I don't know if you can monetize instagram or anything directly.
I think you need to read Traction. And I will suggest a lot of books here, (I will tell you which ones are essential and you need to master - these will be based on scientific consensus though; others all are reference).
https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Guide-Getting-Customers/dp/0976339609
Your only monetization option is selling on Amazon. And maybe get lucky like Andy Weir whose movie and paperback rights got sold together after his free book got traction on Amazon and then became a bestseller.
The way to think about Twitter, Reddit and Instagram and Facebook is to see that they are channels that feed each other and ultimately your amazon traffic.
Think of it this way.
Your reddit feeds your amazon. (Traffic, from your reddit to your page). Your reddit gives content that can be given to instagram. Which will then feed your amazon. So, reddit feeds amazon directly as well as indirectly via instagram. Instagram also feeds reddit if you make it but that is slightly tough. But still, if you convert discussions into quotes and stories and captions your stories can feed insta.
So, think of it in a way that reddit feeds amazon. And reddit, will give content for you to amplify your reach via instagram. So take a long comment. Transform it into a quote with a thought provoking thing. And post it on Insta. Do this and you will have a few thousand followers in a month. Do this for some time and you have the possibility of reaching a million followers within some time.
Likewise, reddit feeds facebook. Facebook feeds amazon.
So don't think of the individual platforms to be monetized. Just think of them as channels directed towards the main flow - Amazon. Which is like a river anyways. Haha. And you then draw a small financial channel that draws it unto your bank balance. Like feeding a small personal lake.
Skimming your other responses - you've got two products you're trying to monetize:
Both are commodities, with lots of competition, and very different marketing strategies.
Meanwhile you're worried about PPC vs SEO, when you haven't even considered:
Is FB the right channel for people who want 'electronic components'? Doubtful.
As to PPC or SEO - it's just a cost benefit analysis.
For example: I had a furniture client who was paying $1.50-$10 PPC for different types of furniture keywords. Average product price was $1,000+ with healthy 30% margin. PPC worked reasonably well. But so did direct mail of furniture catalogs.
> There's is no potential for brand building with PPC
That's right. PPC is best for 'acquisition' of new customers - "people actively looking for X." Once you've got them, email tends to be the popular 'retention' strategy - reminding people you exist. That's why all those annoying "subscribe" popups exist on websites.
As to Secret Sauce, NO. Landing page is awful, and I can't believe someone selling growth hacking could have created it.
Check out Traction by Gabriel Weinberg (founder of DuckDuckGo), or anything by Andrew Chen (growth @ Uber)
Growth hacking can summed up as:
Oh, the one by Gabriel Weinberg. Talks about how various marketing channels eventually stall out and how companies must regularly test new channels to continue growth. http://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Guide-Getting-Customers/dp/0976339609/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1442461401&sr=8-4&keywords=traction
You should know best, how to reach your customers.
There is a book called Traction (http://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Guide-Getting-Customers/dp/0976339609) which describes the different kinds of strategies to get new users. It is very short, but still has a lot of information on the different possible channel. It helps to decide on which to focus for a specific business.
I read this really cool book called "traction" (http://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Guide-Getting-Customers/dp/0976339609)
This book was phenomenal! It talked about several different ways that you can drive traction onto your platform, and how you should run small tests to not spend too much money to drive users to try out your app. I thought I would start with reddit, since there is so much cool stuff on here, contact bloggers in the sharing economy, attend cool meetup groups in NYC.
any other suggestions to drive traction??
>I don't know if you can monetize instagram or anything directly.
>
>I think you need to read Traction. And I will suggest a lot of books here, (I will tell you which ones are essential and you need to master - these will be based on scientific consensus though; others all are reference).
>
>https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Guide-Getting-Customers/dp/0976339609
>
>Your only monetization option is selling on Amazon. And maybe get lucky like Andy Weir whose movie and paperback rights got sold together after his free book got traction on Amazon and then became a bestseller.
>
>The way to think about Twitter, Reddit and Instagram and Facebook is to see that they are channels that feed each other and ultimately your amazon traffic.
>
>Think of it this way.
>
>Your reddit feeds your amazon. (Traffic, from your reddit to your page). Your reddit gives content that can be given to instagram. Which will then feed your amazon. So, reddit feeds amazon directly as well as indirectly via instagram. Instagram also feeds reddit if you make it but that is slightly tough. But still, if you convert discussions into quotes and stories and captions your stories can feed insta.
>
>So, think of it in a way that reddit feeds amazon. And reddit, will give content for you to amplify your reach via instagram. So take a long comment. Transform it into a quote with a thought provoking thing. And post it on Insta. Do this and you will have a few thousand followers in a month. Do this for some time and you have the possibility of reaching a million followers within some time.
>
>Likewise, reddit feeds facebook. Facebook feeds amazon.
>
>So don't think of the individual platforms to be monetized. Just think of them as channels directed towards the main flow - Amazon. Which is like a river anyways. Haha. And you then draw a small financial channel that draws it unto your bank balance. Like feeding a small personal lake.
Here you go: http://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Guide-Getting-Customers/dp/0976339609
Awesome book written by Gabriell Weinberg (founder DuckDuckGo) and Justin Mares (founder RoommateFit). Give it a try, contains fairly cool interviews too.
Two quick suggestions:
(1) provides a strategic lens on scrappy marketing/advertising/PR; (2) provides an exhaustive list of tactics to consider
Hope this helps!