Tim S.

If you are modeling only your direct competitors for ads and landers you ngmi. Need to expand beyond the obvious

Got connected to a 33-year-old Saudi guy through our WhatsApp community who sells collagen supplements across the Gulf region. $1.8M/month across Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain. One product. One funnel. Arabic-language ads. He told me something that completely reframed how I think about the Middle East: "Americans think of the Gulf as one small market. It's not. Saudi alone is 36 million people with the highest beauty spending per capita in the region. The combined Gulf states are 60 million people with more disposable income than most European countries." His CAC across the Gulf: $18 on a $95 AOV product. Saudi Arabia's ecom market hit $31 billion in 2026 and is growing at 12% annually. 99% internet penetration. 78% 5G coverage. The government's Vision 2030 initiative is literally building the infrastructure to make ecom easier — better logistics, faster payments, customs reform. He runs the ads himself. Has a customer service team in Riyadh and a 3PL in Jeddah. Total team: 5 people. His advice: "If you can get Arabic translation right — and I mean RIGHT, not Google Translate — the Gulf market will print for you. The spending power here is unreal and the competition from Western DTC brands is almost zero." If you have Arab friends or family — put them on this. The Gulf ecom market is growing at double digits and almost nobody from the Western DTC world is there yet.

The brands doing $1M/month aren't smarter than you. They're testing 5x more creatives per week. That's literally the only difference.

Eastern Europe is quietly printing for supplement and skincare brands. And nobody's paying attention. Czech Republic and Slovakia. Combined population of 16 million. Growing middle class. Health and wellness spending climbing year over year. I found three separate brands on Gethookd scaling aggressively in these markets right now. Senaria, Sivelis, and Korvanis — all running active ad campaigns with increasing spend. When you see three brands independently scaling in the same region, that's not a coincidence. That's a signal. Meta CPMs in Czech Republic: $2-5. Slovakia is even cheaper. The populations are small individually, but the competition is near zero. You're not fighting 4000 other supplement brands for the same eyeballs. You're one of maybe 5-10 running proper direct response funnels. Translation costs: $200-400 for Czech, and the same creative works in Slovakia with minor adjustments. The brands I'm seeing there are running the exact same playbook that works in Germany and France — advertorial-style landing pages with VSL creative. Nothing exotic. Just proven US funnels translated and localized. One translated funnel. Two countries. 16 million people. CPMs at a fraction of Western Europe. The brands that figured out Germany in 2024 are now expanding east. Czech and Slovakia are the next dominoes. If you have a team member or VA from Central Europe, put them on this immediately. The window is wide open and it won't stay that way.

and BTW, you can find: - VSLs on page - listicles - advertorials -quizzes and other funnel types with 1 click on gethookd

Most ecom brands die with a full warehouse and a "great product." Nobody cares about your product. They care about your offer.