Ask Questions 
Share Tips 
List Your Business 
Coffee Talk with Experts 
Biz Planning | Sample Plans 
Idea 
Name 
$ 
Do It! 
Promotional Merchandise
Managing | Operations
Work @ Home 
Yoga @ Your Desk 
|
|
Expert Answers to Biz Questions
Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.
How Important is Blockchain to the Future of Marketing?
Consumer choice has never been greater. The popularity of online shopping has created a 24/7 global marketplace that is putting exponential pressure on bricks and mortar businesses to adapt or be left behind.
Such competition is driving brands in new directions with their marketing. Businesses who manufacture goods in the Western Hemisphere know that they can’t compete in price with those in the Far East. One area where they do believe they still hold the upper hand, however, is ethics.
Research has continually pointed to the fact that Millennials want to buy products that are ethically sourced; they want to be able to relate to the brand they’re buying into.
Businesses are aware of this, with buzzwords such as “organic”, “cruelty-free” and “ethical” becoming commonplace on product packaging. The problem is that many of these claims aren’t based on verifiable evidence. The oversaturation of these terms has led to a consumer confusion. Who or what are they supposed to believe?
This is where blockchain comes into play. The technology provides a visible chain of command that allows consumers to find out where the product they’re buying is sourced from. It’s comparable to being able to track the whereabouts of a parcel online.
Open transparency will help to give companies a greater sense of authenticity; a trait that 91% of shoppers said they would reward either through custom or recommendation in a recent survey by public relations firm Cohn & Wolfe.
The potential benefits of blockchain marketing to businesses isn’t just restricted to consumer confidence. Ad fraud, such as bots and auto refresh ads, cost the advertising industry some $16 billion per year. With blockchain technology, the journey of an online advertisement to the consumer can be tracked in an online ledger – restricting the ability of fraudulent activity and cutting out the middleman completely.
It can also help in transforming traditional supply chains into something that is based purely on demand. Retailers, for example, will no longer need to base orders off projections or last year’s data.
This drive to a circular and more efficient and transparent economy won’t just benefit businesses and consumers. Workers could also see an upside to their working conditions as human resource managers strive to match the ethical stance of the brands they represent.
Digital marketing expenditure is tipped to cross over $120 billion a year mark by the turn of the next decade. With blockchain, this expenditure will no longer be a case of “ifs” and “buts”. Instead, brands will be able to reach customers and track their responses like never before.
The technology is ready to go and is already being used by well-known corporations such as Walmart and IBM. There is, however, one remaining stumbling block that backers of blockchain technology are yet to overcome - how to explain the technology in a way that the public will be able to understand.
A recent report by the banking giant HSBC suggests that while consumers have heard of blockchain technology, they still don’t understand what it’s, and perhaps more importantly, how it can benefit them.
|
|
Small Business Tax Center • Idea Cafe Home • Sign Up • Biz Grant Center • CyberSchmooz •Coffee Talk with Experts • People in Biz Profiles • Starting Your Biz • Biz Planning • Running Your Biz • FREE Trade Publications • Marketing • Financing Your Biz • Human Resources • Legal & Biz Forms • Managing Your Biz • eCommerce • You and Your Biz • Gen X • Work@Home • The Fridge • De-Stress • Send an Award • Send an eGreeting • Yoga @ Your Desk • Web Guide • Idea Cafe in the News • About Idea Cafe • Advertise on Idea Cafe • Contact Us • Privacy Policy • Site Map • Small Biz News
Copyright 1995-2024, Idea Cafe Inc. Downloads are for personal use only, not for resale to others, and may not be reprinted in any form without written permission from Idea Cafe Inc.
DISCLAIMER: We hope whatever you find on this site is helpful, but be cautioned that it may not apply to your own situation, or be totally current at any given time. Idea Cafe Inc. and all of its current and past experts, sponsors, advertisers, agents, contractors and advisors disclaim all warranties with regard to anything found anywhere on this family of websites, quoted from, or sent from Idea Cafe. and its related sites, publications and companies. We also take no responsibility for comments published by others on these pages. TRADEMARKS: The following are Registered Trademarks or Servicemarks of DevStart, Inc.: Idea Cafe®, Online Coffee Break®, The Small Business Gathering Place®, Take out Info®, Biz Bar & Grill®, Complaint-O-Meter®, A Fun Approach to Serious Business™, CyberSchmooz™, and BizCafe™.
|
|
|
|