Before you spend another dollar on ads
Make sure this is actually working first
Hey there,
It’s Suze. I originally pulled the below together for founders in that pre-launch phase, where everything feels like it’s nearly there and you’re itching to start pushing traffic. The pattern I kept seeing was people starting to “optimize” before the foundation was actually sound. Tracking half set up, pixels loosely connected, email capturing something but not everything and then decisions being made as if the data was clean.
From the outside, it looks like a performance issue. In reality, it’s a setup issue. You can’t make good decisions on top of data you don’t fully trust, and it’s incredibly easy to end up optimizing noise instead of the business.
What’s become clear over time is that this isn’t just a pre-launch problem. Even well-established brands drift. Integrations quietly break, events stop firing as expected, attribution gets a little less reliable, and because it happens gradually, it’s not always obvious until something feels off.
So this is less about “getting set up” and more about coming back to the basics with intention. A simple reset to make sure everything is installed properly, tracking correctly, and giving you a clean view of what’s actually happening in your business. I’m calling it a Spring Refresh!
I’d treat this as something to bookmark and revisit. A quick check before you scale spend, or anytime performance doesn’t quite line up with what you’re expecting.
Hope this is helpful,
Suze
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Store Foundations & Email Channel Setup – Create a frictionless shopping experience, and turn visitors into contacts.
Inventory Tracking (e.g., Shopify)
Shopify Setup - Make sure a customer can buy smoothly, and your store tracks inventory levels.
Email Platform (e.g., Klaviyo)
Klaviyo Setup - Ensure that new sign-ups and customers appear in your email list automatically.
Contact Collection - Ensure you collect emails every week to turn traffic into repeat revenue.
Basic flows including Welcome Series & Abandon Cart Series - Ensure new subscribers and site visitors convert into first purchases more often. (For my established founders - it’s still worth checking, connections can break - I had an issue myself just the other week)
Measurement Essentials – You need visitor and channel data to know what’s working before you scale spend.
GA4 Setup - Make sure your store purchases and revenue show correctly in GA4.
UTMs & Creation - Online links with UTM tags tell your analytics tools (like GA4) exactly which ad, social post, or email brought a visitor to your site.
Test Order Creation - Run a test order to ensure you trust your data before spending on ads.
Paid Media Marketing Pixels – Pixels tell us who converts from our ads, and they also power retargeting.
If running Meta Ads:
You’re looking to make sure that you can launch ads without issues and Meta can optimize for purchases (not just clicks).
If running Google Ads:
Then, turn on:
This ensures that Google can optimize ads to revenue, and you can adjust product tags without dev help every time.
If running TikTok Ads:
These mean that you can run TikTok ad campaigns with clean attribution, and retargeting works reliably.
Verify Your Tracking
Ensure you’re tracking the full purchase cycle. Here’s a simple QA process:
1. Check Your Google Analytics 4 — Open DebugView
Track shopping activity on your website.
Go to GA4 → Admin → DebugView. Open your store on the same device and complete a test browsing session and purchase. You should see page_view, add_to_cart, begin_checkout, and purchase events appear in real time.
If purchase isn’t firing, your revenue data will be wrong from day one.
2. Check Your Meta Pixel — Events Manager
Track shopping activity and purchases from customers who have seen your Meta ads.
Go to Meta Events Manager → your Pixel → Test Events. Enter your store URL and walk through checkout with a test order.
Confirm that these key events—View Content, Add To Cart, Initiate Checkout, and Purchase—all fire in the correct sequence.
3. Check Your Test Order
Ensure that your orders reflect in your website, marketing analytics, and ad platform.
Place a real (or $1 test) order through your store before launching any paid campaigns. Confirm the order appears in your Shopify Orders, your GA4 purchase report, and your Meta Events Manager if you plan to run paid social.
If all three match, you’re all set. If they don’t, fix it before you spend.