I run a small D2C brand selling natural skincare products online. Most of our sales come from Instagram, word of mouth, and a few repeat buyers. Recently I’ve been seeing a lot of promotions around AI marketing tools — ad automation, AI-generated creatives, chatbots for customer queries, and even predictive insights on what products to push.

So my questions are:

• Has anyone here used AI tools specifically for D2C marketing?

• Do they actually improve sales, or are they just hype right now?

• Which tools are affordable and easy to use for a small team?

• Is it smarter to stick to proven basics like Instagram ads + influencer marketing until we’re bigger?

Would love to hear from other D2C founders and marketers.