User Unique Identification

I would argue that Identity is a major driver in the evolution of business-critical decisions. With the social media landscape reshaping, the crazy crypto race, and artificial intelligence moving into the spotlight, I would like to dissect the key role digital identification has on the customer experience. People identify via culture, abilities, faith, citizenship, gender, vocation, community, and more. However, people don’t simply identify as one thing and our identifiers come in a variety of formats. How we define customers as a dataset is what I would like to explore here. 

Currently, social platforms are free and accessible globally. While governments may restrict, monitor, and possibly ban these mediums, we already know that users and followers have the power to negatively and positively impact our sales and even promote dangerous false narratives. That said, Web3 and Augmented Reality are here to decentralize the Internet. The purpose is to put more control in the user's hands. Social media granted people the power to create virtual communities. The result brought quantifiable data and platforms for influencers with user-generated content. What impact will decentralization have on customer reach and behavior if we are pulled apart? How will this decentralization transform the buyer journey?

The customer dictates strategy. Brands hopefully understand their consumer's journey and are paying close attention to the impact the decentralization of the web is having on content consumption. As we obtain new customers and retain existing ones, the data set we use to identify our users could be the key to understanding the customer experience.  

Speaking of Web3, Crypto is in a tailspin. We could agree that cashless payments will not disappear and digital rewards have become commonplace. The players who will win the crypto wars might be the ones that have carefully thought about a dataset designed to protect both the user and the brand. How do we prove a digital purchase, differentiate one user from another and prove ownership in a digital universe? We can validate the monetization of digital content, but we still need to prove the unique user and ownership.

In the world of digital asset management, there is a unique identifier. If there is strategic thinking behind that unique identification, there could be an identification system more important than the buyer persona. Whereas a buyer persona focuses on the needs and desires of the customer, I propose we consider a strategy to define customers via a multitude of factors and follow the customer by a chosen dataset. These factors could include bank location, citizenship, property location, and specific device. Are there identifiers that apply to a digital nomad, a business traveler, or a family? Let’s say I live in a van and all my entertainment is viewed on my laptop. I have bank accounts in more than one country. What factors would should we consider that will identify me as a trackable asset? Would I have to be considered multiple customers? What if am part of a household with multiple screens? Can we follow the user experience by actual user?

There are great identifiers that may be considered metadata for the entity as a trackable asset. If a business only sees me as an email address, I could share my access, move, or have my identity stolen. Users bypass firewalls. Digital predators are actively seeking new victims. With so much concern for privacy and safety, it makes sense to focus on defining individuals as we would a digital asset. Is there a digital strategy that will protect both customers and brands as our business models evolve in this tumultuous landscape we refer to as simply doing business?