How Social Tokens Will Change the World of Influencer Marketing

Imagine a world where influencers and creators were so secure in a separate method of monetization that they had only taken sponsors and ads they were comfortable with.

Does that sound crazy? If it sounds crazy to you, don't worry. It should sound crazy to most people.

Today, creators and influencers bend over backward for advertisers. YouTubers are always trying to make sure their videos are monetized because it means YouTube can tack all manner of ads to it. Instagram creators are always searching for an ambassadorship role somewhere. It doesn't matter whether it's for health products that have dodgy side effects, diet plans that simply don't work, or even counterfeits — creators and Influencers are constantly searching for ads to post.

The reason, of course, is simple. It's not easy to be a creator or an influencer. It's a difficult job that takes time and capital to be successful at. For creators to fund their lifestyle, they need to monetize their creations. Unfortunately, the only way to do that right now is either through acting as ads careers for social media platforms or carrying ads through their contents themselves.

This creates a situation where the ad economy is what employs creators. Since they cannot do without these ads, they have to accept whatever comes their way. Very few creators have the financial capacity to refuse an ad based on a principled position.  This means that very few creators have a useful principled stand on anything. They can only refuse the most egregious ads, and this is often because the platform they are on has already refused those ads.

Social tokens change all of that. If you didn't know what social tokens are before, here's a short rundown; social tokens are essentially crypto assets on the blockchain that grants their holders special privileges and are released by a creator or community.

The main differences between a social token and a cryptocurrency are that cryptocurrencies are usually the native asset of a blockchain, while social tokens are just built on an existing blockchain. Simply put, a social token is a crypto asset released by a creator that grants its holders certain privileges.

These social tokens are game-changers for creators and influencers all over the world because they mean that creators can now monetize their following. There are no social media platforms that pay people for having millions of followers. However, a creator that releases a social token can earn money by having those millions of followers buy the tokens.

Since those tokens are intrinsically valuable because they grant the owners special privileges, they create their demand. Their demand is tied to how popular and useful the creator who releases them is.

These tokens incentivize creators to create, not for the platform they are on — but for their audience. It also frees them from the need to take ads that do not represent their values or that of their followers. This means that influencers will have the freedom to decide what brands or products get mileage on their platforms.

The effects of this will be immediately apparent to ethically ambiguous brands and companies. They will no longer have the capacity to hold influencers to ransom with ad dollars. Influencer marketing will go from a free for all rodeo where anyone with enough money can play, to a game closely regulated by creators and their followers. The result would be a situation where the health, wellbeing, and vitality of people will be prioritized by more companies when creating products.

Examples of Social Tokens Today

Like almost everything else in the ever-expanding cryptoverse, social tokens are a relatively new concept. We already understand their potential. We know that they can change the world of marketing, empower creators, and provide a complete experience for fans.

However, there's still a lot we do not know. Since these tokens will either be bought by fiat or something easily exchanged for fiat, they could be interpreted as securities. This means they could potentially come under regulation by the SEC or a sister organization.

In any case, there are already several platforms testing out the idea of creating social tokens on a large scale for creators. One of such platforms is Axxis. The startup is building a platform where creators can not only automatically create their social tokens but also have a board of expert advisers to help them with rarity, tokenomics, and marketing. The incredible thing about this platform is that the tokens can be bought directly with fiat — which is something that no other platform like it is doing.

There are also social tokens on the market already. One of such tokens is the $BLAP, which means Belief, Love, Action, Positivity. $BLAP is a social token released by Grammy award-winning producer Illmind. With this token, followers of Illmind will be able to spend their tokens on beats, exclusive packs & NFTs, 1 on 1 ZOOM consults, beat critiques, tickets, shout-outs, beat collabs & so much more. The success of $BLAP is perhaps the perfect proof of concept for the power of social tokens.

However, superstars like !llmind are not the only ones using social tokens to create a thriving community. There are also unknown creators who are using social tokens to expand their brands and communities too.

A good example is Jaylen Clark, a sophomore graduate on UCLA’s basketball team. Aside from being a pretty good athlete, Clark is also a social media sensation with a decent following on Youtube, Instagram, and Tik Tok. A while ago, Clark created a token he aptly named the $JROCK coin, and his followers who buy the token right now are essentially betting on his future.

If they are right about $JROCK and he becomes a superstar in the NBA, their tokens would be worth maybe a hundred times what it is currently worth.

Clark isn't the only sports star that is in on the social coin rave. Kayvon Thibodeaux, a defensive end for the New York Giants, is also building his own virtual community with his own coin called the $JREAM coin.

Unlike Clark, Thibodeaux's goal for building the $JREAM coin is a bit more humanitarian. According to the NFL star, investors in the coin would be supporting his foundation for people from underprivileged backgrounds. In return, they would be getting exclusive content from him.

Another great example of these social tokens is the $GEEK coin by actress Felicia Day. Day offers weekly hangouts, merch, and meetups for holders of her coin. She also says that the main reason for the coin is to foster and build a community around her work. So the coin doesn't only give her extra revenue, it also helps her build a community of fans that love and appreciate her work.

The Future of Social Tokens

With companies and projects like Axxis, BLAP, JROCK, JREAM, AND GEEK taking the reins, the future for social tokens is very bright. Tokens like $BLAP have provided the proof of concept that creators need to get into it. With more creators getting interested in Web3 and the cryptoverse, social tokens will inevitably take off. It's essentially a matter of when, not if.

Of course, in the future, influencer marketing will take a different dimension. Brands and products that need huge influencers for their marketing will either need to stop being morally ambiguous, or they would have to abandon the influencer marketing neck of the woods forever.