Stop Running YouTube Ads Like Meta Ads: The DTC Playbook for 2026

About this episode

Brett Curry discusses the underreported impact of YouTube ads for DTC brands and how to optimize their effectiveness.

Most D2C brands have tried YouTube ads. Almost none of them are getting credit for what those ads are actually doing. Brett Curry, CEO of OMG Commerce and the guy behind YouTube growth for brands like Native, Arctic, and Dude Wipes, makes the case that in-platform reporting is under-counting YouTube's real impact by roughly 70% — and that the brands leaning in right now are about to widen the gap on everyone still dabbling. This one goes deep: incrementality testing, omnichannel attribution, creative frameworks, and why your Meta winners almost certainly won't survive on YouTube. Inside the episode: Why a 1.0 in-platform ROAS on YouTube is probably a 3.4 in reality — and the 190-test incrementality study behind that number How Arctic drove a 25% Walmart sales lift (and 230% branded search lift) by running YouTube in select markets — measured scientifically against matched control markets The three creative types that actually work on YouTube: hero/brand films, single-creator UGC, and the specific criteria your Meta winners need to meet before you bother testing them How to diagnose a broken YouTube ad using just three metrics: view rate, click-through rate, and average watch time…

People in this episode

Host: Brett Curry

Topics covered

• YouTube advertising
• DTC brands
• incrementality testing
• omnichannel attribution
• creative frameworks

Keywords

• YouTube ads
• DTC
• ROAS
• incrementality study
• creative types
• campaign structure

Sponsors

OMG Commerce

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Native, Arctic, Dude Wipes, Walmart

More episodes of eCommerce Evolution

• The $270 Billion Checkout Problem (And How to Recover Your Share) · June 11, 2026 · 52 min
• How to Build an Agentic Marketing Team (And Why It's the Skill That Keeps You Unfireable) · June 4, 2026 · 51 min
• YouTube Shorts, TikTok Blitzes, and Attention Battles: What's Actually Working · May 14, 2026 · 44 min
• Geo Holdouts, Halo Effects, and the Real Results of Your Ad Spend — With Olivia Kory of Haus Analytics · April 30, 2026 · 57 min
• How Baseball Lifestyle Grew from $2M to $150M with Customer Experience · April 9, 2026 · 45 min
• Full Funnel CRO: The Post-Click Playbook for 7, 8, and 9-Figure Ecommerce Brands · March 19, 2026 · 56 min