Blockchain and marketing? Those aren’t usually two words that you hear in the same sentence.
If you know anything about blockchain, then you know what massive potential it has to disrupt heavily institutionalized industries. Just ask the finance business.
Although most people recognize blockchain only in its cryptocurrency manifestation, it has many other applications. The decentralized, self-correcting, and self-monitoring system is making increasing headway in the marketing business too.
It’s not only blockchain technology that’s disrupting the online marketing industry, but online marketing is shaping blockchain’s story as well.
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Why Blockchain technology needs online marketing
Content marketing has become synonymous with online marketing. Far from just writing articles, digital marketers realize it’s a far-reaching discipline with just as many applications as blockchain technology.
In fact, content marketing for blockchain startups can be an invaluable tool to:
- Distinguish yourself from the competition
- Drive more traffic and conversions
- Generate trust and establish authority
- Clearly project your message and purpose while educating customers
Let’s look at why blockchain startups are waking up and smelling the bacon when it comes to online marketing.
Blockchain technology is a highly technical field that needs explaining
Most people still simply don’t understand just how blockchain works.
Especially when it comes to crypto, many businesses seem to not realize this fact. They don’t create engaging and educational content that can be understood by a broader audience.
Without educating more people about blockchain, the industry can’t grow, progress, and mature.
On the scale of an individual startup or business, users not understanding your product will severely hamstring its adoption.
The blockchain industry is in dire need of authority and trust
It’s natural to distrust something new, especially when it makes such lofty promises that threaten the status quo.
Bitcoin was considered the biggest financial bubble in history when it’s price surged by 500% between September and December 2017. The classification “bubble” seemed to be appropriate when it crashed just as spectacularly in 2018.
The constant rise and fall of crypto startups that cost investors billions didn’t help either.
This has left a serious hole in blockchain’s reputation. The only way to change that is for startups to be more transparent, engaging, and consistent with their message.
The community IS the blockchain industry
You’ll be hard-pressed to find any industry that has such a community of knowledgeable, engaged, and industrious followers. From subreddits to Telegram groups to industry events, people want to know what’s happening and want to be involved.
Not only can you become a valuable source of information, but you can set the narrative for an entire sector. Your own users and customers can also help you shape your narrative and generate content for you.
Blockchain is starting to invade content marketing
Cutting out the middleman
Currently, both advertisers and those with ad space need to go through a middleman like Google Adsense. Adsense saves businesses time and money by not having to find ads/ad space and verify the source themselves. Blockchain can replace middlemen like this by authenticating both parties using the underlying technology.
Giving social media back to the content creators
There are many blockchain social media platforms out there like Steemit, Minds.com, and Steepshot. What they have in common is that they don’t control user data and they don’t sell ad space. Users who create content are rewarded by the level of engagement they generate and by their fellow users.
Facebook’s careless handling of their user data and YouTube’s censorship and demonetization policies are hurting creators and putting control in the hands of their benefactors. Blockchain social media aims to reverse this trend.
Protecting privacy and ownership
No central entity or organization controls what happens on a blockchain-based system. As such, no one can own the data of any of its users. Two reasons make this important:
- Private information can’t be sold to third parties to contact users in unsolicited ways or serve arbitrary ads.
- The platform can’t through a change of policy suddenly take control of users’ content or data. Also, it’s unlikely that the platform can ever collapse for financial or other reasons, taking users’ content with it.
Imagine spending years building a following and monetary stream on a platform, only for factors outside your control to take this from you. This is what decentralized, blockchain-based platforms aim to change.
Blockchain and online marketing – A growing symbiotic relationship?
Looking at it from both sides, it’s clear that these two industries have plenty to offer each other.
Online marketing can allow blockchain technology to emerge from the shadows while blockchain can free content marketing from monopolies and give control back to consumers.
This dynamic may shape a big part of both these industry’s future. Understanding how it works will be key to unlocking new opportunities for those involved in both.
