In September 2021, former Facebook employee Frances Haugen testified before Congress that there were “conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook.”

Unrest on Facebook a month later, when the social network suffered its longest outage in over a decade, seemed to confirm the trend. Later, Mark Zuckerberg revealed his technology group’s new name, which stands for metaverse, and social networks were given new life by the convergence of online and virtual worlds enabled by VR, AR, and blockchain.

In the Web3 revolution, social networks may evolve into a powerful ecosystem called social finance, or SocialFi, which combines social network capabilities with blockchain and NFTs. As a decentralized network, data ownership will shift from social networks to users. 93 percent of marketers use influencer marketing, which was born in the Web2 revolution and allows brands and creators to own their digital assets.

And what are some of the potential entry barriers brands should be aware of?

• Embrace the beauty of NFTs
• Marketing Becomes Everyone’s job
• Managing campaigns is easy
• Early bird gets the SocialFi worm

 

Embrace the beauty of NFTs

Brands’ social media marketing can benefit from non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

NFTs enable secure digital content trading and selling via the blockchain. They allow brands to create digital proof of ownership and ledgers for the transfer of virtual and real-world experiences for their communities. Brands can profit from these experiences after the fact, inspiring them to create metaverse content.

For example, TIME magazine launched a great Web3/NFT community. They launched TIMEPieces, giving their community a secret code to buy a piece from one of their artistic collections. TIMEPieces aims to “bring together artists, collectors, and fans in a collaborative manner to build utility and community value over time.”

But NFTs aren’t right for every brand, and there are some drawbacks. NFT communities are great for B2C brands, but may be difficult to implement for B2B brands. To truly benefit from NFTs, brands will also need an array of beautiful and appealing digital assets. Finally, because NFTs are still new and speculative, brands should start with a small, focused project.

Marketing Becomes Everyone’s job

Influencer marketing uses NFTs. They might not exist without it. Influencers can help promote NFT avatars, GIFs, videos, and minting campaigns. Consider Justin Bieber’s Bored Ape Yacht Club and Reese Witherspoon’s World of Women, both NFT projects. With Web3, anyone can become a digital influencer and help brands connect with consumers.

Also, NFTs enable precise tracking of influencers’ impact on brand-related communication and their value to virtual entertainment experiences, which may become a Web3 go-to strategy for consumer brands.

That said, brands should aim to work with influencers who are not only familiar with Web3, but also share their values online. Set clear milestones, like the number of virtual attendees or NFT mints they should generate. Ask influencers which hashtags and elements they will use in their posts to increase community exposure. Working with an influencer-focused agency or PR firm is a good option for brands seeking influencer experts.

Finally, prior to launching a virtual event, campaign messaging should be crystal clear. A disorganized virtual event can be disastrous for a brand, so be prepared.

Managing campaigns is easy

Marketers have developed a number of strategies for managing influencer campaigns, many of which are still relevant today.

Marketers should use social media campaign management tools when their online presence becomes more complex, such as when straddling Web2 social media and Web3 metaverse marketing. Various campaign performance data sources can be easily accessed using a SaaS platform.

Brands are expanding their social media and content teams to meet the demands of the Web3 revolution, but they may not need to hire more employees if they have access to automation tools. With social media marketing technology and Web3, tracking and managing a brand’s online presence will be simple and intuitive without sacrificing data-driven insights.

Early bird gets the SocialFi worm

Web3 and NFT are buzzwords right now, but little is said about their impact on social media marketing.

While decentralization gains mass adoption, the transition to Web3 is a defining moment for creators and brands alike. SocialFi will soon be shaking up the marketing and finance worlds, albeit virtually.