How to Create an ICO — Part 3 — Marketing
ICO’s are storming the world of cryptocurrency, every week there is a new Initial Coin Offering that gives investors the opportunity to become involved in the crypto world. But what if you are startup who wants to create an ICO? Don’t worry, here at Crowdholding, we have created a step by step guide on how to create your own ICO so you can also immerse yourself in the growing eco-system of cryptocurrencies.
This step by step guide will break down all the parts that are needed for a Initial Coin Offering. This part will focus on the marketing aspect of an ICO. If you haven’t read our first part you can click here, or find out about how to create a white paper and website by clicking on our second part.
Marketing is a vital tool for any business and this is no different when it comes to ICO’s. Without any marketing input your ICO will not be seen by potential investors which means that you will not reach any of your projected goals, regardless if your concept is solid and you have a great development team behind you. The majority of your marketing will be online due to the fact that you are marketing a digital currency, but there is also some marketing that will take place offline.
Forums
The crypto community is global and so cryptocurrency forums are vital, therefore you need have your project in these forums. It is impossible to estable a strong relationship with your key audience without doing this. In these forums potential investors are able to review, ask questions and debate your project (you will get some bad feedback as well as positive). You are able to dispel any issues they have, showcase your team and communicate with people who are genuinely interested in cryptocurrencies. There are numerous forums each and in a perfect world you would have someone who can oversee them all, but if not we suggest you focus on bitcointalk.
Simply create a thread on the announcement section with images and descriptions of what your project will accomplish, most threads use the images from their website as ICO websites usually contain all the relevant information on their main page. The way the forum works is the most recently active threads go to the first page, so keeping your thread active by responding to questions and showing your progress not only builds a trust but also your thread will get more views.
For an example you can have a look at Crowholding’s thread by clicking here.
Social media / Blog / Messaging apps
Recent studies suggest that around 40% of the world’s population uses some sort of social media, meaning that social media is a huge audience for businesses of all shapes and sizes to tap into. A decent ICO campaign requires administration of a wide variety of social networks (The more networks the better, as you can connect more people). On your social media networks you should cover any news, announcements, appearances at events, blog posts or any important information regarding your ICO. If you wish to attract more people, you can use social media advertising to grow your community. The most important thing is if you start a detailed and strong social media campaign, stick with it.
Creating a blog is also a great tool. It allows you to showcase your ICO, give readers valuable information and insights all while building a relationship. Crowdholding uses Medium as the main blogging platform as it is a great platform, allows users to instantly share your articles and is simple to use, but there are numerous platforms.
The most common messaging apps adopted by ICO’s are Slack and Telegram. These chat apps allow potential investors to communicate with the project founders, team members and other potential investors. It is a great way to answer specific questions from individuals. Because of this, these channels need to be monitored on a regular basis. Not replying to messages will harm your reputation as there could be people guessing information about your project. Use this channel to dispel erroneous claims and create confidence. Everyone likes to be able to speak to the owner of a company, so embrace this.
Public relations (PR) / Events
Advertising for an ICO is not solely online, It is important to cover the ICO campaign in the media as much as possible, this includes a mixture of articles written, interviews and attending events / networking. A PR campaign can take months before you see a tangible impact, so we suggest that you start this process 3 months before the ICO launch. If you do not have 3 months to create working relationships with reporters / bloggers / event cordinantors then cooperating through commercial terms is a viable way.
Going on the road, attending events / presenting at events is also important as it allows people who are interested in the crypto scene to see the visionary / team behind the concept. It is also a great place to meet other startups to collaborate with.
ICO listing websites / bounty campaigns
Because of the boom in ICO’s there has been a sharp increase in the amount of ICO listing websites. These websites list all the upcoming / current / completed ICO’s and can bring a large amount of traffic to your website. Some of these sites are free / low fees to list your ICO. You can also pay to be reviewed on some of these sites. Regardless of your budget, you should consider listing your ICO on as many ICO listing websites as possible. The more websites you are located on, the more likely people are to find your ICO.
Bounty campaigns are also a great way to build a community. The way bounty campaigns work is by offering your token as a reward to people in exchange for various promotional activities, this could be a signature in a cryptocurrency forum to someone writing an article about your ICO. Utilizing bounties can spread your ICO further through people who like your concept. Below is a link to Crowdholding’s bounty campaign, so you can see how a bounty campaign is created.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2097228.40
If you include all these marketing tools into your marketing campaign, then it should boost the amount of potential investors to visit your website, communicate about your ICO and potentially create numerous investments from people who find your project interesting and worthy of venture.
For more information about Crowdholding and our ICO click here or follow us on Facebook or Telegram.
