"Ghost Commerce is when you build a digital brand and monetize it in high leverage ways that don't involve creating a product or service." Chances are you've heard this quite a lot on your preferred social media handle, and it may have come across as vague to you, like it did to many of us.
Well, let's break the question "What is Ghost Commerce" in simpler terms.
Simply put, whenever you develop a digital brand, you are engaging in ghost commerce.
Now this may be accomplished through either a personal brand (on a social media platform or on YouTube) or a faceless "ghost brand" (a website, a YouTube channel, or even a social media handle), in which you do not expose your face and instead monetize the brand that does not involve you personally producing a product or delivering a service and taking on clients.
Hold up! Now it kind of sounds like Affiliate Marketing, doesn't it? Let's address that query then.
Affiliate marketing is ONE of the methods through which you can generate revenue from a digital brand.
But if you are using ghost commerce, you can make money off of your brand in a variety of various ways, such as:
Having a YouTube channel that will give you money in exchange for advertising space on that channel.
Having a page on TikTok or Instagram where marketers are willing to pay you to post, promote, or do brand deals
Having a Google-ranked website or blog from which you can sell the data collected from its users
And of course, there is affiliate marketing, where you sell a product that belongs to someone else in exchange for a commission.
While Ghost Commerce is now being lauded for being a brand new business model, frankly, it isn't. It has been tried and tested by many influencers and bloggers for quite a few years now. But there was no term for it then. We now don't only have a term for it but also a step-by-step process for anyone, not just a popular figure, to set this business model for themselves and generate passive income. Whether you are a pro in front of the camera or camera shy, Ghost commerce will work for you.