Data and the privacy of it are of major concern to virtually every sphere of life and not the least in the field of digital marketing. Digital marketing as we know it is the marketing of products or services using digital technologies, mainly on the Internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising, and any other digital medium. Digital marketing simply put, revolves around data.
The effort you consistently put in place as a marketer to effectively utilize this avenue to reach your consumers is seriously hampered by the increasing number of hacking, breaches, and data leaks. A case in point is that of the Russian man who was accused of operating the infamous Kelihos botnet who finally pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court on September 12, 2018.
This may be one of the reasons that led to the “birth” of the Blockchain, a decentralized, distributed, and a public digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that the record cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks and the consensus of the network. This means that although your data can be seen by others, it is to a very large extent immutable.
To enhance a greater degree of security, the EOS went ahead to incorporate the multi-user control into the Blockchain which is the single biggest contributor to security, and, when used properly, it can greatly reduce the risk of theft due to hacking.
By incorporating the Blockchain into your digital marketing, you are sure to experience a surge in the following aspects of your business.
- Personalized and micro-targeted campaigns
It’s not a hidden fact that your business and a host of ad platforms have been at their wits end quite often making very huge investments to help find the best methods to deliver the right ads to your teeming consumers for increased conversions in the area of sales. You must have found out, however, that most often you are inundated by a heavily populated internet with an avalanche of irrelevant, slow-loading, and often intrusive ads.
These unsolicited waves of ads have made many consumers take to ad-blocking software for protection. A research reported by Pagefair in 2017, however, says that 77 percent of American Adblock users would like to see some types of ads, especially if they were personalized.
This translates to the fact that although consumers may seem not to be necessarily comfortable with ads, they will “stomach” ads that are directly targeted to their taste. This is an area that your business could potentially benefit from the blockchain since a number of players are exploring different ways the blockchain could be used to transform digital marketing.
BitClave, a blockchain platform has been able to do a yeoman’s job here. They have fashioned out a way through which users add their personal data on the platform in exchange for tokens. This platform envisions a situation where people use their free search engine for everyday activities, and businesses that want to target these users with ads have to compensate them, creating a situation where everyone in the industry is satisfied.
- Uncensored transparency and privacy
Data unequivocally oils the wheels of the digital marketing industry. Your business and ad agencies absolutely depend on data to fine-tune targeting strategies, measure engagement, and improve other facets of marketing.
Quite often, you have had issues with consumers based on data privacy and transparency. The Cambridge Analytica scandal with the alleged illegal data mining of as many as 87 million users that was acquired for instance, clearly reminds us of the huge potential for data misuse that can occur at any point in time. This kind of situation breeds distrust between consumers and your business, often limiting the amount of information they are willing to share online out of fear.
The Blockchain-based technologies are well positioned due to their decentralization and security to improve on these lapses. Based on the Blockchain penchant for security and its decentralized nature, advertisers can use the platform to maintain an open and complete ledger of data transactions involving the consumer.
Some companies like blockchain startup Online.io and cable giant Comcast are already developing blockchain platforms to help businesses and consumers handle consumer data. The Online.io solution, for instance, lets users browse the internet in an ad-free browser while rewarding publishers with tokens for the time users spend on their websites, thus creating a win-win situation for everyone in the digital ad space.
3. Blockchain Builds Trust
One of the problems your company, especially if it’s a large one, faces is consumer trust. Consumers are wont to be skeptical about everything from where their food comes from to the factory conditions in which their clothes were made. Your company will gain trust through an open system, which blockchain marketing ensures in a way that other tactics don’t.
Another value proposition of blockchain is the level to which everything is documented and verified. For example, a customer could get a “behind-the-scenes” look at a retailer’s supply chain – and find out exactly how the product was made. The openness of the system allows the consumer to discover whether your brand is trustworthy about your claims or not.
In one case study, Walmart teamed up with IBM on a project to make their supply chain process more transparent. With blockchain digitally tracing where their pork products came from, starting at the retailer’s base in China, consumers got the proof needed to trust what Walmart was selling them.
Conclusion
The truth about the transformation of digital marketing is that the Blockchain technology is here to stay. Nobody is asking whether or not it will be widely adopted by marketers. The germane question is when. The market’s infatuation with blockchain signifies this process has already begun.
You need to stay on top of upcoming companies operating on blockchain technology. The whole thing may seem overwhelming, intimidating, and daunting, however, early adoption of the Blockchain technology will be crucial to the success of any future digital marketing strategy.
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