I’ve been reading about marketing and the thing that stuck was this: the best arbitrage right now isn’t platform, it’s format.

These three were most relevant to me and my storybook business:

  • Platform Arbitrage Strategy: Find platforms hungry for content creators.
  • Feedback Loop Acceleration: Build stuff that gets your audience giving you immediate feedback.
  • Zero-to-One Distribution Rule: Pick ONE channel and crush it.

Now how would I be able to implement this into my storybook business?

First we have the Platform Arbitrage Strategy. Facebook arbitrage is definitely long gone when you just look at the platform. But there is another arbitrage angle which is the format.

A physical book being unboxed by a 3-year-old is a way better video than anything else. And that is something that might be harder to get people to do. Could I use AI to help me create UGC videos of 3 year olds unboxing? AI-generated kids reacting to a book for real kids, that is definitely weird territory, but worth testing.

For the Feedback Loop Acceleration I have to make sure sharing the moment of unboxing is done by default. A grandparent that gifts the book films the child when opening the book for the first time. This video will be sent to the parents in the family Whatsapp group or sometimes even social media.

The question is, am I hoping for this moment, or am I designing the marketing for this moment?

Ideas like a signed inside cover or a blank page at the end for the grandparent to write a message in? These details decide whether the book gets filmed or just read.

The Zero-to-One Distribution Rule. I have been building my audience on X for these daily AI experiments. Grandparents aren’t on X. They’re on Facebook. Including Facebook groups for grandparents/new grandparents that exist and are active.

Some other ideas for marketing channels are Instagram Reels. It would be parents posting their kid reacting to the book. This means the buyer is the grandparent but the poster is the parent.

Then there is Pinterest. It’s used for gift discovery with a high purchase intent. Also a pin from 2024 still drives sales in 2026.

But crushing one means picking one and just focusing on that one. Reels and Pinterest are real options, but Reels is the parent, not the buyer, and Pinterest is a slower burn. Facebook is where the buyer is and where the buying happens. I would say Facebook is the clear winner here for me, that is also the most boring one. Fine by me.

The three ideas collapse into the question: where is the buyer, and what’s the fastest way to get a book in their hands so the product can do the marketing?

My answer: UGC unboxing videos of 3-year-olds, posted in Facebook groups for grandparents.

Key Insight

The arbitrage isn’t the platform. It’s building a product that makes its own marketing video.