The following is a guest post from Tatu Kärki of Aragon and is one of 15+ contributions to the new book, The Decentralized Marketing Organization: How Crypto-Marketers Can Increase Token Value by Empowering Community Members.
To position yourself as a leader in this nascent market that is blockchain technology and the decentralization movement, you can’t be stuck in archaic ways of conducting yourself and presenting your product. Technology will continue to advance and become a larger part of our lives to which we need to adapt. You will need to emanate and employ contemporary techniques that resonate with your audience and users.
Marketing and marketing strategies remained stagnant and largely the same for decades. Until the digital age began. The internet brought us marketing tools like email and online ads. It also changed how we consumed information. New ideas and strategies had to be developed in order to adapt to this fast- paced, ever-changing world. But it was not all for the better.
Companies realized that with all this information available anytime, anywhere, people could choose
to pay only for the content they valued. And thus they needed new ways to monetize their products and services, creating new strategies and business models — often at the expense of the user. To many companies on the internet, the users aren’t humans but mere numbers and statistics, like convicts in a prison. The companies put up walls around their prisons of data to keep the people from leaving, while grossly abusing them by selling o their information to others.
If you’re working on something for the decentralized future, you’re already a part of this transition. The people in this movement are working for a brighter tomorrow where everyone will be less dependent on others dictating what and how they can conduct themselves. But this (r)evolution won’t be easy or immediate. There will be legions of those looking to hold on to the power and control that they seemingly have over others. Some so deeply rooted in their old ways that they are incapable of change, and many who feel intoxicated by the authority they seemingly have over others.
There will be people who’ll be telling you things like “Cryptocurrencies are a fraud” or “Blockchains are only used by drug dealers and terrorists.” People whom you’ll likely never be able to reach. And that’s fine, a paradigm shift of this magnitude is hard to fathom for some and it will take considerable time and effort to make it a reality. While working towards this, we shouldn’t adhere to things like modernizing old bad habits; paying people for referrals and posts on social media is the modern day equivalent of spam emails, which nobody really likes. If it’s something that’s going to annoy people, don’t do it. Transparency and governance will be what drives this change, use them. Be brave, stop being part of the problem, stand up and be a part of the solution.
In a decentralized future there is no room for taking advantage of the people who want to use your product. Times are changing and the methods need to change with them. You can be one of those coming up with these new ways, ghting for a better future. Or you can try to cling onto things you think you know and refuse to accept the fact that in a global, digital world, you’re not needed.
In the end, remember the human.