What DSN’s 2025 survey reveals about momentum—and the businesses driving it.
In an setting outlined by financial uncertainty, rising competitors and fast technological change, momentum is likely one of the clearest indicators of success. That’s why Direct Promoting Information tracks momentum so carefully. It reveals not simply development, however sturdiness. The outcomes of our 2025 year-over-year Fast Ballot don’t simply describe the market—they floor the businesses constructing actual momentum inside it.
These outcomes inform a strong story. The market is aggressive, selective and more and more unforgiving—however, extra importantly, additionally stuffed with alternative for firms designed to win.
The Product Panorama by the Numbers
This yr’s Fast Ballot surveyed 100 product firms with at the very least $50 million in North American income or ARR, compiling 80 knowledge factors. The outcomes of our evaluation and analysis reveal a divided market:
- 50% reported year-over-year development
- 50% reported a decline
- 25% achieved momentum development of 20% or extra
The 25 % cohort—firms rising 20 % or extra yr over yr—is the group highlighted all through this report, and that closing quantity offers our most necessary validation. In a crowded, ever-shifting product panorama, one in 4 direct promoting product firms delivering true momentum is a powerful indicator of the channel’s resilience and alternative.
It is usually necessary to notice that an equal variety of firms reported year-over-year declines. The Fast Ballot didn’t require respondents to specify the precise magnitude of these declines, so the info doesn’t replicate how steep the contraction was throughout that cohort.
What we will say is that a good portion of the market is shifting in the wrong way. Whereas the explanations differ by group, sustained declines of this nature not often appropriate themselves with out decisive motion and structural change. These aren’t ships that may proper themselves with out quick reflection and significant pivots.
The place Product Momentum Is Concentrated
The product firms exhibiting momentum span wellness, diet, magnificence and life-style—classes nonetheless deeply embedded with on a regular basis client habits.
Established manufacturers akin to Shaklee, Zinzino (NASDAQ First North: ZZ B), Immunotec, Omnilife, Accomplice.co, Vida Divina and New U Life proceed to learn from loyal consumption patterns and mature discipline cultures.
Magnificence and skincare manufacturers akin to Neora, Farmasi and RIMAN illustrate how sturdy formulations paired with fashionable social promoting methods can nonetheless drive development.
Youthful firms are additionally effectively represented. Bravenly World, MAKE Wellness, VIVRI, Velovita, Ellie MD, Very important Well being and The Tremendous Patch Firm reveal that new manufacturers—when field-first and digitally fluent—can scale rapidly.
A notable via line among the many momentum firms throughout the board is field-first management. Many are led by founders that started their careers in direct promoting as distributors, gaining beneficial insights and a sensible understanding of what strikes the needle over time with a field-first mindset.
The Hispanic and Latin Market Issue
One other issue shaping product momentum is the continued affect of the Hispanic and Latin market throughout the Americas. Firms with cultural fluency, bilingual management and powerful group roots proceed to carry out effectively—notably in diet and wellness classes.
Whereas parts of the Hispanic and Latin market skilled short-term friction within the US, pushed partially by political local weather and regulatory uncertainty, development throughout the broader Americas remained sturdy. Cross-border relationships, family-centered consumption and education-driven product storytelling proceed to gas growth, reinforcing the long-term power of this market.
Acquisition and Momentum
Some momentum on this cycle was influenced by acquisition—each of firms and of discipline management. Within the brief time period, these strikes added scale and visibility. However acquisition alone didn’t assure sustained development.
The businesses that transformed acquisition into sturdy momentum moved rapidly to stabilize their communities. Clear communication, discipline protections and cultural alignment mattered greater than deal construction. The place integration lagged, early positive aspects light. In as we speak’s setting, acquisition can speed up momentum—however solely when it reinforces belief quite than disrupts it.
Headwinds Stay Actual
Product firms proceed to face actual headwinds. Discretionary client spending stays beneath strain; competitors is intensifying; and regulatory uncertainty—notably in well being and life-style classes—has created hesitation in elements of the US market.
Demand has not disappeared, nevertheless it has shifted. The businesses exhibiting momentum tailored early—simplifying choices, clarifying messaging and assembly clients the place they’re quite than ready for circumstances to normalize.
For the businesses experiencing profound lack of momentum with declines of over 20 %, deep reflection and rapid motion are important. These losses are most frequently fueled by weak product improvement, unsteady management or a damaged worth proposition. It’s crucial that firms in decline decide if they’re missing in a single, two or all three of those areas.
We must always anticipate at the very least a billion {dollars} in mergers and acquisitions in 2026. Firms within the backside quartile that fail to pivot threat changing into irrelevant or out of date.
The Function of AI and Adaptability
Synthetic intelligence will reshape product-based direct promoting quicker than many anticipate. AI is already influencing how merchandise are advisable; how content material is created; and the way distributors interact clients.
The momentum firms aren’t ready for good methods. They’re experimenting now—utilizing knowledge to personalize outreach, streamline onboarding and enhance productiveness with out including complexity. As AI matures, it should reward firms that mix technological leverage with human connection.
Your Key Takeaway
Product momentum as we speak just isn’t about chasing traits. It’s about alignment—between merchandise, individuals and platforms. The businesses exhibiting momentum aren’t resistant to headwinds. They’re merely higher designed to navigate them. DSN’s 2025 Product Firms Fast Ballot makes clear that momentum is measurable, selective and more and more tied to execution.
STUART JOHNSON, Founder & CEO, Direct Promoting Information, has served the direct promoting trade for 40 years. His ardour for the channel encompasses a broader dedication to construct and join the direct promoting group via unique trade occasions akin to Direct Promoting College and the DSN World Celebration. Stuart is arguably essentially the most related individual in direct promoting. He has constructed a formidable and rising community of executives, thought leaders, strategists and innovators. His recommendation and counsel are wanted by leaders all through the channel.
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