To kick off this effort, the brand launched in Nordstrom last month and is partnering with the retailer to promote its products through in-person events. In April, Siblings held a candle making event at Nordstrom’s flagship store in New York to celebrate the launch.

Siblings launched in 2020, when many people were home and buying products like candles. It began to advertise on Meta’s Instagram and Facebook in 2021, after a year of organic growth through social media, word-of-mouth and press coverage. 

“We had strong consistency on Meta through all of ‘21, ‘22, ‘23,” Bronkie said. “But we hit a wall at the beginning of last year, where we saw a $15 jump in our CPMs with no change to anything in our ads.”

The company then spent time testing different creatives, including in social ads and landing pages without much luck. With that big of a jump in Meta advertising costs, Bronkie said Siblings went from running profitably to being in the red within months. For small, bootstrapped businesses like Siblings, it’s not a sustainable ad channel even with the conversion rates staying fairly consistent. “There are so many other means that we don’t need to rely on Meta as much anymore,” Bronkie said. 

“Over the last year, we started to strategically focus on the loyal customers we have because we have such a good repeat rate,” he said. “That has carried through into the early part of 2025.” In 2024, Siblings’ LTV was up 30%, and it’s growing at a similar rate this year.

Beginning this year, the brand is further leaning into providing surprise-and-delight moments for existing customers, and launching more seasonal or limited-edition scents that customers would anticipate. “We try to combat slow seasons like summer with really fun drops,” Bronkie said. For example, this year, Siblings is bringing back a tomato scent that became popular among customers last summer. “People also like our citronella candles for the bugs.” 

Siblings’ limited-edition Green Haus-themed scent was created in collaboration with the plants brand Rooted. The collab has been a bestseller since January due to its unique notes, Bronkie said. A new black licorice candle launched in recent weeks.

“We also partnered with skin-care brand Ursa Major by packing their new hand cream in with our orders,” Bronkie said, adding that these types of perks help keep loyal customers excited.

The company also held off on expanding into national retail too soon, Bronckie said. “We wanted sustainable growth and didn’t want to spread our small team too thin.” Now that Siblings has robust brand awareness online, Bronkie said entering Nordstrom makes more sense for finding new customers.

“A huge strategy shift for us is to include customers more in the brand, and it’s working,” Bronkie said. For instance, Siblings is starting to do more candle-making classes that are beginning to attract more customers, as well as influencers and media coverage.Siblings’ upcoming series of classes will be hosted at local New York storefronts, in collaboration with other brands. The brand is also exploring more candle-making classes with Nordstrom at other locations in the future.

Bronkie said that while many brands are turning to other digital channels like YouTube Shorts and TikTok, Siblings is trying to do more in-person and analog marketing. “The candle-making events have been successful for us,” he said. “There are no screens, no scrolling, and people are creating something with their hands.”

Lessening an over-reliance on customer acquisition through Meta is on the rise, especially among bootstrapped DTC startups. 

Danavir Sarria, founder of DTC ad agency SupplyDrop, told Modern Retail that the volatility in Meta’s advertising programs is likely what’s causing many small businesses to see higher CAC.

“It’s not so much of an ROI issue for brands right now,” Sarria said. “It’s more of a general instability because, over the past year, Meta has been spending a ton of money on AI.” This shift in focus and constant updates to the ad tools have left many brands guessing why their Meta efforts aren’t working, he said.

“A lot of people end up complaining that [Meta] is not working for different reasons,” Sarria explained. “But it’s still the No. 1 way to get customers through paid ads.” As brands try to diversify their ad budgets, Sarria said there are also many macroeconomic headwinds they have to deal with. These range from tariffs to uncertainty over TikTok’s future.  

Companies like Siblings are taking a swing at tapping into new customer acquisition channels. While efforts like events and classes are more difficult to scale than digital ads, Bronkie said they also help create buzz. The company plans to work with other brands and retailers to host these events monthly.

Bronkie said the company plans to leverage more retail and brand partnerships, along with unexpected marketing activations. “There is so much we can be doing that doesn’t rely on paying ‘the Meta tax,’” he said.