ICO Marketing Guide: Best Strategies to Promote Your ICO in 2024

An initial coin offering (ICO) is a cool and easy way to fund a digital startup. It is simple and transparent at first glance, that’s why earlier in 2017-2018 the common practice was to launch ICOs almost with no marketing support. The boom of 2018, but it was discredited ICOs due to scam projects. Is ICO dead now? No, ICO is more alive and more popular than ever – with the right ICO marketing strategy. Startups raised $4 billion with ICOs in 2017 and from the beginning of 2017 to mid-2018 the funding topped $17.8B. After the bottom by the end of 2018, ICOs recovered in 2019, topping over $14 billion. And in 2021, about $21 billion has already been raised through ICOs.

After the pandemic, ICOs are declining, but it seems to be a cool signal for cryptocurrencies and digital in general. Fewer ICOs mean the quality is increasing, the number of scams decrease, and the best ideas are becoming common.

But today we cannot speak of a successful ICO without an ICO marketing strategy. It aims to create a market-driven ICO marketing plan to generate demand. Given the practice of 2018, marketing an ICO is also necessary for investors to believe in the reality of ICOs. First of all – content marketing because more than 80% of brands consider it the best way to promote their business.

 

Keys to building a winning blockchain marketing strategy in 2024

The main goal of the ICO marketing strategy is to hype the project. In 2017-2018 it was enough SMM alone to create hype. At present, this is extremely insufficient. Hype is created through the use of a set of crypto marketing technics and tools. The most important of them:

• Strictly written and detailed Whitepaper
• Impressive and functional website with cool design
• ICO Listing Calendar
• A sequence of regularly issued Press Releases
• Promotion in social media
• Paid advertising
• Bounty Program
• Affiliate Marketing
• Email Marketing

ICO Whitepaper

There are several formats for product or technology specifications used in marketing. These are yellow paper, blue paper, one pager, two-pager, etc. All the documents are informal and are in use in sales and marketing. But as for cryptocurrency marketing, none of them is good enough. You should better write the Whitepaper with all details of the ICO. A whitepaper is also the first document investors usually read, as for the digital area. Therefore, when compiling a Whitepaper, you have to clearly describe the technical side, but also identify the benefits for investors in general, early investors, and partners. Therefore, it should actually look like a business plan. Main sections of Whitepaper:

• The idea of the project regarding the market situation;
• The composition and competence of the team;
• The probably reasonable size of ROI;
• Distribution of tokens;
• Realistic Roadmap;
• Anti-illegal activity policy;
• Social responsibility of your business.

Cool attractive design is a strong advantage.

Related Content: Web3 Digital Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide for 2024

An impressive and functional website

A properly composed Whitepaper can become the basis for a project website. It is well-known that since the digital era began over 90% of prospective investors visit the website to get an impression of the project. On the site, the project is presented in an abbreviated form; the main advantages should be emphasized. A website with visual effects and a cool design which attracts attention is more convincing. Therefore, greater emphasis should be given to design, rather than texts, so that the visitor also has a desire to find out the details in the Whitepaper. To advance the site and attract investors, it is necessary to provide elements of SEO.

Calendars of ICO Listing

A good solution to attract the attention of investors is to list on sites that maintain ICO calendars. It also gives prominence to the project by the time it launches. As a rule, registration on such sites requires minimal information about the project: title; information about the token; website, and contact details. Popular calendars are at Coincodex, CoinGecko, and ICOdrops.

A sequence of regularly issued Press Releases

Press releases are a reliable form of content to promote a project. These professional newsletters are distributed through news sites and increase interest in the project. Press releases are issued concerning important events in the project’s development. The best way to publish them is through a network of targeted news outlets. Press releases should also emphasize your offers to investors. Press releases are the basis for all posts including blogs and social media, and they shape the project community and provide community management.

Features of promotion in social media

The main feature of ICO promotion in social media is that mainly professional platforms, such as Bitcointalk, give a greater effect. But the discussion platforms Quora and Reddit are also good. An attractive design is a must. Publications on LinkedIn will attract potential partners and professional investors. The best way to build hype is to post short explainer videos on Youtube and Instagram. Unfortunately, Facebook and Twitter have banned the promotion of ICO.

Paid advertising and SEO

However, most social media allow paid ads provided certain easy-to-follow requirements be met. The advantage of paid ads is that it increases organic reach if SEO techniques are used. Goggle Ads provide an opportunity to generate traffic to a website with minimal pay-per-click.

SEO is also one of the best ways to gain funds. This raises positions in the ranking and contributes to site traffic. The more attendance, the more investors and investments.

Bounty Programs and Airdrops

Bounty programs are a current practice to generate hype. In addition, they also contribute to building the project community and reduce the burden on the marketing dept. In bounty programs, users are invited to take action to promote the project and receive rewards in tokens. Here it is important to strike a balance between the complexity of tasks and the number of issued tokens. The insufficient reward will not motivate people well, and too much bounty can negatively characterize the project arousing suspicion it is a scam.

Airdrops are also a common way to create hype and build community in the blockchain area. The same law applies: too generous airdrop looks suspicious. The best way to draw attention is to register on trackers such as Airdropalert, Airdropaddict, Airdrops, and Earni.

Affiliate Marketing and Influencer Marketing

Affiliate marketing significantly expands the opportunity to attract investors, but it is paid. Affiliate marketing is a kind of bounty program for partners. Affiliates increase lead generation and attract investors on the whole. They can receive their commissions in tokens.

Influential people, engaged in the promotion of your ICO will expand the number of participants at the expense of their subscribers. They also increase the credibility of the project along with the conversion rate due to the rise of registrations and subscriptions. Influencers are valued for making ICOs stand out from other projects.

E-mail marketing

Being one of the simplest forms of promotion, E-mail marketing can also play an important role in your ICO marketing strategy. With the help of attractive newsletters and a personalized message, you can retain investors and attract new ones by adding subscription and registration forms. It is also the best way to build and maintain a project’s community. For greater efficiency and cost savings, you can use and configure autoresponders for your E-mails. It also provides fast tracking. E-mail marketing is an essential part of ICO marketing strategy as it increases conversion rates in general.

ICO Content Marketing

It is content crypto marketing that provides the widest possible coverage of the audience, from beginners to seasoned investors who are interested in large investments. There are several types of content to effectively reach the whole target audience, including:

1. Blog;
2. Explainer videos;
3. SEO content;
4. Ties in the Community

1. Blog

A blog helps generate organic traffic and increase the time spent on the site. Such content significantly increases engagement rates and conversion rates. The blog is a key in cryptocurrency marketing as it attracts the attention of the crypto community and contributes to the formation of a loyal attitude towards the project. The best way is to post new blog posts several times a month. The posts should be connected with important events in the digital currency world concerning your project. At the same time, articles should convey the best unique stories of your branding. Blog articles also work well being reposted on popular social content platforms like Medium and Steemit. An effective blog post should have internal and external links, SEO (popular keywords), and possibly videos. Regular blog updates contribute to the best effect.

2. Explainer videos

More than 90% of companies that have used explainer videos consider them the best way to promote the brand. Using such landing page explainer videos increases the conversion rates by more than 80%. Explainer videos can be in the form of PowerPoint presentations, slideshows, animated films, illustrative videos, or interviews with team tops.

3. SEO Content

For your quality content to work to reach your target audience, you need to optimize it for better search engine ranking. Search engine optimization, SEO, is not necessarily a set of artificial techniques with keywords in various forms. There are simple and reliable ways of SEO, the best of which are: regular site updates; use of high-quality images; using trending keywords in important places in text content such as headings, meta descriptions, and image text alternatives.

4. Ties in the Community

Creating connections in the crypto and blockchain communities is the last but not the least important item in the ICO marketing tactics. The crypto community is an important and active part of your potential investors. These crypto communities are concentrated both in popular social media and on specialized platforms. Given that crypto marketing is banned in some social media, selling content should be avoided. The tone of voice should match the groups’ topics, and these can be groups not only for digital currencies but also for crowdsales, crypto assets, blockchain, blockchain startups, ICO listing, etc. It is usually easy to start a discussion about your project in the communities with questions and answers. Influential crypto communities used for marketing in social media and instant messengers are as follows:

1. LinkedIn is a network where digital currency industry professionals and businessmen communicate. This is an important part of potential investors in general. Several groups and cryptocurrency communities operate on this network, including Blockchain Lab, Blockchain Academy, Bitcoin Blockchain & FinTech Think Tank.
2. Telegram is a secure messenger that has become a popular social media among the crypto community. The best model is also a Telegram channel + Youtube. In addition to your Telegram group, which is a must, you should join the most popular channels and groups like CryptoCommunities, SmartContracts, Thecointelegraph, and others.
3. Twitter is very popular among the crypto community. Suffice to say that Elon Musk regularly posts on Twitter to influence and even manipulate the cryptocurrency market. Twitter banned cryptocurrency marketing, so you should be careful about your posts in groups, such as ICO Drops, ICO Analytics, and others.
4. The largest and most popular Facebook network also banned direct crypto marketing. But there are numerous communities of digital currency supporters here with a very large audience coverage, including ICO Investing Group, ICO – Initial Coin Offering/s, and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) Token.
5. The Reddit network combines the power of a news aggregator and content rating. When publishing your posts, you need to avoid advertising and embed your content into the mainstream. Popular groups: CryptoCurrency, BlockChain, Blockchain Startups.

Tactics of Paid ICO Advertising

The problem of distributing ICO advertising using social media or search engines is related to the prohibitions in some of them on advertising cryptocurrencies and everything connected with them. Therefore, it is optimal if this part of the ICO promotion is given to ICO marketing services familiar with the market. But the team can, of course, do everything on their own without engaging an ICO marketing agency, if they plan and structure this activity.

Marketing tactics include: conducting advertising campaigns with paid social media content; access to specialized advertising aggregators; attracting influencers.

Paid social media promotion

Paid social media posting gives you a lot of reach at a low cost. But in this case, it is important that the post informs not only about your ICO, but also about important topics in general for the industry. It is necessary to avoid direct ICO advertising only. The maximum return can be obtained by posting valuable information about digital currencies in general. In addition, you should not forget that posts with cool illustrations are most noticed on social media. You can evaluate the effectiveness of this paid promotion by the new subscribers’ increase.

Display Campaign

Referring to specialized sites for advertising cryptocurrencies allows you to reach the audience of several popular specialized sites. Such “display campaigns” use advertising messages of various formats, from banners to video clips, flash notifications, and texts. An advertising integrator significantly reduces the complexity of an advertising campaign. Sites recommended as ICO marketing services:

• A-ADS
• AdBit
• Bit Media

Attracting Influencers

The opinion of ICO influencers can draw more attention to your project and help strengthen your reputation. This is not only about persons but also about sites that are influential in the crypto community. It is easier to publish paid content on sites, leading ones are Cointelegraph, CoinDesk, The Daily Hodl, and others. As for influencers, they too can publish your content for some compensation. But at the same time, you need to pay attention to whether their audience matches your target audience. As well as evaluate whether they produce the best content and whether their base of active subscribers is big enough.

Blockchain Marketing Strategy

Blockchain and digital transformation have changed a lot in the world, including using this technology for advertising and cryptocurrency marketing. On the blockchain, transactions can be tracked in detail. This makes it possible to correctly assess the return on investment in marketing. If you decide to use blockchain marketing for your ICO, it will bring the following benefits:

1. the need for intermediaries is eliminated;
2. the credibility of the ICO increases;
3. the privacy of users is strengthened;
4. it contributes to creating decentralized applications for your project.

Eliminate intermediaries

It’s about eliminating costly middlemen like Google or Facebook that track marketing results. In the blockchain, you do not require a third party. With the free blockchain browser Brave, you can filter unwanted traffic. A decentralized platform AdEx, standing for advertising exchange, is a place where advertisers and publishers meet to contract. ClearCoin conducts campaigns on the blockchain with seamless transactions between advertisers and publishers.

Increasing confidence

Blockchain provides transparency and access to immutable data, which will help increase the credibility of ICOs in front of investors and users.

User Privacy

In the blockchain, users themselves control access to their confidential information. For this, blockchain services such as secure messaging and file-sharing KeyBase and decentralized identity solution Serto can be used. Your users will have more confidence in your project if they are sure that their digital data is not stored on a centralized server.

dApps

Decentralized applications are an alternative to traditional applications. You can create apps for users without third-party control. Many users are attracted by this opportunity, and due to this, you will receive additional investments.

Blockchain marketing tools

To measure the level of interaction with the audience, special tools are used, i.e. applications and platforms as components of crypto digital marketing. The precise information about the interconnection allows you to organize positive feedback (exacerbating feedback) and provide effective Agile-style marketing with minimum costs. When measuring results, it is important not only to choose the right measurement tool but also what data to collect. Successful ICO marketing requires a set of tools for tracking ads, e-commerce, affiliate and influencer marketing, and loyalty programs.

Advertising

Rebel AI and tribeOS blockchain platforms make it easy to track advertising and prevent fraud, unwanted traffic, and phishing.

E-commerce

Blockchain marketplaces like Bezop and OpenBazaar serve e-commerce with useful features like protecting users’ privacy, goods’ authentication, and so on.

Affiliate and influencer marketing

With blockchain platforms RefToken and Coupit you can prove the accuracy and commitment of affiliate crypto marketing. If you use smart contracts when working with influencers, this reduces the complexity of your interaction. For this, tracking systems on the Patron and Socialmedia.market platforms are used.

Loyalty programs

The low efficiency of loyalty programs is because users do not have time enough to track and fully use the bonuses of these programs in time. There are platforms like Loyalcoin and KeyoCoin which allow users to restore their points and exchange them in the network.

No plan – no launch!

ICO marketing strategy and tactics are developed and implemented before the launch of the ICO. Without marketing, it’s hard to make a successful launch. Moreover, after an unsuccessful launch, the very idea can be discredited.

The ICO marketing plan complements the technical implementation of the ICO so that your idea becomes a reliable source of large income. It is the marketing plan that helps to convince potential investors that they can earn money by investing in your project. With a well-developed marketing strategy, content marketing, proven methods to increase organic traffic with low PPC, as well as blockchain marketing tools, you will do your best to reach your target audience and ensure a successful launch.

Do you need an agency for ICO marketing?

ICO marketing strategies are not about complex or exotic marketing techniques. According to the stated above, a company that launches an ICO can do everything on its own. But this is only at first glance. There are critical points of ICO marketing strategies and tactics that look allegedly simple and not laborious, but in fact, require experience and resources that most teams do not have. Whitepaper writing, SEO, website design, video creating, writing professional press releases and blog articles, placing paid advertising – all this ICO marketing agency will do much better and with great effect. As the market rises and competition is growing the role of professional marketing agencies in the success of the ICO grows too. To save money, you can develop a marketing plan using the information provided in the article and implement it on your own. But if you calculate your actual expenses, you will find that this will not bring much savings. Given the time factor in a dynamic market, involving an experienced and successful ICO marketing agency like NetShopping is the best choice.