What Happens When Your Brand Stops Relying on Meta Ads?

DTC brands have spent years building around Meta. But what happens when you stop treating Meta as your only growth lever? In this episode, Sarah and Nate break down how brands can reach customers through YouTube creators, IRL events, organic content, mascots, and other ideas that don't depend on another Meta campaign. They also share examples from their own work, including a YouTube strategy that generated an average 6x return, a client that cut CAC from $110 to $35, and why sometimes the smartest move is simply giving your team a week where they're forbidden from thinking about Meta. 00:00 Why Nate's having a rough week 02:00 How susceptible are we really to ads? 04:00 The people who actively avoid advertising 06:00 What happens if Meta disappears? 08:00 Cutting CAC from $110 to $35 10:00 The $2M celebrity marketing decision 12:00 Finding customers outside the Meta ecosystem 14:00 Nate's three off-Meta tactics 16:00 The YouTube creator strategy 18:00 Why IRL events can create brand evangelists 20:00 Sarah's mascot strategy 22:00 Building multiple organic content channels 24:00 Bringing physical marketing back 👉 Join my community: skool.com/tether-lab CoHost: Nate Lagos Twitter: https://x.com/natelagos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natelagos/ Tactical and Practical Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tactical-practical/id1752915534 CoHost: Sarah Levinger Learn more at: https://www.tetherinsights.io/ Twitter: https://x.com/SarahLevinger Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahlevinger/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah.levinger/ Watch me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKwfjt_7PU5N_2fTfHemXXg