ICO Marketing
More ICOs mean more competition. To stand out from other projects, you need a fully-developed ICO marketing plan that will attract, convert, and retain your ideal investors. An ICO marketing agency such as Markovate can help you gather and create all necessary documents and components to successfully launch your ICO project. Keep reading for a step-by-step guide to a robust ICO marketing strategy that will generate more token sales.
With ICOs or Initial Coin Offerings, individuals can invest in a project and buy its coins. This method allows companies to raise funds directly from investors without the need for loans or support from third parties such as banks. However, there are no regulations in this field, which can lead to scams. ICO marketing not only involves attracting investors to your ICO event but also converting and retaining them. It can be difficult to target the right customers, which is where Markovate can help. Our marketing strategies are designed based on the requirements of your ICO project.
How to Develop an ICO Marketing Plan
Identify personas
The first step in developing an ICO marketing strategy is to describe your ideal investor. The more detail you put into pinning down your target investors, the easier it will be to plan all subsequent campaigns based on this key persona. You don’t want to end up wasting time and money trying to reach as many people as possible. A successful ICO marketing campaign will be one that establishes meaningful connections.
Identify the right audience, and identify their pains. This will help you see exactly how your product or service will help them. Your ICO marketing strategy will work to show them how their problems can be addressed using your product. They will be converted to investors because they will see real potential and a solution to their problems.
Finding your audience
The cryptocurrency audience is active on several parts of the web, including but not limited to Facebook, Reddit, Telegram, and Quora. Each platform has a different function, but there are several avenues for finding and communicating with your target audience.
There are Facebook groups dedicated to blockchains, ICO, and cryptocurrency, which can be used to update the community on your project and how it is different from others. On Reddit, you can comment on existing threads or start your own. Reddit has the largest community of cryptocurrencies, so it is a good idea to get your project on the radar on relevant threads.
Telegram is a new messaging platform but has already been embraced by the crypto community. Your ICO marketing will do well here since there are several interested people. Finally, Quora can be used to gain exposure and establish yourself as an expert in the field. By providing quality content, you will, in turn, attract a highly-interested audience.
ICO Marketing Strategy
Marketing Collaterals
Every ICO marketing plan requires collaterals to showcase the business in a clear and concise manner. Below we’ll go over the marketing collaterals you need, and how to develop each one to effectively target relevant investors.
Investor deck
A pitch deck is a brief presentation that provides investors with an overview of your business. You will usually use your pitch deck during face-to-face or online meetings with potential investors, customers, partners, and co-founders.
Good investor pitch decks tell a story and engage people emotionally. Your deck should also set up the problem that your company is tackling and how your project offers the solution. Every pitch deck should incorporate the size of the market and the potential size of the opportunity to investors.
You will also want to include your competition, and how you plan to stand out from the rest. Include a basic financial forecast, as this slide is the one investors will likely spend the most time on. And, highlight your team and why you have the skills and background necessary to be the ones to head this project.
Website
A well-designed website is essential to your marketing strategy. The website will house all information relating to your project and how to get in contact with your team. This will likely be the place your investors will go to and learn more about your offering. Everything from the design to the copy to the content on each page needs to be optimized to attract your target audience.
Whitepaper
Whitepapers are used to educate an audience about a particular issue, and also promote a particular solution in order to influence prospective customers’ decisions. They are usually written in a more academic style. Remember that your whitepaper is not another sales pitch. The contents of the whitepaper should be informative and persuasive using facts and evidence, and not simply state why the reader should buy your product right at that moment.
Light paper
A light paper is a summary of your whitepaper and includes the most relevant information about your project and its token. In cases where you do not want to share all of your business information with non-investors, light papers will still give customers a quick run-down of what to expect from your project.
Content marketing
Create content to establish your business as a leader in the industry. Potential investors will come to see you as a trusted source and will be more interested in learning about your ICO. When creating any piece of content, remember to go back to your investor personas to see if they align. Each piece should speak directly to your investor personas, offering them benefits from your project.
Valuable content and a content marketing strategy are of utmost importance for your ICO marketing strategy. Blog posts can be written to target the audience’s more frequent queries and provide your product as the solution. eBooks are generally longer pieces of content that guide the reader through one topic. Besides blogs and eBooks, an email list is a highly effective way of engaging your audience. Not to mention your email list can be segmented, and a personalized message can be sent to each group to entice them.
If writing is not your strong suit, audio and video are forms of content you can utilize to establish your expertise in the industry. Although most people think of writing when they hear the word content, you can actually create content in other mediums as well, such as podcasts, webinars, and video marketing. As a bonus, having an omnichannel approach and appearing in several places on the web will give your project more reach.
Social Media
Use social media to brand your project online. Social media has widespread use and can effectively target your ideal investors. Post updates on your project to increase brand recognition and drive engagement with your community. A key aspect of social media is to be social. Interact with your audience and learn more about their likes and dislikes, their needs, and how your project can help them.
It’s not enough to post information and leave, make sure to stick around and have conversations online. The more you build up your base, the more of a loyal following you will have for your project. Customer service can be a defining factor for your brand, and help you stand out among the competition. If you don’t have the time to maintain frequent communications, you can hire a team to manage online communities.
Messaging Platforms
Use a messaging platform such as Telegram to further engage with users. On Telegram, you can create a group for your project and pre-compose messages to send to new users. Any commonly asked questions can be answered using a messaging platform, leaving you to engage with users who have further inquiries.
Many ICO Marketing companies do not focus on messaging platforms, however, this is an important medium for outreach and engagement. Messaging platforms connect your business with audiences that are inherently interested in your industry, and are primed to enter conversations about new projects in the crypto space.
Marketing Automation
Set your marketing on autopilot so you have more time to work on bigger-picture tasks. Marketing automation uses marketing software and technology specifically designed to automate repetitive tasks. This software can be set up to automatically market your project on multiple channels online, increasing your outreach while saving you time.
KPI Dashboard
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the metrics by which you measure your business’ success. They are your primary way of establishing your business’ goals and measuring whether you are on track to achieve them.
A KPI dashboard displays all of your KPIs in one place. From here you can see a side-by-side comparison of how your business is performing across the board. This is important because your KPIs work together and you can see which goals do well at the expense of others. Having this knowledge will allow you to adjust your targets to benefit your business overall.
Press Releases
Press releases can be sent to leading media organizations to give your project more coverage and build credibility. With multiple stories about your project in the news, investors are more likely to trust your brand. A press release is an effective way to spread the latest updates about your project, and let investors know your timeline.
Some websites are centered on cryptocurrency, therefore people who peruse that site are actively looking for the latest news on crypto projects. Expand your outreach with a well-written, professional, and informative press release.
ICO Listings
There are websites that specifically list ICOs. Having your company listed on these top-tier sites boosts your credibility and exposure to investors. You will be among other top ICO projects, thereby building your brand using the website’s recognition.
Influencer marketing
One way to attract a new audience to your project is to tap into the audience of an existing influencer in the crypto space. Micro-influencers may be your best bet when choosing an influencer for your brand because they have a highly engaged following. Compared to celebrity influencers, who may have a large following but do not command the same level of trust, working with micro-influencers can win your project some solid leads.
ICO Marketing Agency
Having your ICO stand outcomes down to having a well-developed ICO marketing strategy. All areas must be explored and worked on to reach your ideal investors. Of course, this starts with identifying your audience, as this will be the basis for all of your decisions from content writing to preparing official documents to picking influencers and more.
It can be difficult to deliver the collaterals listed in this article but know that you don’t have to do it alone. Consider hiring an ICO marketing agency to help you with everything, from essentials to the successful launch of your ICO/STO Project. An ICO marketing agency can help you develop professional documents and systems that will display your ICO/STO prominently in the market. The agency can prepare competitor analysis and set you up for success with suitable investors. You’ll have access to a wide range of blockchain advisors, experts, and investors. Finally, an ICO marketing agency can create fully-developed websites including design, copy-writing, and tools that measure the website’s success.
If you need more help with an ICO Marketing Strategy, contact us and we’ll help build a customized marketing plan for your project.
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