Marketing Pulse

TQE (The Quality Edit) Performance Analysis

Agency Creative Audit — Data through March 30, 2026

Source: Northbeam (Clicks Only, 1-Day Click, Accrual)

Executive Summary

TQE is a UGC/creative agency active since November 2025. $107K total spend, 218 NC, $493 CAC (5.5x the $90 target), 0.24x ROAS. Spend is scaling ($13K last week) but efficiency hasn't improved. One creator (Thomas) and one ad drive 41% of all TQE customers.
Last Week
Spend$12,942
New Customers18
CAC$710
ROAS0.23x
All Time
Spend$107K
New Customers218
CAC$493
ROAS0.24x
Comparison
In-house Meta CAC$174
Google CAC$59
Target CAC<$90

Weekly Trends

Weekly Spend vs. New Customers

Weekly CAC Trend

Site Visits

CTR (Click-Through Rate)

Visit → New Customer CVR

Creator Breakdown

Spend by Creator

Creator Ads Format Spend NC CAC ROAS
Thomas 2 Static $25,461 89 $287 0.21x
Lorelco 11 Static/Video $15,372 7 $2,110 0.07x
Taylor 2 Video $6,082 4 $1,483 0.11x
Brianna 5 Static/Video $5,375 11 $507 0.34x
Jenna 4 Static $4,783 13 $371 0.12x
Wade 2 Video $1,571 2 $806 0.13x

Top Ads ($500+ Spend)

Format Ad Name Spend NC CAC ROAS CTR Thumbstop
Static Thomas - MUD Static 01 $22,586 80 $282 0.22x 0.18% --
Static Lorelco - MUD Static 01 $6,835 3 $2,278 0.07x 0.14% --
Video Taylor - MUD Video 01 $5,474 3 $1,825 0.10x 0.22% 18.2%
Video Lorelco - MUD Video 01 $3,891 2 $1,946 0.06x 0.11% 12.4%
Static Jenna - MUD Static 01 $2,941 9 $327 0.14x 0.26% --
Static Thomas - MUD Static 02 $2,875 9 $319 0.18x 0.21% --
Video Brianna - MUD Video 01 $2,467 5 $493 0.36x 0.31% 33.8%
Static Lorelco - MUD Static 02 $2,104 1 $2,104 0.05x 0.09% --
Static Jenna - MUD Static 02 $1,842 4 $461 0.10x 0.19% --
Video Brianna - MUD Video 02 $1,608 4 $402 0.32x 0.28% 29.1%
Video Wade - MUD Video 01 $1,041 1 $1,041 0.12x 0.15% 14.7%

Key Findings

1. $493 CAC has never been efficient. TQE has been active since November 2025 and has never delivered a single week below the $90 CAC target. The all-time average of $493 is 5.5x the target and nearly 3x what in-house Meta achieves. There's no learning-curve improvement visible in the data — this is a structural problem, not a timing one.
2. Lorelco is the worst creator at $2,110 CAC. 11 ads, $15K spent, only 7 new customers. Some of Lorelco's ads are 18+ months old and still running with zero optimization. This is spend that should have been killed months ago. 0.07x ROAS means we're getting 7 cents back for every dollar spent.
3. Thomas's one static carries 41% of all TQE new customers — concentration risk. "Thomas - MUD Static 01" alone accounts for 80 of 218 total NC (37%). Combined with his second ad, Thomas drives 89 NC (41%). If that one creative fatigues or gets disapproved, TQE's already-poor numbers collapse entirely.
4. Brianna is the most promising creator. 33.8% thumbstop rate (best in the roster), best CTR, best ROAS (0.34x). At $507 CAC she's still above target, but her engagement metrics suggest the creative is resonating. With more volume and iteration, she could be the path to efficient TQE spend.

TQE vs. In-House Meta

Metric TQE In-House Meta Delta
CAC $493 $174 2.8x worse
ROAS 0.24x 0.73x 3.0x worse
CTR 0.34% 0.85% 2.5x worse
Best Creative CAC $282 $112 2.5x worse

Recommendations

Critical Kill all Lorelco ads immediately. $2,110 CAC across 11 ads and $15K spend. There is zero signal here. Some of these ads are 18+ months old. Every dollar going to Lorelco is a dollar wasted.
Critical Kill all Taylor ads. $1,483 CAC on 2 video ads. Only 4 new customers on $6K spend. Insufficient creative quality to justify continued investment.
High Reduce Thomas spend concentration. Don't kill Thomas — he's TQE's best performer — but having 41% of all NC on one creator/one ad is fragile. Cap his spend at current levels while diversifying.
High Double down on Brianna. Best thumbstop (33.8%), best ROAS (0.34x), best CTR. Commission 3-5 new creatives from Brianna, test new hooks and formats. She's the only creator showing engagement signals that could scale.
Medium Set a $300 CAC performance gate at $2K spend. Any new TQE ad that exceeds $300 CAC after $2K in spend gets paused. This prevents another Lorelco situation where bad ads run for months burning budget.
Medium Have the relationship conversation. TQE has spent $107K at 5.5x the target CAC. Unless Brianna-led creative can prove out at <$200 CAC within 4 weeks, this agency relationship needs to be re-evaluated. The creative volume is there (26 ads) but the quality isn't converting.