Cryptocurrency – it’s the newest buzzword that’s quickly becoming a household name. What it is, though, is not so easily understood – and neither is the impact this mysterious entity may have on marketing campaigns. Here’s what you, as a digital marketer, need to know about the world of cryptocurrency.
What Is Cryptocurrency?
Starting from scratch, a cryptocurrency is a digital asset that exists completely electronically. You can’t go and pull it out of at an ATM, but you can use it to make purchases online at e-commerce platforms that accept the currency. While there’s lots of less-than-legitimate cryptocurrencies out there – beware of cryptocurrency MLM ponzi schemes, for example – the majority are on the up-and-up.
What’s each different crypto coin worth? That depends. Bitcoin is, at the time of this writing, valued at around $15,000 per coin. Others are a mere fraction of that. Whatever the value, those who possess these coins in an electronic “wallet” can use them wherever they’re valid currency.
Digital Marketing Opportunities Created by Cryptocurrency
The growing popularity of digital coins backed by blockchain databases means that there are more individuals out there who are interested in learning more. This opens up opportunities to market specific products for crypto enthusiasts such as educational and training materials or other cryptocurrency-related products.
Secondly, cryptocurrency is extremely safe and secure. Consumers are, of course, highly concerned with the safety of their personal details in order to avoid identity theft and other calamities; blockchains are much more secure than traditional payment methods like credit cards, as they do not require personal details like names, addresses, telephone numbers, and so on. Digital marketers who draw attention to this perk to promote a platform that makes use of cryptocurrency as a security tool can capitalize on the fears of security-conscious consumers.
Niche Ideas, Big Players
Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, e-commerce platforms that begin to market cryptocurrency aggressively can result in maximizing their customer base. One of the key ways to accomplish this goal is to promote the fact that they accept certain cryptocurrencies as payment methods. In fact, despite the niche nature of cryptocurrency, there are some major players that have adopted these digital tokens as legitimate payment options. In the case of Bitcoin, both software juggernaut Microsoft and major discount e-commerce site Overstock have long been proponents of the cryptocurrency.
This growing impetus on the part of large-scale companies to accept cryptocurrency has created opportunities for marketing professionals. Digital marketing agencies that choose to specialize in cryptocurrency often spend much of their time promoting crypto adoption by engaging in marketing campaigns for their clients, but companies that want to adopt cryptocurrency often also need aid in processing solutions, creating site content, managing cyber security risks, and other related issues; a digital marketing agency that provides comprehensive crypto consultation services is sure to flourish in such an environment.
The Other Side of the Digital Coin
There is an undeniable number of advantages to adopting the use of cryptocurrencies and then marketing that fact to targeted audiences. In addition to the possible increase in prospects entering your sales funnel, there are some technical benefits such as higher transaction speeds and better consumer security when compared to traditional payment methods. However, some of these benefits can also be disadvantages in certain circumstances.
Primarily, the biggest hurdle facing cryptocurrencies right now is a programming problem. Blockchains are designed to handle only a certain amount of transactions every second, and this means that network demand can create slowdowns and bottlenecks during high traffic moments. Altering the blockchain to accommodate a higher number of transactions is an incredibly difficult process; this means that a blockchain experiencing a bottleneck could result in slow transactions.
The Downside of High Security
The problem of bottlenecking encountered by cryptocurrencies during peak demand times isn’t the only issue faced by the community, however. Another problem with cryptocurrencies – though one that can also be viewed as a benefit when through a certain lens – is the high levels of security and anonymity built into blockchains on purpose. Ordinarily, heightened security is an excellent selling point when courting consumers who have concerns about the safety of their personal details, especially in light of major hacks like the 2017 Equifax data breach that saw more than 143 million Americans having their private information exposed, but in the realm of cryptocurrency it could be as much of a hindrance of a help.
By and large, digital marketers are aided in their campaigns by gaining access to crucial consumer data of the likes that is gathered and sold by major advertising platforms like Facebook. This data helps target those consumers most likely to convert and therefore helps each marketing dollar stretch farther. However, the ultra-tight security of cryptocurrency-based purchases is likely to have a chilling effect on the ability of digital marketers to target customers with the same accuracy in the future. Purchases made with cryptocurrencies don’t provide marketers with traditional consumer data; you can’t target ads to a Bitcoin wallet address in the same way you can target those same adds to the wallet owner’s Facebook page or email address, as the information is simply not present to be gathered.
Pivot and Turn
To many digital marketers, it may seem like simply ignoring cryptocurrencies until the kinks are ironed out – or until what seems like a new fad gets swept into the dustbin of history – is the best strategy for dealing with digital assets like Bitcoin and similar online currencies. Yet such a strategy could lead to regrets in the future; from all accounts and indications, cryptocurrencies are likely here to stay, even if they’re going to experience a bumpy ride.
Digital marketers can and should find ways to pivot and turn, maximizing the advantages of digital currencies while minimizing the drawbacks. Some concerns can’t be addressed so easily – the bottlenecking and slow transaction time problems of busy blockchains are something beyond your control, but implementing Bitcoin as an e-commerce site’s payment processor and then promoting that fact will undoubtedly drum up interest in your marketing platform – not only that, but you can rely on that same promotional aspect to increase visibility of a client’s website. Doing so, however, means that you need to have a robust consumer data capture strategy in place to harvest as many details as you can from shoppers paying in cryptocurrency.
Getting Around the Inherent Limitations
Thankfully there are already an excellent number of tools at a digital marketer’s disposal when it comes to preserving the ability to collect valuable consumer activity data. This is crucial to not just the website of the client you’re marketing, as your primary goal is to satisfy that client with your performance, but also to your overall success as a digital marketer delving into the world of cryptocurrency – success on this level means you can build a reputation for effective crypto marketing.
One of the best strategies for preserving this data is to require customers to create an account on any given e-commerce platform. While this may only provide an incomplete snapshot of consumer spending habits, it does at least record trends while on site. A better tactic is to provide the option for customers to log in via their Facebook profile as this not only speeds up the signup process for consumers but also attaches a name and a face for you to market new opportunities to in the future. Many websites have adopted such a step – more than 453,000 websites across 159,000 unique domains, to be precise – in an effort to tap into the Facebook data of their visitors.
Ostriches Won’t Get Far
The marketing world has always functioned under the rule of Adapt or Die. Door-to-door salesmen gave way to radio and television advertising, just as they gave way to online and social media marketing. Emergent technologies will continue to change the marketing landscape in new and exciting ways.
As always, the most important thing is to make sure you don’t leave your head buried in the sand while new developments continue to alter that landscape. You don’t want to be a dinosaur that gets left behind; on the same token, ostriches won’t get far in this brave new world of cryptocurrency either.
“Shariq Toor is Content Strategist working with NoStop Blogging Services, a boutique writing agency focusing on helping small business clients take their websites to the next level. From social media topics to articles on niche industry issues, NoStop’s articles are written with style, attention to detail, and with the client’s audience in mind.”
Disclaimer: Any financial and crypto market information given on iconshots.com, written for informational purpose only and is not an investment advice. The readers are further advised that Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We do not represent nor own any cryptocurrency, any complaints, abuse or concerns with regards to the information provided shall be immediately informed here.
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