Entering the Blockchain Marketing Field in 2020 – Careers...

Jul 10, 2020 21:01 UTC

| Updated:

Jul 10, 2020 at 21:01 UTC

By Alexis

In this article, I want to shed light on what is on the horizon for the blockchain jobs market. Blockchain marketing has blossomed into a popular and legitimate industry over the last few years, but it can be intimidating to those who are not up to date with this technology.  Whether you’re a blockchain aficionado learning more about its applications, or a marketing guru interested in crossing over into decentralized tech, here are some common questions and answers surrounding this revolutionary development.

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing has emerged as the most popular way for businesses to reach consumers. Branding and advertisement in the form of web traffic, social media and email have created a flow of information between marketers and companies that use supply chain and data technologies to ensure that their campaigns are working successfully.

However, this requires a level of efficiency that can easily be compromised, as transaction and response times often slow down the interactions between marketers, their middlemen, and their clients. Additionally, as ads become more tailored to specific users, many members of the general public are becoming concerned for their privacy.

Why blockchain?

The immutability and transparency that blockchain provides allow for trustworthy data to be posted and viewed by all agents in a supply chain, speeding up the process and cutting out unnecessary services. This brings a much higher percentage of returns to the actual publishers of these advertisements. The “black box” identity of blockchain also allows users to be selective with the data that they share, giving users a stronger sense of security.

Plus, venture-capital funding for blockchain startups reached $2.5 billion in 2018. Gartner, a world’s leading research and advisory firm, named blockchain as one of the Top 10 strategic technologies for 2020. The report, “Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2020“, suggests the blockchain has the potential to reshape industries by enabling trust, providing transparency and enabling value exchange across the business. Blockchain careers are booming across nearly all skill-sets, and making sense of the industry is extremely important at the moment. Educational resources, such as BlockDriven Academy, have been sprouting up to provide people with this knowledge and education. BlockDriven Academy’s recent virtual session, “Blockchain Careers for All: Finding Where Your Skills and Experience Fit In”, was dedicated to exactly this topic. There is a lot of constant chatter surrounding blockchain, but actually getting into the field and making a career out of it is another story.

What are some companies to become familiar with?

Here are some of the companies that have already begun getting involved in blockchain marketing:

• IBM’s iX has developed a LEDGER to eliminate wasteful ad spending.
• NASDAQ has created NYIAX, which is a decentralized marketplace for ad contracts.
• Havas Group has started Havas Blockchain to provide decentralized tech companies with their own campaigns.

Smaller businesses have focused more on disrupting certain industries with specialized software products:

• Brave Browser uses special tokens to allow users to reward ads that they like, making it easier to identify successful and unsuccessful campaigns.
• Bitclave rewards users who choose to share personal data with marketing teams, incentivizing participation amongst consumers.

What kind of candidates are companies looking for?

Blockchain marketing is attracting both blockchain enthusiasts that are looking to move into marketing, and marketers that are looking to move into blockchain. The skill set required to find success in the blockchain marketing industry varies, but a solid background in either of the aforementioned fields is usually required.

For the tech-inclined, relevant industry experience might include SaaS (Software as a Service) work,  software marketing, or direct experience with blockchain. In terms of marketing, required experience may include conceptualizing and pitching campaigns, strong writing and editing skills, the ability to interpret customer data, or knowledge of SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

The key is being able to identify the intersections between these two fields. For example, how would you do SEO analysis on Brave Browser? How do customer trends in blockchain users differ from the norm? These are the questions facing innovators in the blockchain marketing field.

What kind of jobs are available?

There are blockchain counterparts for most jobs in the digital marketing world, including director, manager, and various specialist positions. Some examples are:

• Product marketing
• Content marketing
• Social media marketing
• Marketing analytics

It’s important to note that these types of marketing roles haven’t changed, they just now apply blockchain technology instead of traditional business tech. This WorldStream article is a great resource for the full range of jobs available to digital marketers, along with the typical skills that they require.

How does one enter the blockchain marketing industry?

Even with many new blockchain startups being created in wake of the “crypto winter,” the small employee populations at these startups don’t generate a huge amount of new job openings. This can make finding opportunities at smaller companies difficult, but far from impossible.

An easier way into this industry is through larger companies that are beginning to dip their toes into the blockchain world. These companies have larger, more robust hiring departments, so most postings are visible on popular career sites. In addition, all corporations require a marketing team, so this is a typically viable area of work. As the trend of larger companies working blockchain into their marketing campaigns continues, there is no better time than now to begin learning about blockchain and how it fits into the ever-applicable world of marketing. Resources to check out if you’re interested in a career in blockchain marketing or other blockchain jobs include LinkedIn, BlockDriven Academy, and Indeed.

Contributing writer: Michael Gallagher – Specialist in all things blockchain. He is a contributing writer at Silicon NYC and a BlockDriven Academy contributing research analyst.

Alexis