Digital marketing has had many transformative moments over the years, from new media to social media to mobile. The time is ripe for another potentially defining innovation: cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency represents a radical paradigm shift for the industry—one that could require marketers to rethink the way they do business.
At a basic level, instead of paying the marketer a fee when you purchase something from a website—think of paying an “advertisement” fee in cryptocurrency. In this case, if you want to sell something on a given website, you’ll pay with cryptocurrency and your marketer will receive it in exchange for putting up advertising content on your site.
This eliminates transaction costs; advertising no longer has any financial incentive to make sure people click through on its terms or spend more than they intend. This means that there are no barriers between buyers and sellers and that any transaction could be done directly between them—without any third-party middleman like Google profiting off of everything else you do online or being overly strict about what sort of things it lets into its ecosystem.
For businesses seeking new revenue opportunities, this is truly revolutionary—and not all businesses are equally interested, which further illustrates the potential of this technology’s impact on digital marketing.
Even Google itself has made statements about its interest in developing micropayments for advertisers who want their ads served across different websites, a small portion of digital marketing budgets today. So the next time you want to launch the next big digital marketing campaign, you might want to keep an eye on the cryptocurrency markets for the best returns on your investment.
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Cryptocurrency is Changing the Way We Think About Resources and Currency
The concept of cryptocurrency may seem confusing to those who have not delved into the world of digital economics. To put it simply, cryptocurrency is an encrypted digital resource that people trade with and use to buy products, services, or even other cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrency (particularly Bitcoin) has gained a lot of popularity over the past several years because it allows people to spend money in a way that is both secure and anonymous; many people from all walks of life are beginning to see its potential as a form of payment and this in invigorating cryptocurrency value every day.
This can be attributed in part to the fact that cryptocurrency is extremely difficult for governments and other entities to track or control through traditional methods, this is also what keeps cryptocurrency prices fluctuating, but they are slowly beginning to stabilize.
While it’s still too early for cryptocurrency to become widely accepted around the world, many businesses are taking notice, particularly ones in tech-oriented industries such as social media marketing and e-commerce.
These companies understand how useful a decentralized currency could be for their customers: no banks, no currency fluctuations due to economic crises, no issues with cross-border payments—and they know they can capitalize on this by offering Bitcoin as a payment option alongside more traditional methods like credit cards and PayPal (which already accept cryptocurrency). Their understanding of customer needs ensures that these companies will continue innovating within the industry and attracting new online shoppers.
Blockchain Technology Leads to More Secure Digital Content
Imagine checking into a hotel room and not having to worry about someone taking your wallet while you’re sleeping. That’s what blockchain technology allows people to do with their digital content.
Digital content, such as music or videos, can be “locked” using blockchain so no one can tamper with or replicate it without the owner’s permission. This aspect of decentralized technology also makes it difficult for hackers to steal and sell this content as well.
When you buy something using cryptocurrency instead of fiat currency, there is no centralized bank that can track the transaction; therefore all transactions are public and anonymous. These features of blockchain technology are already being extended to content used for digital marketing.
You’ll never find your painstakingly created marketing artwork color-swapped and reused without your permission. And if you do, you’ll have the documentation to dispute it. The blockchain forgets nothing.
Blockchain technology has also made it possible for digital artists to sell their work directly to consumers without any third party getting in the way. Now when fans purchase albums, concert tickets, books, or any other digital media from artists, they have a direct line of communication with them that wasn’t possible before.
With more power in the hands of creators and consumers alike comes better products and services with fewer costs; this is only one example of what blockchain technology brings to the table for digital marketing today.
Cryptocurrency Will Open Up New, Impactful Opportunities for Marketers
It’s not just the power of marketing that has increased with this new digital technology. The data collected and analyzed by these platforms is far more transparent, secure, and valuable than ever before. For example, knowing what your customers are thinking about you already changes how you market to them—but it’s on an entirely new level now that the customer can see if they’re reacting positively or negatively to an offer (or a brand) before their purchase decision is made.
On top of that, because cryptocurrency platforms are powered by smart contracts, they’re also far more secure than traditional payment processors. Decisions around spending money or using credit cards are less susceptible to fraud or manipulation from third parties—and because of this increase in transparency and security, marketers can better understand their markets and engage with them in a meaningful way.
These marketing opportunities aren’t limited to just merchants either: Anyone who wants to make their customers feel good about making purchases using cryptocurrency can take advantage of these new platforms as well.
The benefits of this new digital technology aren’t only for marketers; the world as a whole will benefit from these developments as well. These opportunities have been created for anyone who wants to make a positive impact on the world; all you need is vision and creativity, which nearly everyone has in abundance.
Cryptocurrency is Already Having an Impact on Marketing, Even if You Don’t Realize it Yet
One of the biggest ways that cryptocurrency is having an impact on marketing is in the area of content verification. Since blockchain technology can be used to verify the authenticity of a piece of content, it’s making its way into some of the more creative aspects of digital marketing.
One company called Po.et claims that they are creating a decentralized protocol for “creating, discovering, and publishing” content. They already have partnerships with media companies like Playboy and Cheddar and are promoting their cryptocurrency—POE—for use in their system as a method for verifying content ownership.
What this means for you as a marketer is that any time you distribute content through the internet (and especially if you use it to gain attention or sell anything), there’s a chance there will be some sort of verifiable record left behind, linking your name and brand to potentially embarrassing or controversial material in the future.
It may not happen any time soon, but as blockchain becomes more popular with everyday users and enters more industries (including advertising), backup plans should probably include permission-based messaging apps like Telegram or Wickr rather than oversharing platforms like Twitter.
And we haven’t even talked about how cryptocurrency can enhance your marketing by making it easier to do things like encourage audience participation or incentivize loyalty programs! The possibilities are almost endless when we start combining the potentials of blockchain and cryptocurrency into new creative ways to market our brands and sell our products in today’s constantly evolving marketplace.
Cryptocurrency Will Change the Way That We Live and Work — And Marketers Have a Special Opportunity to Harness Its Potential.
Though it may sound like a strange idea to use a system that’s mostly unregulated and even illegal in many places, cryptocurrency is changing the world nonetheless. There are now more ways for people to send money across borders than ever before and with very little transaction fees. Cryptocurrency firms are actively advocating for Ukrainian refugees by allowing them to use crypto in the countries where they have sought refuge.
And where we once had to rely on traditional banking as an intermediary, blockchain technology has created a way for everyone to hold their bank account directly. All of this means that digital marketing agencies have even more opportunities than ever before to work with cryptocurrency companies, creating market shares and leading the digital transformation on their clients’ behalf.