Thinking inside the blockchain: digital marketing 2.0

Australia’s pandemic-induced digital transformation growth hasn’t escaped the advertising and marketing trade, although digital advertising and marketing had a big lead in comparison with most different industries. Not solely have digital methods revolutionised the advertising and marketing sector in latest many years, however each trade that depends on it, permitting manufacturers to be extra focused and strategic than ever. Nevertheless, accelerated tech innovation over the past 18 months and a brand new period of savvy, digital-first shoppers current immense alternatives for the advertising and marketing trade to push the boundaries of innovation even additional nonetheless.

This 12 months blockchain has stepped out from behind the shadow of cryptocurrencies, delivering on the hype that peaked in 2017. Blockchain is much extra pragmatic and revolutionary than a cryptocurrency – its most well-known use case – and is already creating numerous improvements which are bettering the way in which industries function and companies join with their prospects. Its potential to usher in a brand new period of digital advertising and marketing 2.0 is extremely thrilling.

Blockchain has come a good distance

Blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger used to file transactions. Historically monetary transactions – which is the way it rose to prominence powering cryptocurrencies – however in the present day virtually something digitally. It reached peak hype in 2017, however whereas the noise subsided publicly, behind the scenes the improvements blossomed, and the trade began evolving past its conventional affiliation with Bitcoin.

In its easiest type, a blockchain is a type of peer-to-peer alternate which removes the necessity for a 3rd get together, like a financial institution for monetary transactions. Whereas we’ve nonetheless solely seen the tip of the iceberg by way of its immense potential, the expertise already has quite a few advantages, together with safety, transparency, and traceability. For entrepreneurs in search of to focus on the precise audiences, cut back click on bots and advert fraud, and supply extra experiential experiences, blockchain gives many aggressive benefits.

How does blockchain match nicely within the advertising and marketing trade?

Whereas nonetheless a relatively fledgling expertise, blockchain has the potential to vary the way in which companies and shoppers work together. By eradicating the middleman between two events – like, for instance, Google between entrepreneurs and their prospects – blockchain permits manufacturers to go straight to supply.

Blockchain additionally permits the gathering of incorruptible buyer information, creating and storing particular person shopper profiles that permit for considerably extra focused campaigns. Entrepreneurs can encode NFTs (non-fungible tokens) – considered one of 2021’s defining social and technological improvements – with buyer insights from CRM, reminiscent of age, demographic and spending habits and personalise every one with related info, content material or promotions.

For instance, The Nationwide Retail Federation ran Challenge NGAGE, exhibiting how gamified digital objects on the blockchain can ‘usher in a brand new period in retail advertising and marketing’. The venture launched lots of of digital butterflies and branded digital objects, bringing a digital treasure hunt to life. Utilizing mobiles, attendees may catch butterflies on a map or in augmented actuality, which have been redeemable for actual items at a blockchain sales space.

Future of promoting

It has the potential to offer the ‘wow’ campaigns that entrepreneurs try for and improve the brand-customer relationship and expertise; permitting each shoppers and types to maximise the worth of their relationship. What’s extra, the site visitors secured could be verified as actual individuals, not faux accounts or click on farms, which retains advertising and marketing prices low and engagement excessive.

Therein lies one other important profit: transparency. There are long-term battles towards fraudulent clicks, faux accounts and click on farms within the promoting and advertising and marketing industries. A lot so, that one in each 5 clicks is estimated to be faux. Nevertheless, as a result of a blockchain is an immutable distributed ledger that can’t be altered or hacked, it makes it far simpler for entrepreneurs to discern actual engagement from faux engagement. What’s extra, blockchain can alleviate points associated to Mental Property by offering proof of possession of an concept, marketing campaign or piece of content material.

For entrepreneurs – and, more and more, shoppers – few points are of higher significance than information safety – particularly as our publicity to, and reliance on, the web grows. Breaches are frequent and damaging, however the blockchain is much safer than different record-keeping techniques as a result of every new transaction is encrypted making it protected from hacks.

Via concentrating on and transparency, safety and cost-efficiency, blockchain has the potential to usher in a brand new period of digital advertising and marketing innovation. Whereas it might sound like a expertise of the long run, it’s already being leveraged by companies in each trade, together with advertising and marketing – the place early adopters are getting a headstart on their opponents. So for entrepreneurs in search of to face out from their competitors and lead by instance in digital advertising and marketing 2.0, pondering exterior the field would possibly imply working contained in the blocks.

Lachlan Feeney is the CEO and founding father of Australia-based blockchain consultancy Labrys.