The Evolving Future of Crypto and NFTs in Facebook Advertising

Facebook is the backbone of many brands’ customer acquisition strategy. After Facebook’s recent regulation change allowing cryptocurrencies to advertise on their platform, marketers are left to wonder what these loosening regulations may mean for the future of Facebook advertising.

Historically, Facebook has not allowed cryptocurrencies to advertise on the platform due to a lack of regulation in the crypto space, but loosened regulations in recent years as the industry has matured. The introduction of NFTs has brought a new kind of tangibility to the crypto space, and Facebook’s new policy opens up a world of opportunity for crypto marketers looking to leverage social media in their customer acquisition strategy.

Retina AI’s CEO Emad Hasan offered his thoughts on the introduction of NFTs, blockchain technologies, and cryptocurrencies into the Facebook advertising space and how it will affect customer acquisition strategy moving forward.

The tangible power of NFTs

“What’s super interesting to me is what NFTs can do,” said Emad. “When you’re selling any kind of merchandise, let’s say you’re selling t-shirts, you can tie an NFT to that. This means that that t-shirt is no longer just one out of 10 million t-shirts that are being sold. You are saying that this t-shirt has some NFT associated with it, which is a unique identifier that makes that individual SKU unique.”

Emad describes the situation using luxury cars as an analogy. High-end cars are associated with a unique production number that identifies where and when they rolled off the production floor and therefore has some inherent value beyond just the market value of a car.

“That is the analogous power of an NFT that is now going to become available to any kind of merchandise being sold anywhere,” said Emad. “That’s the first thing I’m very excited about and interested in.”

“The problem is that in the past you couldn’t advertise this. You couldn’t tell somebody that the t-shirt you’re selling is tied to an NFT and will be very unique… What Facebook just allowed has pretty massive implications for the adoption of blockchain technology as people get more educated,” said Emad. “It’s very clear that it’s going to get a lot of adoption over time as people who are more educated about [blockchain] become the majority of the population. We might not think of it as a big thing now, but four or five years from now, it’s going to be so ubiquitous that we don’t even think about it.”

Cryptocurrency & Facebook

Regarding Facebook’s own cryptocurrency ambitions, Emad offered an honest opinion on their position in the space.

“It’s very clear that Facebook has thrown in the towel when it comes to having their own cryptocurrency and completely independent ecosystem,” said Emad. “They’ve always had a walled garden, and now they’ve basically said [they] want to open [the platform] up to any type of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, which is a really good thing for the whole ecosystem. As I think about the Metaverse and what they’re trying to do there, it sends a signal that they’ll be open to selling NFTs and blockchain technologies, cryptocurrencies of multiple origins and types in the ecosystem.”

The advertising of NFTs on a platform like Facebook offers a new opportunity to level the playing field in the crypto space, allowing people outside of the industry to learn about it and choose how to interact with crypto and NFTs in their day to day lives. Buying a t-shirt associated with a unique NFT from a Facebook ad integrates the technology into daily life, and can turn an impulse purchase into an investment years down the line.

How this affects customer acquisition on Facebook

Marketers relying on Facebook for their customer acquisition strategies are already looking for ways to adapt to a new competitor on the platform.

“In my experience in this field, time spent is the biggest indicator of where ad dollars tend to flow in,” said Emad. “Before Facebook, time spent was mostly on the TV platform. As apps and Facebook and now Instagram have become popular, a lot of time spent has shifted there. You also have TikToks and Snapchats of the world making quite a bit of inroads into the discovery platforms. So when it comes to discovery-based buying, not intent-based, such as Google or Amazon, you should follow time spent to see where most of [your] ad buying [should] be happening.”

Emad emphasizes the importance of understanding that Facebook has control over ad load. They have control over what turns into ads on their platform and therefore have the ultimate say over their supply of ad slots and what actually turns into an ad. Knowing that time spent is crucial in successful customer acquisition strategies, Emad advises marketers in the crypto space to consider other platforms, including Reddit, TikTok, and Snapchat to appeal to customers wherever they spend their time.

This time in the crypto and blockchain space is interesting because of the opportunity it creates in the wider world of eCommerce. The possibility for tangible products in the blockchain world beyond typical cryptocurrency creates new appeal for audiences previously uninterested in a product that can often feel abstract.

“I have a feeling there’s going to be a combination of crypto assets tied to branding teams, technologies, or agencies that are able to build… value,” said Emad. “None of these crypto assets have a ton of value until other people value them. You create value by creating a brand around it… We don’t know the answers yet, but I think it’ll be interesting to observe how crypto assets get branded and how brand value creation happens around them.”

Though the future of the crypto advertising space on Facebook remains unknown, predictive analytics like CLV help to provide crucial context about your customers and how they evolve throughout their relationship with your brand.

Retina’s CLV Academy provides you with a crash course in all things Customer Lifetime Value, including how to calculate it for your business and how it can be used to optimize your current marketing and retention strategies. To learn more about how CLV can improve your business, talk to one of our experts today!