How community and identity will change marketing in Web 3
With Facebook’s rebrand to Meta, the introduction of the Metaverse, the rise of cryptocurrency and NFTs, businesses and marketers alike are now anticipating the new age of the internet - Web 3.
Web 3 represents a new frontier for the internet with ideas around community and identity evolving and taking on new meanings for marketers.
In this article, we’ll explore how marketing these ideas are shifting in the Web 3 space and what marketers can learn now.
What is Web 1 & Web 2?
Web 1 was the early iteration of the internet, think read-only webpages. As the internet became more interactive, Web 2 began introducing centralised platforms like search engines such as Google and social media platforms like Facebook.
Google is responsible for over 74% of all search traffic and Facebook has control over the online identities of 2.2 billion people.
As these private Web 2 companies created public digital infrastructure, they were able to monopolise control over our digital lives.
Essentially, in Web 2 we give up digital identities in exchange for digital convenience - Web 3 is the antithesis of this.
Why Web 3?
Web 3 is about the reform of a centralised web and giving users back their digital autonomy. Web 3 networks essentially remove the middleman from exchanges and interactions. People can trade more freely and securely, whether that be crypto, NFTs or their data.
The co-founder of Ethereum said that the purpose of the cryptocurrency was to “allow people to interact in mutually beneficial ways without anyone needing to trust each other.”.
As marketers, we should be thinking about the emerging culture of this new phase of the internet, especially as we anticipate how it will inform our ideas of identity and community in our marketing strategies.
It’s evident that Web 3 is all about the individual being self-sufficient and taking back control, so let’s have a look at how community marketing models may change in this new era.
Community
Peer-to-peer networks are powered by one thing: community.
Since Web 2 and the rise of the platform economy, the idea of community in business has increasingly become a focal point for us marketers as we continuously use these channels to create hubs for our users.
In 2019, Facebook (now Meta) changed their mission statement to giving “people the power to build community and bring the world closer together”.
But how are the ideas of community in Web 2 and Web 3 different? Web 2 focuses on large-scale communities whilst Web 3 focuses on smaller, niche communities that share the same specific interests and values.
1 in 3 UK adults are cutting back on social media with 29% citing feelings of overload.
As people become more dissatisfied with larger platforms and the lack of autonomy that comes with them, people are engaging with Web 3 networks to escape the noise of their main social feed in favour of micro-communities.
Community growth engine:
In Web 3, building micro-communities can be a powerful source of word-of-mouth marketing, so as marketers, we should be looking at the way we can build a community growth engine.
Creating a community growth engine is not the same as building a Web 2-style community management strategy, it’s about creating a culture of cultivating leaders and inspiring your community members through your purpose so that community growth is self-sustaining.
The snowflake model is a great example of how a community growth engine could look. In the snowflake model, responsibility and ownership is distributed and leadership development and mastery is prioritised above all.
Building a community is no longer simply about solving your community’s problems but rather about enabling your community to mobilize themselves and their resources to actionably solve their problems and continue to solve them.
As marketers, we should be thinking about building a community growth engine like creating a movement, creating something that can build upon itself - that is a movement.
The former Global Head of Community at Airbnb, Douglas Atkins said “Grassroots organising is the community model for the future”.
To initiate a community growth engine, Web 3 marketers should be clear about their identity and purpose (who they are, what they do and why they do it) and operationalise this purpose throughout their organisation.
How to fuel your community growth engine:
To fuel your community growth engine, as marketers and community managers, we must evoke the right intrinsic motivations to create a sense of belonging within our communities, specifically: autonomy, mastery and purpose.
By tapping into the innate motivations of our community and connecting with them on a human level, not only will we be communicating that we recognise the value of their contributions but we will also create a sense of belonging through fostering a culture of openness and leadership development.
Community growth engine diagram.
A community growth engine turns the traditional marketing funnel model on its head by lasering in on a small niche community that will provide the most value first and foremost.
As always, when creating a community strategy, as marketers, it’s important to validate our target niche community early and cheaply, through customer research to prove the concept and systemise your community growth process from there.
Offline communities:
Hosting offline events in addition to creating spaces for micro-communities in Web 3 will still be important in the creation of Web 3 communities. We all know that there is only much you can do to keep people feeling connected, engaged and excited by your project and purpose through a screen.
In-person events help legitimise your offline and online presence, further allowing your space to become a hub for community members to connect, contribute and cultivate a sense of belonging.
Ethereum, like other Web 3 companies, hosts lots of offline events such as hackathons and attend conferences that allow their community members to connect with one another, further reinforcing the idea of cultivating belonging and leaders.
Identity:
Ideas around identity In Web 3 will evolve in two different ways. First, the nature of identity will shift in terms of what it means when building a community. Second, identity will become a private asset that is owned by the individual user.
Though identity and community are interlinked, it’s important to understand how these ideas interact with each other in the Web 3 space. Identities can often be the marker of what attracts people to a community, similarly to the way marketers position brands to attract a particular audience.
Just like buying into brands, people join communities not to conform but to feel more individual and self-actualised. We should be thinking about what is the identity of our Web 3 products and what it means for our communities to experience it.
Apple’s iconic slogan “Think Different”, strongly aligned with their brand ideology of being less conformist, more creative and more passionate which really resonated with their audience who identified with this messaging become Apple fanatics - this is applicable to the Web 3 space.
Facebook’s Metaverse and NFTs also highlight the need for individuals to buy into digital identities and creative assets as a form of individual expression.
This year Nike acquired RTFKT which is a virtual shoe company that produces NFT footwear and was recently valued at $33 million. Recently appointing a Head of Metaverse, it’s clear that Nike along with other high street brands like Adidas and Zara , are trying to cement their presence in the Web 3 space and be part of the ways in which we express our identities online.
Privatisation of online identity:
The dynamics of identity in Web 3 will further change as we enter a new frontier of digital privacy. Web browsers, which may be called “wallets” or “key stores” will represent an individual’s assets and identity online, allowing people to pay for something or prove who they are, without needing to appeal to a bank or identity service.
These decentralised identifiers (DIDs) will allow individuals to claim ownership of their digital assets, personal data and identity. What this means is that in order for businesses and marketers to have access to personal data, they must focus on building trust with users and offering a real value exchange.
Our Conclusion
We understand that the idea of Web 3.0 can be confusing and even overwhelming but as marketers, it’s important to keep an eye out for the latest market developments to help navigate your business. By staying informed and thinking about how these insights and trends can shape our Web 3 strategies, you’ll be able to stay ahead of the curve and the market.
To find out more about marketing in Web 3, check out this article about How channel strategy will change in Web 3.
