Buying media from the top channels such as Facebook, Google, and Instagram has become the top lead generation source for e-commerce businesses. The problem with this approach is that a) you rely on third parties to acquire customers and b) acquisition prices can escalate drastically to a point where it becomes almost impossible to keep up feeding the lead machine and be profitable.
“Brands today should stop defining themselves by the products they sell or the way that they sell them…”
I believe the best way to counter this approach is what Ryan Deiss calls “become your own media company” in this great interview. The idea is to stop seeing yourself as a company that sells products and instead define your brand by the audience that it serves. Deiss believes the ultimate differentiator is having an audience-first mindset that prioritizes value over products. The key takeaway here is that your blog or newsletter shouldn’t be an add-on, it should be treated like a product. Once your brand becomes a respectable influencer in a certain subject you can easily monetize thru product sales.