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9 Impactful Ways to Promote Your Blockchain Project

9 Impactful Ways to Promote Your Blockchain Project

9 Impactful Ways to Promote Your Blockchain Project

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Blockchain projects need to be promoted to be successful. While you probably already have some strong marketing skills, there are blockchain-specific marketing methods that can help you make the most of your project. This article will present 10 of the most important and influential blockchain marketing techniques.

Promoting a blockchain project requires many of the skills used to promote other projects and products.

Still, blockchain is like any specialized marketplace: There are certain challenges, requirements, and unwritten rules that you must be aware of when deciding which marketing techniques to use to promote your blockchain project.

OpenLedger has been successfully operating in the blockchain industry since 2014, launching and promoting our clients’ projects.

We’ve created this guide to provide you the blockchain-specific marketing activities we have found most important to successfully promoting your project.

1. Connect With Blockchain Associations

Blockchain associations still play a key role in the industry in 2019. There are local and global associations, as well as ones built around specialized interests. 

Some blockchain associations are forum-like and easy to join; others require specific business partnerships or living in a geographic location.

Even if you aren’t eligible to join every group, consider any contacts you make as invaluable avenues for promotion.

 There are no hard-and-fast rules on how to best make contacts, but the best approach is to reach out in whatever way will connect you the quickest. 

Fill out a web form, sign up for a forum, make a phone call — do whatever it takes to get connected in the blockchain space.

2. Concentrate on the Basics

Websites, social media channels, email newsletters, and blogs may seem like overly simple marketing strategies. Instead of considering these strategies simple, think of them as fundamental: most businesses may do them, but few businesses do them truly well.

Here’s how to nail the basic marketing strategies:

Websites: Make sure your website is clear about the services your business provides. Make it easy for potential customers to make contact, and, if your budget is modest, consider using a website-building tool like Wix, Divi, or Wordpress.

Newsletters: A newsletter is another avenue that gets content in front of your audience. Unlike social and forums, your email list is yours alone. Send your best blog posts, don’t spam, and the value of your newsletter will grow.

Blogs: Many new projects can’t afford the time or money for the type of content marketing that powers the web traffic of more-established companies. But, blogs can share news about your project and provide social media content.

Also, blogs provide the opportunity to interview and publish guest pieces from thought leaders in your space, which will improve your company’s credibility.

Social media: The standard social media channels for businesses — Twitter and LinkedIn — are good avenues to publish news, join conversations, and build connections. It’s also worth maintaining a presence on Facebook.

Newer channels often attract crypto-oriented users. Steemit and Whaleshares are blockchain-based and attract users interested in the wider business and social applications of blockchain technology.

Their usage model is a little different than traditional social media, but the model still values bringing something to the table, sharing, discussing, and building a community.

3. Connect With Blockchain Visionaries and Experts

The blockchain space is typically very open and welcoming — experts who have solved some of the space’s biggest problems will happily converse with beginners online.

For example, Anthony Pompliano, co-founder and partner at Morgan Creek Digital, writes a weekly letter detailing investment-oriented insights into the blockchain space and frequently tweets his thoughts:

Pompliano Blockchain Influencer
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So, if you want to connect with Pompliano, his Twitter profile might be the place to start.

Another blockchain influencer is #BlockchainBeardGuy, Kris Bennet, found on Twitter @KBennet5280. Bennet attends conferences, interviews leaders in the blockchain space, and offers insights on Twitter and on his YouTube channel.

Don’t be afraid to do this yourself on LinkedIn, Twitter and even YouTube. Talk about the big ideas that fuel your project, and you have a good chance at getting blockchain visionaries excited, interested, and talking about you.

4. Visit Blockchain and Industry Conferences

If you go to an industry conference to speak, awesome! If not, go to make connections — get into conversations with your colleagues, competitors, and potential customers.

Many blockchain conferences are “Blockchain and…” conferences, organized to examine the applicability of the technology to various business, governmental, and nonprofit endeavors.

In the coming year, industry leaders will attend Blockchain Summit London 2019, to hear how businesses with real-world blockchain uses can troubleshoot their problems and improve their blockchain operations.

Don’t just stick to blockchain conferences — go to industry conferences in your target industry, too. If your focus is blockchain for logistics, for instance, then you should consider events like the industry-wide Transport Logistic in Munich, June 2019.

We do this ourselves — in March 2019, we attended an IoT conference in London, taking the opportunity to present new products and develop contacts in the industry we serve.

5. Partner With Industry Leaders

Older tech titans such as IBM, Microsoft, and Apple, are interested in potentially disruptive and profitable innovations. That means they’re already looking for someone like you. Get yourself found, and pitch influencers on partnerships that they will find valuable.

Take Stellar, for example. Stellar is a blockchain project dedicated to connecting payment providers, banks, and people, and is now a popular rival to Ripple. The company has a strategic partnership with IBM and has collaborated with more than 48 other organizations including major overseas players like Wanxiang Group, as well as Stripe.

Stellar blockchain project
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That partnership gives the larger enterprise, IBM, a foothold into an emerging market, while the upstart Stellar gains the backing, prestige, contacts, and experience of an industry leader.

Blockchain businesses should strategically build opportunities to partner with larger companies.

6. Create Trust and Build Authority

The blockchain space is sometimes compared to the Wild West. Blockchain has a reputation of being riddled with crime and underhanded dealings.

Given these attitudes, establishing yourself as a real, legit business should be a priority.

Creating this trust means taking care of basics: you should clearly state the allocation of funds to assure readers and potential customers that the money the right places.

Don’t forget: your product is your best credential. If it’s up, running, and looking good, share it and showcase it.

If your product isn’t up or is experiencing issues be clear about why — as well as being transparent about token value, buyback plans and every other aspect of your project’s growth.

7. Explain Your Value Proposition

Your customers need to understand your value proposition.

There is a mass of projects that insiders know as BINO – “Blockchain In Name Only.” These so-called “blockchain” projects provide little actual innovation or value.

For example, Mastercard’s blockchain system has little practical function — the payment provider freely admits that it’s still using its legacy system to actually process payments.

It’s important to make clear to a potential customer that your business provides legitimate and valuable services. Explain why blockchain is integral to what your business does and your business will gain credibility.

8. Forge Connections With Blockchain-Friendly Institutions

Public and private institutions worldwide offer encouraging environments for blockchain-based enterprises. It’s worth making connections with these institutions.

One such institution is Belarus’s High-Tech Park, a government-led initiative to nurture software businesses and drive the Belarusian economy.

The HTP has radically exceeded expectations and provided a safe, nurturing, and regulated space for blockchain enterprises to grow.

Another example? Switzerland’s “Crypto Valley,” a blockchain incubator that already boasts multiple start-ups aiming to serve the well-established Swiss financial sector.

Crypto Valley
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Not all institutions friendly to blockchain enterprises are governmental. It is possible to find local, national, and transnational corporate and nonprofit institutions that have deep interest and investment in blockchain development.

Your business should develop connections with blockchain-friendly institutions.

9. Employ Blockchain Ambassadors

Blockchain ambassadors share their knowledge and expertise with the wider blockchain and business world.

For example, cryptocurrency educator Brad Laurie told his Twitter followers that he planned to accept ambassadorship positions:

Brad Lurie Blockchain
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Laurie is a desirable blockchain ambassador because of his experience as a crypto educator and his general thought leadership.

Your business can hire existing ambassadors or train those interested in blockchain to become ambassadors. Hopefully, your membership in the blockchain community and connections with blockchain institutions help you find such people.

Overall, blockchain ambassadors will help you promote and legitimize your blockchain project.

Promote Your Blockchain Project Wisely

Marketing a blockchain project comes with specific challenges. You will have to overcome misconceptions, the mixed reputation of the blockchain space, and poor knowledge among your target audience.

But, blockchain projects also come with advantages: a supportive community, institutional assistance and opportunities to market in a more agile and informal way.

Take advantage of those opportunities, engage with the wider blockchain community, and watch your blockchain project succeed.

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