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Should You Include NFTs in Your Digital Marketing Campaigns?

October 29, 2021

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What Is an NFT? And What Does It Look Like?

A “non-fungible token”—or NFT—is a non-interchangeable unit of data.

Why all the craze?

NFTs represent verified ownership to easily-reproducible items like songs, videos, and artwork. To establish public proof of ownership, NFTs are connected to blockchain technology.

Here is an example to illustrate. 

Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey, decided to sell the very first tweet. While you can simply search for the tweet, look at it, take a screenshot of it, and show it to someone else, you can also own it. You will be given ownership of that item, in this case, a tweet. The bidding journey for this NFT started in the region of $80,000—and it sold for over $2.9 million.

While there is no promise that your NFT would sell for as high, you’re free, encouraged even, to try.

Millennials Appreciate Brands That Keep Up

The ways of digital marketing have evolved over the years. Brands have tried their best to meet their customers’ needs and expectations.

Whether through blogs and articles, email marketing, or PPC ads, brands have managed to establish a connection with their customers by providing value. After all, brands rely on establishing a rapport with their customers to increase key metrics.

Sharing interest is one—if not the most effective—way to communicate with and entice a customer.

Here is a not-so-groundbreaking piece of information: millennials prefer doing business with brands that share their values. 83% of millennials have the same thought, which seems reasonable.

If millennials decide that an animated GIF of a flying cat with a rainbow trail is worth about $580,000, then so be it!

Saddle Up and Ride the Current Trend Wave—For the Greater Good!

Taco Bell, Grimes, and other reputable, well-established entities (companies, artists, and meme personalities) have decided to enter the NFT arena.

Coca-Cola’s NFT auction garnered a winning bid of $575,883.61

Oana Vlad, Coca-Cola’s global senior brand director, explained: “Magic happens when communities and partners can make the brand their own. […] We loved seeing NFT and metaverse artists take the iconicity of the brand and put a fresh, modern twist on it.”

Coca-Cola decided that all proceeds from the auction would go to Special Olympics International. The two organizations have developed a friendship over the years, and fans of both are delighted when a brand they see daily decides to support a cause dear to their hearts.

Here’s where it gets fascinating for digital marketers. 

You can leverage NFTs in your digital marketing campaigns and increase loyalty with a unique brand experience

Incentivizing your customers to purchase NFTs, partake in creating one, or decide which type of NFT they want to bring into reality is a great way to ensure your engagement rate consistently remains on the incline.

This further strengthens the bond between brands and their customers—a strategy you can start employing today.

Creating and auctioning an NFT with the intent to donate the proceeds to charity will definitely strike a jubilant chord with your audience. Showing them that you care about the exact cause that’s always in their thoughts is an innovative way to drive engagement.

Nothing says “I care” more than showing it

Creative NFTs can also be presented as rewards or prizes. Consider running a contest for lead generation and offer valuable NFTs to the winner(s). Not only will you generate more awareness and leads for your brand, but you will be making full use of the opportunity to show gratitude to your customer following.

If creating NFTs is your greatest hurdle, you can partner up with creatives to design artwork for your brand. Alternatively, your brand can start an NFT auction or mint existing artwork that your brand may have and convert it into an NFT.

Additionally, your ad campaigns can serve as NFTs, as long as they are memorable, appeasing, and contain value that generates interest among your customer base.

What they decide to do with the NFT should be up to them. Since these tokens are resellable, it should be up to the owner to decide whether to keep, trade, or sell them—and that’s the real value of NFTs.

Is It Too Late to Capitalize on NFTs?

NFTs are still in the early stages of development. So, it makes for an excellent opportunity for marketers to exploit the full benefits this strategy has to offer.

The total market volume generated by NFTs in 2020 was $95 million. By the end of Q2 2021, that figure stood at $2.5 billion.

Investing in NFTs will only serve to snag the attention of your customer base, along with fresh prospects and aficionados of this new trend.

Incorporating NFTs into your digital marketing strategy is smart. It is accepted by an array of renowned personalities, awarding it the trust it needs to survive and thrive. In addition, you will notice that including NFTs as part of your digital marketing will open the door to a more creative process, which, in turn, will grant your brand the relevance millennials long for.