Limited Supply
Nik Sharma, founder of Sharma Brands, hosts this podcast that cuts through the hype in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) industry. He and his guests share honest, behind-the-scenes conversations about brand building, industry moves, and failed brands. Episodes drop every Wednesday.
Episodes
S16 E11: How AI Is Revolutionizing Landing Pages
Your landing page is good…but AI can make it great!
In this latest episode of Limited Supply, Nik explores the transformative impact of AI on landing pages, creative content, and e-commerce strategies.
Listen as ne discusses how AI accelerates page creation, enhances ad creative, and enables hyper-targeted merchandising, while also warning about potential pitfalls of AI-generated garbage if not
S16 E10: Practical AI for Brands
AI is everywhere…but what's actually working for brands today?
In this latest episode of Limited Supply, we're jumping into a panel discussion from last year's Ecom AI Summit, featuring leaders from DTC powerhouses like Unilever, True Classic, Jones Road Beauty, and Athena.
This session cuts through the hype and shares how these market leaders are putting AI tools to work across marketing, eco
S16 E9: Why DTC Brands Need AI-Driven Personalization (with Liam Millward, Co-founder and CEO at Instant)
AI is shifting ecommerce from manual, broad marketing to fully autonomous, hyper-personalized systems…and if you don’t get onboard soon, you could be left behind.
Liam Millward, co-founder and CEO at Instant, returns to Limited Supply for a deep dive into how AI is completely reshaping ecommerce, retention marketing, and the way modern brands operate.
Nik and Liam break down how brands are movi
S16 E8: Your Retention Strategy Is Probably Broken
What actually keeps customers coming back?
In this episode of Limited Supply, Nik sits down with retention expert Joseph Siegel from Boring Ecom (https://www.boringecom.com/) to break down the systems behind high-retention ecommerce brands.
From his time leading growth and retention at Feastables to building retention programs for some of the fastest-growing supplement brands in the world, Jose
S16 E7: How Brands Are Winning on Reddit Right Now
The internet’s most trusted product reviews aren’t coming from brands anymore…and most companies still haven’t caught on.
Nik Sharma sits down with Vinay Sridhar from Reddit, Inc. to unpack one of the biggest shifts in commerce right now: why Reddit has quietly become the most influential product research layer on the internet…and how brands are massively underutilizing it.
Vinay breaks down how
S16 E6: The Funnel Strategy Driving Brands Right Now
Most brands don’t fail because of bad products…they fail because their funnels don’t convert.
In this solo episode, Nik breaks down the exact funnel strategies behind today’s fastest-growing brands and introduces his concept of performance branding: building brand and driving conversions at the same time.
He shares a practical playbook for testing angles, finding winning audiences, and turning o
S16 E5: What $100M E-Commerce Brands Know That The Others Don’t
What actually separates a $2M brand from a $100M one?
Nik Sharma joins John and Bart of The Checkout Podcast to break down what the fastest-growing e-commerce brands are doing differently, from product and brand to execution, hiring, and marketing strategy.
The conversation goes beyond surface-level tactics and gets into the real drivers of scale: timing, talent, product quality, and relentless
S16 E4: 7 Strategies Behind Today’s Fastest Growing Brands
What are the fastest-growing DTC brands actually doing right now?
In this solo deep dive, Nik breaks down the exact playbook behind today’s highest-performing consumer companies, especially in supplements, telemedicine, and subscription-driven businesses.
After studying dozens of breakout brands and compiling 40+ pages of notes, Nik shares the 7 core strategies driving modern DTC growth, from ac
S16 E3: The Step by Step DTC Build Playbook
What does it actually take to build a modern DTC brand?
In this deep dive, Nik Sharma and David Perell unpack the real playbook behind today’s fastest-growing direct-to-consumer companies from first idea to scale.
Nik shares how top operators think differently: instead of guessing, they validate everything. From testing fake brands before launch to using Facebook as a real-time messaging lab, he
S16 E2: How to Break Through Your Next Growth Ceiling
Most brands don’t fail because ads stop working. They fail because everything around the ads is broken.
In this live session, Nik breaks down what actually separates $5–20M brands from the ones that scale to $50M+ and beyond. The answer isn’t “more spend” or “more creative,” it’s building the rest of the machine.
He also breaks down the $500 (now ~$5K) “fake brand test” for validating ideas fas
S16 E1: The Real Launch Playbook for Founders
Most founders think launching a brand is about logos, packaging, and a Shopify theme. But the ACTUAL hard part? Figuring out why anyone should buy in the first place.
In this solo episode, Nik breaks down the bootstrapped zero-to-one playbook for getting a brand off the ground without wasting money on the wrong agencies, bloated tech stacks, or unnecessary complexity.
He walks through the real s
S15 E12: How to Actually Start Using AI Agents
Most people are still talking about AI. Nik is building with it.In this solo episode, Nik does a live walkthrough of setting up his own ClawBot from scratch and explains why AI has already moved past the “nice productivity tool” phase into something much bigger.
He breaks down how to think about bots as second brains, why every operator should be creating separate AI systems for different functio
S15 E11: How TV is Working for DTC Brands (with Jeff Katz, Head of Emerging Sales at Roku)
Most marketers think of Roku as just another ad platform, but the real opportunity is understanding how streaming is changing the entire media mix.
In this episode, Nik sits down with Jeff Katz from Roku to break down what’s actually happening inside one of the biggest platforms in media, how connected TV has evolved, and why more performance brands should be paying attention.
Jeff gets into how
S15 E10: Why AI Is the Next Industrial Revolution
Most people are still treating AI like a tool. The real opportunity is treating it like an employee.
In this solo episode, Nik goes deep on how AI has evolved over the past few months and why the gap between people experimenting with it and people fully adopting it is about to get massive.
He breaks down:
- The difference between AI models and wrappers
- How tools like Claude and ChatGPT are b
S15 E9: The Next Era of DTC
The old DTC playbook is dying. And most brands don’t even realize it yet.In this episode, Nik sits down to talk about how DTC has evolved, why lean and profitable is the new thing, and what the next five years of ecom will actually look like.
Nik explains the shift toward what he calls performance branding, where brand and measurable performance work together instead of competing for budget. They
S15 E8: The Brand Revamp Playbook
Some brands don’t have a product problem, they have an execution problem.
In this episode, Nik breaks down a pattern he’s seen over and over again this year: brands with incredible products, real social proof, and even professional athlete endorsements…that are completely stuck.
He walks through what’s actually holding them back, from lazy packaging and unclear positioning to underbuilt websites
S15 E7: More Website Design Lessons From the Best Brands
Nik picks up where last week left off and breaks down more ecom sites in real time, pulling apart the exact UX, copy, and merchandising decisions that separate high-converting websites from the ones that just look nice.
He dives into The Absorption Company and what it gets right about branding, navigation, and trust-building on product pages. He also explores why small details like loading screen
S15 E6: Website Design Lessons From the Best Brands
Most brands spend all their time obsessing over ads and creative and completely ignore the website experience that actually converts the traffic.
In this solo episode, Nik does a live teardown of multiple ecom websites and breaks down what separates a “nice-looking Shopify site” from a site that actually drives revenue. He walks through the modules, UX decisions, copy, navigation, and merchandisi
S15 E5: The Truth Behind SEO in the Age of AI (with Dylan Ander, Founder + CEO of Heatmap.com)
SEO isn’t dead…but AI is changing how we should view it.
Dylan Ander (dylanander.com and heatmap.com) is back on the pod to break down SEO, AEO, and GEO in the age of AI. From making sure your website’s content is up to date and valuable, to seeing how you’re ranking, things are changing. They also talk about:
- The two Nik Sharmas — and how Google differentiates them
- Programmatic SEO and te
S15 E4: How Brands Are Building Better Teams (with Ian Myers, Founder + CEO of Oceans)
Hiring people who “do the work” is easy. Hiring people who actually own it is the hard part.
Nik sits down with Ian Myers of Oceans to break down how high-skill offshoring really works, why the best global hires should be treated as co-pilots, not task-doers, and how pairing offshore talent with AI is becoming one of the biggest leverage points in modern businesses.They dive into the realities of
S15 E3: How to Actually Think about Branding
Most brands think branding is logos, colors, and a new website…and completely miss what actually makes a brand work.
Nik sits down with John Scheer from Herman-Scheer to break down what branding really is: clarity. They dive into why brand and business strategy are inseparable, how early positioning decisions compound over time, and why skipping foundational brand work almost always leads to expe
S15 E2: The Right Way to Work With Influencers
Most brands say they want to work with creators…but almost all of them get it wrong.
In this episode, Nik sits down with Ben Soffer to break down what authentic creator marketing actually looks like. They unpack why creators aren’t just distribution, but community builders, sales accelerants, and cultural translators for brands that know how to work with them.
Ben shares hard-earned lessons from
S15 E1: The Growth Levers Most Brands Ignore in Q1
Most brands treat Q1 like a slow season, but it’s actually one of the best windows to test new channels while CPMs are down and competition is quieter.
In this solo episode, Nik breaks down the smartest growth levers to focus on right now, starting with internal creators: the content “assembly line” that makes every channel faster, cheaper, and more effective. He explains why this role is a force
S14 E12: The PDP Playbook Every DTC Brand Should Be Using
Most brands obsess over ads, creative, and traffic…and completely ignore the page where the sale actually happens.
In this solo episode, Nik breaks down exactly how to build product detail pages that convert, without gimmicks, fake urgency, or dark patterns. He walks through what makes a product page feel effortless, educational, and worth buying from.
Nik covers why PDPs should be treated like
S14 E11: The Truth About Retention and BFCM
Black Friday isn’t a sale, it’s an attention war.And the brands winning it aren’t obsessing over bigger discounts.
Nik breaks down how the smartest operators approached Q4 this year - and why the brands that crushed weren’t the loudest, just the most disciplined. The playbook has shifted from “more ads, more assets” to fewer, sharper, strategically chaotic ideas that you can’t ignore.
You’ll le
S14 E10: The BFCM Tactics That Actually Worked
BFCM isn’t a weekend anymore, it’s an algorithm.
And the brands winning big aren’t the ones shouting the loudest. They’re the ones sequencing offers, stacking attention, and exploiting the channels nobody else is even looking at.
Growth consultant and fractional CMO Simon Wool joins Nik to break down what really happened during Black Friday and Cyber Monday and why the biggest winners were the
S14 E9: Last Minute BFCM 2025 Playbook
Running behind on your Black Friday–Cyber Monday prep?
Nik breaks down his entire last-minute BFCM checklist (the same one he uses with top ecom brands) so you can tighten up your site, email, paid media, social, and ops before the biggest shopping week of the year.
From testing every CTA and auto-apply link, to optimizing mobile layouts, updating your promos, prepping CX macros, scaling retarge
S14 E8: Chatting with Zain (The TikTok Shop Expert)
What if the real key for CPG brands right now isn’t ads or influencers…but mastering TikTok Shop before everyone else catches up?
Nik sits down with Zain Ali of Zainith Agency to break down how he’s helping 20+ consumer brands scale through social shopping, and why TikTok Shop has become the fastest growth channel in the entire industry.
Zain shares the real data on hit rates, how the TikTok alg
S14 E7: The Truth About DTC and Distribution (with Gulshan Kumar, CEO + Co-founder of Swishables)
What if the secret to building a billion-dollar CPG brand isn’t ads or influencers…but distribution?
Nik sits down with Gulshan Kumar, CEO and Co-founder of Swishables, to break down how he turned a boring category like mouthwash into a confidence business.
Gulshan shares how to find white space in crowded markets, build a brand moat before copycats show up, and scale through channels nobody els
S14 E6: The Five Questions Behind Every Great Landing Page
What if the secret to scaling your brand wasn’t your ads, but the speed of your design process?
In this solo episode, Nik pulls back the curtain on one of the biggest competitive moats in DTC: building high-converting landing pages fast. He unpacks how the most successful brands (from Hint Water to today’s fastest-growing supplement and apparel companies) win not by spending more, but by testing
S14 E5: How AI Is Rewriting the Rules of Ecom Marketing (with Liam Millward, Co-Founder and CEO of Instant)
AI isn’t coming, it’s already here. And if it’s not driving 25% of your brand’s revenue, you’re already behind.
Nik sits down with Liam Millward, founder and CEO of Instant, the platform powering the next generation of AI-driven email and retention marketing. Liam started Instant at 17, went head-to-head with Shopify, and pivoted into a billion-dollar problem: brands wasting time on email marketi
S14 E4: From Failure to a Billion Dollar Brand (with Danny Winer, CEO at Hexclad Cookware)
What do you get when you mix a failed juicer business, Gordon Ramsay’s DMs, and the Harley Davidson of cookware? It’s a billion-dollar brand called Hexclad.
Nik sits down with Danny Winer, the founder who turned frying pans into a lifestyle. Danny breaks down how Hexclad went from selling one pan in 2016 to becoming a global powerhouse, built on storytelling, design, and a community that actually
S14 E3: Inside Comfrt’s $700 Million TikTok Playbook (with Hudson Leogrande, Founder of Comfrt)
Most brands dream of cracking social commerce. Hudson Leogrande, founder of Comfrt, mastered it.
Nik and Hudson break down how Hudson built TikTok Shop’s fastest-growing apparel brand, turning a bootstrapped idea into a $700 million powerhouse driven by community, authenticity, and lots of sweatshirts.
Hudson reveals his full Q4 playbook that includes dynamic pricing, pre-order strategies, and c
S14 E2: 5 Tactics to Make Your Brand Unforgettable (with Jerel Blades, Head of Growth at TUSHY)
Everyone says they want to build a brand people talk about. Jerel from Tushy actually did it.
Nik sits down with Jerel, Tushy’s Head of Growth, to unpack how the brand turned a taboo topic into a $100M success story and a household name. From truck ads in Times Square to bidet memes that break the internet, Jerel reveals the creative, operational, and strategic playbook behind one of the most ico
S14 E1: How Affiliates and Creators Are Redefining Brand Marketing (with Aaron Paul, Co-founder of Paul Street)
What if the secret to scaling your brand wasn’t Facebook ads or a viral TikTok—but an underground network of affiliates driving thousands of sales a day?
Nik sits down with Aaron Paul, co-founder of Paul Street, to pull back the curtain on the hidden world of affiliates, PR, and media buyers that power some of today’s fastest-growing consumer brands. They explore how Aaron helped generate over $5
S13 E12: From 4/20 Launch to $70M: BRĒZ’s Bootstrapped Playbook (with Aaron Nosbisch, Founder and CEO of BRĒZ)
How do you scale a DTC beverage when 90% of customers still prefer buying in retail?
Nik sits down with Aaron Nosbisch while Aaron shares how he built BRĒZ, a hemp THC drink brand, from a fitting 4/20 launch to nearly $70M bootstrapped revenue.
He breaks down why DTC was the demand engine but retail became the scale, how a raw $560 “coin-flip refund” video turned into one of their best ads,
S13 E11: Marketing, Mega-Catalogs, Mattresses, and More (with Jared Brody, EVP Marketing at Resident + Ashley Furniture)
What does it take to sell millions of mattresses and furniture pieces while reinventing how big brands market online?
Nik sits down with Jared Brody, the marketing leader driving explosive growth at Resident and Ashley Home. Jared traces his path from old-school direct marketing to managing massive ad budgets and leading a team that thrives on data, creativity, and speed.
He shares how he cr
S13 E10: How to Maximize Your Black Friday & Cyber Monday Sales
Do you have a plan for BFCM? Or are you just flying blind?
Nik walks through his complete Black Friday Playbook: a detailed, 15 page, step-by-step breakdown designed to help brands maximize revenue while avoiding the common pitfalls of BFCM, including:
> Crafting compelling promotions without undercutting your own offers
> Website optimizations that boost conversions (and pass the “grandma te
S13 E9: Real DTC Stories to Learn From
Nik’s known as the DTC Guy…and for good reason.
He and Scot Chisholm, founder of Highland Community, break down some success stories, mishaps, and more of his career in the business. Nik’s helped scale some of the most recognizable consumer brands—from Hint Water, Rare Beauty to Taco Bell and Brightland—and in this conversation he opens the playbook on what actually works in modern marketing.
S13 E8: What the Best Brands Are Doing (And You Should Do It, Too)
Nik gets real about what it takes to build a brand that actually works in 2025.
The so-called “meta decline” isn’t killing ads, but bad creative and weak messaging are.
The brands winning today? They know how to turn customers into clients, build community, and create content that people actually care about.
Is a $2,500 budget enough? If you use it wisely, yes. Plus, learn how to crack
S13 E7: Why Your Website Isn’t Converting (and How to Fix It)
Struggling to turn traffic into sales?
In this tactical episode of Limited Supply, Nik breaks down the most common mistakes founders and marketers make and the simple fixes that can instantly boost conversions.
From website design flaws and weak creative assets to underused email flows and poor acquisition offers, Nik shares the quick wins he recommends to every brand he audits.
You’ll
S13 E6: Landing Page Secrets That Actually Convert
Your landing page might need some work.
In this episode of Limited Supply, Nik shares his best tips for building landing pages that actually get people to buy, even if your brand isn’t well known. He walks through what really matters, from using social proof the right way to making sure your pages are designed for mobile first.
Why does copy matter? Basically, you don’t want to sound compli
S13 E5: Why You Should Diversify Your Channels (with Miranda A., Performance Marketing Manager at 365 Holdings)
How do you turn a $10K test budget into $1M in just 30 days?
When Q4 sales hit a wall, Miranda (Performance Marketing Manager at 365 Holdings) didn’t panic. Instead, she diversified beyond Meta, and tested new channels like Pinterest, Snapchat, and AppLovin.
Nik and Miranda unpack the exact strategies, creative approaches, and measurement tactics that fueled a massive holiday sales surge.
S13 E4: What Your Landing Page Is Doing Wrong
Your landing page is missing something.
Nik reviews landing pages from real DTC brands—ranging from custom cabinets and meat boxes to laundry pods and men’s underwear.
With conversion rate optimization as the north star, he dives into what’s working, what’s missing, and why most homepages fail at first glance.
You’ll hear feedback on:
Where to place social proof (and why it almost ne
S13 E3: No Code? No Problem (with Billy Howell, Founder of Stupid Simple Apps)
Do you need to know how to code to create an app? Hint: you don’t.
Nik sits down with Billy Howell, founder of Stupid Simple Apps, to unpack the booming trend of vibe coding—a radically accessible way to build custom web apps using AI, with little to no coding experience.
Billy shares his personal evolution from failing a college coding class to running a thriving app agency, thanks to tools
S13 E2: What Journalists Know About Selling Products (That Founders Don’t) with Benjamin Gottlieb
How do you turn a simple product into a seven-figure business without breaking the bank on ads? What makes a story-driven brand stand out in today’s crowded digital landscape?
Nik sits down with journalist and media personality Benjamin Gottlieb to explore storytelling, consumer psychology, and brand building. They talk about how founders can think like journalists, the importance of clarity in
S13 E1: Listener Mailbag: DTC to Retail, Meta Ads, and Clothing Brands
New season, new mailbag. Nik’s got your questions and answers.
We're kicking off the new season with a listener Q&A straight from the Limited Supply Slack community. Nik tackles your biggest questions on all things ecom, retail, and growth, like:
– How to successfully transition from DTC to retail
– The smartest ways to create content that actually drives in-store sales
– Where to find gre
S12 E12: Listener Mailbag: Hiring Marketers, AI Takeover & Influencer Strategy
You’ve got questions. Nik’s got answers.
In this Listener Mailbag, Nik answers questions about hiring, AI tools, video ads, and more. How do you assess Marketers when you decide to bring someone onto your team? Why are Triple Whale and Motion The Next Big Things in DTC? What’s the deal with Shopify themes? Get ready for open source, creator-lead bots in ecom.
Plus, think you need video to r
S12 E11: The Most Underrated Way to Grow a Mission-Driven Brand (with Sam Springfield, Senior Director of Content at Bark)
How do you build a powerful, parent-first brand in one of the most emotionally charged industries?
In this episode of Limited Supply, Nik goes behind the scenes with Sam Springfield, Senior Director of Content at Bark, the parental controls tech company helping families navigate the digital world.
Sam breaks down why Bark prioritizes educational storytelling over fear-based messaging, and
S12 E10: The Data-Driven Way to Make More Money Online (with Dylan Ander, Founder + CEO of Heatmap.com)
Are your ads converting? Is conversion rate a vanity metric? What’s the deal with split testing?
This week’s guest, Dylan Ander, loooooves websites, conversions, ads, and more—and he’s even known as the CRO Guy. He founded Heatmap.com to help brands get real-time behavior on their websites.
Nik and Dylan dive deep into why most brands obsess over ad creative but ignore the real moneymaker:
S12 E9: Story of a Subscription Empire (with Michael Broukhim, Co-CEO + Co-Founder of FabFitFun)
Live from SubSummit 2025, FabFitFun co-founder and co-CEO Michael Broukhim joins Nik to unpack the wild journey from political web design to pioneering subscription commerce.
1 in 6 women have been FabFitFun subscribers at one point—a feat that Michael knows is all about connection, curating the right products, and helping other brands grow in the process. He explains subscription commerce has
S12 E8: The Story Behind Sharma Brands + DTC Success (from Ecom North)
How did Nik start Sharma Brands? Why did he pivot from tech to DTC? Does he actually know Pitbull personally?
If you missed Nik’s talk at Ecom North in Canada, have no fear, it’s here. He’s breaking down his backstory: from taking a gap year and never going to college to joining an agency in New York, Nik’s worked A LOT. It didn’t happen overnight.
Nik and his team build trust by problem s
S12 E7: Reviews, Rates, and ROI: Ecom Strategy Breakdown
There’s been a lot of things affecting ecom lately: tariffs, social media algorithms, AI, the list goes on. How do we navigate all of it?
Nik’s setting the scene and breaking down ecom’s best practices. Margins are already thin and advertising costs are going up. So, making creative and quality content is a way to stand out. Being on top of analytics, data, and operations are a way to manage ev
S12 E6: Redefining Media and Marketing Measurement (with Michael True, CEO of Prescient AI)
Real-time tracking might be fading, but media measurement is entering a new era.
Nik’s got Michael True, CEO of Prescient AI on this week’s episode to talk about how modern brands can confidently allocate budget, quantify impact, and optimize media spend using Media Mix Modeling (MMM). It’s about top of the funnel measurement. How do you use the data the right way? What’s a halo effect? What do
S12 E5: Creative Chemistry and Building a Beverage Brand (with Aaron Nosbisch of BRÉZ)
How do you market a non-alcoholic, elderflower, THC beverage?
If it sounds like a lot, it’s because it kind of is: Nik’s got Aaron from BRÉZ on this week’s episode to talk about creativity, positioning, and advertising in a broad space like the beverage industry. You might have a creative product, but how do you get it to stand out when people may not be familiar with THC products? Aaron expla
S12 E4: Landing Pages: Tips, Tricks, and Ingredients
Nik’s continuing his discussion of the most underutilized aspect in DTC marketing: landing pages.
Did you know all it takes is two hours and some creativity? Nik mentions thinking about landing pages in module sections to mix and match what you want to convey. First, you want your landing page to show what problem your product is trying to solve. Then, it’s time to position what you’re selling
S12 E3: The REAL Growth Lever Most Brands Overlook
What do most brands overlook?
Nik lays out why landing pages are one of the most overlooked—and most powerful—levers in growth marketing.
If you're pouring cash into media buying but not seeing conversions, it might not be your ads: it’s about what happens after the click.
And, Nik breaks down the essential types of landing pages that move the needle, from hero product bundles and high-convert
S12 E2: Getting Creative In a Hard Field (with Andrew Deitsch of BRĒZ)
Make no mistake, beverage is one of the hardest fields in DTC. Can you cut through the noise?
Nik’s got Andrew Deitsch, the Creative Director of drink company BRĒZ, on this week’s episode to talk the creative process in such a large and difficult field. Andrew’s a huge proponent of making 3D models to bring his ideas to life. With a team of designers and 3D renders, Andrew is able to help the vi
S12 E1: Entrepreneurship, Creative, Crowdfunding, and More (with Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank)
New season, new guests. This episode’s guest has worked with Mr. Beast, Selena Gomez, and more—and you’ve definitely seen him on your own TV.
Nik’s got Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank to give us the run down of entrepreneurship, creativity, and crowdfunding. He’s done everything from low-budget ads to working with multimillion dollar commercials. Why does creativity still matter, and how does bad cr
S11 E12: Unlocking Revenue and Scaling a Startup (with Liam Millward, CEO + Co-founder at Instant)
What do Toys R Us and The Oodie have in common? They work with Instant, one of Australia’s fastest growing startups.
Nik’s got their CEO + Co-founder, Liam, to tell us everything about unlocking revenue, scaling, and developing a product that’s growing so fast. How is Instant redefining email marketing and using AI to do it? What does e-com look like in the future when we use even more AI? It d
S11 E11: Listener Mailbag: AOV, Product Concepts, Marketing Talent, and More
You asked, Nik’s answering.
First, what’s up with increasing AOV? It really all starts with messaging that turns into leads. Encouraging people to subscribe or encouraging them to buy products that are commonly purchased together are two ways to amp it up. How should bundling work? Should you A/B test?
Plus, how should you test new product concepts before launching? Nik gives two examples: one
S11 E10: Breaking Down the Marpipe Report: Catalog Ads + DPA
Nik did a DPA report with everyone’s favorite ad software, Marpipe. And it’s time to share what he found.
First, let’s start off with catalog ads: they’re actually carpool lanes, and you’re only running in the carpool lane if you’re paying for it or have others on board. How does this relate to catalog ad options? How do they run on their own?
Plus, TikTok and Snapchat are working to improve th
S11 E9: The Truth About Offshore Hiring
Nik’s putting his hiring manager hat on. Don’t believe everything you hear about offshore hiring—in his experience, it’s been pretty positive, and it can help YOU scale in ways you would have never thought possible.
Finding offshore help requires a ton of flexibility and skill. In Nik’s experience, not only do his hires need to know Figma, Meta Ads, and other tools, but they also need to work unc
S11 E8: Why You NEED to Work with Influencers
Nik’s advocating for YOU to work with influencers.
It’s no secret that influencer marketing has so many pros, especially in this digital age. There are people who create great content—content that could include your brand and your products. There are influencers with an already existing loyal fanbase, where there’s a good chance they’ll be interested in your brand.
Nik shares how he finds the i
S11 E7: Telemedicine and Subscriptions
Nik’s answering YOUR questions and DMs—from going to live launch events to becoming a source of knowledge, there’s so much to discuss.
First, Meta Ads’ new policies are affecting telemedicine and health advertising on their platforms, including hair loss solutions, SSRIs, and even certain male medications. How is this going to affect the older generation who lean into Facebook for information on
S11 E6: Content Modules, UX Tricks, and More: Website Walkthrough with Nik
Pull out your laptops and get your listening ears on, Nik’s walking us through his favorite (and most interesting) websites. From examining copy to looking at ad coloring, and everything in between, Nik points out what you should—and maybe shouldn’t do—with your DTC brand’s website.
Plus, how much does your Shopify checkout screen REALLY matter? It actually matters a TON. The simpler and cleaner
S11 E5: Scaling at the Bottom of the Funnel: Deep Dive Part II
Nik’s eight page newsletter adventure continues—and this time, we’re talking about bottom of the funnel strategies for not only decisionmaking, but purchasing. There’s a ton that goes into it, from ads to loyalty and everything in between.
First, you need proper digital ad execution. What does this mean? Basically, you gotta cross your Ts and dot your Is when it comes to lists, testing, naming, et
S11 E4: Scaling a Brand: Deep Dive
Nik wrote an eight page newsletter all for you and YOUR brand. No really, it’s all about scaling your brand: what to do, what not to do, and everything in between.
Have a great product, great leadership, and the necessary funding? That’s great—but you still need more. That’s where brand equity comes in: your customers determine what value (if any) your product brings to their lives. What problem
S11 E3: Underrated DTC Tactics and Strategies
There’s a TON of DTC tactics out there—and you might not be using them as much as you should.
In this episode, Nik breaks down tactics and strategies you should absolutely use. From leveraging AI in creative generation to setting up a real time dashboard with all of your analytics, these tips are all about streamlining. Work smarter, not harder.
Plus, should you really remove apps like Honey and
S11 E2: The Low Down on DTC Data, Deals, and Discounts (with Isaac Medeiros, Founder at Kanpai Foods)
When someone mentions data, what do you think of?
Data is a goldmine—we can tell who our consumers are, what they want, what they’re gonna buy, etc. But, it can be daunting for marketers who don’t know how to properly manage it. So, Nik talks about streamlining, formatting, and reporting to help you get it right.
Ever heard of guerrilla sampling? Wrapping a Cyber Truck, handing out samples in fro
S11 E1: New Year, New Nik: Overrated, Underrated, and More
It’s a new year and a new Nik: shorter episodes, thinking about bringing on a new co-host, and going over what’s underrated and overrated. The real, honest, scary truth? Your top of the funnel efforts (like FB ad campaigns) may actually be a waste of money if they’re not converting the way you’d like them to.
Plus, Nik recommends running a product incrementality test to see if programmatic displa
S10 E7: Listener Mailbag: Adventures in Customer Acquisition
The end of 2024 is here and Nik’s got a New Year’s Resolution: try more customer acquisition tactics. And, he’s answering YOUR questions.
First, how do you optimize spending money on ads when your budget is tight? You really need to know where your audience is and examine the quality of your content. What’s working? What’s not? When people click on your ad, what’s the landing page look like? The
S10 E6: Listener Mailbag: EOY 2024 Wrap-Up
Nik’s answering YOUR questions as we wrap up 2024. What were some fails? What are we gonna see more of in 2025?
First, does Nik have a recommended team structure for DTC teams? Truthfully, it depends—you should have enough for each person to have a main duty—but DTC teams tend to work best on the leaner side.
Then, Nik talks about revenue from each channel and how that differs between consumabl
S10 E5: 2024 BFCM Recap: Bigger, Better, Bolder?
BFCM broke RECORDS.
No, really: shoppers spent over 10% more than last year—that’s $11 billion. And Nik’s here to break down why, from new avenues like App Lovin to consumer tastes (spoiler: beauty brands didn’t as well). The biggest commonality? Brands are prepared with optimal UX, email flows, and campaigns.
Plus, find out what the supplement sector and the Lemmy Holiday Shop are doing to chan
S10 E4: Meet Kelly Dill from Imaginary Ventures - A Venture Fund that Has Backed Skims, Glossier, Kosas, & More
The most important part of entrepreneurship? Imagination.
Nik sits down with Kelly Dill, an investor at Imaginary Ventures where imagination is the KEY to ideation. Kelly explains how new ideas become companies and companies then become their own organism. How should you approach new business ventures? How should you raise capital? Kelly explains it all.
And, it’s all about confidence during inve
S10 E3: Branding, Black Friday, and Trader Joe’s Rice Cakes: Holiday Guide
Nik’s riding solo today and gearing us up for Black Friday and beyond.
Nik’s breaking down the main four comparison charts sees and explains how comparing your product to its competitors—and even its price point—can teach you a lot about what could be done. How does it stack up? Is everything a fair comparison?
Plus, have you ever had a Trader Joe’s rice cake? They’re sugar free, low calorie, th
S10 E2: Metrics, Motion, and More: Creative Analytics Rundown (with Reza Khadjavi, CEO of Motion)
Do you consider yourself to be creative?
Nik’s sitting down with Reza Khadjavi of Motion, the SaaS brand designed to help creatives manage their analytics. When you create for creatives, your marketing and product design HAVE to be top notch—otherwise, it’s pretty embarrassing to be for creatives without being creative. How do you get people to have a conversation around data when they’re more cre
S10 E1: How to Have a Happy Holiday: Marketing and Ops Crossover (with Hattie Gilpin of Wellbel)
So, what’s YOUR Black Friday strategy?
The holiday season is right around the corner. For people in the DTC world, it’s time to gear up, get excited, and get it together.
Nik talks to Hattie Gilpin, the Director of Operations at wellness brand Wellbel, about attracting consumer attention via email subject line, discounts, subscriptions, and more. Should you apply your discount code to every subs
S9 E12: Listener Mailbag: Brand Ambassadors, UGC, Q4, and More
Did you know there’s a Slack channel with 5,000+ marketers…and Nik is answering their questions?
Nik’s dipping his fingers into the mailbag and sharing the truth about brand ambassadors and influencer marketing. And despite what you’ve heard, UGC isn’t dead—but inauthentic and lazy UGC is. We all know influencers are important, but when’s the best time to contact them about your product? How do
S9 E11: Perfect Unicorn Business: DTC Framework (with Ryan Babenzien, CEO and Co-founder of Jolie)
How do you discover something magical in the DTC space?
For this week’s guest Ryan Babenzien, CEO of Jolie, he looked at everyday things: the shower. Wellness. Vanity. Your wallet. And then the filtered shower head took the world by storm. How do you create a successful product when there’s already a ton of stuff out there? Why is everyday customer behavior so important to a wellness brand? Ryan s
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