Decentralized finance, or DeFi, saw astronomical growth in recent years. It has emerged as a perfect alternative to legacy financial systems, helping us take control of our financial privacy. From enabling instant loans to tokenizing real-world assets, DeFi is unlocking opportunities never seen before for people worldwide.
Seeing the rapid rise in DeFi, many companies are attempting to build their own solutions and transition to the Web3 space. This leads to high competition for projects to attract high-value users and investors.
If DeFi projects want to stand out, they must change their marketing strategy. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the top DeFi marketing strategies you should consider implementing in 2023.
Before that, let’s quickly understand why 2023 can be a big year for DeFi.
Why 2023 Will be Tipping Point for DeFi
2023 could be the biggest year for the decentralized finance sector in crypto. This is likely due to three main reasons.
For one, the sentiment has drastically shifted from centralized to decentralized protocols. The recent collapses of crypto lenders and exchanges have shown us that it’s never safe to hand over custody of assets to a third party. So, the narrative will be self-custody moving forward, putting the emphasis back on DeFi projects.
Secondly, the underlying blockchain technology is undergoing major advancements with different scaling solutions on Polygon zkEVM. This will lower entry barriers, so 2023 can be the year for mass DeFi adoptions.
Last but not least, we will see regulation and policy changes. While we can’t confirm how these changes will impact the crypto industry, they will certainly attract more institutional investors.
Top 5 DeFi Marketing Strategies in 2023
DeFi competition is going to be stiff in 2023. We expect to see new cohorts of users and institutions exploring DeFi. So it poses a great challenge for marketers to balance educating new audiences and directing people to better opportunities in the crypto industry.
Marketing in DeFi is also not single-layered. Multiple things need to come into play to be successful at crypto marketing. Some methods require you to spend money, while others need your consistent efforts at creating content.
We have listed the five best DeFi marketing strategies below to narrow them down.
Social Media Marketing
If you are on crypto Twitter, you know how important social media marketing is for projects. With most users spending time on social media, it is paramount that DeFi brands spend significant amounts of time on growing their socials.
Social media platforms like Twitter work well because they are fast, feature fresh content regularly, and host the most active users in crypto. More importantly, it aids community building and makes it easier to answer user queries.
Social media also enables projects to distribute content in a better way. For example, you can create long-form content like blogs and newsletters. But it may need better viewership.
So what you can do is repurpose content into bite-sized, shareable social media posts. This helps you get your point across, and users can easily digest the content.
The DOs
1. Write powerful Twitter threads: Twitter is still crypto projects’ most used social media platform. And you can get the most out of Twitter by writing threads. You can write about your products, future roadmap, and any other topic that sets you apart as a thought leader in crypto.
2. Be consistent with replies: If you’re only posting content and never engaging, it can create a bad impression. So take out some time to reply to comments and give necessary insights.
3. Experiment with memes: Crypto culture is a real thing. And memes are a huge part of it. You can post memes now and then to capture the hearts of users. Memes are also an effective way to communicate faster without sharing exact details.
The DON’Ts
1. Being too salesy: Your content should not always indicate that you’re trying to sell something. It should be more conversational, focusing on giving back to the community.
2. Not exploring other platforms: Twitter is awesome. But there are other social platforms where you can grow your community. Reddit is one of them. With tens of millions of active crypto users on Reddit, it is one of the few platforms showing immense interest in blockchain technology and all the innovations that come with it.
3. Not tracking results: You should monitor social media engagement based on how active the community is and how much reach you get per post. Based on these factors, you can change your strategy and build better social media pages.
Content Marketing
Everything you create for your crypto project and publish online will forever be a digital asset. It can either be a dividend-paying asset (giving you organic reach and helping grow an audience) or a depreciating asset (whose value falls off a cliff after a short hype period).
Which asset do you want to own? If your answer is dividend-paying assets, you must double down on content marketing.
In recent years, the trend has shifted in marketing, where companies prefer long-term content plans over paid advertising.
The reason is simple. Creating quality content over a period of time can bring in a ton of attention organically. This attention can later be optimized to build a community and increase revenue.
Why Choose Content Marketing for your DeFi Project?
In content marketing, you use content in different formats, be it blogs or videos, to build brand equity. You are leveraging your wealth of knowledge on a particular subject that aligns with your product to bring you more customers.
Such a form of marketing is crucial for DeFi projects because it helps maintain relevance in the space.
Plus, it’s much more cost-efficient than targeted advertising and influencer marketing. With content marketing, you will constantly reap the rewards once you establish the foundation for generating organic searches. In other cases, users will stop coming once you stop spending money.
Besides cost comparisons, content marketing is essential for DeFi projects because it can help onboard new users to Web3 by simplifying complex topics using explainer articles, video tutorials, and other educational content.
The DOs
1. Have a long-term mindset: When you want to generate something passively, you have to put in consistent efforts for an extended period. The same applies to content marketing as well. You must stick to growing your blog and media mentions to stand out because most projects in crypto will fizzle out when things get tough.
2. Create a content strategy: Having a completely planned content calendar for every month is crucial. It helps you stay disciplined in your content efforts and reminds you of how content plays a role in the bigger picture of your marketing strategy.
3. Conduct expert research: Crypto moves fast. That’s no surprise. So you always have to stay up-to-date on the latest development. It is also important to understand community sentient so that you create content that resonates and keeps them in the loop.
4. Keep experimenting with content: Content marketing is not limited to blogs. Yes, blogs help with Google rankings. But you must remember that there are other forms of content, like podcasts, case studies, whitepapers, newsletters, and memes. So it would help if you experimented now and then, as you can’t predict what your target audience likes.
The DON’Ts
1. Choosing quantity over quality: Yes, it’s important to publish content regularly. But that doesn’t mean you sacrifice quality. When building your blog section, you want to create the best experience for interested buyers. So try to refrain from ramping up publishing when it’s not enhancing the buying experience.
2. Underestimating the power of SEO: If you’re not optimizing content for SEO, you are missing out on a ton of free organic traffic. With crypto evolving faster than any industry, you can take advantage of being the first to rank for new keywords on search engines.
3. Not updating existing content: When you have high-quality content assets, you must revisit them now and then to make necessary updates. If you don’t, your top SEO content pieces may lose their spot on Google rankings. So, try to optimize whenever you can to get more from existing content rather than creating something from scratch.
4. Not committing to content distribution: Creating quality content is not enough to reach your marketing goals. You also have to create a distribution strategy across socials and find unique ways to repurpose content.
Influencer Marketing
Partnering with influencers can be a major catalyst for any project in the DeFi space.
Influencers bring credibility to a project by giving their stamp of approval. And they introduce the project to people in a whole new market target audience.
This expands the social reach and drives growth in terms of new user sign-ups.
Another benefit of influencer marketing is it helps newly launched projects get immediate traction. And when you stick to it long-term, you will see better returns than paid media.
More importantly, it feels more authentic when you partner with a familiar face in the industry to represent your brand.
How to Find the Right Influencer for a DeFi Project?
When you partner with an influencer and give them the keys to your brand, you put your reputation and company’s values on the line. So you can’t mess it up.
To find a good influencer, you must research and tick many boxes.
First, the influencer has to have a strong following with your desired target audience. When we say “strong”, it doesn’t mean the influencer has to have millions of followers. What matters more is how engaged his/her audience is.
Second, an influencer must post organic content that regularly educates and entertains the audience. This shows that the influencer is maintaining relevance and thinking outside the box to grow his online community.
Last but not least, you have to check whether the influencer resonates with your brand.
For example, you are working on a Web3 gaming project and trying to find influencers to play and stream your game.
Now you want someone who’s been a gamer for life and shows passion when playing games as opposed to someone who has a large following but never plays games.
The DOs
1. Define the customer journey: When trying to promote your project using influencers, you can’t simply ask for users to sign up. You have to create a path with different types of content for users to make a purchase decision. So, create an influencer marketing campaign that educates as well as promotes transparently.
2. Pick the right platform: Most projects trying to tap into influencer marketing partner with DeFi influencers with the most following. But, if the target audience doesn’t use that platform regularly, it won’t be effective. So pick a platform where your target users are and start your search for the right influencers.
3. Keep creators in the loop: Your content creators must know the major developments happening behind the scenes so his/her content is well aligned. They can push out inaccurate content and cause confusion if they are not in the loop.
The DON’Ts
1.Controlling the creative process: You can send a creator brief to share what you’re expecting, but you can’t manage the entire creative process of the creator. You have to give them space to be imaginative and create something new.
2. Not committing to long-term engagement: You can’t expect great results after doing one or two sponsored posts. So you should allocate enough budget to accommodate influencers in the long run.
3. Sleeping on micro-influencers: Seeking the biggest influencers is not wrong. But often, they don’t understand your project, which can cost a lot of money if done wrong. That’s why selecting micro-influencers with a niche audience with high engagement rates is better.
Incentive Marketing
Giving back to the community is one of crypto’s most important marketing pillars. It is also the fastest way to reach your marketing target.
For example, you can announce a referral program if you want more sign-ups. This incentivizes people to promote your project to the public.
As a result, you will tap into a broader audience base and see rapid business growth.
Incentive marketing also helps with overall brand awareness. When you launch new incentive programs, people who don’t know about your DeFi services will be curious to learn more.
Furthermore, adding a few extra incentives can convert more users into customers. But what incentives should you add? Let’s find out.
What are Some Effective Incentive Schemes?
Early access passes: When launching a new product, you can create a whitelist for people to use the product before the public masses. This can help build exclusivity for whitelist members and create curiosity among other crypto communities.
Loyalty programs: Personalized journeys have become the new standard. And it’s no different for DeFi protocols. So you can build a loyalty program that allows people to use the existing token across other protocols or get some kind of cashback.
Token airdrops: One of the most popular incentives in crypto is token airdrops. If you indicate you’re launching a token to reward early users, you will likely witness a sharp increase in users for your DeFi company. In addition, it will attract new investors and build trust with the crypto community.
Giveaways: Doing occasional giveaways is a good way to attract new users to your community and introduce your project. The giveaways can include cool merchandise, discount codes, and free premium memberships.
Bounty programs: Bounties are tokenized incentives for people who complete certain tasks for crypto projects. It can be participating in a testnet and giving feedback to the team regarding bugs. Or helping with creating content to grow the brand. In either case, participants are rewarded with native tokens. These bounty campaigns may not be for all users because they require expertise in different areas to succeed.
The DOs
1. Check for bots: When you launch an incentive program, people try to create bots and take all rewards for themselves. So make sure you have a mechanism checking for bots and distributing rewards in a fair manner.
2. Align incentive programs with your marketing: You should leverage incentive programs to boost your marketing and vice-versa. You can create unique content consistently for your loyal community members.
3. Implement sustainable reward programs only: Promoting juicy rewards on your DeFi project in the early stages is easy. But, if you can’t keep that up, you will see negative reactions from the community. So choose an incentive program that is sustainable long-term.
The DON’Ts
1. Asking to grind non-stop: If you ask community members to go through a dozen tasks to claim incentives, it will drive them nuts, and they will never return. So make it easier to approach your project and participate in meaningful activities to get rewarded.
2. Forgetting about existing loyal users: You want to continue to add more users with referral and loyalty programs. But you can’t grow when existing users aren’t satisfied. This leads to more churn and reduces marketing efficiency.
3. Not adding utility to the token rewards: When rewarding users with tokens, you must attach some form of utility. Otherwise, the DeFi token price will fall rapidly. An easy way to offset this risk is to reward in fiat currency or highly liquid crypto coins like Bitcoin.
Community Marketing
A vibrant community is another dividend-paying asset you want to have for your DeFi project. While growing a community intersects with other crypto marketing strategies, it does require special attention.
You must take care of community management across social media platforms and be diligent in tracking growth.
Community building is crucial for crypto projects because it allows transparency and creates authenticity.
When a project team is actively interacting with community members, it builds loyalty among the community and keeps them engaged. This is even more crucial when the bear market arrives.
Which is the Best Platform for Community Management?
Discord and Telegram are the two most used social media platforms for building crypto communities.
These platforms are attractive options because they can add hundreds of thousands of members to a single group. They also provide various bots to automate certain tasks and help members navigate community channels.
While the features are similar, the overall experience on both apps differs. In terms of user interface, Discord is superior. It allows you to make channels for different functions, making it easier to find information. Discord also provides better spam protection and group call features compared to Telegram.
On the other hand, Telegram offers secret chat servers with the ability to self-destruct messages. It also supports large file sharing of up to 1.5 GB. Depending on how you want to interact with your community, you can choose between Discord and Telegram. But we recommend leveraging both and maximizing community impact.
The DOs
1. Create seamless onboarding practice: People love to check out new communities popping up in crypto. But they leave after a few weeks or months. This happens because of poor onboarding. To avoid this, you can create detailed FAQ pages and welcome videos on the landing page and attach a free course.
2. Conduct regular AMA sessions: An easy way to keep your community engaged is through AMA calls. You can talk about anything trending in crypto or promote your latest products. AMAs would be more effective when project leaders are the speakers.
3. Collaborate with other communities: It is not always competition in crypto. You can collaborate with other projects and help your community find new opportunities. This can be done through any incentive program or by conducting in-person events.
The DON’Ts
1. Ignoring community feedback: When someone joins a community, they want to be seen and heard. So you should acknowledge their opinion whether you agree with them or not. Even when community members are giving negative feedback, it’s only for the betterment of the project. That’s why the feedback loop should always be open with the community.
2. Not giving regular updates: A community is always looking to know more about what’s happening behind the scenes. They may lose interest if you fail to keep them updated on the latest company news.
3. Selling aggressively: You want to attract more investors for your token sale. But constantly promoting it to your community is not the right way. A better approach would be showcasing token utility and creating relevant content.
Final Thoughts
Finding the right DeFi marketing strategy for your project can be challenging. It involves tons of market research and competitor analysis before creating content. So you have to set realistic expectations and think long-term.
When you do start creating content, you should have a user-first approach. Your focus should remain on providing quality content for users to consume and understand your project before making any buying decision. The same applies when you’re building a community as well.
If you’re going the paid marketing route, you should always collaborate and partner with reputed names in the industry. This mainly applies to exchange listings, DeFi trackers, press releases, and other external sources used for media outreach.
Lastly, if you want to automate the marketing process for media professionals, you can hire a crypto marketing agency. All options are effective. It mainly depends on how much time and resources you spend on marketing.
