The terms “Web3” and “Web3 Marketing” are closely aligned. The very nature of a decentralized web incorporating NFTs, the Metaverse, AR & VR, blockchain, etc. is almost too difficult for many people to envision. It is that futuristic and that complex.
One of the biggest challenges to Web3 is in fact its complexity. Given how early we are in the development of Web3, to have a real idea of what it will end of being requires some serious research and education. There will be a time in the future when Web3 will get easier to understand as it gets more built out, but the learning curve at this early juncture requires someone who is really dedicated to learn about it.
Everett Rogers theory that explains how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread is broken down as follows:
Innovators (2.5%) – Innovators are the first individuals to adopt an innovation
Early Adopters (13.5%) – This is the second fastest category of individuals who adopt an innovation. These individuals have the highest degree of opinion leadership among the other adopter categories.
Early Majority (34%) – Individuals in this category adopt an innovation after a varying degree of time. This time of adoption is significantly longer than the innovators and early adopters.
Late Majority (34%) – Individuals in this category will adopt an innovation after the average member of the society.
Laggards (16%) – Individuals in this category are the last to adopt an innovation. These individuals typically have an aversion to change and tend to be advanced in age
For Web3 we are currently in the Early Adopters phase. Early adopters are typically younger in age, have a higher social status, have more financial lucidity, advanced education, and are more socially forward than late adopters. So, if you are reading this in 2022, most likely you are a Web3 Early Adopter.
It is quite common during the Early Adopter stage that there will be naysayers who will say lots of negative things, it happens basically with all new technology. Early on in the development of the internet, Bill Gates indicated that the internet was just a fad. Then when Netscape proved it was more than a fad, Microsoft found itself seriously behind in incorporating the internet into its software offerings. Then when Bill Gates finally became a believer, he found himself in 1995 on the Tonight Show trying to convince another non-believer, David Letterman who made fun of the internet and questioned its viability, explaining; “I have a radio, I subscribe to newspapers and magazines, and I have a tape recorder. So what use is the internet?”
The same is happening with Web3, NFTs, the Metaverse, crypto, etc. Many media don’t understand it, and instead of really learning it, they take the easy route, and they bash it.
Web3 is infinitely more complex to explain than the internet was. So, the challenge may be even bigger for Web3 Early Adopters, as compared to Internet Early Adopters.
Trying to describe Web3 Marketing, would be to pre-assume that someone already understands Web3.
At its core blockchain has massive potential to disrupt every facet of our economy, it is the digitization & decentralization of everything. Imagine at some point in the future when all records such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, real estate deeds, automobile titles, etc. will all live on the blockchain. Supply chains are already finding immense opportunities with blockchain that is again transformative. So, before a business decides to go forward with any Web3 focused marketing, they should first do an assessment of how Web3 can be transformative for their own business.
Some businesses & brands will more easily define how blockchain can transform their business, others may not immediately envision the transformation. Even those that do see it may determine that their vision requires a more advanced Web3 ecosystem that may be 5 years or more down the road. And even those Early Innovators and Earliest Early Adopters cannot with any authority describe exactly how & when Web3 will evolve. So how does a Web3 marketer operate in this setting?
For projects born as Web3 projects, the Web3 space has developed its own go-to-marketing strategies that for a large part do not always use traditional (Web 2.0 centric) media and social media, these include:
- Discord
- Telegram
- YouTube
- Redditt
- Medium
So, utilizing the above channels with specific Web3 marketing strategies can be described as Web3 (project) to Web3 (audience) marketing.
Notice that Facebook and Instagram are currently not included, though Mark Zuckerberg is trying to change this. Facebook even changed its name to Meta. And it recently allowed NFTs to be promoted on Instagram and is testing NFTs on Facebook. The big question is? Can Meta transform into a true decentralized Web3 blockchain company? Many in the Web3 space believe not.
For many Web 2.0 businesses, Web3 will end up being a transformative experience. But what will probably happen, as it always does, some businesses will transform while others do not and eventually end up fading away. (Remember AOL, My Space, Nokia and Blackberry?). Sometimes the technology can be so transformative to the extent that a company experiencing success in Web 2.0 may decide that everything needed to transform would be too difficult and too costly.
In these cases, a brand-new project without the constraints of a previous legacy (Web 2.0) system may be able to more quickly establish market share for the transformed product/service. This is where Meta currently finds themselves. And so, it will be fun to watch and see how it plays out.
For Web3 to expand to its potential, the money shot will be those that develop a product targeted to a Web 2.0 audience. This will require an easy on-ramp to use the product/service and marketing language that non-crypto advocates can understand. The current process of setting up and using wallets is cumbersome, time consuming and basically just too complicated for mass adoption. If the new project is mimicking a service or product currently available on Web 2.0, it is important that the new iteration be dramatically better, otherwise, there will be little reason for people to transition to it. In fact, the transformation should be such that the new product /service is almost unrecognizable in comparison.
For Web3 projects that have designed a product they want to promote to a Web 2 audience, the approach will need to adopt more traditional Web 2.0 marketing strategies, albeit with a bit of an edge. Web 2.0 audiences are not hanging out on Discord, and many may not be interested in doing so. So, using traditional Web 2.0 strategies including: SEO, SEM, and social media such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube will be necessary to realize success is converting a Web 2.0 audience to the project.
The current downturn in the financial markets, including crypto & NFTs represents an excellent opportunity for many brands to work on building their Web3 plans including their marketing roll-outs. Better to do it right vs. just doing something for the sake of doing it.
Hopefully, the information on this website will help in your efforts to do so.
Interested to have a chat about your Web3 marketing plans? We look forward to hearing from you.
