Marketing is a crucial part of any successful business endeavor — arguably even more so when it comes to crypto projects. Gleb Raskin, the co-founder of Gx0 agency, shares his valuable insights in our incredibly in-depth new interview.
Gleb, please tell our readers about Gx0 — how did you come up with the idea for the agency? What kind of projects does it specialize in?
Gx0 is a boutique partner agency that has evolved from a startup-oriented agency into a niche one during the boom of crypto project ICOs. The company has three founders: Gleb, Andrey and Alex.
It is usually a long journey to create something completely new and exciting. And we have a number of differences from the multitude of other agencies in this market.
First of all, there were “agencies” that literally came out of the blue during the boom period and attracted the adventuresome crowd, usually not in the best sense of the word. These agencies appeared because they heard of the growing market and then faded away when the boom ended.
Secondly, there were agencies that were engaged in absolutely traditional, classic projects with big brands and played according to certain standard rules — and at the time of the ICO boom, they realized that they could just venture into this new niche while there was money to be made. As soon as they decided that the crypto winter has started, these large agencies fled.
Finally, there we were — as an agency that was engaged in completely non-standard projects — niche, startups — well before 2017. We were attracted by the unique, non-typical tasks and completely new international products. We also did a lot of advertising campaigns through standard media such as Facebook, Google as well as niche crypto-oriented networks. At the same time, we met another one of our partners, an entrepreneur with a deep understanding of both financial products and marketing. He had just left one of the top agencies working with blockchain projects. Since we entered the boom period already having experience working with startups and being used to act not just as an agency, but rather as an outsourced marketing department, we managed to not only survive the crypto winter but also expand our staff and portfolio. Gx0 is created at the crossroads of extensive experience working with the traditional business as well as with FinTech, gaming and blockchain startups. It covers three pillars of our business: strategic unit, creative digital marketing and work with venture capital funds (preparing startups, creating pitch decks, attending conferences and private events, organizing roadshows and meetings with funds). Almost 40% of the time, people from our team are on business trips abroad.
Which Gx0 projects are you especially proud of?
We have completed dozens of projects in providing traffic targeted at crypto investors and users. Among them was a large mining project in Central Asia, for which we, through joint efforts with the project team, raised more than $8 million — exclusively through digital channels! Without a single fund or check from a private investor! Community, advertising and an easy-to-understand good product did the trick.
There was a project that we helped to package and develop a fundraising strategy. It was subsequently acquisitioned along with the whole team and became a part of a large Korean company.
There were also many blockchain-based gaming projects where great motivation mechanisms were implemented and the right promotion channels were chosen — as a result, the cost-per-user was only $ 0.42!
How the marketing campaigns for blockchain and crypto projects are different from those in other industries?
First of all, it is much more difficult to apply traditional advertising tools — you are always at risk of getting an advertising ban. And then you will be forced to use “gray” methods to search for users or investors.
At the same time, the demand for marketing services in this industry is higher than in traditional business areas. But a lot of work is required on due diligence of the projects: you need to study the founder and the team, its product and its niche. It often happens that we simply refuse, despite the proposed paycheck. There are a lot of adventuresome sorts (in the bad sense of the word) among project founders.
The approach to working with the audience is also quite different. In traditional marketing, you simply attract a user or a buyer, yet here it is more akin to the election campaigns of politicians: each has its own program and promise, but little has been done. Third-party elements are included in the creative strategy — one must show trust in the product that is just being created. Also, these products are usually associated with money and digital assets that you need to entrust to someone for safe storage, even if it is not a fundraising effort, but a simple gaming platform that also has a wallet where you need to transfer funds to access it. For this to happen, the user must go through several encounters with the project in the marketing funnel and plunge into its story — moreover, take part in its creation and development!
Also, things change too quickly in this industry — you start the day planning to launch advertising and PR campaign in a certain country, and in a couple of hours you find out that they have just passed a law banning cryptocurrencies there.
The blockchain industry is truly international — so we have to study the national traits and the mentality of the audience. For example, advertising can be simultaneously launched in Australia, South Africa, Japan and the Netherlands, as well as dozens of other countries — all of them demanding a unique approach!
It should also be noted that the decision on entering a partnership is made 10 times faster than in traditional industries. Everyone is squeezed by contract terms and commitments, as well as a large number of regulations.
Finally, it’s more difficult to focus on a specific niche. In traditional marketing, there are SMM agencies, traffic agencies, creative or strategy consultants. In our business, you need a unique set of expertise, people and opportunities that would cover: technical development, creative, strategy, social media, advertising campaigns, PR, investor relationship-building as well as fundraising advice.
Which platforms, in your opinion, are the most important for the promotion of blockchain projects?
The most important blockchain project promotion platform is a completed and fully implemented blockchain project! (Laughs) Yes, it is absolutely true! The marketing in 2019–2020 should start with the finished product, MVP — whatever you call it. But there should already be user activity and someone should be ready to pay you a dollar for it! We are no longer living in 2017–2018. A landing page does not sell!
When you have MVP and someone needs it, then a number of marketing channels come into play. We are not trying to sell every possible channel to our client. We always start with research, strategy and studying the audience of a particular niche, because the users of a cryptocurrency wallet or a blockchain-based music-streaming or gaming platform are most likely completely different people, and the channels of communication with them will be different. But if we are talking about the tools of an advertising campaign, then this is most definitely PR through business and niche media, as well as Facebook, Google, Youtube, Adroll and Double Click.
One must not forget about crypto networks — in fact, this is an opportunity to launch a campaign similar to Google ads, but for cryptocurrency-oriented media.
Coinmarketcap has always been and remains a great platform — but only with a sufficient budget.
If we are talking about a startup that is looking for investors, then all the standard startup listings should be used. But these are not to be confused with crypto listings!
And, of course, the digital product itself, its design and technical implementation should adhere to the user patterns and current trends familiar to the audience.
How will lifting the ban on advertising crypto projects affect your work?
Of course, this will make it easier. We constantly communicate with the support teams of Facebook and Google as partners. At the moment, the problem is not solved, and most likely the bans are made by bots (even in non-restricted niches), which simply look for keywords in the ads and website content, even if the website does not sell anything. This complicates our work and requires constant monitoring as well as time-consuming creation of new advertising accounts. And time is money! Lifting these bans will allow agencies to better promote their clients.
In your opinion, what are the most common mistakes made by crypto project teams?
I could talk forever on this subject. The very first mistake is often the product itself, if it is based on an idea that is not supported by any research. Sometimes project founders show us an idea or prototype, which in fact has already been done more than once before and has already evolved far beyond anything that they are working on.
Another mistake is the lack of an internal marketing team! In 99% of cases, it will lead to failure. We would only agree to work on such projects only if we believe in the product and really see its potential, and only if the team has a sufficient budget to cover all marketing units and the company has good managers from other departments.
A small budget could also be a problem. 10 thousand dollars is not a business, and there is nothing more to say! No money means no product, no marketing, no audience, no traction — and, as a result, no money.
Also, the teams often wrongly assume that if they invest N in marketing, they will get N times X in return. This is not a magic wand or a bank, out of hundreds of projects that appear every day in this world, only a few find their audience. Why? See all of the points I have made above! (Laughs)
In addition, sometimes teams are too much in a hurry to launch a product that is not ready yet. And sometimes they are too slow in making a decision! Also, the possibilities of collaborating with products from traditional fields cannot be neglected. You need to create real user cases!
What are the key elements of a successful marketing company in the field of blockchain and cryptocurrencies? What should you focus on first?
When you get the idea of a product and a clear understanding that you have the resources for its development — you need to start researching the market and doing polls in LinkedIn, Quora and in the forums — does this problem really exist? You also need to start looking for followers and potential brand ambassadors. After you formulate a hypothesis, start making a product. Hire marketing or product managers from the blockchain industry and from the niche of your product specifically (for example, in the case of a messenger app you will need people from the telecom industry). Next, you need to hire a marketing agency and also focus on creating a community around the product.
You need to attend every theme conference in your niche and make speeches, chat and hang out with other attendees (send your team or agency to do the same). You are looking for investors, business partners and users in a highly concentrated audience!
Next, you need to use all the standard startup aggregators and listings. You need PR user cases with partners from traditional business areas or with very well-known companies from the blockchain industry. A lot of video content, open community, Youtube channel and interviews!
If the company is somehow connected with FinTech, make sure you have all the necessary licenses from regulatory authorities.
Campaigns to extend your audience reach as well as narrow niche targeting with marketing channels such as Facebook, Double Click, Quora, LinkedIn, and crypto networks are important.
In parallel with all this, you need to network with VC funds, build relationships with those who invest in products similar to yours (maybe there is an opportunity to go for an M&A deal), as well as with those investors who enter projects during pre-seed and seed rounds.
Gleb, thank you for delving into the nuts and bolts of your profession! It is very much appreciated!
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