Today, the blockchain market, having survived the wave of the recent hype, is fundamentally changing. Yes, the interest of the audience during the turbulence in the market has grown no worse than Bitcoin itself in the best of times, but the trend is already noticeable - newcomers go aside as the hype fades, and only crypto enthusiasts stay put.
The same old-timers who started in 2014 or 2017 are still here, and maybe the crypto evangelists who joined them in 2021. But ... there is no more hype.
Even though the market is pretty high, the lack of hype brings a lot of changes to the game.
At this point, we understand that it is unlikely to just run traffic on one touch and get a million. It is possible, but the chances are not very high. You need to move differently.
Now any crypto project, especially in the field of Defi, should be built around two magic words - community building. Why so? Everything is as simple as that. The community is the most important resource for your product.
The people you gather will protect your brand. They will show you how to develop your project. They will promote you simply by talking about the product.
And since the community is your number one force, you need to know how to competently, step by step, gather a loyal audience that will stand up for your brand. And today we will talk about the main mistakes made by new founders and ways to fix them. Let's go!
Define the purpose of community building
Mistake: all kinds of "Checklists for launching crypto projects" say that first all you need to do is launch a thousand channels and gather an audience of bots, without questioning why you need this audience.
This is definitely the wrong approach. You don't need a community for the sake of a community. First of all, you must understand why you need a community. Ask yourself just one question: for what purpose are you gathering people? And this question already includes the following: How will you communicate with them? Where will you lead them? Will it pay off in your communication channels? Look at your project and think about what you are gathering people for. The point is that the community can play a wide variety of roles.
For example, you can gather it to test your application. Maybe you need a community that will invest in your product on public sale or private sale? Or maybe you even need to create a customer development group? Maybe your project needs a community for everything at once? This also happens. In any case, you need to understand why you are assembling a community, as this will affect the choice of resources, budgets, and communication channels
Where do you find your community?
Mistake: What do “experienced” blockchain marketers say after 2 months of work? You need to create a community everywhere - Facebook, Discord, Twitter, Telegram, Reddit, etc.
What for? Because. Just because other projects do it. In the end, you do not have time to manage all the created groups, the audience is different and completely unconnected, and you rush from corner to corner trying to provide content on a regular basis.
It's easier to start with one communication channel: Twitter or Telegram. What opportunities do they provide?
Twitter is a great platform and is pretty easy to manage in the first few weeks. You can communicate with the audience and launch news feeds. This platform is designed to gather a community and can also serve as a blog at the same time.
Telegram. Launch a Telegram chat, where you will gather an audience for a specific purpose. Give slightly different types of content than what you create for Twitter. In general, on each communication channel, provide unique content and lead the audience from one to another.
Well, now it’s time for a larger format and bigger thoughts - here a blog will come in handy. Write about your project, share your vision, and give details of project changes and your plans.
By looking for an audience one can waste a lot of time and money. If you are just at the beginning of this task, you can always contact me for help. It never hurts to save some cash instead of putting out a bet in chase of an audience;)
How to invite people to your community
Mistake: using all communication channels as news feeds and with the same content
Why is it wrong?
First, each channel should have its own characteristic style, which combines the classics of this particular instrument and the tone of voice of the project.
Secondly, leave the news to television. The point is, people, want to know more about you. They are interested in your ambitions, dreams, and how you plan to promote and act in the market. Therefore, it is best not just to post news shots, but to ask what your audience really wants to see. Invite your audience as much as possible on the weekdays of your project, evoking a wide range of emotional reactions.
How? Using interactions. For example, "Come up with an idea for an NFT and get your goodies!" or run a flash mob with a call to write Elon Musk 2000 times using your #.
Why should you work on one target audience?
Mistake: immediately go out for several audiences and catch subscribers from Asia, Europe, the CIS, etc. As a result, you end up with a diverse audience that is impossible to manage.
What is the right way? Start with one geo.
For example, if you think your audience is mostly in Asia, do not immediately go into Europe or the CIS. Work on one GEO, one target audience, gathering people of approximately the same mentality, so that your community is strong, whole and cohesive. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for you to gather these people around your project.
The best approaches to audience gathering
Mistake: shoot sparrows recklessly. "…One checklist says that you need to do inviting, so we will do so until we get 50k people."
Nope. You need to gather the audience pointwise.
The best option is to take a few influencers (most likely not for free) and infect them with your idea. Make them your brand ambassadors so that they periodically post content about you and give a slight CTA, sending the audience to your Telegram or Twitter.
What else? Many people underestimate media buying in the same Telegram. But this tool works almost perfectly. Make native ad posts in other groups, and voila - you get more audience.
Traffic. A good old method with smart funnels and simple journey maps to turn an interested audience into a loyal community. Launch traffic with the words “We are gathering a community for project X”, then you lead the audience to the landing page, and already there write proven messages: “Hey! We are gathering a community to make our project even better, but without you, friends, we won’t make it. So subscribe, and we are already packing goodies for you!" On the other hand, you can run traffic directly to Telegram or Twitter as an option.
We have been working with traffic for several years now and have managed to gather a community in this way for a variety of crypto projects. If you need a detailed guide on how to use customer journey maps and run traffic through them in order to quickly gather an audience, then write to us with a request. We will explain everything and give illustrative examples.
How to communicate with your audience
Mistake: after creating a community, you invite people who communicate pragmatically and dryly with the audience. This is pretty bad.
How to do it right: The best option is when the founders themselves communicate with the audience. Think about it - you have created a project, you have a small audience, and no one can communicate with them better than you. Chat, post, comment, shoot videos, after all. But this is only for the time being. As soon as you feel the audience and understand how to communicate with it - immediately train the community manager and move away from 90% of communication, you have a lot of other work to handle :)
Most importantly, never outsource your community managers. Only inside the team. And you need to cultivate a community manager for a long time and efficiently, infecting him with your ideas and ambitions. Only then will he be able to properly communicate with your audience and spread your philosophy to them. Still, an outsider will never understand and love your project as much as a person from your team. This affects communication, without which it is impossible to build a good relationship with the audience.
Summary
Shape small, cozy communities. Don't chase millions right away. I have already seen plenty of cases when small projects with 1000 people closed investment rounds for half a million dollars. How is that? They had a loyal community in which people shared information, supported the project, and just loved it.
Forget about useless checklists from 2017 - they don't work anymore. Communicate with your audience, spark them with your ideas, and always ask what they want to see on your channels.
If you don't know how to move or you get stuck at some stage, it doesn't matter. Any difficulties are solvable, and, as we have already demonstrated above, there are plenty of tools for promotion.
There is a chance any entrepreneur may spend the whole budget chasing the wrong goal. Anyone without proper experience in the area might happen to face such a situation. To prevent that you can get help from an experienced professional who has done it before. If you feel like you need help, don't hesitate to contact me. Together we'll make everything happen.