August, co-founded by Nadya Okamoto, leveraged an aggressive and authentic TikTok strategy to grow from an idea to a national period care brand sold at Target in two years. By focusing on relatable, unvarnished content and building a strong online community on Geneva, August demonstrates how DTC brands can achieve rapid scale and brand recognition through organic social media and community-led growth, with the founder acting as a key top-of-funnel driver.
Key takeaways
To rapidly build brand awareness, founders should consider becoming the 'top-of-funnel' for their brand by creating a high volume of authentic, relatable content on platforms like TikTok, as Nadya Okamoto did by posting 80-100 videos daily in August's early days.
Cultivate an online community on platforms like Geneva to deepen customer relationships, gather feedback, and foster brand loyalty among "power users," as August did with its 5,000+ member group.
Prioritize unvarnished, real content over polished advertisements, especially for sensitive product categories, as this authenticity drives higher engagement and resonance with target audiences.
Strategically leverage a founder's personal brand for initial traction while intentionally building the company's brand to stand independently, ensuring long-term growth beyond individual influence.
Embrace content experimentation and iteration; August's strategy of constant testing helped them understand evolving audience preferences and optimize for resonant content.
Themes
dtc strategyinfluencer & creatorbrand & contentorganic & seo
August is using its social media prowess to talk about period care.
Over the past two years, August -- which sells organic period care products -- has grown from an idea into a national brand selling at stores like Target. It has been able to grow that quickly in part because of its TikTok following. Co-founder Nadya Okamoto decided early on that she would grow August via TikTok and while she didn't have a following in 2021, today she has 4 million followers.
"I was not on TikTok at all," she said. Okamoto was a featured speaker at the Modern Retail DTC Summit this week, and her interview is this week's Modern Retail Podcast.
One of the big things she focuses on is making relatable content -- and a lot of it. During the early days, "for like six months I posted 80 to 100 videos a day, personally," she said. This was both so that she could train herself to be a good TikTok personality -- but also because audiences evolved and August wanted to be constantly testing and changing the content it produces. And the company has found that real, unvarnished content that talks about periods is what usually resonates the best.
This strategy helped propel both Okamoto as an online personality, but also August as a brand -- and she is quick to note that she built August so that its content and its branding would stand on its own. "I don't want it to be Nadya equals August," she said. "I wanted it to be like I am top-of-funnel -- I'm the August number-one fan."
But there's another layer to August's digital strategy to goes beyond engaging millions of followers. The company has had an online community built on the platform Geneva since it started. This, according to Okamoto, was a way to grow its power users and make a space for the company to directly connect with customers. Today, the group has more than 5,000 members.
One big thing she constantly keeps in mind is that even though her brand is very prevalent on social media, it needs to understand that the community aspect goes
Frequently asked about this episode
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
To rapidly build brand awareness, founders should consider becoming the 'top-of-funnel' for their brand by creating a high volume of authentic, relatable content on platforms like TikTok, as Nadya Okamoto did by posting 80-100 videos daily in August's early days.
What does this episode say about influencer & creator?
Cultivate an online community on platforms like Geneva to deepen customer relationships, gather feedback, and foster brand loyalty among "power users," as August did with its 5,000+ member group.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Prioritize unvarnished, real content over polished advertisements, especially for sensitive product categories, as this authenticity drives higher engagement and resonance with target audiences.
What does this episode say about organic & seo?
Strategically leverage a founder's personal brand for initial traction while intentionally building the company's brand to stand independently, ensuring long-term growth beyond individual influence.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Embrace content experimentation and iteration; August's strategy of constant testing helped them understand evolving audience preferences and optimize for resonant content.
