As social media marketing becomes increasingly integrated into agencies’ strategies, social media bartering—or using social media platforms as payment—is starting to take off. Trend Hunter’s Research Advisor and Editor Courtney Scharf discusses her favorite ways brands are engaging consumers with social selling.
One popular way this is being done is when a consumer can pay with a tweet. One example of this was a Marc Jacobs pop-up shop at New York Fashion week, where the fashion forward could get the word out and pay with a Twitter status update. Oscar Mayer also launched a campaign where you could lease their iconic Wienermobile by using the hashtag Tweet2Lease.
Another company is capitalizing on the ‘food porn’ trend, where people upload Instagram pictures of their food. El Burro installed a Dinnercam Instagram station so people could pay for and post their meals.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Social Media Bartering
- Opportunity to create disruptive innovation by leveraging social media platforms as a form of payment.
- Pay with a Tweet
- Potential to disrupt traditional payment methods by allowing consumers to pay with a social media post.
- Food Porn Trend
- Potential for disruptive innovation by incorporating Instagram pictures of food as a form of payment.
Where This Applies
- Marketing and Advertising
- Opportunity for disruptive innovation in integrating social media bartering into marketing and advertising strategies.
- Fashion Industry
- Possibility for disrupting traditional payment methods by offering consumers the option to pay with a tweet in the fashion industry.
- Food and Restaurant Industry
- Potential for disruptive innovation by adopting the 'food porn' trend and allowing customers to pay for meals by posting Instagram pictures.
