Is paid traffic worth it for DTC? 2025

It's possible to thrive with an organic audience.

The problem with that? It's unreliable. Take, for example, a viral Instagram reel. It explodes overnight, and poof it deflates.

Studies and creator analytics show that short-form videos such as IG reels get the most views within the first 24-48 hours.

Here's the thing:

Brands put time, money, and effort into creating viral videos, only for them to last for a couple of days at best...

In this blog, we'll cover if ads are still worth it for DTC brands in 2025.

Introduction: The Problem with Organic Traffic
What is Paid Traffic?
Benefits of Paid Traffic
- Instant Results
- Scalability
- Predictability
Paid Traffic Platforms
- Search Engine Advertising (Google & Bing Ads)
- Social Media Ads (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Snapchat)
How to Write High-Converting Ads
- Research
- Proven Copywriting Formulas
- A/B Testing & Optimization
Common Advertising Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
Paid Traffic vs. Organic Traffic: Which One Wins?
Is Paid Traffic Worth It?
How to Get Started with Paid Ads

What's paid traffic?

Being the opposite of organic traffic, you pay for ads on various online advertising channels (depending on your goals, audience, and budget) to:

capture website visitors,
awareness,
or retarget lost sales.

Benefits of paid traffic

Paid traffic (or ads) provides instant traffic and exposure. Organic traffic, on the other hand, is slow to start and can have steady long-term growth. (provided the algorithm doesn't change)

Combining both paid and organic is reaping both extremes: instant traffic + long-term growth that isn't slow to start.

Based on a statistic, global advertising spending is projected to exceed a trillion dollars (!) annually in the next few years. A trillion? If you skip or delay advertising, you're definitely losing out on opportunities.

1) Instant results

With paid traffic, you're not waiting around for months to start to get some exposure. (unlike organic or SEO).

You launch the ad, and boom, you've got results. Many people overuse the word "instant", but in this case, it truly is instant results.

2) Scalable

Does more content mean more money in organic? Not quite.

In ads, this strategy fully works. You can start off with a low budget to figure out if the ad is good, and once you're ready, pour more money into it, and it will bring more results.

More budget = more traffic.

3) Predictable

With paid ads, you set your budget, and you have the ability to track every meaningful metric:

clicks
impressions
conversions
ROAS
CPC (cost-per-conversions)

If you know how much you spend to get one conversion, you can predict how much you need to spend to get X number of clients.

And also as you scale, the conversion rate typically stabilizes, which means it's predictable.

Shhh... Are you sure your copywriting isn't costing you sales?

Find out if your copywriting is leaving money on the table.

LEARN MORE

Paid traffic platforms

Search engine advertising (Google ads or Bing ads)

These ads show up on the top part of search results. This means you can forget about time-consuming SEO, and just rock with this strategy for Google.

This is crazy:

If you thought to yourself: "Who the hell runs Bing Display Ads?" I said that to myself too, until I realized they are significantly more budget-friendly than Google Ads. (up to 20-50% cheaper)

And fun fact: Bing has an older and wealthier audience.

Social Media Ads

There's a whole wide range of social media platforms nowadays. And the good thing about that? Every single one offers advertising. Whether you want to market to a broad audience, or a niche audience, there's a platform for each.

Paid social media ad platforms for older audiences

Facebook Ads

Because of its vast customization, it's also a great tool for retargeting. Facebook has a diverse audience, meaning it's possible to not just target older people, but specific ages of your liking.

Instagram Ads

It's part of Meta's ecosystem, meaning it's very similar to Facebook ads but with one major difference: it's heavily visual. With FB, it's possible to perform with text-based ads, but on Instagram, you're expected to have top-notch images. (which is understandable)

Pinterest Ads

Analytics prove that older women are taking over Pinterest. The 30-50+ age group is a key demographic, and it has a strong presence among women, they make up about 70-80% of Pinterest's global user base.

Paid social media ad platforms for younger audiences

TikTok Ads

Although we see millennial people join in as well, this platform is a metropole for when it comes to Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences. Your ads would be mainly video-based, which appeals to these generations.

Snapchat Ads

Having 60% of users fall between the 18-24 range, it's crucial to market here if you have products appealing to younger audiences. The platform focuses mainly on private chatting, but you can have your ads placed within: Stories, or Snapchat's short-form video platform.

How do you write an interesting ad? (BE DIFFERENT COPY)

Research

Research is as important, if not more important than the writing part itself. How do you plan to make a persuasive PPC ad about a product you don't even know about?

Here's the thing:

Even if you're a business owner, it's sometimes hard to know about the true benefits and frustrations your customers go through.

That's why it's so crucial to do this.

Create a research document, and use this table (go to top-left and click create a copy)
With the help of customer interviews, reviews, support chats, etc..., find out about the fears, desires, and frustrations of your potential customers

Writing an ad

You've got two choices: hire a copywriter, or do it yourself.

Here are all the proven formats:

PAS (Problem, Agitate, Solution)
FAB (Features, Advantages, Benefits)
NESB (New, Easy, Safe, Big)

Start off with a hook (e.g. You're doing X wrong...)
Relate to a common frustration
Position the product as a solution

A/B Testing and optimization

After you're done writing it, create 3-6 variants of your ad. Launch all of these on FB's ad platform and see which one performs best. (low budget at first)

Go with the best one, and pour in a high budget.

You can also turn on Facebook's AI auto-optimization, meaning it will streamline certain demographics or budgets for maximum results.

How to avoid common advertising mistakes

Yes, paid traffic can be all sunshine all rainbows. But that's if you know what you're doing. There are some mistakes to watch out for, or you can lose money.

1) Start with a low budget to test versions of your ad

Have 3 variants of your display ad. Change the CTA, text, or images and launch them on a low budget.

The last thing you want to do is go all-in on a single ad you haven't tested before. Not a good idea.

2) Have consistent ad copy with website copy

Imagine you've clicked on a skincare paid social media ad that cures acne completely. You won't have trouble with your skin again. You end up on their website, and suddenly you realize this product only cures it partially.

This is how customers feel if your ad copy is inconsistent with what's on your website. (and also one of the causes of high CTR, and low conversion ads)

3) Run ads to people interested in your product

One of the biggest caveats in PPC advertising is running ads to the wrong people. A way to prevent this from happening is to always know who your audience is.

Don't have data yet? Don't worry. Start off with a broader demographic (although more expensive), or study competitors.

4) Retarget lost sales using ads

If you've had email marketing in your business, retargeting ads are the same kind of cup of tea. Visitors that showed interest in your product, but backed out because of god knows what can be retargeted and sold to.

Retargeting is just free money.

But wait a second...

Are you willing to make your DTC business stand out using my unique process?

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Paid traffic vs. organic traffic

Organic drives slow, long-term growth. Paid traffic gets you instant, scalable results, perfect for a brand just starting out.