5 ways web3 will challenge the marketing landscape as you know it 

“The adoption of web3 mirrors the adoption rate of the first internet, we just forgot that it took a while” a quote made by Jeremiah Owyang and Sir Tim Berners-Lee. We (and your users) are used to instant gratification which means we expect results here and now. That’s why a lot of people think web3 is not going to build up to something. On the Web Summit 2022 we heard otherwise…  

“Web3 is exploding, but also still in full development and it is going in many directions”, says Amanda Cassatt. However, more concrete use cases are seeping through and the future impact for marketers is starting to show. Let us have a look at some insights we got from the web summit 2022 on the matter. If you want to learn more about (marketing) trends, make sure to have a look at our Innovation page! 

Users will be in control of their identity and data 

Identity is one of the key topics when you talk about web3. The general vision is that the internet should be owned by the people. That vision extends into the wish to create a better version of the Internet by giving the power to users to control their data and therefore also their digital identity. 

We see two ways this vision is coming to life today, that might very well converge into one vision one day. On the one hand we see web 3.0, where data is stored in a solid POD (personal online database). On the other hand, you have Web3 that uses decentralized technology (like blockchain) to reach the same goal. If we dip our guessing toe a bit further into the future there might even be a complete profile page in web3, decentralized, that contains all the data about you, that you can display like a LinkedIn page. 

When the user is in control of his data, and it is no longer owned by the big companies like Meta, Twitter… it means you will have to go to the customer directly to ask for access to data and you will need the customers’ permission. Which will give the future marketer quite the challenge. 

We can expect new social media 

Linked to owning your own identity, it transgresses into your assets and your audiences. They will no longer ‘stick’ to one social media platform. Assets and audiences will be portable, transferable, linked to your data. This changes the power positions between creator and platform. This means that it will become easier for content creators and influencers to switch platforms. It will also mean that they will go to the platforms where they get renumerated and where they can transfer everything as they wish, and you can do all of that on the blockchain. An example of such a newcomer challenging the social media status quo is TAKI, where you own access, data, and profiles. Also, Onlyfans, an example closer to home for some, gives the power to creators and focuses on creating a true relationship with their users.  

A new branding challenge in web3 

Branding managers, especially those of web3 businesses, will have a dual challenge coming their way. First, the well-known challenge of marketing your brand and content and secondly trying to educate customers on this whole new world. (Think about the irony of billboards for a digital company). It is different than marketing a toothbrush. 

Community will prevail  

Jeremiah Owyang notices that a lot of big brands have jumped into NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) projects. Even so, they jump into those projects without realizing it is a long project and expect results instantly, which makes for a first mistake. NFT projects is giving ownership to the community (yay) that might be buying your NFT’s or tokens and will be in possession of your customers and fanbase for an extended period. A lot of big brands are not set up for that and are not thinking multi-year and how to keep supporting it. 

Where web2 was about balancing out the acquisition cost of a customer via third party (think Google ads) vs the lifetime value of a customer, – while constantly paying out these third parties to keep on spinning the flying wheel and get revenue – ; Web3 is about taking time to build aligned communities. It thus becomes a more sustainable paradigm when you can motivate individuals to build the community for you. The project is the community, and the community is the project. In a lot of cases, the time to build the community up is underestimated. 

Playing in web3, building that community, means that your customer is developing your roadmap with you. You are merely listening to them anymore: they are part of that community you are building together with them. 

Metaverse brings opportunities for content creators 

It is perhaps an unpopular opinion of Herman Natula, CEO of Improbable: stating that the future of metaverse will probably not be video games as it is a very saturated market already. He claims however that it might very well be in the best interest of content creators. Sports leagues and celebrities for example, might have a better shot at winning in the metaverse because they are content creators with a lot of followers and reach. 

The ones that have a huge reach but little opportunity to connect or contact followers/fan directly might take advantage of this web3 phenomime. As a fan you can always buy tickets, but you cannot engage with the players, and that is where the gold lies of course. The real opportunity lies in activating those audiences in the metaverse, and to transform those businesses truly. 

According to Herman the metaverse is for fulfilling experiences, to enhance them and to engage with audiences. It evolves around digital assets and linking experiences in. For example, bringing a t-shirt of a concert into a sporting match. And it will be vital as a social extension and participation universe. He believes it will be the next step in our society and an extension of our culture in a 3D space 

Need a physical or virtual marketing hand? 

Do not worry if this all looks very futuristic to you and you do not know where to start. Web3 will not be knocking on your door tomorrow, but it is coming. We can certainly help & guide you into that new future at The House of Marketing. Get in touch!