Nikolas Sargeant
Blockchain has evolved from a fledgling technology wrapped in mystery, to an innovation poised to disrupt entire industries. However, projects in the space have not adapted their marketing strategy accordingly – for most, their marketing compass still points to Web2 North. As many have learned the hard way, if you lean too heavily on timeworn tactics like search, display ads, and outbound sales funnels, adoption flatlines faster than post-ICO token prices.
To thrive in this decentralized future, a new map is needed, one that responds to how people now discover, evaluate, and integrate new technologies. Key values to remember when optimizing a marketing strategy for Web3 include authentic community engagement, conversation participation, intelligent opportunism, and nurturing from within.
Straying off the edge of this map will lead to accusations of undue hype, hostility from early crowds, and the deafening silence of an empty Telegram channel. However, following it will reveal a landscape bursting with evangelists eager to get the word out, influencers looking to align, and users ready to take your project on a test drive.
Why The Old Marketing Playbook is Outdated
For a long time, driving awareness and interest meant a combination of interruptive ads, content blasts, and cold calls. Marketers relied on buying display and search ads, sending one-too-many emails, and purchasing lists of prospects to pepper with pitches.
But in an economy of information overload and banner blindness, these tactics simply don’t cut it anymore. Today's consumers give their attention to brands that inform and engage rather than peddle and push.
Decentralization demands more grassroots and community-led strategies. Tactics that resonate with an aligned audience, rather than get in front of as many eyeballs as possible. This means participating in conversations where people organically organize and discuss topics related to your product. It requires delivering value without always pointing back to your own offering.
Most importantly, it means enabling people to interact with your product and company in transparent and consistent ways, which build authenticity and trust over time through shared experiences.
Building a Robust Blockchain Marketing Strategy
Clearly, when it comes to promoting a blockchain product, you’ve got to shake things up from traditional top-down marketing. Decentralized technology requires building a blockchain marketing strategy centered on grassroots communities. Let's explore how best to get the word out.
Start by Establishing Trust & Credibility
You can't fake trust here - people see through hype and empty promises. These audiences need solid proof and tangible examples that your solution actually works, before even considering adoption.
Show real use cases and testimonials of how you've already helped struggling users solve specific pain points and frustrations. Let early testers openly share their first-hand experiences - good and bad. Quickly address any issues head-on and take full accountability when things go wrong (which they inevitably will). Enabling uncensored public reviews highlights legit user stories, warts and all.
Tap Into Grassroots Communities
Finding where your crypto crowds hang out takes some persistent digging - scour their forums, subreddits, Discord servers, Telegram groups, etc. Before barging in yourself, take time to listen and understand the culture and vibe of each unique community. Organically join the conversation if you can meaningfully improve it with your expertise and insights.
Over time, share relevant content without constantly pitching your product. When impressed members eventually reach out, support them to become advocates and brand ambassadors. Give these advocates insider access, ownership, and autonomy, in order to strengthen their commitment to your brand.
Leverage Omnichannel Outreach
Employing a diverse mixture of both old school and new digital channels expands your marketing reach. Jump on Clubhouse, guest on popular blockchain podcasts, or run AMAs on platforms where your niche congregates.
Create thoughtful long-form content on Medium, and multimedia snippets tailored for platforms frequented by crypto fans. You can even strategically partner with aligned influencers and industry experts to cocreate co-branded content - just make sure to vet thoroughly anyone you closely associate with, to avoid permanently tarnishing your reputation.
Incentivize With Cryptocurrency Rewards
In the crypto space, financial incentives speak loudly. Generously reward early adopters with crypto perks or airdrops for actively promoting your product - tokens for writing glowing reviews, referring friends, providing constructive feedback, rigorously testing product features, and more.
Consider implementing a tiered bounty ambassador program, which increases rewards for top advocates who produce more verifiable sales referrals and high-quality user-generated content. Gamifying ambassadorship incentivizes higher engagement while organically circulating your currency (if you have one).
Highlight Values Alignment
Effectively highlighting ideological alignment with the values underpinning crypto culture will attract the right target enthusiasts. These include decentralization, trustlessness, transparency, financial access, and inclusion for all (you know the drill).
Clearly demonstrate, with real examples, how your specific product technology and overarching mission directly aligns with these core crypto beliefs. Creatively craft messaging anchored around showcasing your shared values, like democratization, elimination of rent-seeking intermediaries and gatekeepers, enabling greater connectedness, and community ownership.
Values-based marketing authentically appeals to and brings in passionate users who are excited about realizing the utopian societal change promised by blockchain innovations.
The New Marketing Map
The decentralized frontier is here, reshaping how products resonate and relationships form. Projects hoping to thrive rather than fade need to embrace community-led growth, insight-driven engagement, and value-rooted advocacy. These core pillars can guide any blockchain startup to fully realize their transformative potential ahead.
Ultimately, projects that authentically co-create with their grassroots communities will go further together. This new paradigm offers an opportunity to develop technology shaped by shared values and inclusive collaboration. Now it’s up to leaders to steward projects guided by this new map, for the benefit of all contributors.
