Cryptocurrencies are described as being decentralized, which means ledger transactions are not overseen or processed by a single central group or person. Instead, they use a network of unrelated computers to verify and process these transactions. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a single group responsible for other aspects of the currency.
Crypto Marketing
As with any business entity or project, marketing is critical to the success of a crypto project. The Ethereum Foundation directly supports Ethereum, Ripple Labs runs Ripple’s administration and partnership network. So, while you’ll never see Bitcoin ads or marketing campaigns, you will regularly see campaigns for coins, apps, and other businesses within the crypto sphere.
A crypto marketing strategy is typical of any effective marketing strategy. It means identifying a target market, promoting the project through channels that reach that market, and following it up with analysis and strategy optimization. However, the specifics of a crypto marketing campaign can be very different from those of other, more traditional businesses.
White Paper Research
Crypto projects, especially coins and tokens, are reliant on the publication of whitepapers. White Papers are used by investors for early fundamental analysis. They include basic details of the scope and aim of the project, as well as details of the team behind the coin, existing and planned deals, and a roadmap of development.
They also include the tokenomics of projects, which details how the coin supply will be distributed, whether any will be used for marketing, and more. Potential investors will use the whitepaper information before the coin launches and check that the project is on track and within budget.
Although it is not strictly part of a budget’s marketing media, the whitepaper should be considered critical to a coin’s success. Projects without whitepapers will be overlooked by at least some investors, but even this might not be as damaging as missing targets set in whitepapers or completely disregarding them.
Scams Make Trust Even More Important
Unfortunately, scams are prevalent in cryptocurrency. The collapse of major exchanges like FTX are well publicized and, even now, they catch people by surprise. The prevalence of scams means that trust is low in the cryptocurrency market, especially from those who are new to the industry. Therefore, a crypto marketing strategy needs to concentrate on building trus, whether you’re marketing a new meme coin or the latest crypto wallet.
Unfortunately for modern crypto projects, that can mean attempting to build trust in the entire industry, not just in the project. White Papers can help build trust, and so too can highlighting the experience and prowess of the team behind the project. Third-party, independent audits, as well as relationships and partnerships with respected members of the crypto community, are also integral to successful crypto marketing.
On the other hand, projects need to avoid partnering with names and groups that are considered less than reputable because it can be very difficult to recover.
Crypto Prices Are Sentiment Driven
One of the main criticisms leveled at cryptocurrencies is the coin’s lack of intrinsic value: there is nothing to back up the value of a Bitcoin, whereas fiat money is backed by government assurances and assets. Most coins do have some underlying utility – typically, they are used to pay network or gas fees for the use of the native blockchain network.
However, this utility accounts for very little of the value of a cryptocurrency. Crypto value is primarily sentiment-driven, which is why there is even a cryptocurrency fear and greed index that measures the sentiment of the asset. Because prices are so heavily determined by the sentiment behind a project, marketing is crucial to the success of most coins.
Bitcoin gets a pass because it was first to market and has a huge following of crypto evangelists, but other coins need to ensure they have positive sentiment if they want to experience price increases and business success.
Some Cryptos Need To Market The Niche
Cryptocurrency itself is still a fledgling technology: Bitcoin only having been launched in 2009 and only recently enjoying ongoing, mainstream coverage. And yet, while Bitcoin might be considered general crypto, most operate within specific industries or are niche coins.
Privacy coins, DeFi coins, gaming coins, and meme coins are some examples of coin types. And then there are crypto projects within healthcare, real estate, finance, and a host of other industries. Some coins operate in such narrow niches that a bulk of their budget needs to be expended on promoting the niche and not just the coin.
Does the average investor understand the importance of the value of a financial privacy coin? If not, then promoting one can be very difficult.
Liquidity Is Needed
Liquidity is important in any financial market. With low liquidity levels, a small number of transactions can have a significant impact on the price of a cryptocurrency. This, in turn, can lead to a loss of investor trust.
One way to ensure liquidity in a cryptocurrency coin is to promote the coin and get good coverage for that asset. More people will be talking about the coin which means more people selling it to cash in on profit and more investors looking to buy it and get in on the hype.
Investors Become Ambassadors
Cryptocurrency is community-driven. That community exists on social media sites, chat groups, and subReddits and it freely shares its opinion and findings. The crypto community can seem brutal, at first, with every member having their favorite coins and projects, and seemingly willing to bash any that don’t align with their ideas.
While this can make the crypto industry seem difficult to crack, it can also lead to a really strong community backing. And backers can quickly become ambassadors of the coins and crypto companies.
The greatest example of this is Dogecoin. Doge officially launched in 2013 and was meant as a joke: a lighthearted alternative to Bitcoin. It captured the attention of certain corners of the crypto community who got behind the whole premise.
Eventually, this led to celebrities like Snoop Dogg and, of course, Elon Musk lending their weight to the project. Today, Doge is the 9th largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $25 billion. And that is all thanks to its backers, rather than any specific advertising channels.
Crypto Demographics
This backing points to a very specific demographic of crypto buyers. Although this has changed somewhat, thanks to the influx of institutional investment that has arisen as a result of the introduction of Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, it is still widely accepted that crypto enthusiasts tend to be young, aspirational, and tech-savvy individuals.
They are active on social media, which means that effective crypto marketing strategies are those that have a strong fundamental basis that includes whitepapers and official press releases, but then take its advertising to sites like Reddit.
The use of influencers to help shill new coins can also go a long way, although companies need to be careful using this strategy because crypt enthusiasts can smell a paid shilling campaign and it may put them off investing.
To read more content like this, explore The Brand Hopper
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