How to Choose the Best Performance Marketing Agency for a Fashion D2C Brand in India
Fashion is a harder brief than most D2C categories. Large catalogues, size returns and COD. Here is what to test an agency on before you sign.
Why fashion needs a different kind of agency
Most agency listicles rank names. They rarely tell a fashion founder what to check. A skincare brand might sell ten products. A fashion brand sells hundreds of styles, each in five sizes and three colours, and adds new drops every few weeks.
That changes the work. The agency has to run a catalogue, not a handful of hero ads. It has to watch returns and RTO, because a sale that comes back is not a sale. It also has to know when your Myntra or Amazon listing is doing the selling and when your own site is. If an agency pitches you the same deck it shows a gadget brand, that is your first signal.
1. Can they run a catalogue, not just ads?
For fashion, the product feed sets the ceiling on what Meta can sell. Catalogue ads and Advantage+ sales campaigns pull titles, images, prices and stock straight from your store's product feed. A messy feed means bad ads at scale.
- Feed hygiene: clean titles with fabric, fit and colour, correct variant grouping by size and colour, and products that drop out when sizes run out.
- Product sets: separate sets for new arrivals, bestsellers, sale and each collection, so budgets follow what is actually selling.
- Creative on the catalogue: catalogue ads with lifestyle frames or video, not only white-background packshots.
- Tracking: Pixel and Conversions API sending content IDs that match the feed, or retargeting shows the wrong product. Our Meta CAPI setup guide covers this.
- Ask them to open your feed in the first call and tell you three things they would fix. A good media buyer can.
2. Do they chase purchases or kept orders?
In fashion, the ROAS in Ads Manager is not your real ROAS. It counts every order the day it is placed. It does not know about the kurta returned for size, or the COD parcel refused at the door.
A good fashion agency reports two numbers: platform ROAS for daily decisions, and a net view after returns and RTO, checked against your store orders and logistics data every week. It should also know which campaigns, audiences and products bring in high-return orders, and cut them even when they look good in Ads Manager.
- Do they ask for your return and RTO data by product and by pin code?
- Do they push for COD confirmation on WhatsApp or by call before shipping, and prepaid nudges at checkout?
- Do they treat size guides, fit notes and model measurements on the product page as part of the ad funnel?
- Do they keep products with a high size-return rate out of cold prospecting?
3. Who makes the creative, and how much of it?
Fashion ads tire fast. The same audience sees your bestseller ad again and again, frequency rises and click-through falls. You need a steady flow of new videos, not one shoot a quarter.
The formats that sell clothes on Meta are specific: try-on videos on different body types, styling one piece three ways, fabric close-ups, fit explained in plain words, and quick drop announcements. Ask who scripts, shoots and edits these. If the agency runs ads but outsources video, the feedback loop between what the data says and what gets shot next slows down. See how we approach performance ads videos.
4. Marketplace vs your own site: do they see the whole picture?
Many Indian fashion brands sell on Myntra, Ajio, Amazon and Flipkart as well as on their own website. Meta ads drive people to search for your brand, and some of them buy on the marketplace they already trust. Your D2C ROAS then looks weak while marketplace sales quietly rise.
An agency that only looks at your website will cut spend that is actually working. One that only looks at total sales cannot tell which ads earn their keep. Ask how they will read the two together: branded search volume, marketplace sales in the weeks after a push, and which products to send where. Bestsellers with heavy discounting often belong on marketplaces. New drops and full-price pieces usually do better on your own site, where you keep the customer data. If marketplaces are a big part of your sales, read about our marketplace management too.
5. Do they plan around the fashion calendar?
Fashion demand in India moves with seasons and occasions: summer and winter drops, end of season sale, Raksha Bandhan, Navratri, Diwali, wedding season. Ad costs rise in festive weeks as every brand bids at once.
Ask for a sample calendar. A good agency builds audiences and tests creative before the peak, so it is scaling proven ads when costs rise, not testing. It also plans with your stock: there is no point scaling an ad for a dress that is out of size M.
The scorecard: what to ask and what a weak answer sounds like
| Question to ask | Strong answer | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| How will you handle our catalogue? | Feed audit, product sets by collection, stock-aware ads | We will run a few best-performing ads |
| What ROAS will you report? | Platform ROAS daily, net of returns and RTO weekly | Only what Ads Manager shows |
| How many new ads a month? | A set number of new videos, tied to test results | Depends on what you send us |
| What about Myntra and Amazon? | Reads D2C and marketplace sales together | We only manage the website |
| What do you report, and when? | Fixed KPIs on a fixed schedule, plus account access | A monthly PDF |
| Can we keep the ad account? | Yes, it stays in your Business Manager | We run it from our account |
How to shortlist in a week
- Pick three agencies that show fashion work, not just D2C work. Look for playbooks and specific decisions, like our case studies, not only logos.
- Give each one view access to your ad account and feed and ask for a short written audit. The quality of the audit tells you more than the pitch deck.
- Meet the person who will run your account day to day, not only the founder or sales lead.
- Agree on the KPIs and reporting schedule in writing before you start.
- Start with a 90-day trial with clear checkpoints, then decide.
- For the general checklist that applies to any category, see how to choose a performance marketing agency. For what we run for fashion brands, see performance marketing.
How Monastic Media helps
One in-house team in Surat scripts, shoots and edits the ads videos and runs the Meta and Google campaigns they go into, so the people who see the numbers make the next ad. See our performance marketing
Read next
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Questions
What should a fashion brand look for in a performance marketing agency in India?+
Check that they can manage a large catalogue feed, report results net of returns and RTO, make new try-on and styling videos every month, and read your marketplace sales alongside D2C. Fashion experience matters more than general D2C experience.
Should my fashion brand focus on Myntra or our own website?+
Most brands need both. Marketplaces bring ready demand and trust. Your own site keeps the customer data and the full margin, so new drops and full-price pieces usually belong there.
Why is my fashion ROAS high in Ads Manager but profit low?+
Ads Manager counts orders when they are placed, not when they are kept. Size returns and refused COD parcels never show up there, so check ROAS against delivered, kept orders in your store's order data and your logistics panel.
Do catalogue ads work for small fashion brands?+
Yes, if the feed is clean and you have enough products and sizes in stock. With a very small range, a few strong video ads often do more than catalogue ads at the start.
How many new ad creatives does a fashion brand need each month?+
There is no fixed number. It depends on spend and how fast ads tire. Watch frequency and click-through: when frequency rises and click-through falls, the account needs fresh ads, and fashion accounts usually hit this sooner than others.
“MM helped us scale from 0 to ₹2.6 CR/month in just 6 months with clear communication and industry expertise!”Rakesh Naidu GM @ Naaptol
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