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co-founder Mike Faber Wendis a marketplace SaaS that allows anyone to launch their own e-commerce business with domestic brands as sellers.
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Social media influencers, popular bloggers, and podcasters (also known as creators) face three major audience monetization challenges that keep them from realizing their true commercial potential. By running an ecommerce brand without the hassle of inventory management or order fulfillment, creators have the potential to monetize directly and efficiently from their followers.
3 monetization challenges creators face
1. Indirect relationship between creators and viewers
The first problem is that although creators work hard to acquire an audience, they cannot own and control it. All followers are registered with social media accounts. There is no direct relationship between creators and their viewers, including opt-in consent to use follower email addresses.
Given the investment and effort required to acquire an audience, this seems like a risk factor for creator-driven businesses.
2. Limitations of cross-platform links
According to ConvertKit’s “State of the Creator Economy 2022” report, full-time creators use an average of 3.4 channels simultaneously, cross-posting between Instagram, YouTube, blogs or newsletters to increase audience engagement. and growth.
But social media platforms restrict cross-platform links, and Twitter’s recent ban on cross-platform promotion sets a worrying precedent. The evolution of platform terms of service to support their interests and defenses poses another risk for creator-driven businesses.
3. Maintain several streams of income
Only about 21% of creators work full-time, sometimes more than 40 hours a week, and earn affordable wages above $50,000 a year.
Unless they reach celebrity status, a creator’s revenue is primarily derived from branded deals such as paid posts. A middle-tier her Instagramer with less than her million followers may expect hundreds of dollars in rewards for paid posts.
Considering the level of effort required to come out on top and the power creators wield, all of these issues are forcing them to look for alternative monetization methods.ConvertKit reports that full-time creators tend to have an average of 2.7 income streams. Creator burnout is an occupational health hazard, as it can be exhausting in the long run.
E-commerce as a direct monetization method
Creators are the most trusted source for product endorsements, with 71% of Gen Z buying from influencers on Tiktok, Instagram and YouTube, 40% higher than the general population. Social proof is a powerful marketing tool, and creators are the ultimate authority for their audience.
But usually creators get paid for a single post. This enables e-commerce brands to reach hundreds or thousands of new customers, generate repeat sales, and keep buying from them for years to come.
Some creators want to maintain relationships with their customers by endorsing ecommerce brands. According to ConvertKit’s report, nearly a quarter of them plan to start selling physical products.
Operate a marketplace using third-party inventory
Creators don’t have to invest in inventory, manage warehouses, process orders, or process returns. Instead, those interested can leverage the domestic dropshipping market model to focus on audience growth and storytelling, leaving the e-commerce operations to the brand’s partners.
The marketplace model allows creators to invite their most popular brands as sellers after customizing their e-commerce storefront with their brand. Their followers will be able to buy quality products offered by domestic brands within days.
The advantage of the marketplace that creators get is the ability to easily add thousands of products in multiple categories. This enables multi-brand and cross-category shopping in a single order with easy payment methods or pay later options.
Here’s how creators can strategize in terms of audience needs, product catalog curation, and marketing differentiation to maximize third-party market opportunities.
Why: Identify Customer Needs and Challenges
Selling optional products is much easier when customer needs and product catalogs are well matched. Many social media influencers attract audiences with their authority, values, or lifestyle, so understanding customer needs can help creators identify where these intersect. increase.
Identifying customer needs is relatively easy for fitness trainers and coffee enthusiasts alike. But an entertainer known for fan giveaways and crazy stunts sooner or later has to come up with an overarching theme that appeals to an audience. Otherwise, they are obsessed with consumption as their most basic need.
Examples of this include identifying shared desires for social change, such as philanthropy or saving the planet. To determine this overlap between creator identities and customer needs, creators can look at their own post history and draw inspiration from the ones with the highest follower engagement, such as likes, comments, and shares. increase.
Running a creator-driven e-commerce business is also about experimenting with new product categories and incorporating them into your lifestyle and goal-driven storytelling. Followers trust the Creator as their mentor. Setting trends and checking out what resonates with your audience is not only central to the influencer game, it is often easy and low-risk.
The What: Brand Selection and Product Catalog Curation
Creators with a specific focus can easily curate product catalogs. For example, fitness trainers choose their favorite brands that sell activewear, shoes, wearable electronics, and nutritional supplements.
Still, it’s important to make your product catalog easy to find in a logical order or order. What are the starting points and must-haves for shopping, and what are the nice-to-have items and add-ons? The Marketplace product category tree contains a series of purchases, from essentials to low-priority items. Choices should be reflected.
Entertainers have e-commerce options limited to branded clothing (known as merchandise) or sell popular consumer packaged goods.
How to: Define a Marketing Differentiation Strategy
Defining a marketing differentiation strategy helps creators stand out from other creators in similar markets. One way he achieves this is by having a mission to help customers in any way he can.
For example, instead of selling exercise repetitions or daily fitness routines, you sell health improvements by encouraging social proof-backed life goals. Instead of selling products, sell artisan exclusive items from women-led businesses and small business owners who care about their community of customers.
Another helpful tip is to always underline exclusivity and member-only availability. Require emails from customers to be the first to be notified of new arrivals, creator-backed collections and sets.
Finally, label the products according to their values ​​and allow filtering by attributes. This may include vegan, female-led, or sustainable. Building a community around post-purchase experiences and memories is critical to long-term success. Create content that is relatable, believable, yet supports sales with vivid storytelling.
This audience monetization playbook helps creators achieve more satisfying long-term financial results and ensures their hard work pays off.
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