54% of D2C brands spend up to 25% of marketing budgets on influencers

Three in four D2C brands now rely on creators to drive sales and consumer engagement, as digital-first brands expand rapidly across Tier 2 and 3 cities and adapt to shifting consumption patterns shaped by quick commerce and Gen Z culture, according to a new report by venture capital firm DSG Consumer Partners (DSGCP) and marketing agency ViralMint.

The study found that over 70% of D2C brands use Meta as their primary customer acquisition channel, even as the ecosystem grapples with rising costs and creative saturation. About 62% of founders cited “creative fatigue” as their biggest growth bottleneck, while 55% admitted to under-investing in CRM and retention, areas increasingly critical for sustaining scale.

The report also mapped the four-stage growth journey for modern consumer brands on their path from zero to Rs 100 crore in revenue: Validation (Rs 0–1 crore): Finding initial traction and market acceptance; Repeatability (Rs 1–10 crore): Building strong retention loops; Systems (Rs 10–50 crore): Strengthening operational and analytical maturity, and leadership (Rs 50–100 crore): Expanding category dominance and brand defensibility

Creator-led commerce is emerging as a powerful engine of that growth. About 54% of consumer brands now allocate 10–25% of their marketing budgets to influencers, with nano and micro-creators generating 5x–6x higher engagement than mega influencers. As product discovery increasingly shifts to creator-driven content, brands are moving toward always-on creator pipelines that prioritise continuous storytelling, social proof, and high-performing user-generated content—far beyond the era of one-off influencer campaigns.

“What was once a marketing add-on has become a fundamental driver of scale for digital-first brands,” the report said.