We live in a time when different kinds of information are attacking us from all sides. In the midst of this hype there are advertisements, ads, spots as part of extensive marketing activities. Digital advertising expenditure around the world. This expenditure is closely linked to the desire to arouse interest and data on customers.

However, consumers are becoming increasingly demanding, both in terms of security, convenience and performance, and are reluctant to provide information about themselves. It is on the side of service/product providers to be able to offer modern and innovative solutions to their customers as digitization develops.

Freedom on the Internet – right or myth?

When we’re on the Internet, our every move is subject to observation. We have no influence – companies and organizations want to know their users, and tracking them in the digital space is the only chance to see their needs. People think that using the Internet is completely free. But the reality is that we ‘pay’ for its use and for individual services using our personal information.

Marketers are able to profile their customers with the data they have provided (and their consent to process it) and then send them personalized messages through the means available. Some consumers see this as aggressive behaviour and are outraged at the very thought that an organisation knows so much about them. Nevertheless, most of them are distracted by this thought, looking only at the potential benefits.

The look of marketing before Blockchain technology

Marketing representatives on each one look for data about their current or potential customers. Such information as gender, age, place of residence, salary or education can be obtained when shopping in an e-commerce store, setting up a loyalty card or logging on to an e-learning platform. Additionally, very important information for marketers is how users behave in the space created by the brand and what elements they pay attention to (e.g. in online shops, online platforms, social media profiles).

By monitoring traffic, they can improve the functioning of their channels and adjust them to expectations. After analysis and drawing conclusions from heat maps, banners and advertising information can be placed in attractive places. However, the perceived interest in specific fields on the website does not always come from actual users. Almost 60% of online traffic comes from bots, which artificially “improve” the statistics.

There are reports indicating that bots are causing damage to the website by, among other things, the following:

• Visiting the site by clicking on paid ads in search engines (they generate traffic that does not translate into profits and cause fees for each entry);
• creating user accounts that are maintained and managed by the organization;
• Infecting computer networks with malicious software and taking control over them. When too many requests are made, the site is overloaded and access restricted. This interruption of full access to the site can result in costs and loss of customers;
• browsing through the offer and leaving shopping baskets (which disturb the satisfaction indicators such as Net Promoter Score (NPS));
• influencing the loading time and performance of websites, which causes frustration for physical users and reduces their level of satisfaction.

Bots programs are dishonest and give the illusion of customer interest in the product/service. In addition, organizations need to be prepared to “share” information about their users with intermediaries (e.g. ad space providers) and to have an effect that is not in line with promises when buying an advertising package (e.g. traffic may be redirected by bots to inappropriate or fake websites or the advertisement may appear in an uncontractual place).

What is blockchain technology and why is it important?

This technology was developed as an improvement for cryptographic transfer. Its main goal was to allow for digital and fully anonymous payment transfers between two parties, without verification or third party interference in transactions. Blockchain was something revolutionary some time ago, and is now becoming a standard in many industries.

What technologies are Blockchain technology made of?

What Blockchain technology is made up of is very important. First of all, it is a combination of three well known and willingly used technologies, such as public key cryptography, Peer-to-peer network communication model and open protocols. In the digital world, the basis is to determine whether a given request for access to information is authorized and authenticated, and thus trusted.

Use of Blockchain technology in marketing

Blockchain technology can change the face of marketing activities and the way advertising messages are made available to consumers online once and for all. Above all, technology precludes intermediaries from participating in advertising activities. There is no longer any need to buy online advertising space or share information about users in exchange for the service. Blockchain makes it possible for organisations to pay (micropayments in cryptography) directly to selected users for taking the time to read a given advertising message (e.g. advertisement, subscription request, sponsored article).

The Blockchain technology is popularly used because of its numerous advantages, including resistance to cyber-attacks through the use of cryptography; no compulsion to involve intermediary institutions in transactions; resilience of information systems through decentralization and dispersion; openness; audience, anonymity of actions. Further possible ways of applying it are already being sought to change the face of industries that strongly affect people’s lives.