Good morning,
Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:
🔧 Meta’s ad update could impact brand reputation
Check your inventory filters ASAP.
🚀 Scaling to a 9-figure DTC brand
Lessons from Portland Leather Goods.
📈 Searches for this Gen Z trend are climbing
Learn how this trend will impact 2025 sales.
You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Lives Not Knives, Basecamp Resorts, and Hioki. 👋
🔧 Don’t Overlook This Meta Setting and Protect Your Brand!
Starting on February 24th, 2025, Meta is changing the default inventory filters setting for in-content ads and the audience network to expanded.
What does this mean? Next week, your ads will appear alongside all content that adheres to Meta’s content monetization policies.
However, while advertisers get more potential reach, the change means less brand control.
Ads can appear next to highly sensitive content, which can damage brand reputation.
Luckily, advertisers can still manually change the default setting. 👇
How to access inventory filters: Click on Brand Safety and Suitability settings at the account level or under Placements during ad set creation.
Brands can change from Expanded to two other options: Moderate or Limited Inventory to exclude highly sensitive content.
👉 While these other options can increase costs, they prevent ads from showing up alongside highly sensitive content.
The takeaway?
It’s always important to be aware before this change happens since it may impact delivery.
The Pilothouse Meta team suggests brands A/B test for performance early so you can make the best call for your business.
In your ad set settings, you can choose your control level based on your placements.
👉 If you’re not already set up accordingly, use the breakdowns option in Meta to familiarize yourself with your top advertising placements.
Want to make the most of your Meta ads? Book a call with the Pilothouse team to optimize your strategy.
👂 Are Your Ears Burning? Find Out What Shoppers Have Been Saying About You And Your Competitors
🤔 Quit guessing what shoppers really think about your products or your competitors' — get the scoop straight from them.
Yotpo analyzed over 51 million reviews from 14,000+ brands to uncover 80+ insights across industries. 💥
What does that give you? An unfiltered view into shoppers' minds. 😎
Using AI, data analysis, and human insight, Yotpo created an interactive web experience to give ecommerce brands the data they need to win in 2025. ✨
Spoiler: Customers are tough on sizing, packaging, and product photos. But now you know exactly what to fix! 😉
Find out what else they’re talking about.
* sponsored
🔎 Where Is Your Target Audience Shopping Online?
A recent survey conducted by GRIN revealed that Gen Z customers are more likely to shop on TikTok and Instagram over traditional platforms like Google.
U.S. customers in that age range were mostly to discover new products on Instagram (30.4%), followed by TikTok (23.2%) then Google (18.8%) and YouTube (14.5%).
However, Google is still popular with older customers. 42.45% of Millennials use it for product discovery, while 55.9% of Boomers and 41.1% of Gen X rely on it.
🎙️ Velocity Wins: How Curtis Matsko Scaled Portland Leather Goods to 9 Figures by Moving Faster Than Everyone Else
What does it really take to scale a 9-figure DTC brand?
Relentless speed, constant reinvention, and never playing defense.
In this episode of the DTC Podcast, we sit down with Curtis Matsko, founder and CEO of Portland Leather Goods, to break down how he built one of the fastest-growing direct-to-consumer brands by outpacing the competition at every turn.
Curtis doesn't hesitate—he makes decisions fast, learns fast, and scales fast. While most brands overanalyze, he moves forward, makes adjustments in real-time, and never stops evolving.
In this podcast, we cover:
This episode is a must-listen for any brand owner looking to scale fast, break through growth ceilings, and build a brand that actually lasts.
👉 You can listen to the full episode with Curtis here.
📈 SEARCH SURGE
What’s Trending: No Buy 2025
Why is this happening?
This trend is gaining popularity with younger consumers, who are focusing on saving money and committing to a no-buy or low-buy policy for 2025.
The appeal? For Gen Z and Millennials, spending less on materialistic items means less clutter. And it's more sustainable in the long run.
This is part of the growing movement against overconsumption.
🎉 CELEBRATE THIS!
🧠 Feb 22: Thinking Day, Margarita Day, Cook a Sweet Potato Day
🍌 Feb 23: Single Tasking Day, Tile Day, Banana Bread Day
⚾ Feb 24: Trading Card Day, Tortilla Chip Day
💤 Feb 25: Chocolate Covered Nuts Day, Quiet Day
👖 Feb 26: Levi Strauss Day, Thermos Bottle Day, Pistachio Day
🍓 Feb 27: Protein Day, Strawberry Day, No Brainer Day
🦷 Feb 28: Tooth Fairy Day, Skip The Straw Day, Pink Shirt Day
📰 NEWS
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DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.
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