Carter is no stranger to promoting emerging technology. Before joining Unstoppable Domains, she was an executive at Amazon and IBM, where she helped companies use various cloud-related software tools.

Instead of creating a Web3 strategy, he said companies should spend more time understanding what they want to change for customers. “In an ideal world, we don’t say Web3, we don’t say metaverse, we don’t say those buzzwords, but we’re solving a real customer need.” Carter said.

During the Web Summit technology conference last week, Carter was just one of many technology executives in Lisbon who discussed the various implications and challenges that come with adopting new technologies.

Since early last year, marketers have invested in an ever-widening range of Web3 initiatives. Some brands have released limited, or in some cases extensive, collections of NFTs. Others have built virtual worlds, experimented with using NFTs for other uses such as loyalty programs and “token-controlled trading,” or even opened brick-and-mortar stores. However, the ongoing bear market for cryptocurrency and NFT prices has generated new skepticism despite all the hype.

Abandon the terms and take more time

Some Web3 enthusiasts, both inside and outside of marketing, often express an urgency to get people to adopt everything from NFTs and blockchains to various versions of metaverses. However, some who work in blockchain-based companies say that getting projects up and running can take longer than people think.

“I used to know all the projects that were being built on Ethereum, every single one,” said Amanda Cassatt, co-founder and CEO of Serotonin, a marketing agency for Web3 companies. “Now it’s hard to keep track of everything that’s going on with Web3 because it goes in so many directions. At the end of the day, it’s a substrate and a set of tools to work with rather than a set of expected results, so it’s only natural that it’s going in so many different directions.”

Consumers also don’t need all the technical terms right away if they understand what the technology is used for, according to Jeremiah Owyang, director of marketing for the RLY Network Association. He said marketers often mistakenly view NFT projects as a quick fix, but brands offering digital tokens and other assets need to remember that some people can keep them for a long time.

“They are thinking in terms of short flights and campaigns,” Owyang said of the marketers. “They are not thinking in several years; They don’t know how to support it.”

Owyang and Cassatt said they see some brands realizing that spending so much time building audiences on Facebook and Twitter wasn’t a good investment because they can’t transport those audiences to other platforms. They also think that Web3 companies and those who work with Web3 technologies should not continue to market in the same way that they do with Web2 platforms like Facebook and other social networks.

“We shouldn’t be left to the whim of the billionaires who own our social media data,” Owyang said. “That should be in the hands of the people.”