Marketing for Early-Stage Web3 Startups: Strategies, Metrics, and Tools

Marketing methods have changed for companies in the cryptocurrency world. In the past, these companies tried to get popular quickly, even before they had a product ready. Nowadays, these companies have become more careful with their marketing and take their time. People from traditional companies that use the internet (Web2) have started working in blockchain (Web3) companies and brought their marketing ideas with them. However, there are still some differences between Web2 and Web3 marketing, especially for new startups. In this guide, we will talk about these differences in more detail.

What is a Web3 Startup?

Web3 startups are technology companies changing the way we interact with the internet. They are helping to create a more open and secure online world where everyone can participate and benefit.

You might be wondering what the difference is between Web3 and the internet we use today. Think of the current internet as a big library where you can look up information and read books, but you can't change or add to them. With Web3, everyone can add their books to the library and even change what's already there.

This might sound confusing, but let me explain it differently. Imagine that you and your friends are playing a game where you all have a pile of building blocks. Right now, with the current internet, only one person can change the blocks and add them to the pile. But with Web3, everyone can play and build together, making the game even more fun!

Web3 startups are working to create new technologies and tools that will help us all build and play together on the internet. Some of these startups are making it possible for us to own and control our data, like our photos, videos, and personal information. This means we won't have to worry about big companies using our data without our permission.

Another exciting thing about Web3 startups is that they're making it possible for people to earn money by participating in online communities. For example, you might be able to earn money by creating and sharing your videos on a Web3 platform. Or, you could earn money by playing online games and earning rewards.

Overall, Web3 startups are helping to create a more open and inclusive online world where everyone can participate and benefit. And best of all, they're making the internet even more fun!

Web3 Startup Marketing

Web3 startup marketing is a crucial aspect of promoting new web3 businesses or products. With the rise of decentralized web applications (Dapps) built on the Ethereum blockchain, web3 startups are developing innovative technologies that have the potential to disrupt traditional businesses and industries. However, as early-stage companies, these startups are often limited in their marketing budgets and resources.

Social media and content marketing play a significant role in the marketing strategies of Web3 startups. Platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Medium can provide a platform for startups to reach a wider audience and engage with potential customers and investors. Startups can also leverage their website to post regular blog articles and updates on their products and services, which can help build brand awareness and drive traffic to their site.

Partnering with other blockchain projects and organizations can also be an effective way to co-market each other’s products and services. For example, if a startup is developing a new decentralized exchange, it can partner with other companies in the crypto space to promote its services. This not only allows startups to reach a wider audience but also provides an opportunity to build valuable relationships with other industry players.

Finally, participating in crypto conferences and meetups can help startups network with potential customers and investors. This will provide startups with the opportunity to showcase their products and services and engage in face-to-face conversations with interested parties. These events are also great for startups to learn about the latest trends and developments in the blockchain industry, which can help inform their marketing strategies.

Marketing Tactics for Early-Stage Web3 Startups: What Works?

Web3 startups have unique marketing needs and strategies compared to traditional startups in the Web2 world. As the Web3 market is still emerging, startups in this space face the challenge of promoting their products and services to a target audience that may not be familiar with decentralized web applications (Dapps) built on the Ethereum blockchain. 

The Web2 world, for example, uses influencer marketing heavily in certain verticals (such as fashion and makeup), but not so much in others (such as SaaS tools and online banks). In Web3, however, influencer marketing is pretty ubiquitous. There is a greater need for experts in the highly complex, crowded, and rapidly changing Web3 market, perhaps because the industry is typically more complex, crowded, and fast-changing.

However, for startups that are not yet funded, influencer marketing may not be the most feasible option due to its cost. In these cases, it is recommended to start with free or low-cost marketing tactics such as building a strong online presence through social media or content marketing. This can be especially useful if the startup is still figuring out who its target audience is. By trying out different marketing strategies, early-stage Web3 startups can determine what works best for their business and budget.

Marketing on a Dime: Low-Cost Tactics that Deliver Results

In contrast to paid advertising, these Web3   marketing tactics are centered around valuable content such as educational, entertaining, or inspiring material. This type of content has a natural tendency to spread due to its inherent value, as it addresses common questions and provides inspiration to share with others. These tactics aim to reach audiences through organic means, such as answering questions they search for online or inspiring them to share the content with their networks.

To attract attention and build a following in the Web3 ecosystem, it's important to create content that is both relevant and engaging. This can be achieved by researching and covering topics that are popular in your industry, align with your project's goals, and are being discussed in different crypto communities. Some formats to consider include:

Blog Posts

In the Web2 world, blogging is a popular but competitive marketing tactic. With a large amount of content vying for the same audience, it can be difficult for a blog to stand out. In the Web3 world, there is currently less competition, but this is rapidly changing. 

Currently, generic listicles and short opinion pieces are unlikely to bring in a lot of traffic for Web3 startups. While it is common for teams to start by blogging about their vision and roadmap, this type of content is unlikely to generate substantial engagement. 

To be effective in Web3, bloggers should focus on creating content that adds value for their target audience. This includes writing blog posts that are informative and educational, and provide practical solutions for the problems faced by their target audience.

For example, a Web3 startup in the blockchain security space could create a series of blog posts explaining the basics of blockchain security, why it’s important, and how their products help. This type of content provides value to potential customers and helps establish the startup as an expert in the industry.

Social Media Posts

Social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Reddit are essential for early-stage Web3 startups to reach a wider audience. Social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Quora have a significant user base and allow for longer post lengths (ranging from 200 to 600 words). 

This provides startups with the opportunity to share their content in bite-sized pieces, as an alternative to lengthy blog posts. Utilizing these platforms can help startups increase their visibility, build brand awareness, engage with leads, potential investors, and industry influencers, and also reach a wider audience.

For example, a Web3 startup in the decentralized finance space could use Twitter to share updates on new products, industry news, and thought leadership content. They could also engage with the wider community by responding to comments and participating in relevant conversations.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial for a startup's online visibility, yet many tend to overlook it in the early stages of their business. They prioritize getting content out without worrying about processes that might slow them down. While it's true that social media can help in generating traffic, relying on it can be a missed opportunity as ranking higher in search engine results can bring in more traffic in the long run.

SEO is a long-term strategy that requires finding the right keywords, acquiring backlinks, and building domain authority to rank higher in search engine results. It may take time and effort, but the reward of increased organic traffic is worth it.

For Web3 startups, a popular alternative to traditional SEO is to publish long-form content on third-party platforms such as Medium or Hackernoon. These platforms offer an easy way to get started and have high domain authority, leading to a lot of organic traffic. However, some experts caution against relying solely on these platforms, as they don't generate traffic or domain authority for a startup's website. To overcome this, startups may opt to publish their content on their website first and then repost it on these third-party platforms.

COMMUNITY BUILDING

Building a community is an essential aspect of any early-stage Web3 startup. It not only helps to spread awareness about your project, but it also gives you valuable insights and feedback on how to improve your product or service. In the world of Web3, community building takes on an even more critical role. With the decentralized and open-source nature of blockchain projects, communities play a crucial role in determining the success or failure of a project.

In the Web3 community, self-promotion is a common occurrence as project teams aim to take advantage of the interconnected nature of the ecosystem. However, it's crucial to ensure that these interactions bring value to the community. 

By following this principle, you can provide valuable information without aggressively pushing your project. You can do this by answering questions and helping people understand concepts related to your project, such as inter-blockchain communication, educationally.

Unlocking Growth with Paid Marketing Tactics

The marketing budget of a web3 startup can be set aside once the startup has secured initial funding. This allows the company to determine how to allocate these funds most effectively and maximize the impact of its marketing campaigns.

Influencer Marketing

Working with influencers can be an effective marketing strategy for early-stage Web3 startups, as it has the potential to bring in a significant amount of leads in a short period. However, it is important to approach this tactic with caution, as it can also be a risky move.

 Some startups may rush into this method without fully considering the compatibility of the influencer's audience with their target audience, ultimately leading to wasted traffic and budget. 

The key to success with influencer marketing lies in carefully selecting quality influencers and building long-lasting partnerships with compatible "micro-influencers". While it may be tempting to pay a large, well-known influencer with a massive following to promote your project, this approach is unlikely to result in sustainable growth and should be approached with caution.

One example of a Web3 startup that has successfully used influencer marketing is Uniswap. They partnered with popular cryptocurrency influencers such as Ivan on Tech and Crypto Beadles, who promoted the platform to their followers. This helped Uniswap reach a larger audience and increase its user base.

Another example is OpenSea, a decentralized marketplace for NFTs. They partnered with several NFT artists and influencers to promote their platform. This helped OpenSea reach a larger audience and establish itself as a leading marketplace for NFTs.

Incentives

One common approach in Web3 marketing is to incentivize potential customers and partners to interact with your business. The type of incentive offered will vary based on the unique needs and goals of your project.

1. Airdrops: Give away free tokens to people who join a project's Telegram group or follow them on social media platforms.
2. Referral program: Offering rewards to users who invite their friends to join the platform or make a purchase.
3. Bug bounties: Offering rewards to security researchers who identify and report vulnerabilities in a project's code.
4. Early access: Offering early access to a platform or product to users who participate in a marketing campaign or refer friends.
5. Community contests: Hosting contests or challenges that encourage users to engage with a project and spread the word to their friends and followers.
6. Loyalty programs: Offering rewards to long-term users who stick around and continue to engage with a project over time.
7. Limited-time discounts: Offering discounts to users who make a purchase or participate in a marketing campaign within a limited time frame.

When it comes to incentivizing people to perform specific tasks on social media, Web3 startups need to proceed with caution. This strategy is essentially a form of paid promotion and can easily be manipulated through automation, resulting in low-quality engagement that doesn't necessarily lead to lasting network effects. Instead, it's more effective to spontaneously reward loyal users who have shown genuine engagement with the product.

What Marketing Metrics Should Early-Stage Web3 Startups Track?

Marketing metrics are an essential part of any business. They allow startups to understand their marketing performance and track their progress. The metrics that a business tracks can vary depending on its goals, industry, and target audience. However, early-stage Web3 startups need to keep an eye on specific metrics that are crucial to their success.

Traffic

In the early stages, it is common for a new project to gain visibility through organic sources such as search engines and social media mentions without any paid promotion. However, as the project grows and gains more exposure, startups need to shift their focus toward driving traffic from within their network. This means that a significant portion of their traffic should come from sources within the project, such as the project's Discord server or Twitter account, rather than relying on external sources. The goal is to increase the proportion of direct traffic or traffic coming from the project's domains and accounts.

Community Members

The success of Web3 projects is heavily dependent on the growth of their user base, making it crucial to focus on acquiring users who are genuinely interested in the project's mission. Ideally, these users should be found organically, as this is a stronger indicator of their long-term commitment and loyalty. While paying for traffic in the initial stages can help establish momentum, startups should aim to reduce their reliance on this approach as the project matures. Overreliance on paid acquisition over the long term may indicate underlying issues with the project,  marketing strategy, or target market.

What Tools Can Early-Stage Web3 Startups Use to Drive Growth?

An effective marketing technology setup doesn't always require expensive systems like Salesforce. For early-stage startups, using cost-efficient open-source options or free versions of well-known marketing tools can be sufficient.

When building a marketing technology setup, it's important to view it as a combination of components that guide users through the marketing funnel. The objective of any data-driven marketing team is to seamlessly integrate these components for maximum insight.

This table outlines each stage of the marketing funnel and provides recommendations for affordable or free tools that early-stage startups can utilize to improve at each stage:

If you are already familiar with some marketing tools, think about how you can improve your insights by connecting them. For instance, you can link customer information gathered from registration forms to data obtained from community platforms.

Conclusion: Web2 vs Web3

Although the introduction of Web3 has brought in innovative business models and technical approaches, there are still areas where Web3 marketers can learn from their Web2 counterparts. The concept of "customer acquisition" may seem new for dApp or decentralized NFT communities, but its objective remains relevant. Teams that are consciously investing time and resources to attract users should focus on determining which tactics bring the best results. 

As resources are limited, it's important to prioritize marketing efforts and eliminate ineffective methods. This requires a better tracking system and data pipeline. Despite concerns about deeper user tracking, it's a trade-off that comes with the maturity of the industry, along with increased regulations and institutional involvement. By striking the right balance between analytics and security, Web3 startups can reach a level of sophistication comparable to Web2 technology brands. 

However, even if the off-chain and on-chain user data remain separate, Web3 marketers can still utilize Web2 technologies to enhance their marketing strategies and drive growth.

Thanks for reading and subscribing to my newsletter. Kindly read, share, and engage with others. If you have any questions or you would like to collaborate on how to grow your web3 startup, send me a Linkedin DM or reach out to me via email at adelajaolajumoke@gmail.com