Is your business ready for web 3.0?

Web 3.0 is about to revolutionise the way businesses operate online: enabling new offering different monetisation opportunities. Up until now the internet has been centralised – Web 2.0 has been all about control by the big tech corporations (think Apple, Meta, Google, TikTok, Twitter and so on). These tech giants have had all the control in their hands – they have had the capability to delete users’ content without warning sometimes, and introduce new rules to how users engage with a particular app. They have been able to collect data and use it to create advertising spend – the monetisation coming not from the choice of users to spend but from putting unwanted ads in users’ way.

Now, Web 3.0 is here to offer an iteration of what we already have, but this development is going to put more control into consumers’ hands where they, until now, have been passive. For businesses across many sectors, this is an incredibly exciting area to develop.

However, while Web 3.0 will give the power back to the consumer the question to ask is whether your business is ready for a move which will decentralise the system?

Here are four key questions about Web 3.0 which will help business leaders prepare for the next evolution of the internet as we know it:

1. How do you achieve interoperability in Web 3.0?

Achieving interoperability in Web 3.0, as a digital business, is about introducing a common standardised ownership model that digital platforms such as websites and apps can enable. This allows users to bring their personalities and owned digital belongings into a variety of different platforms, seamlessly.

The perceived wisdom among technology companies now is that it may be five to 10 years before these kinds of standard login methods are routine and commonplace – but Web 3.0 is a start. Existing tech companies, governments and decentralised organisations that are leading the way in Web 3.0 will need to sit down together and establish how it will work. And there are certain newcomer Web 3.0 native businesses that they can look to. Businesses such as Decentraland are likely to lead the way here.

The other consideration for enabling interoperability is around assets that are bought virtually. When someone has invested in owning virtual goods – owning them so they can sell them on, not just ‘renting’ them – it tells people a lot about their online persona. Consumers want to be able to display who they are and what belongs to them, across multiple online platforms.

The Web 2.0 equivalent would have been social sign-ons – for example, logging in with Facebook on different websites which brings over profile pictures and one’s network so Facebook friends can be invited to a new platform. With Web 3.0 this would be taking a digital wallet with cryptocurrency to spend, NFTs to potentially sell and a 3D customised avatar to display. The user finds these platforms interoperable and can use them to their benefit and enjoy a positive online experience.

1. How should a business manage user data in Web 3.0?

Data, and the use of it, is a big focus in Web 3.0. The principle of Web 3.0 when it comes to data is that it is no longer about monetising people’s eyeballs by showing them adverts of things they might like to purchase – it’s about giving consumers control. Consumers will have more power over their data and how it’s used. Control over what businesses know about their browsing and spending preferences, and that revenue in Web 3.0 is more driven by people able to purchase things and sell them on.

Tech businesses, like ours, that really have a community and give that community control of their data and how it’s used, in a friendly and easy-to-use way, are likely to accelerate ahead of rivals who fudge how data is collected, still trying to monetise with adverts, or at least having that option.

Consumers will see through that so businesses must adapt to how they manage the user data they have access to.

1. What are the key considerations for app development in Web 3.0?

For centralised companies with advertising, affiliate marketing or ecommerce revenue models using fiat currencies, to incorporate interoperable logins, enable users to buy and sell things using cryptocurrencies and record everything on the Blockchain, all while making the experience seamless and well-supported for users, is no easy task.

It’s a big shift, and in Darwinian terms, those best at adapting are most likely to survive and thrive in the decade ahead. From the perspective of us at WOLF, our goal is to listen to our community as much as possible, to understand how they want take control of the festival experience that we offer, to own as much of it as possible and then we must deliver on that and offer different ways for event creators and producers to make money from it themselves.

1. What will change about how businesses make money in Web 3.0?

This is all about platforms and users teaming up to create valuable experiences together, wherein they can mutually generate revenue.

The creative economy will continue to grow, with people making money from online activities as both a side-hustle and increasingly as a main source of income. Web 3.0 is already allowing people to buy virtual properties or artworks, let them appreciate and then sell them on for a profit.

If we use WOLF as an example. Web 3.0 allows mutual money-making by providing innovative experiences that consumers love and value while building in a variety of ways for those users to access and interact that require spending money.

The platform makes money this way – and community members acting as producers of these experiences will also be able to share in the money-making too. Amazing new experiences in mobile apps, websites and VR and AR that really entertain people and have them talking about it will drive enough value to have people spending money in the future.

While making money is of course important, from the users’ perspective it’s about a lot more than just that, so businesses must always remember that. There’s a degree of pure enjoyment of using cool technology. For us, it’s about our community getting instant gratification from live audiences and getting feelings of self-confidence and self-esteem from being recognised and respected by their peers.

Web 3.0 is an exciting evolution and it’s time to start thinking about your customers and your business can adapt and benefit.