Long gone are the days when many considered marketing to be the odd advert in a magazine, billboard or in the midst of prime time television. The revolution of the interactive internet, also often known as Web2 – has changed the world of marketing forever, with Web3 looking to bring even more advancements into the world of marketing.
Web2 Marketing
With almost 5 billion social media users worldwide, Web2 marketing has never been more critical for brands in this competitive day and age. Meta (previously Facebook), which also owns Instagram and Whatsapp, has become the cornerstone of social media not only for many users worldwide but for brands too. The specific targeting of adverts on these platforms has changed the marketing world forever, giving business access to more consumer data than ever before.
How does it work?
Meta Business Suite (previously known as Facebook Business Suite), allows small businesses to minimize their advertising costs by targeting specific groups of people based on a number of differing aspects such as their age, occupation, and location – going as far as collecting data on clients behavior, interests, events attended and more. In simple terms, a Meta user could look up an Italian restaurant based in New York via the app, prompting Meta to push for more Italian ads on the user’s newsfeed.
Although some users may seem unbothered by their lack of privacy, others may feel that their personal data or information has been violated – which was seen as an outrage during the Facebook/Cambridge analytical data scandal. The problem with this form of marketing is not that users are being misled about their data usage and privacy (which is easily accessible in the app’s settings and found on their website), but rather that Meta and the relevant businesses using this data purely platform for ads are the only ones to reap the benefits – leaving no crumbs for the users themselves.
Enter the Marketing World of Web3
What makes Web3 different than Web2 is the decentralization of this new age of the web. Web3 apps, or Decentralised Apps (better known as DApps), are built on blockchain technology, which, through decentralization, no longer gives corporations the power to own users’ data without consent. In the Web2 world, companies provide users with a service in exchange for their personal data. Web3 allows users to participate without having their personal data compromised or monetized. With corporations in the Web3 space not being able to utilize users’ data freely – how does it make marketing in this space different? Whereas in Web2 companies provide a service in exchange for personal data, Web3 allows anyone to participate without having their personal data monetized. This then leads to the question of how different marketing in Web3 is.
What is Marketing in Web3?
The Web3 marketing space looks at exploring trends and new technologies, providing users with elaborate experiences that are rich in interaction – all while giving them the power to control how their data is used. Web3 marketing tactics go beyond simple photos or videos, but rather deep dive into the world of NFTs, the metaverse, virtual communities, social or reward tokens and much more.
The Future of Web3 Marketing
The future of Web3 marketing is truly expansive and doesn’t not have one single direction that it is expected to follow. The metaverse is certainly one of the biggest and most anticipated aspects of Web3, with companies such as Meta and Microsoft being at the forefront of this new tech age. The metaverse is a shared online space that combines a number of physical and virtual realities, allowing brands to come up with new, creative and interactive marketing strategies like never before. With this new online virtual space expected to accelerate at lightning speeds, there is no doubt that metaverse advertising would be a key feature for brands to take advantage of.
GALXE, Web3’s largest credential data network is taking the power of data to the next level, rewarding users for choosing to share their data with the network, helping brands to build more robust communities and products in the Web3 space. GALXE gives Web3 users the power to explore a number of blockchains and reap the rewards based on their credentials, bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3 marketing.
Final Thoughts
Marketing across Web2 and Web3 has shown to take on differing forms, pushing corporations to change their marketing tactics. Web2 marketing is mainly powered by user data, whereas Web3 touches on a mass scale of different marketing techniques – rather promoting elaborate and creative experiences through the likes of NFTs and the metaverse. The agenda in the Web3 marketing world is pushing for greater community initiative and engagement, where brands find it important to be a part of communities, bringing together people with common goals and giving everyone an equal opportunity to make decisions, such as in DAOs.
The likes of GALXE, are giving companies in the Web3 space the power to still use Web2 marketing tactics while rewarding both the organization and users through their learn-to-earn model, rewarding users for completing on-chain tasks. With the likes of GALXE bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3 as well as the endless Web3 marketing tools available to brands – there is no doubt that marketing in Web3 will be both challenging yet rewarding for all.
