Turning an idea into a business is a big step, but the biggest challenge for startups is to overcome the third year after being founded. A research study has found that almost 70% of startups are prone to fail between the third and the fifth year of its inception, because of the high prices in advertising - including sponsored content, and influencer promotion, one of the main reasons of this failure.
ELSOL, the leading brand publishing company in South Korea, has decided to tackle the inefficiencies in the advertising industry by launching INFLEUM, its blockchain-based platform aimed at decentralizing brand publishing and helping startups promote their businesses in a profitable way.
INFLEUM’s goal is to facilitate a seamless connection between startups and brand publishers. Think about all the sponsored content you see when you scroll down your social media feed. That’s a huge investment for companies starting out. By connecting via INFLEUM, startups will no longer need to pay high amounts of commissions to centralized applications running promoted content.
Additionally, the INFLEUM platform encourages creativity freedom. Decentralization through smart contracts enables creators to own their content and to publish according to their own levels of creativity. This isn’t new though, cryptocurrencies are being used as a tool to incentivize customer behavior by rewarding good reviews or creating ‘good’ content. Platforms such as Steemit are already tokenizing marketing ideas, where user content is being rewarded with tokens by the community supporting content they like.
What’s also not clear is whether or not INFLEUM expects startups to stop using influencers to promote their products. According to their whitepaper, “INFLEUM should mature into an platform that combines social media and e-commerce, connecting SME, influencers, and start-ups all over the world” but they also fiercely criticize, rightfully so, star influencers; “Although star influencers easily raise brand awareness, there is a distance from the original purpose of maximizing advertiser profits. Star influencers are the catalysts to this negative cycle as there are only 0.018% of Instagram users with over 100,000 followers. As their pay gets larger, influencer marketing costs do not match up to bring out the efficiency for the clients.”
INFLEUM has a point - online marketing strategies such as paid ads, sponsored content and influencers can quickly turn into a very expensive investment for companies starting out. Blockchain holds the promise of creating a world where the middlemen is no longer needed, and by decentralizing its platform, INFLEUM expects to take that promise to the advertising world and help startups succeed.
ELSOL, the leading brand publishing company in South Korea, has decided to tackle the inefficiencies in the advertising industry by launching INFLEUM, its blockchain-based platform aimed at decentralizing brand publishing and helping startups promote their businesses in a profitable way.
INFLEUM’s goal is to facilitate a seamless connection between startups and brand publishers. Think about all the sponsored content you see when you scroll down your social media feed. That’s a huge investment for companies starting out. By connecting via INFLEUM, startups will no longer need to pay high amounts of commissions to centralized applications running promoted content.
Additionally, the INFLEUM platform encourages creativity freedom. Decentralization through smart contracts enables creators to own their content and to publish according to their own levels of creativity. This isn’t new though, cryptocurrencies are being used as a tool to incentivize customer behavior by rewarding good reviews or creating ‘good’ content. Platforms such as Steemit are already tokenizing marketing ideas, where user content is being rewarded with tokens by the community supporting content they like.
What’s also not clear is whether or not INFLEUM expects startups to stop using influencers to promote their products. According to their whitepaper, “INFLEUM should mature into an platform that combines social media and e-commerce, connecting SME, influencers, and start-ups all over the world” but they also fiercely criticize, rightfully so, star influencers; “Although star influencers easily raise brand awareness, there is a distance from the original purpose of maximizing advertiser profits. Star influencers are the catalysts to this negative cycle as there are only 0.018% of Instagram users with over 100,000 followers. As their pay gets larger, influencer marketing costs do not match up to bring out the efficiency for the clients.”
INFLEUM has a point - online marketing strategies such as paid ads, sponsored content and influencers can quickly turn into a very expensive investment for companies starting out. Blockchain holds the promise of creating a world where the middlemen is no longer needed, and by decentralizing its platform, INFLEUM expects to take that promise to the advertising world and help startups succeed.