Should a D2C brand run Google Ads or Meta ads first?
Most new D2C brands should start with Meta ads, which create demand for products people aren’t searching for yet. Add Google Search and Shopping once people start searching for your brand or category, to capture that existing demand.
Meta is a discovery channel: it shows your product to people who didn’t know they wanted it. Google is mostly an intent channel: it catches people already looking.
Exceptions exist. If your category has strong search demand (for example “anti-acne patch” or “cotton kurta set”), Google Shopping can be profitable from day one.
Over time the best results usually come from running both, with Meta driving awareness and Google capturing the searches that awareness creates.
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Answered by ScaleInbox · Reviewed by Shubham Vishwakarma, founder