Tesla’s Secret to Success: Organic Marketing

Tesla is best known as a forward-thinking company—the equivalent of a tech start-up disrupting the automotive industry, one wild innovation at a time.

But even the brilliant CEO, Elon Musk, couldn’t anticipate the passionate following that Tesla’s brand creates. The high quality of their products, along with the company’s penchant for theatrics, lead the way for a growing fanbase of online advocates that follow their every move.

Interestingly, many advocates don’t even drive Tesla vehicles, but track the company with nerdy anticipation based on its visionary view of the future, environmentally-friendly mindset, and simply because Tesla creates really cool stuff.

Thus, we arrive at the latest example of passionate fandom—a completely fan-made Tesla ad. And it’s pretty amazing. Take a look…

The ad itself displays a near-future world, where humankind no longer depends on fossil fuels and gas stations. The clever motif proves perfectly in line with Tesla’s promise—a cleaner and more efficient vision for automobiles. Could a creative agency dream-up something this powerful? Tesla’s audience made them an advertisement!

As it stands, most brands yearn for fan advocacy on this level, and spend big marketing dollars to create content of this quality, but Tesla benefits from an organic and grassroots community of fans. It’s truly their secret weapon.

Whenever Tesla holds a press conference or makes a big announcement, millions gather on social media to discuss it, similar to how new Apple products create a fan frenzy. But any brand can create buzz if they try hard enough—the beauty of Tesla’s fanbase is lasting buzz. Fans continue to discuss the brand, even when it isn’t trending.

READ: How to Activate Online Influencers for Marketing Campaigns

Of course, other brands would find it nearly impossible to replicate a community to this degree; Tesla accomplished this through incredible innovation, stellar products, and a larger-than-life CEO. Nevertheless, Tesla makes the case for the raw power of brand advocacy in the digital age.

Given the importance of keeping a community activated online, brands should take serious note of Tesla, and do whatever they can to mimic their success. Sure, that might not start with beautiful, CGI fan videos—after all, Tesla’s audience is makers, tech nerds, and activists—but it can result in something equally exciting.

In order to achieve this, brands must continue to think of ways to engage fans and influencers online. It’s been said time and time again, but the future of marketing lies in organic, digital fan communities. Tesla proves that.

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