an awareness problem.

5 Layers That Unlock Growth

1. Capture Before Conversion – Own the relationship early.
2. Retargeting Discipline – Structured audience building.
3. Separate Content Tracks – Entertain and sell.
4. Game 2 Strategy – Opening Day is marketing. The rest is sales.
5. Group Data Capture – 50 tickets sold ≠ 1 contact captured.

Database growth = revenue growth.

The Timing Insight Most Teams Miss

Most single-game tickets are purchased within 24–48 hours of the game.

If your conversion ads aren’t strongest during that window, you’re fighting buying behavior.

Align your ads with when fans are ready to act.

Timestamps

00:00 – Massive reach, flat sales
 01:16 – The 7–8x ROAS breakdown
 03:30 – Monetize vs. multiply demand
 05:14 – The 3 Ad Buckets
 08:16 – Engagement vs. buyer behavior
 12:57 – 5 growth unlocks
 19:43 – Ceiling vs. wall
 20:20 – Timing matters
 21:52 – Self-audit questions

Episodes mentioned:

Episode 125 - “I Saw Your Ad—But Didn’t Buy”: Fixing the Fan Follow-Up Funnel

Episode 111 - Building Your Marketing Budget Like a Funnel: Awareness to Action

Episode 132 - The 35,000 Visitor Problem: Why More Traffic Can Tank Your Profits

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