Promoting Blockchain Products via Influencer Lists: General Guide
At first glance, promoting blockchain products seems reasonably straightforward. In practice, however, there is much more to this process than meets the eye. There are millions of different projects out there, and it can be difficult to stand out among the crowd. In addition, many are fearful of fraud when promoting payment systems. The most reliable path to success is by seeking help from influencers — people who attract considerable attention to the world of crypto and greatly impact the public’s perception.
Promotion is a complex matter that involves numerous resources working in unison: setting up social media, contacting opinion leaders, launching traffic, compiling mailing lists, etc. With the entire Internet and all of its features at your disposal, the number of potential communication channels becomes virtually unlimited.
But before one starts picking out promotion channels, they must first realize that every blockchain product requires a unique idea, the core concept which shall define its history and prospects, both short- and long-term. Ideally, the project should tell a distinct tale with many eye-catchy events.
The immediate future should then be roadmapped days/months/years in advance.
Winning investors’ trust requires one to set clear goals and implement them according to plan, thus proving that they know the exact destination and how to get there.
Blockchain Project Promotion Features
Blockchain product promotion is much more complex than any other project. This is both because of the high levels of competition on the market, and due to many companies banning crypto asset advertising on their platforms.
We did a little research on how compatible traditional marketing strategies are with blockchain technology and what kind of results they yield. Here are the results.
Google Ads and Targeted Ads
Enabling Google Ads on one’s website might take the owner on a trip through several circles of hell, forcing them to use cloaking, get new accounts every 2-3 weeks, or perform ritual dances to avoid getting their domain banned.
Targeted ads also work rather poorly, as the system reacts negatively to keywords such as “income,” “cryptocurrency,” and “earnings.”
Telegram Channels
Telegram houses a number of crypto communities where people can create chats and channels to attract potential customers. However, only 10 out of 140 existing communities can run ads, and those will be very expensive.
The rest use bots to simulate successful promotion.
Google Tag Manager
There are negative stereotypes about fraud permeating the crypto industry, so one needs to keep track of the goals declared for their project (registrations, downloads, subscriptions, etc.), lest the sales be minimal even while the website sees a lot of traffic.
Media Placement
One can post information regarding their products in various crypto-specialized media, but these are costly and, frankly, not very effective.
Posting articles on different platforms will, of course, help with SEO promotion, but it is unwise to invest a lot of money in such publications.
The Lesser Evil of Being Mentioned in Top-searched Articles
Getting mentioned in an article from Google’s top search results on a particular subject pretty much guarantees an influx of targeted traffic. This is especially true for articles featured in the 1st through 4th search result lines.
Note that securing a mention in such an article is typically cheaper than getting media coverage.
Abstract Product and Template Web Design
Most crypto websites have roughly the same design. If you look at the front pages of various exchanges, you may notice that some of them differ only in color. So, if you give your platform a brighter and more unique design, it will attract additional attention.
SEO Promotion
SEO gives excellent and stable results, while being relatively inexpensive. That is why, when creating a new website, one should get a qualified SEO specialist on board.
This method, however, has one major drawback — it takes time. Proper SEO promotion takes, on average, about six months.
The Problem With Finding the Right Specialists
The simple fact is that the crypto industry is a relatively recent invention. Good specialists are few and far between, while the market is overflowing with amateurs. Many companies hire employees only to fire them a few months later due to lack of experience or professionalism.
Influencer Marketing
There is no unified set system in place, so you will need to contact each influencer individually and often hold lengthy negotiations.
Features of Influencer Cooperation
Let’s take a closer look at the latter point. The most important aspect of working with influencers is to find the right blockchain and crypto opinion leaders to partner with. Here you have two options: search for them yourself or invest in ready-made influencer lists. When making your own list, make sure to properly classify and structure it according to the data you can find on particular opinion leaders. Next, you need to know how to contact them and present your product. Know that some will inevitably ignore your inquiries, may not agree to your terms and conditions, or attempt to significantly inflate the asking price. Your other option is to contact an agency with established influencer connections.
At the company I currently work for, we have compiled lists of popular crypto and blockchain influencers, that will be well worth your time. Within this dataset, we have collected influencers on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. All of them promote blockchains, NFT collections, or the crypto industry as a whole in one form or another, and can help advertise your product.
You can even take our research as a basis for your own work.
If the list of influencers you want to contact is not too long, you can write personalized messages to each. First, find out a particular influencer’s interests and hobbies, then describe your project to them, correlating its features to their personal interests.
However, if the influencer list is too long for a personalized approach, prepare a template with a unique and memorable project pitch that shall hook the reader’s interest instead.
In our lists, we include influencers open for cooperation, then categorize and rank them based on contact options, account creation date, subscriber numbers, etc.
It is essential to accurately describe your project’s goals and plans, including budgeting and resource allocation, if you want to catch the attention of the sought-after influencers and media. In fact, you may even want to tweak your content plan for every influencer or media company you seek to impress, as some of them may prioritize different aspects of the proposed partnership.
When promoting a blockchain project, pay special attention to the following points in your media channels:
- Publish a correct sales announcement, including exact dates and launch time;
- Coordinate with influencers to publish their posts on the day before or at the same time as the sales announcement.
Avoid having several influencers post noticeably similar articles as this may lower the public’s trust in your project. Their posts should be personalized as much as possible and tailored to each individual influencer’s style. Ideally, if the influencers are genuinely interested in your work, they should use their own words to promote it to their audience.
Influencers can mention your upcoming project 2-3 weeks in advance, conditioning their audience with a message in the vein of “I recently learned about this cool new project…” This will significantly boost your project’s credibility.
Celebrities (actors, musicians, athletes, etc.) leave a significant impact on public opinion, almost as deep as top-rated politicians. They set new trends not only in art but also in the way people dress, walk, and talk, generally shaping the worldview of the masses.
Thus, if you want to ensure your project’s success, arranging an advertising integration with a celebrity is the way to go. It is also challenging work and can be extremely expensive, but the risks are usually well worth it.