In 2017, Beacons was founded by Neal Jean, David Zeng, Jesse Zhang, and Greg Luppescu in San Francisco. They wanted to create better monetization tools for social media platforms. They set out to create a link-in-bio, which eventually evolved into what Beacons is today. The platform has received investments from both Y Combinator and Andreessen Horowitz.
What is Beacons?
Beacons is an AI tool that allows you to build and grow your online presence by creating a centralized link-in-bio website that features all your social media links, videos, key webpages, and more. On this link-in-bio tool, you can sell products like digital products, online courses, memberships, and book appointments. You can connect your Stripe or PayPal account to process payments. Beacons also offers built-in tools for email marketing, where you can capture leads and send automated email campaigns to your subscribers.
How does Beacons work?
Beacons primarily works as an all-in-one platform that allows you to build your website, monetize your followers and subscribers, and manage all aspects of your business from a single place. Since it’s the central hub and a link-in-bio, you can build a mobile-friendly landing page that links to all your key pages. All you need to do is add the exact link you want featured to that page.
For example, if you’re an influencer promoting a new ebook, you would add a link in your landing page for the new ebook, ideally at the top of it, to send the most traffic to it. The platform does have its own checkout process, allowing your followers to buy directly from your link while staying on TikTok, Instagram, or any other social media platform.
What you need to know about selling on Beacons?
Beacons is a platform with high fees. On its Free and Creator plans, you’ll pay a 9% seller fee, which is much higher than on other platforms. Most platforms only charge around 5% on free plans, while giving you all the tools you need to sell digital products. To reduce your seller fees, you’ll need to be on the $30-per-month plan.
The platform also does a lot of feature gating, such as capping the number of email sends you can do per month based on the plan you choose. Plus, you won’t be able to access SEO or marketing features on the free plan. Features like selling unlimited courses with video hosting, selling unlimited memberships, and unlimited email sends are also gated on one of the higher-tier monthly subscriptions.
While Beacons offers email marketing as one of its features, the platform seems to lack funnel tracking, deep segmentation, and discount tools that other platforms offer. Most sellers want to create funnels to sell their digital products, including cross-sells, upsells, and more. This platform lacks a sophisticated model for advanced marketers.
You can’t get a custom domain on the free plan. Some customers report that free accounts have Beacons branding on them that you can’t remove. Thus, removing the emphasis of your own branding from your site.
Is Beacons the best platform to sell products?
No, Beacons isn’t the best platform to sell products. However, Payhip is the best platform to sell products. You’ll only pay a 5% fee on the free plan, with the option to reduce or eliminate fees with a paid subscription. You also won’t have to upgrade your plan to access more features, as the free plan includes all features automatically. You can also set up a custom domain on the free plan. Finally, you can also cross-sell and upsell in advanced funnels to help you sell more digital products. To start selling digital or physical products, sign up today.