Marketing in Web3: How to begin implementing the new marketing opportunities unlocked by blockchain technology
By Shannon Powell, Co-founder and CMO of UREEQA Inc., a company devoted to empowering creators by validating tokenized assets.
With the massive explosion of the NFT market from roughly $100 million in sales in 2020 to nearly $25 Billion in 2021, it's clear that we have begun the mainstream shift from Web2 to Web3. Having said that, I'd bet many of you are familiar with projects that seemingly grew overnight. If you're like me, you may wonder how and why specific projects seem to flourish? Well, it often is the power of Web3 to support marketing around your project that can be that catalyst for success.
To effectively discuss how marketing is evolving in the Web3 landscape, let's first look at the technological evolution over the years that got us here. So how does Web3 differ from its Web2 and Web1 predecessors?
Well, with Web1, we are essentially referring to the creation of the internet, the world wide web. In its infancy, it was just a bunch of websites to disseminate information to the public. The creators of these websites were a few, mainly large corporations or governments. From the public perspective, it was a place you could go to more readily access a significant amount of information. A first but vital step in the decentralization of information so that the population could more easily access an increased amount of knowledge.
Next, with the creation and mass adoption of social media, we entered Web2. This evolution built upon that concept of broader access to information and provided the public with more transparency. In Web2, we could not only search out information but also create and disseminate our own content. The average user would not only be able to consume more content but also see who was producing it and have the ability to respond.
Now, Web3 all stems from the creation of blockchain technology. This technology underpins the various aspects of Web3, such as cryptocurrencies or NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Blockchain technology builds upon Web2 concepts to ensure further decentralization of information, with the additional benefit of doing it more securely. It enabled global transparency, with all transaction records accessible through an immutable public ledger. It also allowed someone from anywhere in the world a faster exchange of information, financial assets, including currencies, or products and services by removing the inefficient intermediaries. The increased transparency, security, immutability, and speed provides the general population with more information and control. Web3 helps to remove those unnecessary third-party intermediaries. It's simple, immutable, global and often more affordable, so you can see this opens the door for marketing to your audience in ways you never had before.
At its most basic level, marketing something has always been about the same thing, convincing people they want or even need what you're offering. How has that changed given the evolution of our technological landscape with the continued push for access to more information, increased transparency and control? Based on marketing fundamentals referred to as the four P's- Product, Placement, Promotion, and Price Web3 has affected each of these in some way or another. I'll release a whole series outlining how Web3 has impacted each of the four P's, but that's far too much to unpack in one article.
So what can you do today to start adapting your marketing tactics to utilize the new marketing opportunities created by the evolution into the world of Web3?
In line with the core principle of increased access to information, continue with what you're doing right now, educating yourself. Web3 is just beginning, so it is a great time to jump in and start learning. Luckily since it is a rapidly changing, growing, and technology-driven space, there is plenty to learn and various ways to do so. Here are just a few:
Take a virtual or in-person Web3 course: Venusverse has a great introductory one that explores Web3 foundations administered by a live teacher whom you can ask questions and have a discussion with in real-time.
Seek out information from informed sources: CoinDesk, for example, offers information in various formats, from podcasts to news articles and even a learning section with everything from a crypto dictionary, to self-guided learning modules with flashcards.
https://www.coindesk.com/learn/Get on Twitter: yes, Twitter can be a lot, but there are some solid accounts you can follow to learn from and stay up to date in the space.
https://twitter.com/ethernaz
https://twitter.com/Cooopahtroopa
Hire a Marketing firm/person focusing on Web3 as a consultant: Though this is still an emerging industry, some individuals and agencies specialize in marketing in the Web3 world. Most often, the Promotion aspect of a product receives all the attention. However, the right agency or individual can help you create and execute a more effective marketing strategy that addresses all of the four P's from a Web3 perspective. It is essential you vet them well to ensure they either have experience in Web3 or at least have the ability to understand and market in the space. Here are a few questions I have been asked or asked of others:
Ask about their experience with Web3 clients, in addition to testimonials/reviews from their additional clients in any industry. Even if they have not worked with a client in Web3 specifically, if they have other clients in emerging or innovative industries, it indicates their ability to learn, adapt, and determine how to be effective in an industry they are not yet familiar with.
Check out their Web2 marketing (social media) skills based on their work for other clients. If they haven't figured out Web2, there's a good chance they are not ready to take on a client targeting Web3.
Ask about the team members' personal involvement in Web3. Do they trade crypto, purchase or sell NFTS, produce digital art, are a member of a DAO etc.? Often if team members are personally involved in the space in one way or another, they understand it better. That knowledge could directly translate into their ability to be effective marketers.
Utilize your Web2 tools: Though we are evolving into a Web3 landscape, it is still vital to utilize your Web2 social media tools to market your offering. For example, if you're launching an NFT project, research those that are influential in that industry, tag them on socials, reach out to them directly, or even send an NFT to their wallet. For example, Paris Hilton has long been a public advocate for NFT collections and the NFT industry. Reese Witherspoon has advocated for the inclusion of women's voices in typically male-dominated sectors through her Hello Sunshine project. She also happened to be an early holder of a World of Women NFT and even used it as her official Twitter profile picture for a time back when the floor price was about three times less than it is now.
Apply your standard marketing promotional tools but with a Web3 twist: I am reminded of an excellent example of this every time I go to my mailbox and see some form of promotional material. Companies have sent out advertising flyers to people's homes for decades to push products. Looking at it from a Web3 perspective, you're launching an NFT or project focused on female empowerment; why not drop a "flyer" NFT in the wallets of all holders of a related female-focused project? You can use this tactic to raise awareness for your project, offer a discount, early access to purchase pre-mint or even offer a giveaway.
Network and ask questions: There are so many of us navigating the world of Web3, and with the constantly evolving landscape, it is entirely okay not to know everything, so just ask. Ask those marketing firms, and ask Web3 experts, ask people in other discord or telegram groups focused on Web3. I especially find with people in Web3; that we are here because we believe in the core principles that underpin the technology. The importance of transparency and increased access to information includes information about Web3. Our passion for the space usually comes with a fierce excitement to discuss it with anyone at any time.
Though my list above hardly scratches the surface of Web3 marketing tactics, it gives you some actionable items to go out and get started today. Marketing opportunities have not only evolved but have been created with our advancements from Web1.
There's still so much to discuss but as a general takeaway, make sure you look at any marketing you undertake in Web3 with the awareness that the core fundamentals driving the consumer, are a byproduct of those that moved the technology forward.
People now not only have the desire and ability to access more information globally, but they can now also do it in a global, secure, and transparent way than ever before. When it comes to marketing in Web3, knowledge truly is power.
About the author: Shannon is the co-founder and CMO of UREEQA Inc., a company devoted to empowering creators by validating tokenized assets. She has spent the last few years completing her MBA with a specialization in Blockchain. All while she was launching UREEQA, their compliant cryptocurrency URQA, and becoming a new mom.
As a female in Web3, outside of UREEQA, she focuses on doing anything she can to support and promote the adoption of blockchain technology as a better method of solving today's issues from intellectual property protection, more transparent and thorough record-keeping, and the tokenization of physical or digital assets.
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