How Web3 & Digital Privacy Is Changing Digital Marketing

In this blog, I’m going to talk about how data privacy is changing the digital marketing game and what you need to start thinking about. Web 3.0 is not just a bunch of hype– the way we do digital marketing is changing, and we’re staying current with all the new changes so we can help you navigate these new waters!  I’m currently attending a Web 3.0 Preparation Webinar with Ryan Levesque (CEO of AskMethod Company), and Trey Sheneman (former Executive Director of Marketing at Ramsey Solutions). Here are a few things I wanted to pass on to you to help you start preparing for Web 3.0.

What is Web 3.0? Good question…

Have you heard people talking about Web 3.0? Are you wondering what in the world that means? At this point, there is no solid definition for Web 3.0, but one thing we do know is that data control plays a HUGE part in Web 3.0. Here’s the definition AskMethod gave:

“Web 3.0 is a new era of decentralization, taking some of the power away from corporations and returning it to users. Privacy and trust will become more important than ever. People don’t want Google and Facebook tracking them around the internet anymore, and they’re demanding ways to take back their privacy and their data. The Post-Cookie world is creating a new opportunity for business owners to collect and OWN first-party and zero-party data (and create a relationship of trust with their customers at the same time).”

Who’s Listening To You? 

Trey said, “Trust is the new currency in Web 3.0” and I could not agree with that more. Have you ever wondered who’s listening to your conversations? Does this sound familiar? You’re sitting around the table talking with friends and the next time you get on FB, you see ads based on what you were just talking about. Creepy right? And I know many people who refuse to get an Alexa for this exact reason. There’s a lot of mistrust for big tech companies, and it will benefit us as marketers to understand the fear people are feeling right now. 

Apple paid attention to what their customers wanted and recognized the lack of trust. That’s why they made a HUGE decision to turn “privacy” into their new business advantage. You might remember in the IOS 14.5 update where they allowed people to take back control and decide who could track their data. This was big news when it came to digital marketing, because you had Facebook and all these other platforms that were tracking user’s data. They were scraping that data from what people were doing on their cell phones. They decided to put the power in the user’s hands and give the option to opt-out of data tracking. I’ll be honest, when I heard about this, I thought, “I bet not that many people will opt-out.” I didn’t think it was going to be a huge ordeal. Then I heard these stats and my mind was blown.

• Digital Marketers estimated that 10-20% of users would opt out.
• In actuality, the percentage of users that opted out was 88%!

Web3: The New Digital Era & Opportunity

This is not something we can ignore, because that means less data for marketing. We’ve already seen marketing costs going up as a result of less effective targeting. Now is the time to begin preparing for this new era of data privacy. You cannot expect all these leased digital properties (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc) to scrape data for you to retarget. You need to start preparing a data strategy to collect data from the people that use your owned digital assets. If you wonder where to even start, begin by building trust with your followers. 

I want to encourage you to see the opportunity in this new Web 3.0 era instead of the disruption. This is our chance to do something new, different, and more meaningful- to build closer relationships with your followers. Embracing these changes sooner will leave you in a better place later. Give yourself and your team members permission to experiment. Try new things to gather data. Ask deeper questions of your audience depending on what they’re searching on your website or what they’re looking at. Ask yourself, “What data do we need to capture? When do we need to capture it? What are we going to do with that data?”

Focus On Building Trust

We’ve been coaching our clients for two years on the importance of serving your audience on digital and building relationships on your own digital assets. You have the opportunity to build a community, but it takes time, honesty, and intentionality. Keep your focus on serving instead of promoting, and see what a difference it makes. If you’re asking yourself, “How do I start building trust on digital platforms?” I want to recommend a book for you to check out called Tribes by Seth Godin. (Affiliate links are used where possible.) He talks about the difference between a tribe and a group of fans or followers. It will lead you in the right direction.