Choosing a marketing agency for a D2C brand
What to ask a marketing agency before hiring them for a D2C brand, and the signals that suggest they understand margin, not just top-line growth.
4 min read
D2C marketing has enough moving parts — ads, email, storefront, fulfilment — that small problems compound quickly if nothing is reviewed regularly. This checklist covers the areas worth a monthly or quarterly look.
Storefront and checkout
- Guest checkout enabled, with UPI and preferred wallets available.
- Shipping cost shown early in the funnel, not just at final checkout.
- Mobile checkout tested directly on a phone this month.
Ads and email
- Performance Max checked for over-reliance on branded search.
- Abandoned cart and post-purchase email flows live and tested end-to-end.
- List hygiene reviewed — unengaged subscribers segmented out of regular sends.
A D2C brand that has never checked its abandoned cart flow end-to-end as a customer would is probably leaking recoverable revenue right now.
Margin and reporting
- Contribution margin by channel reviewed, not just revenue.
- CAC trend checked over the last three months, not a single blended figure.
- Repeat purchase rate tracked and compared to the previous quarter.
The takeaway
Review contribution margin by channel monthly — it is the single number most likely to reveal a growth channel that is quietly losing money.
Written by Fibvo — Bengaluru and Erode, India — working with clients in other time zones. Questions, or think we have it wrong? Tell us.
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