Web3: Why it will change Digital Marketing

With Web3 popping up on everyone’s timelines and newsfeeds, it’s only right that we take a look at what Web3 actually is and what eCommerce marketers should expect when Web3 makes its move.

What is Web3?

The name ‘Web3’ stands for the 3rd Generation of the World Wide Web and is said to be a decentralized Internet space, permitting power to belong to those who are already huge, such as worldwide online companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook, in turn handing this power to the average Joe users.

Web3 bases its premise on intricate blockchain technology, machine learning, big data and artificial intelligence. It is predicted that all this will make the Internet more accessible, whilst at the same time making it private and secure.

Before Web3 we had Web2, a significant generation of the World Wide Web’s history that gave users the opportunity to access all new types of content, chill on more developed blogs, chatrooms, forums and social media networks, and overall have more interaction with fellow users via the World Wide Web. This seemed all fine and friendly at the time, but with the value of getting clicks ever increasing, companies adopted new marketing methods used to work with customers, creating somewhat a threat to the security and privacy of user data.

Brand trust fell drastically, with everyone paranoid about the potential that their private data could be being stolen and used, despite efforts to protect Internet users and prevent confidential information from being shared with third parties. The marketplace knows how much and where we spend money, and what we prefer to do in the digital space, it essentially has a fully inclusive snapshot of everyone’s lives, and which habits they can exploit to make money.

Web3 is hailed as having the solution to this problem. The new generation of the Internet will allow users to independently control technical platforms. Thus, removing the common user’s current ‘role’ as being a tantalizing data target that companies’ campaigns are aimed at. This can be done using the technology of tokens (cryptocurrencies) and blockchain. Blockchain will be owned by the one who owns the token, with it being that the more tokens you own, the more power you have over the World Wide Web.

One criticism is that this initiative won’t change much as whoever has the most money will get the most tokens and therefore will still have the power firmly in their hands.  

When can we expect Web3?

To tell the truth, the expected date that Web3 begins is unknown. Web3 itself has been a widely discussed hot topic for many, many years now, but the idea is still in its first steps of actually coming into fruition. Although we have seen the rise in popularity of NFT’s and cryptocurrency, which are two elements of what Web3 could entail.  While the infrastructure required for implementation is evolving, there is no exact timeline for completion, with most people concluding that Web3 will happen over a multitude of years.

Crypto Currency and NFT’s

Probably the biggest aspect of Web3’s birth so far is cryptocurrencies and NFT’s, which are virtual currencies and virtual art respectively. They have skyrocketed in popularity, with both elements becoming so popular that venture investors have invested $27 billion in cryptocurrency development projects in 2021 alone (according to The New York Times). You look on any social media platform these days, you will see someone talking about a new cryptocurrency or a new celebrity who’s just dropped a set of NFT’s; everyone, whether they like it or not, is talking about the transition of the Internet to these futuristic crypto technologies.

What Does Web3 Mean for Marketers?

When Web3 grows into it’s prime state, there is no doubts that it will greatly affect the landscape of the world of marketing and eCommerce.

• User data will become inaccessible

Increased privacy of user data is probably the first and main target of Web3. These days every different style or type of marketing is based on customer data. Marketers collate and analyse all available information into a single client profile to work out how to get users attention.

All marketing campaigns are based on the analysis of your very own behavioural data and common online habits. They look in depth at which sites the potential customer visits, what products they buy, even what products they may just simply search for. If companies know how much money customers spend, they can guess their income level and offer more expensive products. It really is all out there for companies to exploit.

Web3 plans to allow users to decide what specific information about themselves is ok to share and simply control the scope of its application, giving users a lot more choice when it comes to how they want to be marketed to. This means that companies will have to bring transparency to the processes of collecting and using data. Additionally, the task of finding the perfect customer will increase in difficulty for companies, with them having to find more creative approaches to attract and retain customers.