Running Marketing Strategy On A Budget, The Blockchain Edition
There are several approaches you can take with your token distribution. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. In order to an effective token marketing strategy, let me breakdown the the story of ICOs, tokens and their general purpose first.
What Are Tokens?
To put it as simply as possible, tokens represent a certain asset (or utility) frequently placed on top of another blockchain. Tokens are also tradable assets — they can be commodities and loyalty points, and even various cryptocurrencies. The thing to remember about tokens is that they are easier to create and manage, because you are not obliged to create a blockchain from scratch.
You simply follow a typical template on the blockchain (say Ethereum), which consequently gives you the opportunity to make your tokens. Creating tokens is accomplished via smart contracts. Just in case you’re wondering, smart contracts are actually self-executing programmable computer codes, which do not require third-parties in order to work.
Tokens and ICOs
That’s right, you are able to create and distribute your own tokens through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). This is achieved via crowdfunding and by releasing a brand new cryptocurrency or token so project development can be funded.
Token Marketing Strategy for Crypto Startups
When crypto startups dive into the rich cryptocurrency market, token and product development are the very first steps that need to be taken. The very next challenge every rising crypto enthusiast then faces is how to make the sale? As with most situations in the B2B landscape, it’s practically the same in the cryptocurrency market. You turn to marketing.
While you need to invest both time and money, of course, it boils down to nailing your token marketing technique. This is vital for any blockchain-fueled project. Without an effective token marketing set up, you’re far less likely to achieve profit of any kind. So, without much further ado, let’s see what you need in order to make that happen.
ICO Marketing & Content Strategy
The cryptocurrency and ICO marketing scene is becoming crammed with more and more competition. In 2018 there has already been well over 1100 ICO launches, which implies that some of the more traditional marketing methods need to be more aggressive so to speak in order to achieve visibility in the ICO and crypto realm.
First thing’s first, you need to focus on making some sort of mark through blog posting. For these purposes you can resort to using Medium or Steemit. The more you get creative with your words and articles, the more you’ll get noticed. Remember, it isn’t strictly about punching those keywords and than spamming the hell out of them. It’s more about expressing your thoughts that support your idea and project in a creative way. Much like any other community, cryptocurrency has its own niche audience, so you’re best bet is to stick with crypto-oriented publications and tech-flavored sites and blogs.
MARKETING CHANNELS: Website, SocialMedia (Tw, FB, Insta, Linkedin), Chats (Telegram, Slack,Messenger), Personal Profiles (Linkedin, Fb, Tw), Email (Newsletter, email campaign, cold email), Youtube (live/promo/how to), Blogs (Token, ICO, Crypto), Blog (website, medium, linkedin articles), News & PresReleasses etc.
As of late, Medium has become one of the best sources for such content, especially for the crypto community. What’s really cool is that Medium makes it easier for you to nail just the right niche audience you have been looking for. Steemit is also a good place to start promoting your ICO endeavors. With Steemit and Medium you instantly get to see if your content gets any traction. Both online platforms feature clapping, upvoting and so on. It is an awesome way of firing up your very own marketing tactics with hot content, and then getting the necessary metrics immediately to determine whether it’s effective or not.
Important note: In order to make an impact on platforms such as Medium and Steemit, you need high quality written content and for that you should seek experienced writers and professional copywriters. Knowledge of cryptocurrency and blockchain is practically a necessity in order to fine-tune the content on the technical side of things.
ICO Community and Social Media Management
Fighting to get your brand or product out there in this day and age is a tough as it gets. Social media management is an obligatory step. You also need to take a headfirst dive into the vibrant cryptocurrency community to get your ICO or STO on the map. A majority of the crypto audience is very well-informed and it’s growing by the day, so in order to get some results you have to stay on top of things and you have to know your stuff when it comes to crypto-related topics. Eventually, you’ll gain trust from the audience. Here’s a list of social network sites and social media platforms that are an absolute must if you’re looking to tap into the cryptocurrency community (or indeed any community):
- Reddit: Even after all these years, Reddit is still an extremely effective way of getting in touch with an audience. It’s a huge pool of various communities and the crypto community is in there. You need to join up, and start debating, discussing and sharing your ideas. Your best bet for success on this platform is to think as the average user, and be one of them. If you automatically present your product, people will sniff you out and you will most likely be banned. Those are just the rules of the game here.
- Quora: Get engaged in Quora discussions and answers. Send questions of your own and try to answer as many as you can. It’s a great way to get going on any ICO topic.
- YouTube Channels and Vids: YouTube is still the number one platform for relevant content, which, of course, is public and free. What’s more, a great number of channels and videos now promote and educate on all matters that concern Blockchain, ICO/STO, cryptocurrency, crypto mining and so on.
- Instagram: Preferably, Instagram is better suited to follow or get in touch with personalities, rather than promoting ICOs and crypto. Still, if you play your cards right, this can be a great way to get in touch with key people from the crypto scene.
- Forums: Not just any online forum. It’s wise to check out specific tech or blockchain forums or indeed forums that are related to specific cryptocurrencies. To kick off, you can try Bitcointalk.org, Cryptocurrencytalk, Stack Exchange, Cryptocompare.com, LitecoinTalk all of which are awesome to stay in touch with your ICO/crypto news and it’s a great way to expose your own for your ICO.
- Facebook groups: With Facebook it’s important to nail particular groups, those that often cover topics like ICOs, blockchain technology, and cryptocurrencies.
- LinkedIn Groups: LinkedIn groups are also the place to be. You should know that Some of these groups consist of well over 10,000 members, so it’s wise to try and tap into as many of those as you can. Just apply and wait to join a group. This is simply one of the best ways to connect with some of the key people of the crypto community.
Pre-ICO Bounty Programs
This is the last piece of the puzzle and a pretty simple one. The bounty programs are actually carried out prior to the ICO. Bounties can be described as reward systems given by companies to individuals. So, when a company offers a product they also give rewards to people after they’ve accomplished certain tasks. It is also quite an effective way of advertising for numerous businesses.
The Pre-ICO bounty programs are also a terrific way to gain some traction for certain cryptocurrency projects to make an impact via on social media platforms. In other words, it kick starts the word-of-mouth. I’ve already mentioned forums such as Bitcointalk and Bitcointalk Signature Bounties are extremely popular these days for a variety of ICOs. Everyone at the Bitcointalk forum can take part. The ICO simply issues a signature with an embedded code. After that, participants gain ranking, which then shows how many number stakes they receive.
So…
With few certain specifics applicable only for ICO/token environment (like bounty program) a digital marketing strategy or better yet footprint does not differ much from the approach in most B2B oriented industries.
I guess a question we all are facing right now is rather is ICOs/tokens/blockchain worth investing your time and $$$ rather than how. With a couple of hard months behind us the future has never been this much uncertain.
At least these tips/tricks/suggestions can be applied on any business :-)
