ADRIANNA PAPELL GROWS DTC LINKS BY 37% WITH BOLD, OUTSIDE-THE-BOX CONTENT STRATEGY
As Adrianna Papell set out to grow its everyday and lifestyle offerings alongside its core occasion business, it looked for creative, efficient methods to increase visibility and drive traffic toward its website. Adrianna Papell partnered with Acceleration Partners to boost its inclusions in editorial content. The strategy delivered on both fronts: broader visibility and sharper efficiency.
- Content inclusions grew 63% year over year
- Direct-to-consumer (DTC) link share grew 37%, showing the content program was reaching more of the right partners
- Conversion rate from content partners jumped 145%, proof that the traffic those partners drove was converting once it landed on site
gross revenue from content, YoY
conversion rate from content, YoY
| Website | adriannapapell.com |
| Vertical | Fashion Retail |
| Markets | US |
| Channel | Affiliate |
IN THIS CASE STUDY
CASE STUDY
AT A GLANCE
Since its founding in 1980, Adrianna Papell has strived to help women look and feel their best, offering a range of evening, cocktail and occasion wear. As the brand looked to grow its everyday and lifestyle offerings alongside its core occasion business, it looked for creative, efficient methods to increase visibility and drive traffic toward its website.
To accomplish those goals, Adrianna Papell partnered with Acceleration Partners to boost its inclusions in editorial content, one focus area within AP’s overall management of the brand’s affiliate program.
At the start of the campaign in 2025, Adrianna Papell set the following goals:
- Grow content inclusions year over year, in both volume and share of direct-to-consumer linking
- Improve revenue and conversion efficiency per inclusion, proving that a smaller, sharper set of placements outperforms a larger, broader one
OUTCOMES
THE RESULTS
Adrianna Papell’s content and mass media inclusions grew significantly in 2025 and into 2026, both in volume and in how much revenue each placement generated. Clicks from content fell 53% year over year, while gross revenue rose 38%. The most telling number from the campaign: a triple-digit boost in the content conversion rate. The Adrianna Papell website was not only securing more traffic, but the content approach was actively converting consumers, who have more than enough options in a wide-ranging market, once they were there. These metrics act as the core proof point of the whole strategy: placement quality is driving revenue and brand impact, regardless of whether traffic is climbing or shrinking.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- The Knot: clicks +16% y/y, gross revenue +39% y/y. Consistent, compounding growth from Adrianna Papell’s most established content partner.
- People Inc.: clicks -10% y/y, gross revenue +365% y/y. The single clearest data point in the program: less traffic, dramatically more revenue, driven entirely by placement quality.
content inclusions
DTC-linked inclusions
gross revenue from content, YoY
conversion rate from content, YoY
Let’s build a content strategy that converts.
HOW WE DID IT
THE STRATEGY
High-Volume, Targeted Outreach
In executing the campaign, the AP team started by running outreach at volume instead of waiting for inclusions to happen organically. The agency’s content experts sent 268 one-on-one pitches to mass media and content partners in 2025, focused both on monthly initiatives as well as targeted messaging. That targeted messaging included Mother of the Bride and wedding categories, where Adrianna Papell’s product assortment is strongest.
Expanding DTC Linking
AP also ran targeted outreach on new placements to expand DTC linking alongside existing retail coverage. The team reached out to 29 partners in 2025 to introduce Adrianna Papell’s own site as an additional shopping destination within their content. Many of these outreach efforts resulted in a DTC link being added to the article, a key driver behind the growth in DTC-linked inclusions.
Placement Quality Over Placement Count
Rather than pitching broadly for any coverage, AP also prioritized placement quality over placement count in targeted outreach. In these pitches, AP focused on partners and content angles most likely to convert, such as bridal and occasion-wear content over general lifestyle roundups.
Nurturing Core Relationships
The AP team maintained and grew Adrianna Papell’s strongest existing content relationship rather than treating it as a fixed baseline. The Knot was the most established content partner going into 2025, and continued outreach and relationship management there drove gross revenue up 39% year over year, compounding growth from a partner that could have plateaued.
Adrianna Papell and AP are carrying this approach into 2026, expanding into new content partnerships with Editorialist and ModeSens while continuing to nurture existing relationships with The Knot and People Inc. to generate more earned coverage.
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