Decentralizing the social media business model and placing influencers at the centre
Influencer marketing is bigger than ever before. What was previously the preserve of celebrities giving static endorsements through TV commercials, has become a sub industry which gives us glimpses into curated lifestyles, showcasing the brands influencers feel will resonate with us. This is far more effective than lonely ad-spots on expensive television networks. Influencers are the way of the future for businesses as per a recent industry report: “More than one in three marketers said they expected their influencer marketing budgets to increase, and 84% expected to run at least one influencer campaign in 2016.”
Consider, then, how unbalanced the existing equation is for social media revenue sharing. While some influencers with huge followings on Instagram or Youtube might be able to make some money, the vast majority of “influencing” is done by local level influencers, who have no prospect of being rewarded. Why? Because existing social media platforms are too opaque, and micropayments of this nature would be too hard to manage.
For those interested in blockchain technology, the mention of micropayments might have piqued your attention. Decentralization, smart payments, and transparency are exactly what blockchain was designed for. One Italian born company is working to allow everybody to benefit for the attention they bring to brands. Friendz is a working platform that is rolling out blockchain technology, enabling average people to be rewarded for the support they provide to the brands they love.
A growing market
Friendz elaborates on the shift in the market in their whitepaper: “Following the downturn of traditional advertising tools, companies oriented their marketing activities to Influencer marketing, a form of marketing based on the influence that famous people have on their network, sometimes made up of millions of followers. The objective of the companies is to reach targeted people that are interested in what the influencer they follow shows, rather than targeting the market as a whole.”
Their approach is supported even more by the recent, remarkable spike in the amount of time people spend online: “2015 marked the first time that time spent on mobile apps exceeded time spent on TV, by nearly 198 minutes.”
“Influencer marketing is based on the assumption that people like more products used and proposed by people they know and trust”
In this context, it might seem that paying Russell Wilson or Jason Statham to mention your new brand of hair gel in their next snapchat story is a profitable move. But on the contrary, influencer marketing is closely linked to word-of-mouth, where people who are trusted are far more important than an anonymous celebrity endorsement: “market analysis shows that the broader the number of followers, the lower the engagement rate between the influencer and his or her audience. Companies who look for well-known influencers in order to reach as many people as possible consequently create a distant relationship between them and their audience.”
The team’s whitepaper continues: “Friendz users are not celebrities or famous influencers. They do not use their social media profiles for advertising, but for fun. Their network on social media goes from 500 to 2,000 followers, and usually the content they post reaches a heterogeneous audience composed mainly of friends, relatives and close connections.”
A token for influential friends
FDZ token, which is based on the ERC 20 protocol, will become the international tool to activate engaged communities of users all around the world. FDZ tokens are on sale now as part of Friendz ICO.