The Marketing Playbook From “The DTC Guy” Nik Sharma
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 7:53 am
If you are starting a direct-to-consumer company, Nik Sharma is your guy—“The DTC Guy,” that is.
Nik earned his nickname by growing and advising some of the biggest consumer brands, including Juneshine, Caraway, Feastables, Spritz Society, and more. He now runs three marketing-focused agencies and invests in startups. His email newsletter, which has more than 35,000 subscribers, is basically required reading for chief marketing officers everywhere.
Below—and in the latest episode algeria mobile database of Shopify Masters—Nik shares the tenets of his marketing playbook for how owned and paid media can work in tandem.
Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to Shopify Masters.
Build social proof before you start marketing
Social proof is reviews, articles, videos, or any type of evidence that other people have bought a product. Nik says founders tend to forget to gather social proof when they’re building a marketing strategy. Before you start trying to get more eyeballs on your product or website, you’ll need to establish some brand credibility.
When potential customers search for your product on the web, you want something to come up besides the product page. Otherwise, customers might think they’re getting scammed. “You basically just need content to show up and validate somebody’s belief that this is a real brand,” Nik explains.
There are all sorts of ways to get social proof without breaking the bank. For example, you can send free products to bloggers, YouTubers, and TikTokers to make user-generated content or write reviews. You can even pitch news outlets for media coverage if your product has a unique story behind it.
Nik earned his nickname by growing and advising some of the biggest consumer brands, including Juneshine, Caraway, Feastables, Spritz Society, and more. He now runs three marketing-focused agencies and invests in startups. His email newsletter, which has more than 35,000 subscribers, is basically required reading for chief marketing officers everywhere.
Below—and in the latest episode algeria mobile database of Shopify Masters—Nik shares the tenets of his marketing playbook for how owned and paid media can work in tandem.
Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to Shopify Masters.
Build social proof before you start marketing
Social proof is reviews, articles, videos, or any type of evidence that other people have bought a product. Nik says founders tend to forget to gather social proof when they’re building a marketing strategy. Before you start trying to get more eyeballs on your product or website, you’ll need to establish some brand credibility.
When potential customers search for your product on the web, you want something to come up besides the product page. Otherwise, customers might think they’re getting scammed. “You basically just need content to show up and validate somebody’s belief that this is a real brand,” Nik explains.
There are all sorts of ways to get social proof without breaking the bank. For example, you can send free products to bloggers, YouTubers, and TikTokers to make user-generated content or write reviews. You can even pitch news outlets for media coverage if your product has a unique story behind it.