Did you know that according to a report by EdgeScan, cryptojacking, a new form of cybercrime, though lesser in incidence has been recording high vulnerability rates of 39.7% across companies? It also states that said rate shows a raise to about 43.7% when used in a public network.

Simultaneously, UpGuard has reported the data leak in Cam4 as the biggest data breach of all-time wherein approximately 10.88 billion user accounts and production logs were exposed for the world to see.

Apart from these, we have all been hearing about data breaches and leaks for years now, be it in 2013 at Yahoo or in 2019 at Facebook.

Every time, unfailingly, it is the user that lands in hot water owing to sensitive information becoming accessible to people all around.

Therefore, organizations and marketers together believed it was high time for a change and although it might have been just one of the many reasons to make the shift, the switch to Blockchain was made by many and the process still continues.

And so, the next logical question arises as what is this technology and what can it do for us?

Let’s find out.

What Is Blockchain Marketing?

Blockchain technology can essentially be defined as a system of recording all facts, figures, and information in a way that it becomes difficult to manipulate or hack the same. Since the recorded ledger is distributed simultaneously to everyone over the network, making changes to a single file for ill-motives becomes next to impossible.

This ensures that the information shared over such a network cannot be misused as everyone who accesses said data also automatically forms an entry in the blockchain logs.

Although this tech may have entered the marketing world pretty recently and especially because of the growing need for data security, blockchain marketing in itself has quickly developed as a concept.

According to Brian Platz, the co-founder of Fluree, “Blockchain marketing envisions an entirely new advertising and marketing environment, in which consumers are able to own and sell their data directly to marketers and advertisers”. That means, a user will have the right to decide who can and cannot view and use their data, and if they feel they aren’t interested in a particular company, said enterprise would not be able to look at their information.

Sounds relieving, right? After all, no more random advertisements about something you discussed with your friends over a social networking site.

This suggests not just the aforementioned security, but also a higher control over one’s own data and its distribution.

Similarly, there are many more benefits attributed to this tech that has been rapidly gaining popularity. Let’s look at some key ones in greater detail in the list shared below.

Benefits Of Blockchain In Digital Marketing

As we previously mentioned, blockchain was not introduced suddenly in the marketing industry simply because of its security measures. We admit that it could have been one of the top reasons, but there is much more to this piece of technology than just the protection of consumer data.

Relayed underneath are some of the pros of blockchain being in digital marketing.

Increased Transparency

Be it online advertising or trading, blockchain has been known to provide a much greater degree of transparency to companies as well as individual users. While on any other kind of network, the marketers could not be sure if their ads are reaching the right audience and in the quantity being shown by the sites, blockchain makes it simple for them to track this reach. Due to its transparent framework, it allows anyone to monitor the entire net of activities that take place over the chain.

Cheaper Advertisements

Advertising the company’s product or service through digital marketing channels like Facebook Ads and Google Ads has often been expensive for businesses, especially the small and medium-sized ones. By removing all middlemen and posting the ads directly on the blockchain, it becomes much cheaper for enterprises. Additionally, it also allows them to calculate an accurate ROI on these efforts.

Alternate Payment Gateways

By existing on the blockchain, new forms of payment become accessible to business owners. No longer do they need to worry about forged cheques and fickle debtors. Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin can easily be used as an alternative in such cases, and even if you are a beginner, some of the best crypto trading bots that are available in the market can make this task a piece of cake.

Fraud Detection

Frauds in digital marketing can happen anywhere from click farms to ghost sites and even through programmed bots. However, by integrating blockchain technology with traditional marketing and audit tools, you can have those websites identified and flagged which are infiltrated by bots or are engaged in click frauds. When this digital interference is eliminated, you can have a much clearer look into whether you’re actually receiving what you’re paying for.

Audience Targeting

An advertisement campaign that caters to every individual in a given area or of a certain age is usually how ad visibility works on regular networks. But a blockchain helps you by sharpening this target audience to a higher level of precision using advanced filtration options. Once you’ve set the instructions, your advertisement becomes visible to only those people who fall under those parameters and thus reaches the people who are genuinely interested in your product or service. It also works to enhance the quality of your viewers and leads.

Customized Ad Delivery

Coming across the same ad over and over often desensitizes its viewer towards its message, be it about a commercial transaction like the purchase of a product or a noble activity like donating for a cause. Since on the traditional channels, keeping an eye over the distribution of advertisements is not possible, it frequently reduced the effectiveness of the efforts. Blockchain tech on the other hand allows marketers to not just monitor the same but even change the circulation patterns of their ads.

Ad Automation and Validation

The elimination of middlemen has highly affected this aspect of running advertising campaigns as well by reducing and sometimes completely removing the need for verification of guideline compliance. Alongside, automation makes the ad posting processes simpler and more straightforward, thus increasing its relevance.

Pretty impressive, right? It makes you want to get started with Blockchain without any further ado. But, just like any other piece of technology, it too comes with its cons.

Let us take a quick look at them.

Drawbacks Of Blockchain In Digital Marketing

As we said, everything has its pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages. And so does Blockchain. Listed below are the few drawbacks of this tech.

Control over Data Traffic

While it may be a hypothetical scenario, the fact that any company or group of companies that owns over 50% nodes at any point can control the data traffic still rings true. This is also popularly referred to as the ‘51% Attack’ and is most commonly associated with cryptocurrency chains like Bitcoin.

Large Investment Required

Changes almost always come at a cost and when it comes to replacing the technology which is used extensively through the organization with a new one, like Blockchain, the expenses are substantially high and the investment required is often larger than anticipated. The Hyperledger Feature by Linux Foundation is one of the best frameworks available at the moment and they do not come cheap.

Excessive Energy Consumption

Though we know that everything in this world requires energy to run or operate successfully, what we frequently overlook is the amount of said energy needed. A blockchain is a very high power-consuming tool and a chain-like Bitcoin alone uses more electricity than the entire country of Switzerland during the same period of time.

Closing Thoughts

Now that you have understood both the presence and the significance of blockchain technology in the digital marketing world, it is time you make your decisions.

Does this tech suit you perfectly?

Is there an alternative with similar or more merits and lesser downsides?

Admittedly, this is one of the hottest trends among companies today, but don’t get fooled into following the herd. We have explored both, the benefits as well as the drawbacks of this technology, but ultimately, the decision to adopt it is yours.

Choose what suits your needs and you’re good to go!