Social Media Without Ads—How Will Your Brand Fare?

The big networks are losing their monopoly on consumer attention now that the average American has 8 social media accounts.

Consumers are branching out to get away from privacy problems, algorithms that hide content and too many ads. They are moving to smaller, more controlled communities—some without advertising.

Escapex is the poster child for this trend. The platform is growing like wildfire, with 20 million subscribers, each using the app an average of 4 times a day.

Here’s how it works. Using Escapex, a celebrity or influencer can create an independent social app that looks a lot like Instagram, except they personally own it. The celeb has total control of the content, what follower behavior is allowed, and whether brands can participate.

Fans pay a small monthly fee ($6 on average) to subscribe to the celebrity’s app. In return, they get exclusive content that is not on big social networks plus more direct access to the celebrity.

So far, 350 celebrities, including Amber Rose, Jeremy Renner, and Bob Marley’s Estate have launched Escapex apps. Over 150 million new consumers visit the apps each month, and 12% of those who download an app subscribe.

Sources: Barrie360 2019, Crunchbase 2019, Entrepreneur 2019, Fast Company 2019, HubSpot 2019