The path to adopting blockchain and cryptocurrencies in the marketing industry is one the way is long and zigzag. But make no mistake: the transition is going well and the road will soon turn onto the autobahn.

As a former creative director, agency / partner owner, strategist, chief marketing officer for fintech startups and entrepreneur, I have seen the marketing industry offer many advantages.

What’s Common in Marketing Revolutions?

And although every so-called “marketing revolution” takes a slightly different path, there are many similarities. First and foremost, marketing agencies will always be one step ahead to demonstrate their competitive advantage and value to their clients. But most brand marketers will move more slowly: faced with the challenge of “socializing” internal change, attracted by a distinct but also inherently more cautious competitive opportunity, often encountering systematic problems that are large and complex, and leadership with some risk tolerance require. Because of this, companies like McDonald’s and Walmart are diving into crypto, but there is still a long way to go.

Second, as in most transformative times in marketing, a core challenge is behavior First, how to get the customer / consumer to take that first step … to overcome the confusion, fear / suspicion, or simple indolence to make that first transaction. Think of: the dawn of the Internet and dial-up modem connections; Encourage people to adopt online banking and pay their first bill or submit their first check electronically; or QR codes, which was a huge mistake until Apple built a QR reader right into the iPhone’s camera.

Common denominator: simplicity. For this reason, it is a noble task to ask the normal consumer to navigate through the multitude of exchanges, metamask, uniswap, hot and cold wallets and the like. Yes, early adopters are great, but they’re only a small part of the general population universe.

Related: Cryptocurrencies and the rise of user-generated brands

Third, innovation happens because there are problems to be solved. From cypherpunks to modern day evangelists, crypto champions talk about how privacy, decentralization and democratization of money will change the world. For marketers, the usual problems are relevant, but a little more modest.

Projects like Lucidity and Rebel AI (now Logiq), for example, suggest tackling the frustrating problem of bot-driven ad fraud in digital marketing. The Brave browser and its associated token BAT promise to solve the problem of data security when searching the web. And AdsDax and IBM are working to promote greater accountability and transparency in the performance of digital marketing.

Just around the corner

The entry into the blockchain / cryptocurrency highway in marketing can currently be found all around us. Consider:

Counting: With the advent of crypto credit cards such as those offered by Coinbase, Crypto.com, BlcokFi … the ability to pay with crypto on PayPal … buy now, pay later (BNPL) integrate platforms like Klarna Safello … and the dominance of Stablecoins, it is safe to say that the payments category is growing rapidly and will have an important impact on how products and services attract customers.

Analysis: Data analytics is at the core of the digital marketing revolution, and the ability for marketers to leverage it shows tremendous potential in a decentralized ecosystem. Use cases for tools like Chainlink, query tools like The Graph and onChain Analytics only scratch the surface of their potential for brand marketers.

Create content: Content creators and publishers rights have long been a hot button in the marketing ecosystem. Projects like Audius demonstrate how a decentralized ledger has the potential to transform copyright protection and give consumers more choices in how to pay for, use, store and deliver content.

Related: Collect lost intellectual property income with blockchain

Social media: Twitter recently announced a leadership role to lead its “BlueSky” exploration for a decentralized social media standard. Facebook is testing a digital currency based on its own stablecoin called Diem. Social media and content marketing, arguably at the forefront of the Brand Marketing Handbook for the past five years; There is little reason to believe that this will no longer be the case.

Loyalty: Loyalty / customer relationship management programs often struggle with creating a “currency” that can be distributed as a reward to make a real behavioral change versus a simple one. The pure defense of defectors will find a whole new way in the NFTs – projects like Cryptibles and Enjin are up for sale. Since experiences go beyond “things” as a coveted reward for loyalty, NFT also promises “digital tickets” for unique experiences like Microsoft’s, transactions and competitions. Digital experiences are an exciting new frontier.

Related: Brands need to code loyalty and rewards programs

Gamble: Axie Infinity’s impressive growth shows just how great the potential for money making and NFT gaming can be. Although Axie is a self-contained game, it shows a future in which brands will coordinate their own marketing strategies in a semi-decentralized manner and even develop games for their own money.

Ingredient brand: Will there ever be a time when the blockchain on which the product / service is built becomes a “component brand” like Visa or Mastercard for an issuing bank’s credit card or Intel for a Windows PC? We’ll see what we like NBA Top Shot powered by Flow? With all the investors’ interest in crypto projects, this is not an absurd thought.

Looking to the future: Metaverse

If history is a guide, the decentralized digital future will fundamentally change the way we market as the UX of technology becomes simpler and more intuitive. practicability became clearer and deeper, acceptance increased and barriers to behavior were slowly but surely overcome.

So while I have previously stated my position on the rise of User Generated Brands (UGB), I would now like to look to the future and paint a picture of a consumer community: Decentralized, Personal Web 3.0.

Related: Can you use the new decentralized Internet or Web 3.0?

Imagine: Web 3.0 is already firmly established, blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are ubiquitous. The regulatory battles have largely been fought. Transaction speed, scalability and resilience are beyond doubt. And after several waves of consolidation, consolidation and an inevitable shift, there are projects that dominate in each category.

Now everyone on the Internet has a private key on a blockchain in their personalized metaverse, in which they can build their own “home” (which they can name after). Easily accessible, your Metaverse House (MVH) will be where you can shop, discover and Acquisition use your universal wallet.

shop

Your MVH will be a place to store electronic health records and legal documents, records including interests and preferences, NFTs (which you can “hang” on your virtual walls) and transaction histories. Items they want to publish can be accessed with a secure “view key”. Everything else is private and secure.

Discover

Here consumers get paid in cryptocurrency to agree to target advertising. So, for example, if someone wanted a brand like Nexium to tell them how to get rid of acid reflux, they would simply post all or part of their health record by blocking their view. If they explicitly interact with the ad unit, they will receive a “reward” as stated in their smart contract. If you’re researching a new car and want a brand to show them content, make offers, etc., just drop their public key on their website and that’s it! it will appear in their MVH … and will continue to appear when the advertiser deems it strategically effective to move a lead down the decision funnel until the lead says to revoke the key.

Since consumers don’t always know what can solve a problem or add value to their lives, they will enable the option Impress me! For this, advertisers have to pay a premium – that is, they have to as selectively, no less, the audience they target by using AI / Predictive Modeling to analyze these publicly available transaction records and histories.

And because until now almost Everyone Advertising is resolved, the ability to deliver what people really want, when they want it, will be profound.

Related: New industry, new rules: building the metaverse …