Cryptocurrency and the Future of Social Media Marketing
In recent years, crypto currencies are getting a ton of attention. So much so, that the digital assets have trickled into the digital marketing space.
With recent negative connotations associated with the concepts, there’s a lot of confusion when it comes to crypto. Let’s break it down in simple terms.
These currencies are designed to be peer-to-peer payment options that avoid third party banks and cut out government oversight. Originally, the purpose of this was to maintain each individual’s privacy during transactions.
Because each transaction is recorded in a public ledger (the Blockchain), it is not 100% fulfilling that privacy promise just yet. In many ways, the Blockchain keeps payments safe and secure, requiring several people to review and validate each transaction. This prevents fraud payments or duplications, since it doesn’t rely on one person.
Because of crypto’s strive for privacy, it can become an ideal option for online payments that have a similar level of privacy to using cash. While crypto currency transactions from popular coins (like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin) can eventually be traced back, it’s not as simple as using traditional banks. This is very enticing for people looking to protect their privacy online and prevent third-party oversight to their online activity.
But How Does This Affect Social Media Marketing?
Different forms of digital currency are already being adopted on popular social media channels. In particular: Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, and Facebook. The new trend of “Tipping” content creators online has inspired many social media sites to create their own cryptocurrencies entirely.
Reddit announced it would use cryptocurrency to reward Redditors
Twitter allows its users to tip using Bitcoin and Ethereum
Facebook has implemented “Stars” for content creator tipping
YouTube has “Super Chats” and “Super Thanks”
While not all platforms are using actual crypto tokens for tipping, it could be the direction we go. This new trend of social media tipping is a great way for audiences to say thanks to the content creators that they enjoy watching the most. Those platforms that utilize these currencies make monetization of the creator economy even more mainstream. There can be a digital landscape where influencers are even more legitimized, with endorsement of payments coming peer-to-peer. After all, as we have said before, influencers are the most trackable form of digital marketing that there is.