As digital marketing continues to evolve and adapt to new technologies, blockchain has emerged as a potential game-changer for the industry. But why this technology, and why now?
Blockchain technology, which powers cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and NFT projects like Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC), offers a decentralized, transparent, and secure way to store and transfer data. In the context of digital marketing, blockchain has the potential to revolutionize the way companies collect, store, and use customer data, as well as to transform the way advertisers target and engage with their audiences—particularly as cookie deprecation approaches and privacy laws like GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act become the norm.
Web3 Pro helps brands harness the potential of blockchain technology for digital marketing and, together, we will shape the future of the industry.
The evolution of the internet—from web 1.0, which was read-only, to web 2.0, which encourages users to read and write, to web 3.0 and its focus on transparency and ownership—has closely mirrored how brands have approached marketing over the last century, albeit on a much faster timeline.
First, we saw companies attempting to solve for reach with read-only advertising in newspapers and the like. Much like the early days of web 1.0, this provided visibility but did not guarantee messaging would reach an interested audience. Next, brands used data to become more effective. Nielsen, the renowned market research company, was founded in 1923 and enabled brands to use demographics and customer-reported trends to send more relevant messaging and build products that addressed customer interests and pain points. Finally, we have seen in more recent times that brands are searching for ways to get customers more directly involved in their product and marketing development using co-creation initiatives like design contests and influencer marketing.
Blockchain transforms brands’ abilities to engage and reward their audience for engaging in this type of community-based marketing. Transparent, verifiable customer data that is given freely in exchange for rewards helps guard brands against market research loss based on the deprecation of third-party tracking cookies and enforcement of stricter privacy laws. Moving from data gathered by third-party providers such as Nielsen and Google to data provided directly by the consumer will help improve the accuracy and usefulness of market research initiatives.
Beyond data gathering, blockchain gives consumers a sense of ownership over their role with their favorite brands. Successful companies will empower their most loyal customers to, for example, use NFTs to cast token-gated votes on key business decisions or shape the future of their most anticipated products. Perhaps, for example, a clothing brand is deciding between merino wool and polar fleece for a popular line of winter socks. Giving the community a voice in that decision will help consumers feel listened to and valued by the brand. Because blockchain data is so transparent, companies will be able to determine when the community is truly speaking, as opposed to bots or spammers.
Content submissions and voting on user-generated ideas will transform brand loyalists into brand ambassadors by giving users a sense of ownership and impact, as well as providing a feeling of being heard and valued by the brand. The impact of this sort of web3 marketing will be highly measurable, particularly for brands who have already begun tracking their Net Promoter Score (NPS).
Blockchain has many other potential use cases for marketing. While co-creation and data gathering may be the most relevant and exciting use cases for consumers and brands, respectively, many other avenues exist for web3 marketing. As of this writing, most brand communities are scattered across multiple platforms, most of which do not belong directly to the brand. An active Facebook or Instagram community can be disrupted or even left completely in the lurch if admin profiles are flagged by the algorithm, while Twitter has engaged in the practice of shadow bans for years. Social platforms typically make it difficult for brands to achieve organic growth on their platforms, strong-arming brand advertising budgets in exchange for visibility.
With blockchain, as harnessed by Web3 Pro’s innovative software, The Hub, ownership is clear, and the community coalesces into a single place. APIs allow brands to reward community members for engaging in Discord channels or other existing platforms your customers are already using, and token-based incentives keep consumers coming back for new campaigns and unique rewards.
By providing consumers with the chance to shape company decisions, own their role in a brand’s future, and incentivize the engagement they are already giving their favorite brands, businesses across a wide range of verticals will be able to transform their digital marketing strategies. While the simple examples provided above are B2C, the technology has the potential to transform B2B relationships as well. Imagine a trade association making their annual meeting topics the subject of a token-gated vote, with members who are highly engaged with the association throughout the year being invited to special perks like a keynote speaker application or early access to advertising slots.
The possibilities of web3 marketing using blockchain are limited only by a brand’s imagination and the tech partners they engage with to make their vision a reality. With Web3 Pro, brands in a range of industries can plan out unique strategies that speak directly to their target audience and that audience’s specific pain points. Learn more about engaging with your company’s customers using blockchain marketing by visiting our website at web3pro.com.
