The transparent nature of blockchain data will allow companies and customers alike to feel more secure.
Today, the advertising industry is a multi-billion-dollar industry. According to Forrester, a market research firm, digital marketing expenditures in the US are on course to reach levels close to $120 billion by the year 2021. It’s no wonder that companies such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google collect information about their consumers continuously.
However, bots generate about half of all the ad traffic. Brands spend a lot of money to reach potential customers, but this doesn’t guarantee that such ads will increase sales.
The intriguing thing is that such a scenario might easily change after businesses are able to target individual customers directly. Several technological advancements such as smart contracts and blockchain are already innovating the digital marketing industry to do exactly that.
It’s almost certain that blockchain is the underlying technology likely to cause disruptions in more ways that we can imagine. It’s partly why an augmented reality platform is being created to integrate cryptocurrency and rewards for viewing augmented experiences. However, this is just one of the potential uses.
What’s yours? Let’s examine how a business could potentially utilize such innovations to market itself more effectively.
Blockchain: Future of Digital Marketing
Direct-to-Consumer Digital Marketing
The revolutionary technology of blockchain has recently taken the advertising world by storm. It allows for the sharing and distribution of information without the possibility of making any changes or copying it.
Since blockchain is decentralized, data stored in such a way has a high level of security. The technology is likely to disrupt and overhaul the world of online advertising since it will eliminate the need for a middleman. Businesses currently run Facebook or Google ads and both of the platforms make money off the ads. However, the focus of blockchain companies such as BitClave is on search-data privacy and giving users complete control over their data.
The search engine created by BitClave uses Ethereum blockchain technology and eliminates the need for ad service platforms by creating a direct connection between businesses and consumers. This is what blockchain technology is all about: it negates the need for middlemen in transactions.
When users perform searches, they are free to choose the amount of data they would like released to advertisers. Once this happens, users can be compensated for the data unlike what currently is the case with digital marketing services. So, instead of intermediaries selling your data to advertisers, you will be doing it yourself and directly.
Cross-Promotional B2B Contracts
Smart contracts are designed to help you exchange shares, money, or anything valuable in a transparent and conflict-free manner without involving other players such as lawyers. Such computer-generated contracts operate on blockchain technology that verifies, facilitates, and executes the terms of irrevocable contracts that are only replaceable by new contracts.
Smart contracts will increase the efficiency of B2B cross-promotional marketing especially in the age of bloggers and influencers that use platforms like YouTube and Instagram to cultivate personal brands.
Digital marketing with such a group of influencers can be quite fruitful, but it has its challenges because there isn’t a third party regulating the terms of such agreements and each player determines his or her own costs.
Smart contracts are capable of enforcing obligations from all the parties involved automatically to make sure that it is only after the terms are met that payments are made. For instance, if a blogger fails to publish a social media post or article about a particular brand, the smart contract in place will not release the blogger’s payment. All contractual milestones must be met for the subsequent step of the process to take place.
Roger Haenni, who is a co-founder of Datum, the blockchain-based data storage company, recently told Forbes that digital marketing is fueling the engine of e-commerce globally today and it should thus be relying on the most secure and advanced backbone instead of the security risk-prone technologies currently in existence.
Haenni also said that blockchain allows for a “new class” of services thanks to smart contracts. The technology will help businesses protect themselves and focus on commerce.
Transparency with Consumers and in Contracts
Companies are able to use blockchain to show customers whom they are selling their data to. Since the information cannot be copied or changes, companies using the technology for storing their data can be sure that their data cannot be tampered with.
The transparent nature of blockchain data will help make consumers feel at ease since companies are not at liberty to manipulate their data. This informs consumers that the information and data they are viewing is both accurate and factual, which is something that consumers want.
