The popularity of cryptocurrencies encourages developers to launch new projects again and again. According to statista.com, at the end of 2021, a thousand new cryptocurrencies were released every month. In total, from 2013 to the peak value in February 2022, the growth was more than 15650% from 66 to 10397. However, not all crypto projects remain in the market. Reputable data provider Coingecko claims in its latest study that almost 40% of cryptocurrency projects disappear from the market every year.
In 2022, 3,322 cryptocurrencies were removed from the Coingecko listing out of the over 8,000 that were listed in 2021. This is a kind of anti-record. But on average over 10 years, 947 cryptocurrencies listed each year fail. The reason is not only the poor quality of the projects, although the rampant scam should not be underestimated either. Scam projects threaten the developing industry; it is a growing pain. But the main reason is that cool, high-quality crypto projects couldn’t convince the crypto community of their value and usefulness. This is a consequence of the shortcomings in the marketing in a highly competitive environment, which has become the cryptocurrency market. Hiring a marketing agency for crypto might be the key.
1. Crypto community and hype
Cryptocurrency marketing is different from traditional marketing in many ways, first of all due to the specific target audience with its activity and involvement. Buyers are very selective and strive to minimize risks, so they prefer projects with a stable reputation, well-known brands. According to P2P marketing, over 40% of traders avoid unknown projects. Each new project must overcome the barrier of mistrust. Under these conditions, cryptocurrency marketing creates recognition of the project, gains credibility in the blockchain community and helps generate a demand for the token. Business2community.com explains why customers trust brands.
The two main crypto marketing techniques are community marketing and social media marketing. Creating and maintaining a community of the project is a direct path to building a client base. This requires significant efforts and qualifications specific to the field of cryptocurrencies. A community is created when you offer users something valuable. According to this, airdrops are held, bounty is paid and referral programs are developed. All together leads to hype, that is, excitement around the project, and at the same time – forms its community.
Social media marketing serves the same purpose, and it also is specific in crypto. If in other areas the TOP-3 social networks are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, then only Twitter goes to crypto, and it is not in the first place. The first place, according to crypto experts, should be given to the Reddit network. This is one of the largest social networks in the world, which is built on the basis of subreddits, communities of users who are passionate about a particular topic such as crypto. Some subreddits have millions of members, and among them there are a big number of crypto subreddits.
Two instant messengers, Telegram and Discord, gain the level of social networks, as for crypto. Telegram was originally developed as a part of a crypto project, and has become popular in the crypto community due to its security features above all. Telegram channels have become an effective tool for creating hype and community marketing.
Discord was originally developed for gamers. Its popularity among the crypto community now may seem random, but it is actually due to the rise of GameFi, Play-to-Earn games, and the use of NFTs in blockchain games.
As for Twitter, it has become the favorite network of major figures from every field. Twitter also occupies an important place in crypto marketing, serving as a platform for influencers.
2. Engage influencers and influential media
The case of the Dogecoin (DOGE) cryptocurrency is well-known among the crypto community. Several tweets by Elon Musk brought the mediocre meme-coin among the leading cryptocurrencies by capitalization.
Attracting influencers greatly increases the credibility of a crypto project. Building credibility is hard to imagine without it. Cryptocurrencies are not yet well understood by everyone. This is a new phenomenon, which is sometimes perceived with distrust. According to insiderintelligence.com, 32% of adults in the USA still don’t trust crypto and 25% couldn’t understand what crypto is. Influencers can inform the target audience both about the market as a whole and about important components of the crypto industry, such as OTC crypto trading or crypto wallets. Unlike celebrities, influencer status isn’t as obvious. As a rule, these are bloggers or reviewers of influential sites. But not everyone who calls himself an influencer can bring benefits to crypto marketing.
Many have the lack of serious analytics, crypto experience, or real subscribers. Influencers with experience in the crypto environment, familiar with large brands that have a lot of crypto enthusiasts among their followers can be valuable.
AXJ International provides statistics on influencers that can be useful in promoting crypto projects.
3. Work with leading influential platforms
Online and printed publications bring the greatest effect in promoting the crypto project. Publication of press releases and features give a better idea of the project. There are hundreds of media that are related to crypto in one way or another. The world’s leading influential publications have introduced special rubrics about crypto. However, to get a positive effect from the publication, you need to have a good understanding of the audience of the publication and personalize the feature to the media or platform. This is a laborious job that also requires extensive expertise. A good solution in this case is to contact the agency. Agencies have an extensive media base with the characteristics of their audience, as well as experience in communicating with them, and can provide the predicted outcome. For example, Ninja Promo agency has a database of over 250 online and printed media titles, from Forbes to The Sun. From this huge number, you can choose the most suitable media both by price and by the results of publication in them, and not overpay for applying to those sites that may not be effective for a particular crypto project.
Publications in the media are also complemented by blog posts. Your own blog can solve this problem. But it is also necessary to use such platforms as Medium. There you can describe the project and brand in detail, raise audience awareness and prove the benefits of the project. The only problem with Medium is to draw attention to your text. It is solved by using the promotion of your Medium article links in social media posts.
4. Pros and cons of applying to an agency
Crypto startups, like other startups, are usually limited in funds, so sometimes they try to conduct marketing activities on their own. There are technically no barriers to such activity. Many see even additional advantages in this, for example, a detailed knowledge of the features of the project and its competitive advantages. Applying to an agency also means additional costs.
But on the other hand, hiring a professional specialized marketing agency has more advantages. The agency has extensive expertise, as it has dozens and hundreds of similar projects in its portfolio. Hiring them, you get at your disposal the competence of the agency’s specialists and, importantly, insure yourself against making gross mistakes that beginners often make and which can be very expensive. There is a whole list of advantages of working with a professional agency, the most important are the following:
- The best expertise in the market;
- Working with the right audience;
- Professional assessment of marketing effectiveness;
- Significantly lower risk of unsuccessful marketing strategy;
- Free time for the crypto project team.
There is another important advantage that project authors do not always pay attention to: a professional, experienced agency has established relationships with publishing platforms and influencers, so they can offer such services at more affordable prices. This is, for example, Ninja Promo’s approach. In addition, the agency knows exactly which formats are best used on different sites to get the best result possible.
Conclusion
When launching a crypto project, you have to remember that even the most attractive and functional project will not gain success without effective marketing. Marketing can be done on your own, but it turns out to be more expensive and much less effective than contacting the specialized agency.