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Established brands are beating digital natives at their own D2C game. As marketplace and wholesale opportunities obfuscate what it means to sell D2C, brands need to keep up with both their retail and marketing playbooks鈥攐r risk falling behind.

CEO Adam Foroughi and CFO Matt Stump confirmed that ecommerce advertisers, particularly direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, will play a key role in its strategy. These brands, spanning various verticals such as beauty, household, pets, and accessories, have seen success with paid social advertising on platforms like Meta, TikTok, Snap, and Pinterest.

After boosting the D2C model over the last decade, digitally native vertical brands (DNVBs) face a slowing market, with sales growth declining every year through the end of our forecast period in 2028. That means acquiring customers and revenue can鈥檛 solely be done through online channels such as social media, as DNVBs have relied on in the past. Here are three ways DNVBs can continue the momentum of their digital buzz.

Hims & Hers defies digital health market odds: The D2C healthcare company grew revenues and membership鈥攁nd unlike competitors, it鈥檚 increasing its marketing and advertising spend.

Digitally native vertical brands (DNVBs) have a long way to go to catch up to established brands. While established brands will make up $134.55 billion in D2C ecommerce sales in 2023, digitally native brands will make up just $34.84 billion, according to our March 2023 forecast.

Nike鈥檚 close connections to sports and sneaker culture keep it on the top of Gen Z鈥檚 list of favorite brands while its cutting-edge sneaker technology makes the brand a must-have for runners. But Nike must use a mix of D2C and wholesale commerce if it wants to defend its title from the competition.

Embracing mobile gives consumers access to a branded experience both online and in-store, while in-store technologies bring the digital world into the physical. To cater to shoppers no matter where or how they shop, brands should also make sure they鈥檙e balancing in-store and online rewards as well as D2C and wholesale commerce.

Whether you鈥檙e an established brand like Wendy鈥檚 or a young D2C building an audience, understanding the right mix between organic and paid social is key, especially as the line between the two blurs. 鈥淚 think paid is planned paid, and organic has opportunistic pay that could go along with it,鈥� said Jimmy Bennett, vice president and global head of brand engagements and partnerships at Wendy鈥檚.

D2C brands, as well as some larger brands like McDonald鈥檚, have been eager to experiment with AppLovin and have seen good initial results. But it鈥檚 an open question as to whether those results will improve with more data or worsen as more ads appear.

Thursday Night Football shows viewership metrics don鈥檛 say it all: Amazon鈥檚 Black Friday audience was far lower than expected, but DTC opportunities drove brand excitement.

Tapestry brings its D2C and wholesale teams together to create a consistent brand experience across channels, while Hollister enables teens to fill their carts and send to a parent for purchase. Instacart and eBay find ways to offer customers more value.

For August, a digitally native direct-to-consumer brand of period care products, TikTok gives more than it takes down. For example, in January 2020, its launch video was immediately removed by the platform. 鈥淚 still get videos taken down for what the app believes is graphic content,鈥� said August co-founder Nadya Okamoto. Still, Okamoto credits TikTok for helping her cultivate a community of nearly 4.5 million followers across her personal and brand TikTok accounts, as well as allowing her to open a dialogue for authentic marketing.

鈥淐onsumer acquisition costs have gone up. Data is harder and harder to access. It鈥檚 trickier to figure out how to target our consumer in the right way.鈥� That鈥檚 Kendra Scott鈥檚 CMO Michelle Peterson, summarizing the state of marketing right now. The jeweler has found success both online and in-store by leveraging its D2C roots, pushing a viral TikTok presence, and working with the right influencers.

Between the lines: The volatility creators experience with brand and platform payments have allowed creator platforms that offer direct-to-consumer monetization like Kajabi, Patreon, and Substack to flourish. The turmoil at TikTok and in the political landscape have accelerated their growth, and prompted other platforms to offer major cash incentives or bonuses to TikTok creators.

Pfizer鈥檚 health answers service follows last year鈥檚 launch of a D2C platform where patients can connect to telehealth providers and order over-the-counter health products. These offerings put Pfizer ahead of traditional pharma company websites that contain resources to help patients, such as educational information on medications and treatments, drug discount cards, and insurance-related assistance.

(This back-and-forth marketing battle between Big Pharma and D2C weight loss drug players was a prediction we got right in our Health Trends to Watch 2025 report.).

If Netflix can keep WWE fans engaged, other leagues may follow, accelerating the shift from linear TV to direct-to-consumer sports streaming. WWE Raw鈥檚 move to Netflix is a bold experiment in sports entertainment streaming鈥攐ne that could either cement wrestling as a mainstream digital draw or test the limits of Netflix鈥檚 ability to sustain weekly live programming.

Digitally native D2C brands embrace traditional retail strategies: More are inking partnerships with retailers like Amazon and Walmart to expand their reaches and offset soaring acquisition costs.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts noted that 鈥�98% of the viewing on Peacock does not include the spun networks,鈥� adding those assets 鈥渘eed their own direct-to-consumer digital initiatives and focus and investment.鈥�. While networks like CNBC, MSNBC, and USA still generate strong cash flow and ad revenues, their long-term future depends on finding new ways to engage audiences.

The news: Direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand Quince raised $120 million in a Series C funding round co-led by Notable Capital and Wellington Management. Quince has raised more than $350 million in funding to date, per PitchBook. A sweet spot: The latest funding round validates the retailer鈥檚 brand positioning.

He thinks that D2C drug advertising doesn鈥檛 improve patients鈥� health while theorizing that media networks aren鈥檛 critical of Big Pharma in their news coverage since they depend on the industry鈥檚 ad spending. Why it matters: We鈥檝e previously stated that an outright ban on D2C pharma advertising is very unlikely.

Direct-to-consumer advertising revenues: Down 2% YoY. If Indian service Disney+ Hotstar is excluded, D2C ad revenues were up 16% YoY. The subscriber dip: Disney had warned it expected a 鈥渕odest decline鈥� in Disney+ subscribers during the holiday season due to a recent price hike and the end of certain promotions.