You pour blood, sweat, and tears into developing an industry-disrupting blockchain solution. But without a sound marketing strategy, even the most innovative projects fail to launch. Your groundbreaking idea sinks into obscurity, leaving hopes of mainstream adoption dead in the water.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
In this guide, we are going to walk you through the exact blockchain marketing tactics used by some of the most successful protocols on the planet. We are going to cover a lot of ground, from finding ways to highlight those all important real-world benefits, to calling in the calvary and partnering up with blockchain marketing services.
Getting this strategy right is what separates a blockchain project that is doomed for failure, and one that could truly disrupt the status quo.
#1 – Start Marketing from Day 1
Too many blockchain brains spend 1000 hours coding before doing one hour of marketing. While this is understandable, it’s important to get the word out faster. From day 1, week 1, month 1 – start flexing those marketing muscles and make some noise around your project.
Even if you don’t have anything significant to share, set up those social accounts, engage your future users, and drive interest about what you’re building. Give them little bites of progress as you go along. Share industry news. Ask them questions – get them invested. Building an audience early leads to higher visibility when you release your blockchain project into the world.
#2 – Define Your Target Audience
Many blockchain projects can get a bit complex under the hood. But trying to only market to crypto natives won’t get you far. The key is crafting messages for different crowds.
First, dig deep on who your primary users really are – those with the biggest pain points your blockchain aims to solve. Put yourself in their shoes. Think about their background, motivations and why they’d care about your tech. Also look at secondary audiences like investors, developers and industry influencers. Tailor your messaging and outreach channels specifically for each group. Speaking directly to their interests drives more engagement.
#3 – Highlight the Real-World Benefits
People invest time and money into blockchain projects that offer clear utility. There are too many fly-by-the-night schemes that offer little more than empty promises. By this point, users and investors are fatigued with these businesses.
To attract your target users and stand out from this pack, emphasize the tangible benefits your technology delivers in their daily lives and jobs. Avoid getting bogged down in technical jargon when communicating with mainstream audiences. Simple explanations of how your project adds value are much more compelling. Use cases, statistics, and customer stories make the benefits feel concrete as well.
#4 – Participate in the Blockchain Community
The crypto community tightly supports promising blockchain projects long before the mainstream hears about them. That’s why regularly participating in blockchain forums, groups, and discussions to spread the word is so valuable.
Position yourself as a thought leader by posting expert insights on Medium and Quora. Attend virtual or in-person crypto/blockchain events to network with influencers. Contribute code to open-source blockchain repositories. Comments on threads and engaging social followers humanizes your brand as well. This community-building stage creates vocal advocates who continue amplifying your project.
#5 – Craft Interesting Content
Consistently publishing fresh content achieves two marketing goals. First, it signals that your project is active to anyone researching the space. Second, good content marketing attracts new visitors organically without paid ads.
Your blog should cover trends in your sector, product tutorials, guest expert posts, commentary on blockchain news, and more. Ensure the writing brings value to the reader. Promote each piece on social media and with email subscribers. Video content works exceptionally well to demystify complex blockchain concepts too. Launch a YouTube channel with explainers, interviews of your team, and product walkthroughs.
#6 – Influencer Marketing
In the cryptocurrency world, prominent voices on Twitter, podcasts, and YouTube can make or break which projects the community rallies behind. Securing influencer endorsements should be a core part of your marketing mix.
Start by identifying relevant influencers in your niche. Look for domain experts with engaged follower bases who align with your brand’s positioning. Reach out to brief them on your project and explore opportunities like sponsored posts, product reviews, referrals, etc. In some cases, you may offer influencers equity stakes or tokens to incentivize continuous promotions even after launch.
#7 – Paid Advertising
Once you’ve built initial traction, paid channels like Google/Twitter ads and Facebook campaigns are worthwhile to accelerate growth. Crypto-related keywords have high commercial intent – people searching for your blockchain solution are ready to use or invest in it.
You can tailor ads to different stages too. “Learn more” ads target visitors still researching, while “Create your account” ads focus on users ready to get started. Retarget past site visitors who didn’t convert yet via digital ads as well. When resources allow, paid ads combined with community and content marketing gives your blockchain startup the best chance of sticking in people’s minds.
#8 – Plan a Marketing Roadmap
Rather than randomly trying marketing tactics, plot out an integrated roadmap aligned to your blockchain project’s milestones.
In the research and development stages, focus more on community building and search visibility. As your testnet launches, create explanatory videos and tutorials. When mainnet goes live, email subscribers announcing availability plus run paid new user acquisition campaigns. Review what’s resonating and where you’re falling short each quarter. Adjust the roadmap accordingly to guide your marketing program in an agile way.
#9 – Hire Blockchain Marketing Experts
While your core team may have strong competencies in blockchain development, most founders lack experience in marketing specifically for the crypto industry. The learning curve is steep, and in a fast progressing space, you risk falling behind by trying to handle marketing solely in-house.
That’s why it’s usually a good idea to partner with a blockchain marketing agency early on. The right agency will have established relationships with influencers, media contacts, and community leaders in the cryptocurrency world – and more importantly, they understand the nuances of effectively communicating technical concepts to mainstream and crypto native audiences. This alone has the potential to save you months of trial and error attempting to organically grow an audience.
Final Word
Hundreds of ambitious blockchain projects fight for attention in this new decentralized world. Most of the time, it is the companies that manage to lock down their marketing strategies that manage to break out from the pack – not just the projects with the best tech.
Use this 9-step guide as your blockchain marketing blueprint. Keep the value exchange with your audiences front and center in everything you do. Consistent outreach combining grassroots hype building with traditional promotion is going to be the key to success if you want to nurture your network over the long-term and find long-term growth.
