Breaking Free from Meta: Our Guide to Channel Diversification

Hey everyone,

Welcome back for another bite to chew on.

Let's talk about something that's been on every DTC founder's mind lately: marketing channel diversification. Here's why:

Meta (Facebook/Instagram) accounts for about 65% of most DTC brands' ad budgets. And honestly? There are good reasons for that. Meta's ad platform is powerful, scalable, and for many brands, it flat-out works.

But even the best marketing channel can become a liability. Random account freezes, rising CPMs, policy changes, and growth plateaus are all pushing brands (like us)  to explore alternatives.

Today we’ll go over some of our experiences outside of Meta and where are looking to test in the near future. 

On the Menu

1. TikTok + Affiliate → TOFU and awareness generation

2. YouTube & TV → The next step

3. AppLovin → Our early results

Before we dive in, let’s talk about website UX for a bit. It doesn’t really matter what you do in terms of acquisition if you can’t turn clicks into sales, right?

The biggest opportunity we see is almost always checkout optimization. It’s something we’ve been obsessed about over the last 12 months.  

So if you look at your cart experience does it ever feel like your checkout is just...dead space? It did for us. 

When a customer has their card out, they're primed to spend - but our basic checkout wasn't capitalizing on it.

That was before Aftersell. 

This year we started using their checkout customization tools to easily add dynamic upsell offers, free shipping thresholds, and Network Offers. All A/B tested to find what actually works.

The result? → $7.50 boost in AOV across the board. 

That's enough to offset the rising ad costs and protect our margins (without relying on constant discounting.)

Also:

• Setup took minutes, not months 

• No dev work needed 

• Our conversion rate actually improved

Thinking of boosting your AOV with Aftersell?  Reply to this email and we will make a special introduction to the Aftersell team for you.

Or if you’re not sure, try their free revenue calculator and find out how much more you could make with their Network Offers. 

TikTok + Affiliate

At Obvi, TikTok Shop is not the standard “optimize for conversions” play.

While most brands deploy on Meta and call it a day, we know there's a ceiling to Meta reach. That's why we're now using TikTok as our primary top-of-funnel awareness channel.

Here's our thinking →  

TikTok's algorithm heavily favors Shop content right now. If you want views (and trust us, you do), that's where you need to be. We've shifted our entire strategy around this insight.

Instead of only directing affiliate traffic to our website with coupon codes and links, we're pushing a ton to TikTok Shop.

Why? Because breaking even on TikTok Shop while generating millions of views and authentic creator content is actually a win. Those views and that content make every other channel work harder.

The impact we're seeing:

• Meta campaigns perform better

• Amazon sales get a natural lift

• Even retail feels the effects

• Overall marketing efficiency improves

Think of TikTok Shop as a brand awareness play that happens to drive sales. The ROI isn't just in direct revenue - it's in creating a snowball effect across channels. We invest heavily in seeding products upfront, aiming to generate viral moments and views alongside sales.

The Obvi playbook:

1. Focus on content that gets views (the algorithm rewards Shop content)

2. Offer higher commissions to creators (drives more content creation)

3. Use viral moments and UGC in other paid channels

4. Measure success across all channels (not just TikTok)

The market data backs this approach. TikTok's projected to hit 1B users by 2025, and we're seeing 22% lower CPMs than Meta. But the real value isn't in those metrics - it's in building brand awareness at a scale that makes every other marketing dollar work harder.

Pro tip → Stop thinking about TikTok Shop as just another sales channel. It's the most efficient way we've found to build mass brand awareness that impacts sales across all channels.

That’s why we’re happy to technically break even on TTS - just as long as it’s improving the volume and efficiency of everything else, from Amazon, to online, to retail.

YouTube & TV

At Obvi, we're eyeing both for 2025, but there's a reason we're not diving in yet.

YouTube shows massive potential:

• 84% higher attention rates than TV ads

• Better ROI than television in 77% of studies

• Strong for educational content and brand building

Traditional TV remains a powerhouse:

• Over 70% of US households still have cable/satellite

• 87% of ad time is on traditional TV

• Unmatched reach during live sports and events

Both channels come with their own challenges. 

You'll need to invest in high-quality production to compete effectively. Attribution also gets complex, especially when measuring brand lift and delayed conversion impact. And unlike platforms like TikTok where you can test quickly, these channels require longer cycles to prove out.

Our plan? 

Build brand awareness through more accessible channels first, then expand into these premium platforms with proper measurement in place.

AppLovin - Early results 

The new kid on the block. 

We just started testing AppLovin at Obvi, and the results are fascinating. 

The first 10 days? Nothing special. Then something clicked - we’re guessing the AI optimization kicked in - and performance completely shifted.

What we're seeing → 

• Started at $500-2000/day

• Now scaling to $5-6k/day

• Making up 30% of our current ad spend

• 50% better efficiency than our Meta results currently 

The best part? It's remarkably simple to run. 

We're taking our existing video assets - everything from UGC and podcast clips to high-production ads and influencer content - and just feeding them into the system. No complex testing structure, no manual campaign scaling. Just upload your videos and let the AI optimize.

Some practical tips from our early testing:

• Don't judge performance too early. The system may need time to calibrate. 

• Start with a diverse set of video creatives

• No need to overthink ad copy

• Turn off underperforming creatives and replace them quickly

This feels like what advertising should be - load up your best creative and let the platform do the heavy lifting. While Meta CPMs keep rising, AppLovin is showing promise as a complement to our existing channels.

Market context: AppLovin has already become the third-largest mobile advertising network after Google and Meta, with access to over 1.4 billion daily active users. They handle over $4 billion in advertising annually, and we're starting to understand why - their AI-powered automation might actually works.

We're planning to push to $10k+ daily soon. If you're thinking about testing AppLovin, now might be the time - especially if you're seeing rising costs on other platforms.

If you’re spending $20K+ per day on Meta and want an intro, reply to this email and let us know. 

All that said, this is all very early. We’re intrigued, but we’re not going to get too excited until we see how this performs over a longer period. 

We’ll continue to share our experience here and on social media. Stay tuned!

Sum It Up

The landscape of DTC marketing is evolving rapidly. Here's what matters:

• Low-friction wins. 

Whether it's TikTok Shop or integrated affiliate experiences, reducing barriers between discovery and purchase is crucial.

• Think about your funnel.

Each channel has its moment. Build brand awareness through accessible channels before taking on bigger plays.

• Consider expansion, not replacement. 

The goal isn't necessarily to replace Meta - it's to build a more resilient business that can grow through multiple channels.

Meta’s still the powerhouse, no question. As you know, we spend a ton there. 

But as we push into new DTC scale as well as international markets and retail, we need to test new and different ways to efficiently grow our awareness and revenue. 

All the best, 

Ron & Ash