Have You Considered Using Blockchain as Part of Your Marketing? Here are five ways to build a better marketing strategy using innovative technology.
By AJ Agrawal Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The digital age is upon us, and it is unsparing in its reach. Every aspect of a company needs innovating in order for the organization as a whole to stay ahead of the competition.
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In this world of demanding consumers, then, catching their attention via effective messaging is vital to begin any relationship, and only continued -- and excellent -- marketing will sustain a loyal customer base in a time of constant disruption.
Here are five ways to build a better marketing strategy using innovative technology, and to stay ahead of the game in the digital age.
1. Use blockchain as a tool to reach consumers.
Today's web ecosystem is one of interconnected subcommunities. The vast scope and nuances of these communities can make it hard to segment them into distinct, targetable groups. It also makes it harder to reach these distinct communities without an intermediary. However, technology like the blockchain is making it easier than ever to reach out directly to these types of groups.
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The potential of a marketing tool to be able to reach a global community in a hyper-targeted, peer-to-peer fashion is on the horizon. If the disruption blockchain is capable of is any indication, this tech should be keeping status quo web marketers up at night.
2. Target connected channels.
Web channels and forums are based on interests, but are completely sustained by the free flow of information, relationships and exchange among their members. While some tend to be static or exclusive, many are constantly growing, sharing and adapting organisms. Finding and targeting these communities should be a key plank in any effective marketing strategy.
For example, blockchain content platforms like DAC are global, decentralized and absolutely dependent on the constant communication and exchange of information among their members. For DAC, this means using blockchain technology to incentivize audio content creators and their fans to build and develop a robust content community..
The blockchain-based audio-content website model aims to create and foster a sense of community among music fans across the world. In today's web, messaging to one of these members is a way to message to his or her entire network -- which should have any savvy CMO champing at the bit.
3. Incentivize a community of supporters.
The digital age has created many new channels for companies to reach their target audience, but many established digital marketing techniques have become less effective in recent years. Instead of solely advertising a message to your audience, you can achieve more impactful outcomes by incentivizing that audience with benefits that turn its members into active supporters of your company.
Blockchain startup Agora, which offers end-to-end verifiable voting technology, has incentivized an audience through its token bounty program as well as the company's core product. Agora has engaged its community by offering rewards to those who share its message on social media and other channels.
Agora has also built reward mechanisms into its own voting platform. Through one such mechanism, governments can reward voters, using Agora's tokens, for casting a ballot, which may ultimately serve to increase global political participation.
4. AI has already arrived, and it's smarter than you.
Once the stuff of science fiction, artificial intelligence has recently exploded in scale and practicality. It is showing tremendous promise as a tool for marketing and messaging. As companies like Google develop efficient and effective marketing AI, incorporating this tech into future marketing plans will be crucial for any company that wishes to survive.
Self-taught AI will be able to create more efficient algorithms than any human is capable of programming, meaning that customers will be reached more precisely and effectively than ever before.
AI could even be responsible for creating marketing content, instantly adjusting its messaging according to user response. Anyone expecting to keep up with the growing number of platforms and segmentations that will define the digital age must begin to understand and embrace artificial intelligence as the uber-tool it will become.
5. Big data is only getting bigger -- so, use it.
The current juggernaut technology in online advertising is the aptly named Big Data. Collected from the web habits of billions of users, this data is used by advertisers to classify and predict the habits of its consumers. Big Data will only get more important as the internet continues to grow and influence more aspects of our lives.
Related: How Blockchain Is Creating a New Future for Digital Marketing
The internet of things (IoT) will be the interconnected network of all appliances and machines in one's life. For example, sensors detecting the temperature will be able to communicate and adjust every appliance in the household to the ideal setting. This expanded network will create increased amounts of data, all of it useful for marketing purposes and targeting. The company that successfully models this IoT data will be able to conquer the future of marketing.
How do you think technology can influence the future of marketing?
