2021 was the year of NFTs. What started as a niche market with a population questioning its validity, security, and authenticity, is now a powerful movement that continues to be accepted, pioneered, and enhanced upon. Now, we’re seeing the emergence of NFT physical art, Beeples sculpture Human One being one of the most famous examples.
As NFT adoption continues to inevitably expand, brands, businesses, and projects could turn to an amalgamation of the NFT digital world and the real world to market their physical products while promoting the NFT movement.
Purchase An NFT to Receive Physical Products & Other Benefits
NFTs have, like many other branded products, become a status symbol for humans. They’re a hot topic, fashionable items that people want to be seen to own. This is why many brands are stepping into the NFT digital world to promote their physical products. Recently, Adidas joined the NFT hype train with its first mint generating a massive $22 million. While the individuals who purchased these NFTs did receive digital art, they were also now the proud owners of exclusive clothing, are now given priority access to events and will be first in line for the latest product launches.
We’ll likely see many more brands adopting this NFT marketing strategy. The incentive of receiving real-world benefits as a reward for purchasing a digital product will become the norm. People lead a digital and physical existence – brands who create campaigns that cater to both will lead the way in the years to come.
Community Building & First-Party Data
The world of marketing and advertising as we know it is drastically changing. We’re moving into a cookie-less age, meaning brands need to find ways of getting their messaging and products in front of their target audience without the ability to target and remarketing ads. If there’s one thing that traditional brands can learn from NFT projects, it’s their ability to create engaged communities.
Whether on Twitter or Discord, these projects use NFTs to create a hub of their own first-party data, meaning they have a community of people they can market to easily and efficiently.
The first level of these communities are free to join, but once a person purchases an NFT, they then unlock further benefits such as physical products, deals with partner brands, and access to VIP NFT-owned spaces. Not only are NFTs about making money from digital art, but they’re also becoming a new form of data capture and the foundation of digital marketing for businesses.
Here at Shark Design, we see NFTs developing into one of the most crucial tools for marketers. Not only as one-off NFT digital collectibles but as status symbols, data capture, and access to physical products and benefits. Check out our article on how NFTs are changing the eCommerce world to understand the impact they’re going to have on everyday purchasing.