Black Friday + Blockchain: How Your Company Can Capitalize Too

So look, I get it — Black Friday is not the first thing you think of when we talk about blockchain projects. Black Friday is associated with long lines, big bargains, and taking two televisions to the register because they are the same price as buying one. It is a time of year that brings out the ferocity in people, but a ferocity to spend money on new and interesting finds, and that often translates to innovative tech.

Now cryptocurrency and blockchain companies offer just that: innovative tech, so why can’t Black Friday and Blockchain go together like Spongebob and Patrick, peanut butter and jelly, or online shopping and discount codes? They can, because like it or not, Black Friday through Cyber Monday continues to drive sales through the roof. In 2016, $12.8 billion was spent online by consumers in the United States alone, and it is time blockchain brands introduce themselves as a worthy investment of some of those dollars.

In 2017, with the price of Bitcoin (BTC) beginning its astronomical rise, hitting $9,000 around Thanksgiving — Coinbase saw an increase over the Black Friday weekend of 100,000 accounts, according to public data available on Coinbase’s website

This is retail driven growth

What happened to Coinbase last year was proof that retail driven growth can absolutely occur in the cryptocurrency world. The question that you got to ask yourself is, are you focusing your products and services on retail consumers? You should be (it was a trick question). It is no secret that Black Friday’s whole bag-of-tricks with dangerous crowds, opening on Thanksgiving Day, and all-around becoming a headache for shoppers and families alike. However, this has allowed for a tremendous public relations opportunity to blossom through internet-based shopping. With some of the best PR campaigns around Black Friday coming from companies promoting Giving Back through giving into your better devils to shop. Companies like Patagonia are utilizing social media campaigns geared towards using Black Friday sales to give back to causes held close by their consumers. Driving growth in this way is a great way for blockchain companies to introduce there products and services to new customers.

How does blockchain appeal though

More than 174 million Americans took part in the online shopping frenzy from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday in 2018, according to the National Retail Federation. This beat the earlier prediction of 164 million shoppers previously stated by the federation before the holiday season. That means there is room for blockchain and cryptocurrency innovations to carve out a notch in the market.

The biggest question you are probably asking is the how of it all, because maybe your business is in trading tokens and not a wallet platform, or maybe you are offering a mining service that is really hard to pitch as a gift-able item. In that case, I would like to share with you some great examples of companies in the blockchain segment that can creatively take advantage of Black Friday feelings of giving.

Terra Virtua is a unique virtual platform, focusing entirely on immersive VR entertainment, built around a strong community and social connection. Supported by developers, run by industry leaders and secured by blockchain, Terra Virtua is the platform for the next generation and dimension in entertainment and engagement, and that is all incredibly awesome and exciting for people who get it, but for those who do not — well this all just too much and never mind. Instead, let’s niche down what we are trying to talk about when we are promoting our innovations to retail consumers, so substitute the grand design for something specific and tangible that it can do for people. In a more specific use case, Terra Virtua allows items created and exchanged through the WAX blockchain to be viewed and exchanged inside the VR platform. This makes gifting in-game items for some of your friends and families favorite video games an actual, tangible experience. Shopping through blockchain innovations for others has great potential to merge the experience of Black Friday with the comfort of your own home.

Celsius Network just began offering what they call CelPay™ which allows you to instantly send your friends digital assets directly and incredibly simply, for free. Essentially, you can finally pay them back for that coffee and bring them onto the blockchain at the same time. Personally, I’ve begun replacing any gift card giving with a quick CelPay for birthdays, as it’s a great way to offer a thoughtful gift that really intrigues someone while making them feel they have been safely initiated into a world that, let’s face it, most people wish someone would hold their hand and introduce them to anyways.

So what should we do

Consider the Whole User Experience.

You’ve shopped for a good deal in a busy department store before and I know you have at least once caught yourself mindlessly browsing Amazon. It happens. So use that to step into the mindset of someone shopping that may stumble upon your channels, and you will see how important it is to get those communications right. Think about what you read when browsing stores and social media feeds, think about what you tune out. Get in touch with your own inner shopper, meditate on it, and then chant that right back out into some great campaigns for Black Friday.

Don’t Be Afraid to Market to Someone New.

This is not a chance to reframe your pitch to the same targeted audience you have been trying to attract all year long to this point. No, instead this is a chance to experiment, test, and try to find a few someone news. Pick a new demographic or two and market your innovations towards them. It does not only have the potential to open funnels you never knew existed, but it is also a great way for public relations and marketing teams to pallet cleanse after spending all year thinking narrowly into your primary demos. Growth hacking and blockchain go hand-in-hand, so do not forget that this means you have to unlock new doors once in a while, even if they lead to the occasional dead end.

Don’t Sweat the Big Stuff.

We always talk about not sweating the small stuff in marketing and public relations — especially on the fast-paced cycles of social media and digital campaigns. It’s all A/B test, read the reports, rinse, and repeat. However, let your Black Friday strategies be about the small stuff, and instead ignore the big stuff for a change. In an industry as ripe in innovation and potential, like blockchain is — it can be difficult to keep our heads out of the clouds, but if you can talk about the small gains, especially the tangible ones (like in the case of Terra Virtua) then that is when real consideration is given by potential retail-minded consumers.

Conclusion

There is a real public relations opportunity here for blockchain and cryptocurrency brands to step in and really connect with some new people in low-cost, low-risk ways, and for the average person that can make all the difference in choosing to adopt or not. Throwing money into advertising does next to nothing for you and your tech, if you are not focusing first on the lower-cost public relations strategies that only ask you to think and communicate with consumers. And the things that will make them ring is the crypto that you send right to their own front door.

Got a PR New Years Resolution?

Space Made Media is a Public Relations and Communications Agency uber passionate about helping blockchain and emerging tech enterprises and startups tell their stories to broader audiences.

If you think your company should be heard, email us at hello@spacemademedia.com and set-up a consultation to see how we can partner with you to make 2019 your biggest year yet!