How we interact and conduct business online is about to change in a big way. Those who are used to jumping from site to site, with a few links to social media platforms, are going to become more connected, while getting more ownership over the content they publish. Web 3.0 – or Web3 – is the next stage of evolution for how we interact online. Web 3.0 gives users and businesses more ownership, more ways to reach their audiences, and more data points to analyze their results. While some businesses are only now adjusting to Web 2.0, many are looking ahead to the potential that Web 3.0 has to offer in terms of marketing, sales, and growth opportunities.
How Web 3.0 Differs from Web 2.0
Web 2.0 took us from simple websites into the era we know today. There is greater connectivity, ubiquitous social media platform integration, and search engines handle semantic data and variants thereof much better, bringing average users the results they want. However, there are still some holdovers from the “old days.” No one truly owns their content or ideas, and information is housed in a central location. This has left economic strategists and legal experts alike with a vast array of challenges to keep intellectual property and information from being stolen, wiped, or otherwise disappearing without expensive and clunky redundancy solutions.
Web 3.0, by contrast, offers decentralization, giving users and businesses more freedom with their information. The implementation of blockchain technology will go beyond cryptocurrency and NFTs. It will also give businesses and users receipts and provenance for the content they publish – be it blog posts, videos, infographics, or anything else – so they can get more accurate data about their audiences. Artificial Intelligence will be integrated to a much higher degree. AI will be able to learn and deliver results based on text, slang, emojis, voice-to-text, and even images to yield more accurate results to users. Beyond simple searches, AI will take smart devices, homes, security, logistics, and almost every industry imaginable to new levels.
Web 3.0 for Businesses
While the upcoming Web 3.0 will yield more accurate data points, users and customers will play a much more active role. Instead of passively accepting cookies when visiting websites, users and customers will have complete control over their information and their privacy. This may seem like a challenge to businesses that are used to getting general information, it actually pushes them to be more original to stand out from the competition. The focus for the future will be on original content. SEO, KPIs, Google’s algorithms, and more will be transformed. Businesses that aren’t constantly monitoring the rapid changes, or those that aren’t working with digital marketing firms that have an inside line will find it harder to get in on the ground floor and get an advantage as things shift away from the Web 2.0 model.
Digital Marketing in the Web 3.0 Era
As stated above, businesses will have to push out more original content to attract users, and marketing will incorporate digital collectibles. NFTs have shown that people are willing to participate in a market where digital content is monetized in a way that can be tracked. Businesses will be able to incentivize users by offering digital collectibles in exchange for content engagements. Some businesses may be able to offer fractional cryptocurrency shares to visitors. “Influencers” will be more than just celebrity endorsements or prominent community members that name-drop a brand every now and then. Influencers will be a whole new group of people who understand the importance of creating and engaging with content. Data privacy, original content, and digital incentives are just the beginning of the potential for marketing with the advent of Web 3.0.
Outpace Digital Marketing stays ahead of trends to help businesses carve out a greater market share and set themselves apart from the competition. To learn more about Web 3.0 and how you can best position your organization for the upcoming shift, reach out to the experts at Outpace today.
