3.The impact of blockchain technology on marketing

Marketing is an event that we often experience in our daily work and life. As a producer of products or services, we need to pass on relevant information to the final customer or client. Some non-productive institutions and units also have the need to disseminate information. In this article, we do not differentiate between these scenarios and use marketing as the main content of the explanation. Because email is a means of contact between people in the real world, it is natural that this method of contact is often used for marketing purposes.

3.1. History and Problems of Email Marketing

Email marketing is a method that uses email to deliver commercial information or other information that needs to be broadcast. When it comes to email marketing, many people's first reaction is spam. The so-called spam refers to any email that is forcibly sent to a user's mailbox without the user's permission (and has nothing to do with the user). Several main characteristics of spam are: no consent to receive; unable to reject (or difficult to reject); hiding key information; false information; harmful information; worthless information.

Problems with current email marketing: (1) When the email is spam, users cannot reject it, or it is difficult to reject it; (2) Benefit distribution issues. In current email marketing, only the sender shares the benefits. For service providers that provide email services, the recipients have a key role in the lack of benefits. Web3.0 provides several new capabilities: value redistribution, economic incentives and punishment, and user identity and reputation. These capabilities provide a new support foundation for email marketing, which can remove malicious marketing and inefficient marketing in Web 2.0 and enpower Web 3.0 email marketing.

The value redistribution capability provided by blockchain technology can be based on the value redistribution of mail certificates, allowing key stakeholders to receive due value compensation. These interested parties include: advertisers, email senders, email receiving service providers, and email recipients. The email marketing system transformed through value redistribution capabilities will make it easier to balance each stakeholder in the email marketing process, and combined with the economic model capabilities mentioned below, the effect will be better.

The economic incentive capabilities (rewards and penalties) provided by blockchain technology can also help end users refuse to receive emails they do not want to receive. For senders who break the rules, not only can they be financially punished, but their credibility can also be evaluated. This aspect can be achieved through the cooperation of the MMS protocol introduced earlier and the new function mailbox.

The user's identity and reputation make the target characteristics of marketing clearer and more precise. From a business perspective, the functions such as NFT and SBT we introduced are label classifications for users, which can more accurately distinguish user characteristics. The token system also has the limitations and constraints of the economic model, so that commercial users cannot abuse these rules, otherwise they will be economically punished or have their reputation diminished.

With these new features, the DSP system and EDM system in traditional email marketing can be upgraded to integrate the economic system of the blockchain and related value redistribution capabilities, which will not only eliminate the email marketing problems in the Web2.0, but also can The new capabilities provided by the blockchain further enhance the marketing effect. In the new marketing system, user behavior and user history consumption can be better managed through the user's Web3.0 identity, so that customers can be served accurately.

3.2. xFT gives emails multiple meanings and marketing value

Web3.0 is the advent of a new era, in which FT , NFT , and SFT are the three basic elements that constitute the Web3.0 world. These three basic elements have a variety of value attributes and application attributes and can be used in marketing scenarios. FT has been used in scenarios such as gifts, airdrops, and rewards. NFT digital commodities have the characteristics of uniqueness, non-replicability, and stored value. As a unique digital commodity, its value has been demonstrated on NFT trading platforms such as Opensea. With development, digital IP carriers as physical objects have become a marketing method in this new era and are favored by well-known brands. Some well-known brands, such as Nike and Adidas, use NFT digital goods to not only attract loyal fans but also create new revenue streams.

Many items in the real world not only have physical value, but also have IP attributes. The digital carriers and values of these IP attributes have a very broad market space. Across the world, developing digital carriers of physical objects and culture and demonstrating the value of digital carriers is a digital market parallel to the physical market. Email in the Web3.0 can serve as the identity carrier and communication carrier of these digital goods.

In the vertical field of email, not only can traditional FT be used as a marketing medium for communication (that is, the value redistribution model mentioned earlier), but various NFTs can also be used as marketing media. Especially in the specific field of mail, there are many digital items that can be applied, such as digital stamps. Traditional paper stamps were produced in the 17th century and have not disappeared to this day. With the development of information technology, paper stamps have almost lost their application value. In addition to paying for mail, the original stamps also have many other types of stamps, such as commemorative stamps, special stamps, welfare stamps, military stamps, exchange stamps, etc. These stamps have specific application scenarios and cultural meanings.

Can the various functions and cultural meanings of traditional stamps continue into the Web3.0? Can those beautifully designed stamps and mail messages rich in history and customs be given new vitality in the Web3.0 era? From the most basic perspective, using those NFTs that have proven valuable as stamps and passing them among friends can also give emails a new feel and expand the user base in the current Web3.0 world. In addition to real-world gifts, these items in digital form are also suitable for mass use and satisfy people's spiritual needs. Allowing individuals to mint various forms of NFT and pass them among friends as stamps also meets the different needs of different users.

In addition to the first generation of NFT represented by PFP (Profile Picture), the next generation of programmable NFT will also give stamps more functions. The combination of TBA accounts and programmable smart contracts brought by ERC6551 can almost expand the use of digital stamps to unlimited extents.

In addition to digital stamps, other digital goods can also be used and delivered in the mail. Such as digital avatars, amulets, lucky cards, digital tickets and other NFT products. These digital goods not only have usage scenarios but also have transaction value. The xFT trading market introduced later is a service platform to further discover the value of these digital goods. Usage scenarios: Setting up NFT avatars for email accounts, affixing stamps to emails, giving away amulets, lucky cards and other social functions, and exploring application functions such as digital tickets. The exploration of these product functions has been initially tested in MiYou email client, MiYou market, and MiYou DM.

The stakeholders and explorable business models in these application areas will be explained in the email ecosystem.

3.3. xFT Marketplace

In the previous part, we discussed the use scenarios of xFT. These belong to their application value. On top of this, a trading market is needed to realize its commodity value. The items traded include not only the digital stamps, digital avatars, amulets, lucky cards and other NFT products mentioned above, but also include account products such as Web3 names, as well as other products that can be produced in the field of electronic stamps.

In summary, numerous FTs and NFTs have been produced in the email field, so a trading market is needed to meet users' trading needs. Although some NFT trading markets currently on the market can complete the trading functions of many digital goods, the trading of digital goods in the vertical field of email still requires a dedicated trading market.

The goods traded can come from multiple blockchain systems, which not only promotes competition, but also provides liquidity for all goods related to the email ecosystem in the industry and promotes the development of the email ecosystem. This requires that the digital commodity market built must support not only its own blockchain system, but also popular public chains such as Ethereum. Mail-related products in other public chains have gradually emerged, such as Web3 names. Almost every public chain has implemented its own name system. Ethereum has ENS and BSC has SpaceID. These name systems can configure the mail service MMS and also Can be placed on the trading platform to allow users who prefer different names to get the ideal Web3 name. The transaction demand for Web3.0 names will have a broader market than the domain name transactions in Web2.0.

We have begun to explore and experiment in this field. Related products include MiYou Market (serving users in mainland China) and MiYou DM (serving international users).

Regarding the stakeholders and business model of the trading platform, explanations are provided in the email ecosystem.

3.4. Email subscription and knowledge payment based on on-chain relationships

Based on the information transmission method of email, we can also form a more decentralized information subscription method that reflects the user's wishes. Such email subscriptions can be used in traditional marketing subscription scenarios, as well as in information subscription scenarios where payment for knowledge is required.

Compared with traditional email subscriptions, these email subscriptions based on on-chain relationships truly embody the core essence of Web3.0 applications. First of all, in a user-centered subscription relationship, users can confirm their participation in the subscription and cancel the subscription relationship themselves. Behaviors that are not confirmed by the user cannot be performed. Secondly, by designing economic incentive rules in subscription, the subscription behavior can not only satisfy personal interests and group interests, but also form incentive compatibility of the subscription relationship. Finally, by integrating smart contract functions into email subscriptions, email subscriptions can not only realize the transmission of information and value, but also form governance capabilities based on code rules.

For email subscriptions used in marketing scenarios, the subscription service provider can use traditional methods to attract users to subscribe through content, and can also further motivate users to subscribe by rewarding FT and NFT in the email, and can complete further steps in the subscription email. Operations, such as purchasing goods and services. And more Web3.0 scenarios can be added, such as by limiting participation to only users who own certain NFT assets, or classifying users based on different NFT combinations.

For knowledge payment email subscriptions, the subscription service provider can not only complete the distribution of the content, but also complete the knowledge payment for the content simultaneously. These payment rules can be defined in smart contracts to complete the payment sharing and guarantee functions for platform service providers, knowledge bloggers and other stakeholders. Due to characteristics such as information encryption, peer-to-peer content delivery, and non-currency payment, paid subscriptions may cause problems such as the need for review and supervision.

For marketing subscriptions and paid knowledge subscriptions, we have developed a basic email subscription system and are currently exploring it.