Why Has Grassroots Marketing Become Increasingly Difficult? From Blockbuster Content Driving Sales to ROI Silence—Is It a Collective Illusion in the Marketing Industry?
Grassroots marketing—once a strategy where a single viral post could sell out products—now faces a stark reality: dismal ROI metrics that leave marketers speechless. Let’s dissect the underlying issues.
A few years ago, I attended a company’s marketing review meeting. The scene was painfully awkward: an advertising agency presented data showing a campaign reached 120 million users with engagement rates 300% above industry averages. When the CEO asked for the ROI, the answer was a meager 0.05—$5 million invested for just $250,000 in sales. The room fell silent.
Six years ago, grassroots marketing on a leading content platform delivered tangible results: viral posts could spike search traffic for a product. Four years ago, it became trickier but remained effective with careful planning. Two years ago, massive investments yielded no sales or search growth—just empty engagement metrics of questionable authenticity. Today, brands allocate only token budgets, and platforms have launched new tools (e.g., "Red Cat") that fail to solve the core problem: declining effectiveness is now an industry consensus.
The Culprits Behind the Decline:
Market Saturation: With oversupply of products, the era of impulsive consumption has waned.
KOL Ecosystem Issues: Larger accounts produce 生硬 (stiff) ads, and data often lacks integrity.
Agency Challenges: Reliable partners are scarce, with some prioritizing superficial metrics over real impact.
Product Homogeneity: Similar selling points make differentiation tough—e.g., 80% of beauty content now focuses on ingredient hype, desensitizing users.
Platform Governance Gaps: A leading platform allocated 50% of traffic to users with under 1,000 followers to promote authentic sharing, but bad actors exploited this with AI-generated spam content, once accounting for 40% of daily posts. After cracking down, the platform launched commercial tools, but rampant advertising risks exhausting user trust.
Unfair Competition: Small brands use AI-generated 水军 and daily thousands of comparative reviews to climb rankings, while large brands struggle with strict compliance reviews—a paradox of "free speech" vs. advertising law.
Platforms face a paradox: they promote new strategies (e.g., "KFS combination tactics," "anti-funnel breakthrough models") annually, but these may be smokescreens to justify budgets. The most effective tactics—often unspoken—are the unethical methods once used by bad actors. Brands with budgets prioritize "respectable" theories over proven (but unsavory) shortcuts.
The Platform Paradox:
Positioned as "consumption decision-making hubs," these platforms struggle to succeed in e-commerce. One leading platform expanded aggressively to grassroots markets last year but failed to grow its DAU beyond 100 million, while its GMV lagged far behind short-video platforms (e.g., $350B vs. $140B). Relying on advertising for 80% of its $3B revenue, the platform’s partnership with an e-commerce giant to launch "Red Cat" seems like a pivot from "decision hub" to "advertising directory."
Users have also grown skeptical: 78% report being misled by hidden ads, with beauty products as a major culprit. As one marketing expert noted, "Good grassroots ads need to balance subtlety and clarity," but users now instantly spot hidden promotions, even in genuine content.
Core Reasons for the Decline:
Rational consumption: 68% of users cross-verify 3+ sources before purchasing.
Fierce competition: Algorithm updates prioritize "altruistic content," devaluing pure product promotion.
Ecosystem imbalance: Advertising crowds out authentic sharing.
Soaring traffic costs: A 母婴 (maternity & baby) brand spent $1M to reach 1M users, yielding <500 sales.
Heightened user vigilance: A fashion brand saw views surge from 10K to 200K by shifting from "model showcases" to "workplace styling tips."
Key Questions:
Cognitive fragmentation: Breaking messages into hundreds of pieces dilutes brand coherence. A home appliance brand saw 65% completion rates and 200% audience growth with structured "buying guide" series.
Over-reliance on soft ads: Brands now hesitate to mention slogans, sacrificing brand recognition. A cleaning brand grew searches by 200% through "home cleaning masterclasses," proving value-driven content outperforms pure advertising.
Empty exposure: Tens of millions of views mean nothing without sales or searches—akin to "the emperor’s new clothes."
The True Value of Grassroots Marketing: It excels in testing markets at the 0-0.1 stage but struggles to sustain large-scale growth. Ironically, platforms have successfully "marketed grassroots marketing" itself, forcing brands to allocate budgets despite doubts. Practitioners have shifted from content creators to ROI-obsessed negotiators, fueling the question: Is grassroots marketing a collective illusion?
Pathways to Breakthrough:
Value-driven content: A coffee brand gained 200K followers with "anti-burnout" skits, outperforming industry ROI.
Closed-loop ecosystems: A beauty brand linked content 种草 (grassroots promotion) to private-domain coupons and live-stream re-purchases, boosting repeat purchases by 55%.
Platform-specific strategies:
Short-video platforms: Use KOCs for product validation, KOLs for scaling, and top anchors for blockbuster launches.
Niche content platforms: Dominate search keywords—e.g., a winter coat brand drove category hits with 1,000+ targeted keywords.
Long-form content platforms: Build trust through in-depth content, with some brands achieving 7X ROI during promotions.
As the industry sheds its traffic bubble, the key to growth emerges: grassroots marketing is not about traffic but value resonance. Brands that deliver knowledge, emotional connection, and service will win enduring user trust.
Industry Trends:
Platforms are shifting from "traffic warfare" to "value competition," prioritizing high-engagement content.
Brands are moving from "spray-and-pray" to precision targeting, with some achieving 4.5X ROI through audience segmentation.
Users are demanding transparency: 65% call for clearer ad labeling to restore content ecosystem integrity.