So, now’s the time. Whatever you created in the two weird non-years we’ve just emerged from, this is the time to set fire to the fuse and let your crypto project soar.
Last year saw NFT become Chamber’s Dictionary Word of the Year, digital collections breaking the record for the highest price ever achieved by a living artist, and according to Bloomberg, the crypto sector edged over $3 trillion by the end of 2021.
But before you go lighting the match and rushing off to Twitter, are you sure you’ve dotted all the Ts and crossed your fingers? Let’s take a moment to run over the hurdles that let the majority of projects down.
Reach
First up, let’s look at reach. Successful projects succeed because they had backers who believe in them. Ask yourself, does that sound like you?
Do you have an engaged audience organically grown over time using tried and tested methods and practices… or did you buy 2000 followers from that pop-up ad?
Your reach is actually easy to establish and it all comes down to engagement. At the end of the day, having five followers and getting three likes and two shares is better than having 20,000 faceless clones and zero response.
If you’re worried you might not have enough reach yet, then put down the matches for now. When you light the fuse you’re going to want people to see the explosion and that means building or rebuilding your audience.
How do you build reach?
There are plenty of ways to build a following, but most involve the same thing: effort. The few avenues that don’t require much effort instead require deep pockets, so that’s your call to make.
First, start by registering and linking all your social media channels. You’ll certainly want the following:
- Telegram
- Discord
- Medium
Next, work on your story and your tone of voice
Your story is your journey. It should begin at the start and include anything relevant to your goal. Remember to mention what drove you to create your project, what problem you saw, and explain how your project addresses it. Don’t forget to mention your team, and how you met, but above all else, it should tell the reader where you’re headed.
Your story is your elevator pitch, but it’s also your opus. It should tell anyone interested all about you and your plans without boring them off your page. The tone of voice is the people-facing side of your business. Resist the urge to throw words together and take the time to develop a deliberate style that suits your end game.
Fun and whacky might suit an aspiring meme coin while clinical and scientific could suit a new DAO, but remember there’s no harm in standing out, as long as that’s your intention.
So, now you have your channels, story, and voice, all you need is an audience. Building an audience takes, as I said above, effort, budget, or a mix of the two.
What about advertising?
Advertising will usually help, but it pays to do your research. The crypto rules of social media marketing can vary wildly, and what’s allowed today could earn you a ban in the future and vice versa.
The alternative is picking up organic reach and this is where the effort comes in. Hit up Twitter, run some relevant hashtag searches and start following likeminded people. Everyone you follow will get an alert, some will check you out, read your story and if your interests align, your reach will grow.
Consider your content
Now that your audience is growing, you’re going to need some content to share. Take your time to make sure you only post-factual, helpful, and accurate information and try to shy from opinion or controversy. Don’t forget to engage with your followers too. Take the time to reply to, and like, their comments, and always answer any questions they may have.
Making a movement
Now your reach and engagement is growing, what’s next?
If your numbers are growing, it’s time to start building your community. You should do your best to reply to any and all replies, but over time you might find that one channel becomes the place for all your followers to congregate.
When this happens, you should try to grow this community by keeping the discussion open. Make frequent posts and always try to end on a question to encourage responses and dialogue. Pictures and other media posts tend to be more visible, but once again make sure you’re not posting false or controversial content. Encourage discussion, but avoid anti-social behaviour. Be careful to root out bad actors and troublemakers.
This might sound like a lot of work, and it is, so be open to delegates. Let some of your community step up and moderate, but be careful only to give admin access to people you know and trust.
Now your audience is a community. What next?
People love to be part of something and now you’ve created a real movement, your numbers will continue to grow as long as you keep engaging with your community. Now, it’s time to start looking for some press.
Press releases are a great way to get your news out. There are plenty of templates and how-to guides out there to help. Spend a day looking for contacts, emails and platforms which you think might share your news. Search for style, contribution, and submission guidelines and take note of the best practices.
Take time to write your press release and make sure it tells your story. Equally important however, is to make sure it has a story of its own. Try to imagine the headline you’d like to see on the website. It’s a good way to work out your angle, but remember it could also be something completely unrelated to your actual project.
Influencer or influenza?
After you’ve sorted your story, TOV, audience, and you’re actually making headlines, you could consider contacting an influencer. Influencer marketing is a bit of a minefield and there’s a good reason I’ve left it to last.
If you’re starting out on your project I should warn you in advance, influencer marketing is expensive… no, way more expensive than that.
If you’ve done everything right until now, you could find yourself in a far better place to negotiate too. It’s not unknown for some influencers to accept affiliate rates, collaborations, and partnerships over a flat, likely stratospheric, fee.
There are many reasons why influencers are expensive, but one of the biggest is the risk. Influencers stand to lose everything if your project ends up in the mire, but remember the same can happen to your project if an influencer is tarnished. Scam projects have wiped out some influencers and those with big audiences know what’s at stake.
Countdown commences in…
Now, you’ve got it all. A great story, with an accessible tone of voice, a growing audience, a committed community, press cuttings, and even celebrity endorsements.
Go you.
Take a moment.
Breathe it in.
When you’re ready, strike the match.
Now, light the fuse.
That’s it, now stand well back and enjoy the show.
