This article will look at the role of the entrepreneur in a firms digital marketing strategy, forming multi-million dollar companies with a $0 marketing budget.

What is zero dollar marketing ?

Zero-dollar marketing involves brands spending a minimal amount on their marketing efforts while reaping vast rewards. Zero dollar marketing has existed for years, with businesses from Krispy Kreme to lulu lemon relying on word of mouth. This article will explore the modern form of 0$ marketing. Explaining the role of the entrepreneur in a firms digital marketing strategy, looking at the formation multi-million dollar companies with a $0 marketing budget.

The new zero dollar marketing

The field of entrepreneurship has received increasing amounts of attention in recent years. With the growth of social media , the public can now get to know the CEO’s of these companies, and increase engagement, by following their day to day life. This has given rise to an emergence of entrepreneur marketing in the digital age. A new form of the zero dollar marketing strategy.

This involves entrepreneurs taking advantage of the luxury to reach a built in user base. Converting this engagement into sales, Thus, effectively using the entrepreneur as a marketing tool. When fans establish the connection of interest in the entrepreneurs life , hanging on their every post. They want to know the ins and outs of their daily life. This allows CEO’s to benefit by creating content that advertises their company.

Is it effective?

There are CEO’s that are hesitant about using social media for business. They carefully select every word in order to avoid controversy. However brands such as Tesla have proven that this entrepreneurial social media marketing can be highly successful. Tesla recorded a +40% change in market capitalisation between 2015-2017, with a 0$ marketing strategy. Compared to Volkswagen who recorded loss of over -60% while spending $6 billion per year, demonstrating the effectiveness of 0$ marketing.

Elon musk

With Tesla not spending on advertising, Musk’s social media presence is crucial. His public image, has a huge impact on the brands success. Musk is known to make headlines worldwide, increasing the spotlight on him and his company without the costs of advertising. Tesla advertise solely through online platforms, such as twitter, announcing new launches, and counting on Musk’s presence to share this information to an audience of 50.4million followers.

While this method of marketing can entail risks for the organisation, if the CEO acts unethically (e.g. Tesla’s share price dropping by 10% when Musk drank whisky and smoked weed on camera in 2018), it has ultimately proven to be a success, building brands such as Tesla into the world’s most valuable car company, valued at over $830 billion. Making Musk the second wealthiest man worldwide.

Kylie Jenner

We see this form of marketing employed again with Kylie Jenner’s 900 million dollar empire, Kylie Cosmetics. This was achieved within 3 years , with only a Shopify store, and a seven person team. Kylie Cosmetics solely credits it’s success to the CEO’s creation and distribution of content through her personal social media. Which other brands pay $1.2 million per sponsored Instagram post (BBC). For every 3 posts of her private life on media, there is one highlighting her products. Being the 4^th most followed person on the platform, she benefits from utilising avenues such as Instagram and snapchat to freely market her brand to her 201 million Instagram followers, daily.

The Future of zero dollar marketing

While in the past, it was common to not know much about CEO’s, many have now achieved celebrity status in their own right becoming a household name. Today, these entrepreneurs in turn become an intangible asset to their firms advertising directly to potential consumers with 0 costs, by leveraging their personal brand across media channels.

Advertising trends show that millennials and GenZ view social media as a more organic and trust worthy marketing tool , relying less on traditional ads. This allows CEO’s to capitalise on this by ensuring their marketing strategy is heavily online. This practice is becoming increasingly common in many industries. It is now a highly recommended form of advertising that allows companies to achieve large scale sales and dominate the market,  increasing opportunities available to the firm,  raising stock price, and enhancing a firms image, without spending on marketing.