Blockchain for marketing

About this report

Data collection: November 30th 2022 - April 16, 2023

Respondents: 97 marketing professionals

Blockchain technology has the potential to transform marketing by providing more secure and transparent transactions, enhanced data privacy and offering new models for customer engagement and loyalty.

In addition to exploring the reasons marketing teams have adopted blockchain technology, we examine their strategies, levels of implementation, and concerns with their rollouts. What are the applications, benefits, and concerns of blockchain as it applies to marketing? How are marketing professionals feeling about blockchain today?

One minute insights:

  • clock time circle iconMost marketers feel it’s too early to assess their organization’s investment in blockchain, but nearly a quarter feel their organizations are overinvested.
  • Graph circle iconNearly two-thirds of marketing professionals feel blockchain will be very or somewhat important to their marketing strategy in the next 12 months.
  • Padlock lock close iconProtecting internal data and customer data were the top selected choices for deploying blockchain in marketing.
  • Improvement arrow graph iconOver the next 12 months, more than half of marketing professionals expect their organizations to increase investments in blockchain for marketing
  • Question mark iconUnclear first steps and lack of vendor options are the primary concerns that marketing professionals have about blockchain for marketing.

Many marketing professionals report their organizations have already deployed blockchain, and most are satisfied with deployment so far

Has your organization deployed blockchain technology as part of your marketing strategy?

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Over half (57%) of marketers report their organization has already deployed blockchain as part of their marketing strategy.

n = 97

Most respondents report their organization’s blockchain strategy is either fully implemented (21%) or at the beginning of development (20%). Just 9% of respondents say their organization’s blockchain strategy is not at all developed.

How developed is your strategy for implementing blockchain in your marketing efforts?

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n = 97

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of respondents say blockchain will be very important (39%) or somewhat important (24%) to their marketing strategy over the next 12 months.

How important will blockchain be to your marketing strategy over the next 12 months?

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Likewise, over half (56%) of respondents are very (32%) or moderately (24%) satisfied with their organization’s deployment of blockchain in marketing.

Are you satisfied with your organization’s deployment of blockchain in your marketing?

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n = 97

Very dissatisfied 0%

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Question: “Do you have any final thoughts to share on blockchain as it pertains to marketing?”

[Blockchain for marketing] is very interesting, but I don't know how to use it in order to bring positive ROI yet.

VP, utilities industry, 1,000 - 5,000 employees

Currently, we’re unclear about the impact of blockchain in marketing, but we’re hopeful that it will have a positive impact on marketing campaigns and user data.

Director, agriculture industry, 1,000 - 5,000 employees

Marketers are using blockchain to better protect internal and user data, but many are unclear about the first steps

The most selected reasons, among marketing professionals, for adopting blockchain are to better protect internal data (50%), to better protect user data (47%) and to create a permanent and encrypted database (47%).

What were the reasons your team decided to adopt blockchain for your marketing strategy? Select all that apply.

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n = 97

Launch new digital products/content 20% | Improve internal relationships (i.e. with employees, shareholders, etc.) 18% | Better support online communities 12% | To develop new online communities 12% | Implement NFTs in our marketing strategy 11% | Executive pressure 4% | None of these 4%

How confident are you that blockchain will improve your marketing results (i.e. improve ROI, improve customer satisfaction, etc.)?

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40% of marketers are very confident that blockchain will improve marketing results, and an additional 24% are somewhat confident. However, a quarter (25%) feel it’s too early to feel confident.

Not at all confident 0%

n = 97

What were your top three concerns when considering blockchain as part of your marketing strategy? Select three.

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The top selected concerns about blockchain are unclear first steps (38%), lack of vendor options (37%) and internal change management (37%).

Cost to operate (i.e. increased computing power costs) 27% | Unclear ROI on marketing campaigns 25% | Inability to reassess lost accounts (i.e. password misplaced) 8%

n = 97

Most marketers expect their organizations to increase investments in blockchain over the next 12 months, while at least a quarter feel their organizations are already overinvested

Almost half (49%) of respondents feel it’s too early to make predictions about their organization’s blockchain investments, however, nearly a quarter (24%) feel their organizations are overinvested.

How do you feel about your organization’s current investments in blockchain technology for your marketing strategy?

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n = 97

Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding

Most marketing professionals (60%) expect their organization’s investment in blockchain for marketing to increase over the next 12 months. Just 3% anticipate a divestment from blockchain for marketing.

How do you expect your organization’s investment in blockchain technology to change over the next 12 months?

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Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding

Respondents selected improved customer data protection (34%) and centralized databases (23%) most frequently when asked what blockchain’s biggest impact on marketing technology will be.

What do you think blockchain’s biggest impact on marketing technology will be?

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n = 97

Proliferation of digital assets (i.e. NFTs, digital real estate, etc.) 5% | More active online communities 2% | None of these 0%

Note: May not add up to 100% due to rounding

Question: “Do you have any final thoughts to share on blockchain as it pertains to marketing?”

In my opinion, blockchain is going to be utilized in marketing heavily in the future. Therefore, it’s better to be early adopters of a booming technology, rather than falling behind the crowd.

Manager, arts & entertainment industry, 1,000 - 5,000 employees

When data is secured with blockchain, it can be used to run hyper personalized campaigns by analyzing [consumer] in terms of purchase history, preferences, etc. In Web3.0, this will be a crucial technology for brands to engage with their consumers.

Director, consumer goods industry, 10,000+ employees
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Respondent Breakdown

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