One of the biggest challenges facing a brand that sells clothing for tall or plus-size women is targeting customers by height or size, something a small startup often can’t afford to solve the way a big brand could by building out an experienced marketing team.
Tiffany Jones, a 6’1″ Navy veteran, founded TJL Collection, a clothing brand for women over 5’9″. After years of being unable to find stylish clothes that fit her own frame, she started sewing her own before launching her own brand.
TJL then ran into that exact targeting problem: without height as an option on ad platforms, the brand kept reaching people who liked its photos but weren’t actually its customers. In 2023, Jones hired Sarah S, a freelance digital marketer on Fiverr, to rebuild TJL’s approach around signals that actually predicted a buyer instead, like shopping habits and content engagement. Sarah also tested different creative, founder-led videos, testimonials, and product shots, to see what converted rather than what just got likes.
Since then, the two have worked together on and off for about $10,000 total, a fraction of a full-time salary, and TJL has cut customer acquisition cost nearly in half, from $38 to $18 per customer, while growing annual revenue from $475,000 in 2025 to a projected $800,000 this year.
Jones’s story is one of the case studies behind Fiverr’s Holiday Marketing Index, a new survey of hundreds of freelancers, examining how businesses are hiring for search, content, and e-commerce ahead of the holidays.
In an interview with Retail Insider, Jones spoke about the brand and the initiative.
How did TJL Collection’s difficulty targeting women by height or size affect your marketing efforts and customer acquisition before you changed your approach?
Height was not collected in the typical data we could use to run ads. We knew how to target by age, location and other demographics, but we couldn’t simply ask an ad platform to find women who were 5’9” or taller. We had to get creative to make sure our marketing stood out to the right women.
We kept hearing the same questions from tall women: “What’s the inseam?” “I’m 6’2”. Will it fit me?” They were the same questions I would ask as a 6’1” woman. These customers were shopping online and couldn’t try the clothes on first, so our marketing had to help them feel confident about the fit.
Some women found us organically. When we ran ads to reach beyond that audience, we had to find ways to identify likely customers without spending too much on clicks from people who weren’t going to buy. That challenge contributed to a customer acquisition cost of around $38 before we changed our approach.
How did you identify the shopping behaviours, content engagement and other signals that could more effectively reach women who were actually likely to buy TJL Collection products?
I was able to learn a lot very quickly by talking to our customers. I’m 6’1” myself, so I understood many of their experiences, but I still wanted to hear directly from them. I would go live, send out surveys and have conversations with our community. The women were more than happy to tell us what they wanted and what they needed to know before placing an order.
We also collected information through our website and listened closely to the questions customers asked about our products. Their voices helped drive our decisions, from the details we highlighted in content to the way we described a piece. Sarah then helped us pair that firsthand customer knowledge with audience research into shopping behaviours, interests, locations and content engagement. That gave us a more useful picture of the women most likely to buy than demographics alone could provide.
What specific changes did you make to the brand’s advertising and creative strategy, and what did you learn from testing videos featuring me as the founder, testimonials and product content?
We started using language that would make the right woman stop scrolling. Phrases like “Tall girls only,” “For women 5’9” and up,” or simply stating the inseam told her immediately that we were speaking to her. Those details helped us cut through a feed full of clothing ads.
Sarah and I also spent time learning who our customers were beyond their height. We looked at their interests, from travel and TV shows to their lives as moms, and used insights from our social media and website to understand where we were reaching them. That gave us a fuller picture of our customer and helped us make more informed decisions about our audiences and creative.
We tested videos featuring me, customer testimonials, lifestyle imagery and ads focused on specific products. My videos shared why I created TJL as a tall woman myself. Testimonials brought in the voices of women who had worn the clothes. Product content answered the practical fit questions that could hold someone back from ordering online. The lesson was that both the first words a woman saw and the details that followed had to make her feel, “This brand made this for me.”
How did working with a freelance digital marketer compare with the cost and capabilities of building an in house marketing team, and what made the arrangement work for TJL Collection?
As a small business, we needed experienced marketing support, but hiring a full time marketer would have been a major fixed expense. Working with Sarah through Fiverr gave us access to audience research and Facebook and Instagram advertising expertise as we needed it.
What began as one project became a working relationship. As we approached the end of a project, Sarah would send over the next one, so it was easy to keep moving. I found that especially valuable because I didn’t have to start over each time explaining who our customer was or why tall fit mattered. Sarah learned more about our audience, our products and our business with every project. I brought the firsthand customer knowledge, and she helped turn it into advertising we could test and improve. That continuity gave us many of the benefits of having someone on the team while allowing us to work project by project.
TJL Collection has reduced its customer acquisition cost from $38 to $18 while growing annual revenue from $475,000 in 2025 to a projected $800,000 this year. What has been the biggest factor behind that growth, and what challenges remain?
Being a niche brand has been one of our greatest strengths. Our message is clear: TJL makes fashion for tall women. Even when someone sees our content and isn’t tall, they often tag a tall friend. That introduction to the right woman is a win for us, too. Keeping our message clear has helped people recognize who we serve and share the brand with someone who needs it. Sarah helped us carry that clarity into our ads and reach more likely customers, bringing our customer acquisition cost down from about $38 to about $18.
The biggest ongoing challenge is the marketing budget. Advertising gets especially competitive during the holiday season, when larger companies can spend far more than we can. We have to make every dollar work harder and keep finding creative ways to reach tall women so TJL doesn’t get lost among brands with much bigger budgets. Our 2026 revenue figure is a projection, and staying focused as we grow matters just as much as reaching it.
6. What is the brand’s reach in Canada?
Canada is TJL Collection’s largest audience outside the United States. We’ve participated in pop-ups there and sold out an entire collection at one of them. Historically, Canadian customers have accounted for about 15% of our sales. That response shows us how strong the demand is for fashion designed specifically for tall women in Canada.
We plan to explore growing TJL in Canada next year so our pieces are more accessible to the women who have already embraced the brand. For me, the opportunity is about making it easier for that community to shop with us, from finding the right fit to getting their orders without the barriers they face today.
More from Retail Insider:
