Why Permission-Based Engagement is the Future of Marketing

Charles Silver, CEO, Algebraix.io, discusses how permission-based engagement is set to become the future of marketing. Charles shares his insight into the importance of personal data ownership and how it will transform the marketer-to-customer relationship

Whether or not you understand it clearly, blockchain is about to revolutionize the digital world.

Online commerce is built on trust, and blockchain is the technology that can make that trust inviolable. It automates much of the difficult work of verifying business transactions and building trust between buyers and sellers, and for this reason, has the potential to change the way the world does business. Blockchain will disrupt the way industries operate, including the way they market their goods and services.

If you’re a marketer, your profession will change because of blockchain. But to grasp how it will change, it’s necessary to first understand the concept of personal data ownership.

The Ownership of Data

Blockchain is not a technology that enables data ownership. But it’s what makes this concept practical. Data ownership is determined by legislation .

In the U.S., personal data—which includes everything from our buying patterns to our interests to our political leanings to our health concerns—are owned and monetized by Internet giants like Amazon, Google and Facebook. These companies collect our data and analyze it in order to profit from it. This is the situation we’re stuck with until people realize that not only can they own this data for themselves, but can profit from it the way Internet companies do.

In recent years, the European Union has passed laws to protect personal data ownership with what it calls General Data Protection Legislation (GDPR). You can learn more about this here: Is Goddam Privacy Regulations What GDPR Really Stands For?Got A Data Protection Officer? Didn’t think so. Maybe you need one. And here: What Are Those Data Rights I Keep Hearing About?

It is likely that all democratic nations will soon pass similar laws.

If the personal data ownership issue winds up on the ballot, voters will approve it. If for some reason the vote fails, any business with dealings in countries that have passed it—for example the EU—will have to conform to data ownership laws there.

Once approved by voters or legislators, personal data ownership will be made possible with the use of blockchain.

Data Violation and Permission Based Advertising

Digital advertising is a big component of marketing for most companies, and right now digital advertising is mostly interruption-based.

As you search the Web, check Facebook or jump from website to website, advertising assaults you and tries to grab your attention. Intermediary companies like Google, Facebook and other sites are harvesting your personal data and monetizing it so that advertisers can blast you with targeted ads wherever you roam online.

Most marketing today comes in the form of an interruption, something that competes for your attention as you browse the Web. Blockchain is going to turn all of this on its head.

My company, Algebraix Data is one of a new class of blockchain companies that are disrupting the advertising market. We will give consumers the means to store and protect the personal data that other companies are monetizing today. When people own their own data, a new form of marketing—permission-based marketing—will emerge and change the game.

If you’re an advertiser, you’ll need to get ready to ask people’s permission to show them an ad. And you’ll need to pay them to watch .

Consumers will join permission-based ad networks, where they can ear cryptocurrency for looking at ads. When consumers own their own data, their attention is going to cost something.

The days of Internet giants owning and monetizing your personal data are coming to an end. The days of consumers being besieged by ads are coming to an end .

If you are in marketing, prepare for a change. It’s time to stop thinking in terms of the interruption, and thinking about how to ask permission.

What Difference Is This Going To Make?

There is an opportunity to rethink the relationship between marketers and consumers. Both can benefit from the new reality, as consumers learn about the power and the value of their personal data.

Marketers want accurate targeting data about consumers, and they can have access to this information when they have been granted permission . Poor targeting of digital ads—be it aimed at the wrong person, or the right person at the wrong time—costs companies dearly today. Permission-based marketing will solve this inefficiency.

When the consumer collaborates in the advertising process and voluntarily clicks on certain ads, the targeting is far more accurate than it could ever be otherwise.

This means the engagement process between advertisers and consumers can change for the better. Aggressive sales approaches are unlikely to be effective once both parties “know each other” better, and when their interaction is permission-based and financially compensated. A better relationship between advertisers and consumers can emerge.

Engaging with potential customers is going to become a dialogue, as it can no longer be based on an interruption. These dialogues will be real engagements, and they can be efficient and productive. Both parties will watch closely as the advertisement turns into a sale, or fails to do so.

The new reality—where consumers own and monetize their own data—will change the nature of digital ads, and reshape the whole sales process.

To get ready for this, marketers need to start picturing a new kind of consumer, one that is in control, paying attention, and taking an active role in the advertising process.