2 Cheap Strategies To Promote Your Brand On Web 2.0

Here’s how small businesses can take advantage of the democratized influence: Partner with a micro-influencer or become one

No one buys from a salesperson anymore.

Last month something strange happened.

It would not be strange if he’d cropped up a couple of years back. A salesperson came to our doorsteps. He showcased bronze idols.

No doubt, he’d be a good person. No doubt, he’d had great products to offer, but his timing didn’t match ours.

We moved online, far more than ever, this decade. Now, we purchase things online more than offline, especially the rare ones which were beyond our scope in the pre-e-commerce era.

How We Consumers Buy Now?

We browse a trusted site

Hunt the things we desire

Look for the reviews

And, if the product fits our requirements, we don’t hesitate to buy.

The top advantage we get by switching to digital is plenty of choices. Given a variety, who would not like to pay a premium for a better product?

Now, add to this behavior a twist of emotion and credibility.

What you get is the new trend of advertising.

The Rise Of Influencer Marketing

Till the last decade, the influence was restricted to celebs, politicians, and tycoons. So, brands relied on these posh influencers to market their products.

Downside? Only big businesses could afford to pay the premium.

The digital age bridged this wide gap.

There emerged a fleet of sailors on this ocean of Web 2.0. They are the next-door householders; approachable — The Content Creators.

Social Media democratized the influence.

Content creators risked their ordinary careers and chose to please the audience through entertainment, infotainment, self-help, tips, quick bites, and deep insights.

People, who relate to them, follow them.

How We Make A Purchase decision?

As per the persuasion expert, Robert Cialdini, there are six universal principles of persuasion working in the background when we make decisions: reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, liking, consensus.

And, before you start following an influencer, although subconsciously, they’ve learned all of these principles! So, a paradigm shift has occurred in consumer purchase choice.

Who should take advantage of this?

Here are 2 simple questions:

• Have you moved online to sell your products?
• Have you moved online to market your products/services?

Probably you’ve done the first or even both.

But have you taken advantage of content creators?

Now, here’s the deal:

Why not take advantage of SM platforms to improve your outreach at a cost far cheaper than ever?

Choose any of the two options for your business and/or growth.

1 — Befriend creators.

2 — Become one.

Part 1 — Why You Should Befriend Creators?

If you’ve not taken advantage of this trend, you are at risk. You might become obsolete. Here’s why:

Whom do you think your competition is with?

You are not competing with the retailer that has a shop on the next corner of the street. Your competition is with those biggies galloping every possible sector with their giant octopussy tech base.

Now, the game has just begun. What do you think after AR/VR will be a household thing? — Fierce competition.

You will think that people are insane, ‘how can they buy a product in a virtual setup?’

They can.

Metaverse will enable a new way of shopping — Virtual cities with a real shopping experience!

I repeat: Imagine virtual cities in Metaverse with the real shopping experience.

Think of a college kid, Harry, who plays GTA 7. He wears VR glasses and enters a virtual shop (sitting in his room), and buys a real skateboard showcased inside the Metaverse.

It is time to think — Should it be me who will be franchising a shop inside the Metaverse?

Part 2 — How To Befriend Creators

Humans have gone insane.

They are buying virtual non-existent land. Half the time they’re awake, their eyeballs are focused on the cheapest pleasures — Mobile screens.

How easy it has become for you to approach a popular creator and sign a deal and get your product in front of tens of thousands the next day!

But we are not talking about any popular creator. If you are to make a great deal, you need to tap established creators — The Influencers.

Influencers are the evolved version of content creators who have managed to gain a celebrity-like following. They are someone who’s found their audience and now they can pitch and influence their clan to alter their behavior, this also means that they can persuade their followers to make a purchase decision.

You need to do two things:

1 — Niche down your customer segment.

2 — Collaborate with an influencer to help promote your brand.

There are multiple upsides to this:

• The influencer becomes the bridge between your brand and the audience.
• You get an opportunity to collect emails.
• You paste your brand on social media sites where it stays forever.

We are not talking about big influencers. Rarely do small businesses have such budgets and err… inventory.

Hunt for these micro-buddies and grow in your niche.

What is now the most popular trend is micro-influencers — The ones who have a close kinship within their community. They can endorse what your brand stands for.

How Exactly You Can Take Advantage Of Influencer Marketing?

The various models which have evolved include:

• Sponsored content
• Product placement
• Merchandise
• Shout-outs

Choose what suits you, pick up a creator whose niche fans match your niche product, and get going.

Upsides Of Picking Up A Micro Creator

• You can negotiate the deal.
• You can reach out to micro creators in a Hassle-free medium.
• Low Budget: You can pitch multiple ads.

The modern-day celebrities are not the unreachable red carpet superstars but the teenagers who make funny YouTube videos or even grannies who cook forgotten recipes.

Here’s one site called fourstarzz.com (Not an affiliate, just for reference) which takes care of your influence marketing gigs.

Want even a cheaper tactic?

Then go for video ads.

Create your own ad with a selfie camera or a minimal setup and launch the ad on SM platforms.

Ads work wonders on Instagram and Meta. Being a content creator, I never really followed this advice. This made my reach slow. It’s only now, after listening to a mentor, that I’ve understood the scale and impact a video can make.

Here’s a screenshot of how many accounts you can reach out to with just the reels feature.

Now, if you’ve got a great product, sharing reels is the best tactic on Instagram. Added cherry on the top, you can use the paid ad feature to market your product/brand. It is cheap.

Part 3 — How To Become An Influencer/Creator?

Content creators are a new emerging celebrity class who have taken place which previously belonged to TV, newspapers, and magazines — Everything where consumers sneak for a new product.

Don’t shy away.

You don’t need an expensive setup to become an Instagrammer, a YouTuber, or a LinkedIn influencer. You just need consistent deliberate effort. Effort till the time you reach your niche audience(more on this later).

Reaching out to your niche audience is the toughest job for any creator.

You have a market size of 6 Billion phones(not bad). You need to test where your content fits the taste of a few million-odd audiences.

But even that’s not difficult if you look at it as a career. Not necessarily you should go for full time.

As said earlier, it is quite inexpensive to run ads on Social Media platforms.

Once you discover your niche and learn the tricks to engage with your audience, you will beat the content game in 6–12 months with consistent effort.

Ads have made it far easier and cheaper to let the audience discover your voice.

Why you should boost your voice and impact?

If your brand (and you) believe in some cause, why not promote it? This way you are making a conscious choice to place your foot in the market.

If you are running a business, think of spreading your voice through every possible channel. Don’t lay all the eggs in one basket.

What It Take To Be A Creator?

A VC firm, SignalFire’s blog on creator economy gives a comprehensive look at how creators have risen in 3 stages:

Birth of Media Platforms, The emergence of Influence Marketing, and Creators as Businesses.

“Creators are the new founders.

Being a creator today requires evolving from being an artist to being a founder. The job has come to encompass product management, design, community engagement, e-commerce, and data science along with being an entertainer. You have to build a team of experts and vendors to help you manage the tools to build a diversified business across platforms.”

The future belongs to the one who adapts to the changing trends. The tech biggies will not leave you your market share. They were always ready to snatch the big share.

In his book Deep Work, Cal Newport writes about Superstars.

Superstars are people who are highly skilled in what they do. If you are running a company, why would you hire someone from your city for a job which costs $100 if the same job can be done by some superstar sitting on one of the eastern shores at a cheaper cost, say $20?

You’ll need to be a superstar of your business, or you’ll need to hire one.

And, if you are not running out of time, better you try and test one by one to win cumulatively.

Writers, coaches, consultants, strategists, artists, freelancers, copywriters, SEO experts, web developers, coding geeks, all of them fit in this category of superstars — They are the new workforce. Almost everything else can be automated.

How To Establish Yourself As A Creator?

Start with what you are good at — Writing, images, funny videos, info videos, or maybe memes.

Is it difficult?

Content creation game is similar to doing a business.

The key idea is this —You need to keep learning new tactics to impress your fans. Being a creator will help you improve your marketing skills.

Not bad.

Tools You Need To Become A Creator

A phone or a laptop is enough for beginners.

Just learn about

• Scripting
• Copywriting
• Video/Audio making and editing
• Graphics
• Social Media Strategy

Now, take a look at this site which has created a market map of the participant stakeholders in the creator economy:

The above list gives you an idea of how startups are evolving in this space.

With this kind of healthy competition, you have an advantage — As the startups compete with each other to gain a market share, you (the aspiring influencer) can use the services of these startups and start with ultra-thin budgets.

What Should Be Your Ultimate Goal?

Do you want to keep supporting your business along with being a creator, or do you want to take charge as a full-time creator and let someone else manage your business?

The choice is yours.

Remember that even if your business gets obsolete with the changing trends, by being a creator, you will adapt and enter a new stream. The advantages of being a creator are many and one of the greatest is that — you get a voice.

How To Master The Content Creation Game?

I will not reinvent the wheel for you. Let me introduce someone whom you know very well. Here’s the take from the master content creator.

On his 44th birthday, he shared a mere 270-page deck to help organizations, startups, content creators, build a context-driven content strategy.

Introducing Professor G aka Gary Vaynerchuk on how to create 64 pieces of content in a single day!

And Finally, How To Earn Only Being A Creator?

Said differently, how many followers do you need to become an influencer?

In his most popular blog post, which he wrote back in 2008, Kevin Kelly says: You need not millions. You only need 1000.

1000 true fans who would buy anything you create. They become your audience, your voice.

1000 fans * $ 100 product = $100 k revenue

That’s enough.

But, to reach that stage, you need to screen millions. And, this journey of thousand steps is worth experiencing.

The Creator economy is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the 21st century. And that’s why startups in this sector attracted funding of $1.3 Billion in 2021 alone!

Investors are not wrong, nor they are fools.

It’s a gold rush you shouldn’t miss.

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