I am a marketing consultant who has spent 10-years working with technology and technology-enabled services companies.
I’ve spent the last six months poring through the account-based marketing and experience templates, frameworks, and models I have developed to determine a Web3 adaptation.
Initially, I went into this exercise assuming that very little, if any, of the developed frameworks would be applicable in Web3.
On the contrary, Web3 growth initiatives could benefit substantially from the program marketers perfected in Web2 B2B SaaS sales through account-based marketing and experience.
Traditional B2B Marketing in Web2
Several marketing strategies were effective for Web2 B2B SaaS companies. Such companies typically create a strong brand identity with a well-designed website and regularly create informative and engaging content.
Instead of influencers, B2B SaaS companies in Web2 worked hard to build relationships with targeted analysts, subject matter experts, and reporters to ensure favorable coverage of key leaders in their vertical.
These subject matter experts and reporters worked to help promote these companies and their products or services.
Key digital marketing engagement strategies, such as Google AdWords, LinkedIn, Content Syndication, automation platforms, and programmatic advertising, were the key to reaching the target market.
Web2 companies invested in their growth strategies across social media, search engine optimization, and online advertising. Many unicorns used ABM to build their growth engines.
Adapting ABM for Web3
Account-based marketing (ABM) is a strategic approach to marketing that focuses on key accounts that are most likely to convert into customers. By taking a targeted approach to marketing, businesses can better nurture their relationships with key accounts and close more deals.
Over the last ten years, high-growth B2B SaaS companies discarded the old one-size-fits-all approach to marketing; instead, they tailored their marketing efforts to specific key accounts. Primarily driven by the advent of automation programs to support targeted marketing, ABM became the marketing darling of the last decade.
Two fundamental principles underlie all ABM strategies:
1. Define your target market
The first step to any good marketing strategy is to define your target market. You can ask:
- Who are our ideal customers?
- What do they look like?
- What are their needs and pain points?
When you have a clear picture of your target market, you can then identify the key accounts that are most likely to convert into customers.
2. Personalize your approach
One of the benefits of ABM is that it allows you to personalize your marketing approach. You no longer have to rely on generic marketing messages; instead, you can tailor your messages to specific key accounts.
Growth in Web3 Companies: ABM in Blockchain Infrastructure
Like Web2 companies, Web3 companies have either a B2B model, B2C/B2D, or a B2B2C2D sales and marketing model.
Ultimately account-based marketing (ABM) is a strategic approach to business-to-business (B2B) marketing in which an organization treats each of its key accounts as a market in itself.
Fortunately, the Web3 space is both nascent and emergent; it is easy to identify and refine the universe of people and the personas that are interested in B2B solutions as a Web3 company, adopting a Market of 1 Mindset at the outset to define targets, and design personalized engagement campaigns.
For example, there are only 200,000 Solidity developers, several dozen Web3-first VCs, less than 20 million custodial and non-custodial wallets, and potential B2C purchasers. These numbers suggest that identifying and targeting critical personas across developers, potential consumers, or investors is, if not simple, at least doable.
Additionally, B2B companies in the Web3 space are easily segmented, including all of the protocols at any layer and the blockchain infrastructure companies.
Many of these are directly analogous to Web2 enterprise and infrastructure companies in that they provide back-of-office functionality to companies or blockchain applications, from storage, security, hardware, and more.
These companies build a decentralized infrastructure that enables secure and efficient transactions on the blockchain. Some leading blockchain infrastructure companies include BitFury, Blockstream, and ConsenSys.
Web3 Growth Campaigns: The Most Important Persona is Developers
The key persona for blockchain companies is developers; everyone from the layer one protocols to the layer 2s, to the decentralized application startups, and more depend on developers. The universe of both is defined and small, and the path of engagement is straightforward.
Unlike the Web2 world, where Reddit, GitHub, LinkedIn, blogs, and Google reigned supreme, in the Web3 world, it is Twitter, gated Discord Channels, Telegram, Signal, and technical white papers.
Engaging Developers
Some strategies can be effective in engaging developers.
Developers are global and distributed.
1. Country-Specific Meetups -Host regular meetups and events that focus on topics developers are interested in. This is a great way to get developers engaged and involved with your brand.
2. Digital Presence — Make sure your website and online presence are developer-friendly. This means having clear and concise documentation, helpful resources, and easy-to-use tools.
3. Free Trials + Gas Fees: Offer developers free trials or discounts on your products or services. This is a great way to get them to try out your offerings and see the value they can bring.
4. Contribute Authentically Get involved with the open-source community. Share your insights beyond just your product. This is a great way to build relationships with developers and show them that you’re invested in their success.
5. Updates are Hard in the Decentralized Space -Keep your platform up-to-date, and emphasize security. This shows that you’re keeping up with the times and invested in providing the best possible experience for developers.
ABM goes beyond traditional lead generation and demand creation techniques by considering each critical account’s specific needs and wants. It is a more personalized and customized form of marketing designed to build long-term, mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its key accounts.
These are guiding frameworks that map on particularly well to the Web3 world.
This article was first published here.