BlockChain marketing
Digital marketing now utilizes “middlemen” that control the territory between advertisers and users.
Let’s take Search Engine Marketing (SEM), for example.
One of the reasons a website might choose to display Google banner ads on their site as opposed to organically finding advertisers is because Google is a source of trust. If a company is “vetted” by the Google Display Network, then it’s likely that it’s a credible business that won’t damage the brand of the host website. Google also handles the processing of transactions so that the website owner is paid fairly for clicks generated on the advertiser’s ad.
In this case, Google is essentially the middleman between the advertiser and the website owner. For that reason, they take a cut of the profits. Now imagine SEM through the blockchain. Website owners wouldn’t have to go through the Google Display Network to find advertisers because each “user” would already be validated and verified. The advertiser would know that they’re paying for genuine clicks, and the site owner can trust that the amount they’re being paid is fair. There wouldn’t be any need for Google (or Facebook, or any other intermediary). What it all comes down to is a decrease in extra costs and an increase in your profit margin.
Also, let’s take a look at WIKIPEDIA. The open-source online encyclopedia is the fifth-most visited website in the world, running entirely from user-edits and donations that it annoyingly asks you to give a few times a year. I don’t know why it needs to interrupt me when I’m clearly neck-deep in research about sloths, but what can you do.
The site runs pretty smoothly, aside from Satan being called Chad Kroeger’s Dad and and the first law of thermodynamics being changed to “not talking about thermodynamics.” But what if these (admittedly hilarious) hiccups could be fixed, or even avoided? With Blockchain technology, marketers could work collaboratively on a writing project with the ability to see when an edit was made, who made it, and where. On top of that, the document would be decentralized, meaning that no single user has full ownership of a particular project. Workplace equality, anyone? Google Docs and other cloud-based platforms have taken care of the collaboration half of this equation, but the issue of centrality and tracking still need to be addressed. Applications like CryptPad have begun the process of integrating blockchain technology into writing and editing programs to pick up where others left off.
Have you ever been talking about buying something, just to suddenly have ads popping up on Facebook, Twitter, and Google for it? Slightly terrifying, right?
Well, as marketers know, this is an advertising tactic used by big-name companies such as these through “data-collection” processes. What companies like Google do is stockpile information about your searches, and target ad campaigns on the basis of your likes and dislikes.
Though it doesn’t always work, it can work so well that it’s a bit creepy.
The current method of data-collection has sparked many internet privacy campaigns, and even some lawsuits. With blockchain technology, marketers can not only beat out the big guys like Google and Facebook, but can get the information legally, and transparently.
The idea is to have internet users compensated for giving out their information and allowing advertisers to target marketing campaigns to them.Daniel Newman, CEO of Broadsuite Media Group, notes that “in the past, advertisers gained information about customers from various disparate sources.” However, “using blockchain,” Newman continues, “advertisers will now have the ability to build a customer profile directly from the customer — gaining all the information the customer is willing to share in one swoop.”
How this’ll be done is a bit vague for now, but a few companies are getting a head start. BitClave in particular has created a blockchain-based search engine that, when used, allows businesses to reach out to them for compensation.
The ability to incentivize users for their data, and have them consensually give it, gives marketers from smaller companies a leg up over giants like Facebook.
Though this tech has a ways to go, it’s bringing the data-collection conversation into the present, and is revolutionizing the way we interact with our audience.
Marketing needs a facelift. With its huge potential in these areas, blockchain technology will revolutionize the way we deploy, consume, and understand marketing campaigns. But, these are only a few possible avenues for the blockchain to take.
