ZBiotics had all the right ingredients for success: a breakthrough product, a purpose-driven brand story, and early success in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) space. But like many growing eCommerce brands, they hit a familiar snag: the initial marketing wins stopped rising, and their paid channels started showing signs of fatigue. Search and social performance stalled. Acquisition costs crept higher. And new customer growth slowed to a crawl.
With a strategic shift to top-of-funnel (TOF) programmatic tactics, executed across connected TV, display, native, audio, and video, ZBiotics reignited awareness, filled the funnel with high-quality prospects, and drove stronger efficiency across every downstream channel.
Let’s walk through how CAKE helped ZBiotics tap into the power of programmatic advertising strategy and how it could be the secret sauce to scaling your brand!

How ZBiotics Sparked Scalable Growth
A Breakthrough Product With a Clear Mission
ZBiotics isn’t just another supplement company. They brought to market the world’s first genetically engineered probiotic designed to break down the byproducts of alcohol. It’s an innovation with a clear use case, real science behind it, and a mission that resonates: helping people feel better after drinking.
When they launched, interest spiked because their story stood out with a product that spoke for itself. And performance marketing, especially paid search and social, became the backbone of their growth strategy.
Early Growth That Plateaued as Traditional Channels Hit a Wall
In those early months, search and paid social were dishing up results. But over time, cracks started to show, audience fatigue set in, and retargeting pools shrank. The same ads were being served to the same users, and new client acquisition slowed down.
Despite having strong conversion rates and a loyal customer base, ZBiotics couldn’t scale further without widening the top of their funnel. Their paid strategy needed a new layer.
The Challenge to Reach Qualified Top-of-Funnel Audiences
ZBiotics didn’t just need traffic - they needed qualified, conversion-ready users. But with limited brand awareness and a niche product, expanding the reach without wasting spend was sticky.
They didn’t want to dust ads across the internet and hope for the best. Instead, they needed to introduce their product to the right audiences in the right contexts, and do it in a way that would lead to real ROI down the road.
Rising Acquisition Costs Across Search and Social
As Meta and Google’s algorithms developed and competition increased, ZBiotics saw CPAs rising across the board, Google CPCs spiked, and Meta retargeting lost its edge. Even with creative and optimized programmatic ad campaigns, their customer acquisition engine was losing efficiency.
Introducing Programmatic to Reignite Performance
But our team at CAKE had a new strategy! What if we brought in programmatic as a full-funnel driver? Not just a brand awareness tool, but a revenue-producing channel that could improve efficiency across the entire paid ecosystem?
We knew this wouldn’t be a one-channel fix but instead, it was a detailed shift to a multi-touch programmatic strategy designed to introduce the brand to new audiences and guide them all the way to conversion.
Expanding Reach With Precision Targeting
One of the biggest myths in digital advertising? That programmatic is just for spraying ads across the internet and hoping someone bites. But when it’s done right, it’s less firehose, more pastry brush. It’s not just a spotlight; it’s piping attention exactly where it matters.
For ZBiotics, we didn’t settle for mass exposure. Instead, we built a smarter, more selective mix that baked in relevance from the start. Here’s how we served up a custom audience recipe:
- Lookalike modeling based on past purchasers and high-LTV customers, so we weren’t just guessing - we were cloning what already worked
- First-party CRM data to segment and serve hyper-relevant messages to people already familiar with the brand
- Third-party behavioral and demographic segments, layered into the mix with fresh eyes from aligned audiences
- Contextual targeting that placed the brand in front of consumers when and where they were already engaging with health, wellness, and lifestyle content
In short? No wide nets here. Our approach to data-driven marketing sifted through the analytics, mixed the right signals, and baked an ad targeting strategy that mirrored ZBiotics’ best customers, down to the last crumb.
Building Awareness Through Full-Funnel Media Strategy
The creative strategy focused on matching media formats to each stage of the customer journey:
- Connected TV (CTV) was used to build high-impact awareness with strong storytelling and brand cues
- Programmatic video and audio helped reinforce messaging and drive recall through repetition and reach
- Display and native ads were layered in to keep ZBiotics top of mind and guide engaged users back to the site
This wasn't a one-and-done impression strategy; it was a multi-stage campaign that moved users from awareness to action with purpose.
Improving Efficiency Across Paid Channels
As TOF programmatic media pushed new users to the ZBiotics website, it boosted traffic and revitalized their lower-funnel performance.
We saw:
- A meaningful increase in branded search volume (more users Googling “ZBiotics” after exposure)
- Improved Meta pixel performance, with broader, more relevant retargeting audiences
- Lowered Google NC CPA, as new users converted through branded search at a higher clip
- An overall drop in holistic new customer acquisition costs
Programmatic became the spark that lit up the rest of the marketing funnel, and it did so efficiently with measurable impact across channels.

Turning Programmatic Into a Scalable Growth Channel
Why a Top-of-Funnel Marketing Strategy Is the Key
Paid media performance doesn’t just decline by chance - it usually happens because the funnel gets too narrow, too fast. When you’re only focused on mid and bottom-funnel channels like search and social, you limit your reach and eventually saturate your audience.
TOF strategies like programmatic ensure a steady stream of high-quality users are always entering the funnel. When combined with intelligent retargeting and optimized creative, this approach raises awareness and drives revenue.
What to Expect from a Programmatic Partnership
At CAKE, we don’t treat programmatic like a side dish! Instead, we know it’s a core part of how we build full-funnel strategies for brands that are ready to scale. Here’s what you’ll get when you partner with us:
- A customized programmatic channel mix across CTV, audio, video, display, and native
- Audience segmentation and modeling grounded in your first-party data
- Clear attribution, transparent reporting, and agile programmatic ad optimizations
- A creative and strategic team that understands eCommerce from top to bottom
It’s not just about running ads, it’s about baking a growth strategy that’s tailored to your brand’s flavor, budget, and goals.
How We Tailor Every Campaign to Meet Your Goals
Some agencies serve up the same cookie-cutter campaigns to every client.
But not here!
We believe that every brand has a different customer journey, and that’s why we develop programmatic plans that support your full-funnel objectives, from broad awareness down to last-click attribution. If you're looking to expand into new markets, lower your blended CPA, or simply feed your performance channels with better traffic, we make sure the campaign works toward those goals.
We’re not here to burn your budget - we’re here to make it rise!
Ready to Scale With Intent?
If you’re feeling the squeeze on search and social, or if your growth has started to cool off, it might be time to rethink your top-of-funnel strategy. Programmatic isn’t just a nice-to-have. For growth-focused ecommerce brands, it’s the spark that drives smarter acquisition and better returns across the board.
Connect with CAKE’s expert team to get started on your own full-funnel strategy today.