Cryptocurrency is slowly but surely changing the way the world looks at money and finances. This turbulent, intriguing digital currency in all its varying formats has blasted through all expectations and emerged as something tangible for business and personal users. It makes sense, therefore, that it has had some impact on the way digital marketing functions. Given that almost all companies utilize some form of digital marketing in their wider commerce strategy models, major trends like cryptocurrency are bound to infiltrate this in significant ways. A part of adapting and looking to the future is considering these impacts and watching the way big movements shape indispensable channels. This guide will cover exactly how cryptocurrency affects digital marketing and what the consequences of this are for the future of commerce as we know it.
The Ins and Outs of Digital Marketing
With the rise of the internet came a new era of advertising and marketing, and so the B2C and B2B relationships were changed forever for the better. Digital marketing remains a force to be reckoned with and an entity unto itself. It is highly subscribed to because it encompasses all essential tools for reaching, engaging, and securing clients on various business platforms. Multi-media approaches take consumer interaction to the next level and provide a more bespoke, targeted service for anyone looking to buy anything online. There are five key areas to explore.
Email Marketing
Email marketing models work on a subscription basis. The customer may be encouraged to sign up to receive exclusive discounts in return for their receipt of marketing emails. It is one of the easiest ways to reach people, and millions of users sign up on a daily basis to companies all around the world in this format. It is a channel for marketing professionals to promote products, discounts, loyalty schemes, company updates, and essential brand content.
Contextual Targets
Using cookies and other data sources, contextual targeting focuses on providing insightful adverts for a targeted base of users. Factors that determine suitability are things like age, location, browsing interests, and more. The aim is to show people things they could be interested in to encourage a click through and ultimately a new purchase.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization puts companies on the virtual map. It uses data and keyword analytics to boost the online presence of a business and help it climb up the search engine ranking lists. The purpose is to make your company appear before a competitor by tailoring content in specific channels.
Social Media
Most companies have a presence on social media because there are clear advantages. Not only are there millions of users ready to be reached out to, but there is real potential for engaging in a meaningful way with potential customers. These platforms can be used to post content, chat with users, and even for affiliate marketing strategies too.
Multi-Media Approaches
Lastly, multi-media marketing is video, general content, and beyond (podcasts, e-books, info pieces). This is a highly valuable strategy that retains relevance in modern society thanks to its effectiveness and general viability.
How Cryptocurrency Influences Digital Marketing
All businesses should have an online presence if they want to find success in modern consumerism models. This is more relevant than ever with the developments in cryptocurrency, a completely digital asset that exists online and only online. It has been shown to have a significant influence over digital marketing models in a number of areas. Firstly, it has widened the already magnanimous scope for reaching consumers. Secondly, crypto has opened up a whole new world of targeted sales. Thirdly, blockchain has proven extremely valuable for shaping content relevancy and reaching the right people in the right way.
This list is far from exhaustive, and there are other influential factors explored in more detail further along the article. Before this, it is important to understand a little more detail about the primary blockchain functions and movements.
So, what is a Blockchain?
The blockchain’s initial purpose in this context was as a channel for trading, owning, and utilizing cryptocurrency. It is a secure and decentralized ledger powered by a virtual network. Everything that happens within is transparent, safe, and autonomous. All data is electronically stored and recorded thus eliminating all the need to involve a third-party regulator in any online transaction carried out in this arena. Unlike traditional databases that use tables to collect groups of information, a blockchain (surprise, surprise) uses blocks that then go on to ‘string’ together data parts and form a chain.
Key things to know about the blockchain in relation to cryptocurrency and digital marketing are:
- All transactions are permanent. Once something has been entered into a blockchain, it stays on the blockchain. This ensures absolute traceability and security.
- It is decentralized and seems to be staying that way, as it is one of the major appeals. That means no one person can assume control of a single transaction; there is instead a collaborative control that guides and shapes purchase models.
- It removes the negative data breaches by completely eliminating them in digital marketing models. Your data is secure and will stay that way, so it can’t ever be stolen or used nefariously. There is no scope for profiteering from passing on basic information like names and email addresses, and this information is all protected regardless.
- It breeds accountability and trust. Businesses are not always doing what they claim to be, for example, is that product entirely sourced as stated? Well, when a business descends on the chain, there is no room for lying because it will be caught out almost instantly. Every transaction is monitored, recorded, stored, and visible to whoever wants to see it.
- It provides a better scope for accurate targeting. Unlike cookies, businesses using blockchain can request direct access to customer profiles and be able to use it to give the consumer what they want most. It eliminates the need for guesswork, and users are even being incentivized to move through these channels. The days of irrelevant adverts will be behind us and blockchain will revolutionize how businesses use data positively.
Positive Factors for Crypto, Blockchain, and Digital Marketing
Now that blockchain has been explored in more detail, it is time to discuss what positive cryptocurrency can bring to digital marketing as a result of this technology platform. The above points touched upon three key claims for this relationship: widening the scope, perfected targeting, and more open doors than ever before, but these are general assertions that require more detail to be proven as canon.
Building Solid Trust
Historically, the trusting relationship between consumer and business has been almost superficial. The business provides a service, the consumer pays for said service and the chain goes on. Sometimes, loyalty is gained when a product proves reliable, but there was never anything directly personal about it. This model has certainly shifted over time, especially with the rise of e-commerce channels changing the scope of consumerism indefinitely.
With cryptocurrency, and therefore the blockchain platform, businesses are able to accumulate direct trust lines with their clients. Their data is protected and only used for specific purposes, and everything is visible on both sides. Therefore, the relationship evolves past pure transactional value and becomes something that feels more mutually beneficial. Digital marketing can use this advantage and incorporate it into almost any strategy on their wider platform. Trust from your customers is everything in business, and reliable companies with a verified green tick from their consumers are more likely to find success that permeates into every core component of the bigger business strategy module.
Demographic Targeting
Similarly, from a business perspective, they are better able to engage with their target demographic because they have a direct line of sight into it. No more wasted money on unseen ad campaigns, and a whole load of time to put elsewhere in the company. Cookies are the standard go-to data collector model for businesses around the world. They are highly subscribed to, not exactly transparent, and work to a certain extent for the desired effect. However, these methods are not 100% reliable.
A blockchain relationship with a cryptocurrency user would be 100% reliable because the data is forfeited willingly from the client themselves. There are, of course, methods to create interest on this front from promotional schemes to direct crypto payments, all bolstering the impact of this currency in the wider arena. The result is overall positive for both business and customer because adverts are at no risk of being irrelevant, and the increased chance of fulfilling a sales relationship is highly attractive too. So, digital marketing can stay relevant and informative as opposed to dropping the ball and missing a sales opportunity.
Currency Varieties Open the Door for Impactful Opportunity
Fiat currencies and the like are likely to be the preferred and default option for many years to come as things stand. However, the immerging and established tools for cryptocurrency bring up the standards and legitimacy of this digital asset. Live market prices for high profile cryptocurrencies like Ether from okx.com show exactly how an asset is moving throughout the day which allows for a better insight into the inner workings and viability of trades, relationships, and performance.
This opens the door to a whole new world of opportunity for marketing and beyond. A platform that was once shunned, and even made a joke of (hello dogecoin) has become this force to be reckoned with that has global standing and informational tools that strive to accentuate viability in all areas. People are getting behind the movement, and businesses would find it beneficial to get behind the people.
Revenue Potentials
Cryptocurrencies allow for instant payment models to take the lead. This benefits both the client and company as there is no payment delay to hold up a transaction or impact a sale. This all points to crypto becoming a more mainstream functional platform and considering the number of people that are already using it, it is safe to assume that businesses won’t be far behind (if they aren’t there already).
What this means for digital marketing is their utility. Companies far and wide will inevitably be able to tap into this metric and outperform their previous data by implementing strategies focused on cryptocurrency models; for example, paying customers directly in bitcoin or similar currencies for participation in ad campaigns. Or even, producing crypto tokens for billboard style ads or affiliate click-throughs which will give a boost to any marketing strategy in poorly connected areas. Alternatively, just target ads about crypto itself.
There is a whole scope to play with here for revenue potential which will shape pre-existing marketing models and meld them into something entirely more viable for the path of the future.
Negative Factors
Of course, there are always negative factors to navigate alongside the advantages. Any business should be mindful of the potential downsides to tapping into the cryptocurrency and blockchain metrics for digital marketing. While there is no major threat to the integrity of campaigns providing there is a failsafe in place until these platforms become entirely stable and widespread, there are risks to be mitigated nonetheless.
The Main Risk Considerations
Where there is a cryptocurrency, there is a risk. Prices, conversion rates, validity, and existence (of minor cryptocurrencies) shift constantly every day. For businesses, this doesn’t feel as an entirely attractive opportunity worthy of their time. They would be right to be cautious. As an asset, it is not entirely reliable and therefore the impact of this on a marketing strategy or a digital advertisement channel could be catastrophic. However, just like the stock market, the crashes are almost always followed by an upward trend as proven by the current value of major currencies bitcoin and Ether.
Aside from this, the blockchain and all its currencies are not in general circulation or even valid currencies in some countries. Because of this, some advertising profiles will just say no and shut the whole thing down before it gains traction. This could be problematic if a business has a pre-existing established marketing relationship to navigate that does not want to move in the same direction.
Diminished Control
Digital marketing works on the assumption that there is a degree of control over adverts put out for general consumption. With the involvement of cryptocurrency and blockchain advertising models, there is a significant chance that this control will be completely passed by. When people get more autonomy over what they skip, what they see, and how their data influences their targeted digital marketing base, they are effectively removing the need for the middleman at all. This means adverts can be skipped, and skipped, and skipped some more. This would cause a negative, unmanageable ripple effect on digital marketing as a whole entity and lead to general chaos.
No Universal or Consistent Presence
As mentioned above, not everyone subscribes to the cryptocurrency lifestyle. It is not widely accepted (yet) and there are lots of associated risks that deter engagement. Understandably, these factors all play a role in how consumerism moves and flows. Given the lack of universal channels to move through, digital marketing may find itself limited or even stunted in its intentions and outputs if it relies too heavily on crypto at this point in time. This situation is constantly changing, but as things stand, not everywhere will acknowledge the validity or stance of crypto and the blockchain.
Crypto Ad Networks: A Recent Movement
Crypto ad networks are also changing the game of digital marketing. These are ad networks devoted to and powered mainly by cryptocurrencies, though some also accept or allow fiat currency as a part of the scope. Much like regular advertisement network platforms, crypto ones are focused on promoting content, products, and affiliations with cryptocurrencies. They are now an established model independent of digital marketing as opposed to being viewed as a branch thereof.
These channels have provided a way for websites, bloggers, influencers, traders, and more to promote their methodologies, tips, and insights. They also function to serve cryptocurrencies and trading platforms and highlight their advantages and worth in the bigger picture. Just like typical marketing strategies, crypto ad networks rely on their users, but this is a gap in the market that has needed cementing since the arrival of bitcoin and all that entailed.
Blockchain and cryptocurrency have had an undeniable impact on digital marketing. This model that moves so smoothly in commerce channels has been influenced heavily by what crypto has to offer in the modern world. Millions upon millions of people turn to crypto as an investment asset, a method of payment, a channel to move their financial gains through, and more. Businesses will be left behind if it is not at least considered in their wider marketing strategy approach. There is a lot to be gained and very little to be lost by doing so, and the door can be opened to more precise targeting, a wider scope of clients, and a better, more established, and trustworthy B2C (or B2B) relationship.
