HOW DRY CREEK VINEYARD TURNED PAID MEDIA INTO A PREDICTABLE DTC GROWTH CHANNEL
A case study examining how structure, creative discipline, and strategic testing helped unlock consistent performance on Meta.
HOW DRY CREEK VINEYARD TURNED PAID MEDIA INTO A PREDICTABLE DTC GROWTH CHANNEL
A case study examining how structure, creative discipline, and strategic testing helped unlock consistent performance on Meta.
Dry Creek Vineyard is an established, family-owned Sonoma winery with a strong direct-to-consumer business. Like many premium wineries, the team was navigating tighter margins, softer demand, and the ongoing challenge of reaching new and younger customers.
Paid media was part of the channel mix, but it had not yet proven itself as a dependable driver of DTC sales. The question was not whether digital channels mattered, but whether paid media could be structured to support predictable growth rather than isolated wins.
THE CHALLENGE
Campaigns were active, but results were inconsistent.
Without a clear framework for spend, testing, and creative, it was difficult to understand what was working and why. Learnings were limited, confidence in investment decisions was low, and paid media remained a supporting channel rather than a reliable growth lever.
THE STARTING POINT
Predictable performance doesn’t come from optimization alone. It comes from clarity.
When paid media has clear expectations around spend, learning, and creative testing, results become easier to evaluate and scale. That clarity turns paid media from a series of experiments into a repeatable growth system.
THE STRATEGIC SHIFT
Dry Creek Vineyard is an established, family-owned Sonoma winery with a strong direct-to-consumer business. Like many premium wineries, the team was navigating tighter margins, softer demand, and the ongoing challenge of reaching new and younger customers.
Paid media was part of the channel mix, but it had not yet proven itself as a dependable driver of DTC sales. The question was not whether digital channels mattered, but whether paid media could be structured to support predictable growth rather than isolated wins.
THE CHALLENGE
Campaigns were active, but results were inconsistent.
Without a clear framework for spend, testing, and creative, it was difficult to understand what was working and why. Learnings were limited, confidence in investment decisions was low, and paid media remained a supporting channel rather than a reliable growth lever.
THE STARTING POINT
Predictable performance doesn’t come from optimization alone. It comes from clarity.
When paid media has clear expectations around spend, learning, and creative testing, results become easier to evaluate and scale. That clarity turns paid media from a series of experiments into a repeatable growth system.
THE STRATEGIC SHIFT
Over an eight-week period during the most competitive time of the year, the paid media program delivered clear, measurable DTC results:
RESULT AT A GLANCE
$42,558.76
META-ATTRIBUTABLE DTC REVENUE
240+
PURCHASES GENERATED
9.70x
RETURN ON AD SPEND
$18.18
AVERAGE COST PER PURCHASE
NO PRODUCT DISCOUNTING USED
RESULT AT A GLANCE
Over an eight-week period during the most competitive time of the year, the paid media program delivered clear, measurable DTC results:
$42,558.76
META-ATTRIBUTABLE DTC REVENUE
9.70x
RETURN ON AD SPEND
240+
PURCHASES GENERATED
$18.18
AVERAGE COST PER PURCHASE
NO PRODUCT DISCOUNTING USED
Advoc applied a proven paid media system designed to turn activity into insight, and insight into repeatable DTC performance.
Rather than introducing new tactics, the focus was on bringing structure and clarity to how paid media supported Dry Creek Vineyard’s DTC business.
THE APPROACH
-
We began with a full audit of existing paid media activity, reviewing campaign structure, objectives, budget allocation, creative, and measurement.
While campaigns were active, signal quality was limited and learnings were difficult to carry forward consistently.
-
We reviewed how comparable wineries were showing up across paid channels.
This surfaced clear opportunity gaps around emotional storytelling, gifting-led messaging, and creative designed to support conversion rather than awareness alone.
-
Advoc developed a paid media strategy anchored in a clear messaging framework that was authentic to Dry Creek Vineyard’s brand and differentiated within the category.
Audience profiles, informed by existing customer and performance data, guided creative direction, testing priorities, and investment decisions.
-
Execution began with broad targeting, allowing creative to reveal which messages, offers, and visual cues resonated most strongly.
Creative testing helped identify:
The consumer profiles engaging most
The offers driving meaningful action
The visual and lifestyle elements supporting conversion
As patterns emerged, investment concentrated around the strongest-performing concepts.
-
Paid media was managed as a connected system rather than a set of individual campaigns.
Budget, creative, testing, and measurement worked together to compound insights over time, enabling more consistent and predictable DTC performance.
THE APPROACH
Advoc applied a proven paid media system designed to turn activity into insight, and insight into repeatable DTC performance.
Rather than introducing new tactics, the focus was on bringing structure and clarity to how paid media supported Dry Creek Vineyard’s DTC business.
-
We began with a full audit of existing paid media activity, reviewing campaign structure, objectives, budget allocation, creative, and measurement.
While campaigns were active, signal quality was limited and learnings were difficult to carry forward consistently.
-
We reviewed how comparable wineries were showing up across paid channels.
This surfaced clear opportunity gaps around emotional storytelling, gifting-led messaging, and creative designed to support conversion rather than awareness alone.
-
Advoc developed a paid media strategy anchored in a clear messaging framework that was authentic to Dry Creek Vineyard’s brand and differentiated within the category.
Audience profiles, informed by existing customer and performance data, guided creative direction, testing priorities, and investment decisions.
-
Execution began with broad targeting, allowing creative to reveal which messages, offers, and visual cues resonated most strongly.
Creative testing helped identify:
The consumer profiles engaging most
The offers driving meaningful action
The visual and lifestyle elements supporting conversion
As patterns emerged, investment concentrated around the strongest-performing concepts.
-
Paid media was managed as a connected system rather than a set of individual campaigns.
Budget, creative, testing, and measurement worked together to compound insights over time, enabling more consistent and predictable DTC performance.
Beyond the numbers, the campaign demonstrated the value of a structured, system-led approach to paid media.
For Dry Creek Vineyard, this work established paid media as a repeatable and scalable part of its DTC growth strategy, creating a stronger foundation for future investment.
WHY THESE RESULTS MATTER
IMPLICATIONS FOR DTC GROWTH
This case study shows how paid media, when structured intentionally and guided by learning, can serve as a dependable engine for new customer acquisition and long-term DTC growth.
IT ALL STARTS WITH A CONVERSATION
Learn how Advoc helps winery leadership teams scale DTC sales with clarity, structure, and performance-driven creative.
