Meta Ads & Growth Marketing Specialist — Agricultural Brand Launching Merch on Shopify

We're a popular agricultural content channel/brand that has recently launched a merch line on Shopify. We're looking for someone who can really take the reins on ads and marketing to help us sell — someone who can think like a growth marketer, not just an ad operator. The core of this role is Meta ads (Facebook & Instagram) — building our strategy, launching campaigns, and managing them month to month. We're working with a modest budget to start ($500/month in ad spend), so we need someone efficient and strategic at this size, not someone who only knows how to spend big budgets. Beyond Meta, we'd love someone who can eventually help us think about a broader strategy — affiliate/influencer marketing, TikTok Shop, and other channels that make sense for a brand with an existing audience moving into merch. This part is a bonus, not a requirement — if you're a Meta ads specialist with strong e-commerce results but not deep TikTok Shop or affiliate experience, we still want to hear from you. This is a two-part engagement to start: Phase 1 — Strategy & Setup (one-time) Audit our current setup (pixel, catalog, account history if any) Build a real Meta ads plan: campaign structure, target audiences, creative direction, testing approach for the first 30-60 days Get campaigns launched If you have relevant experience: initial thoughts on whether affiliate marketing or TikTok Shop make sense for us, and roughly how/when to layer them in Phase 2 — Ongoing Management (monthly) Monitor and optimize active Meta campaigns Make creative/audience adjustments based on performance Send a short monthly report in plain English — what's working, what changed, what's next Estimated 3-5 hours/month to start, with room to grow into a bigger marketing role (and bigger budget/scope) if it's working well for both of us You should have: Proven experience running Meta ads for e-commerce, ideally clothing, apparel, or merch brands Examples of past results (ROAS, CPA, revenue growth) — please be specific in your proposal Experience getting efficient results on smaller budgets Familiarity with Meta Ads Manager, Pixel/Conversions API, and product catalogs (e.g. via Shopify) Bonus: experience with affiliate/influencer marketing programs or TikTok Shop for e-commerce brands Bonus: experience working with content creators/channels selling merch to an existing audience Clear communicator — we're newer to this and want to understand what's happening, not just hand it off blindly Compensation: Setup phase: Fixed fee, budget around $150-400 depending on scope (open to your proposal) Ongoing management: Small monthly retainer, budget around $150-350/month for the capped hours above Bonus: We're open to adding a performance bonus on top of the retainer if we hit agreed revenue milestones — happy to discuss in interview This is a small engagement to start, but we're looking to build a longer-term relationship and grow scope/pay as results come in To apply, please include: A brief example of a clothing/merch (or general e-commerce) account you've managed, with real results How you'd approach the first 30 days with a sub-$500/month Meta ads budget If applicable: a sentence or two on how you've used affiliate marketing or TikTok Shop for e-commerce growth Your proposed pricing for Phase 1 (setup) and Phase 2 (monthly retainer)