Why Web3 Marketing Strategies Often Fail

You’ve launched a new project, secured funding, built up an amazingly talented team of Web3 natives and created a brilliant marketing strategy that everyone loves. Then comes the problem. You aren’t getting the desired traction and adoption and you can’t figure out why. Now what?

4. Vague & Unmeasurable Strategies

The reality is that most strategies are not “strategies” at all. Having consulted hundreds of the top global businesses, one of the most fundamental mistakes is to confuse strategy with goals. To be the market leading NFT marketplace, have the largest dApp ecosystem or drive mass adoption of Web3 are not strategies. They are goals, because they do not define how the outcome will be achieved. If the “how” is not defined, then execution will likely have too many choices and ultimately fail. When creating your strategy, make sure the the “who” and “how” are included.

3. Data-Driven Approach & Marketing Culture

“Data-driven organisations are 26 times more likely to acquire customers and 6 times more likely to retain them – McKinsey Global Institute“

Opinions and ideas should always be substantiated with data. The more that your strategy and execution uses data to predict performance, the more likely you are to reach your goals. Gather data about your audience, analyse trends and patterns, understand what matters to them. Then segment the different actions that these audiences take to understand how effective your execution is in achieving these actions. All too often, basic benchmarking, market data and key performance indicators are not set and this is one of the most common reasons why Web3 marketing campaigns fail.

2. Focusing On Vanity Metrics

Vanity metrics are not new to Web3, Web2 also has its fair share. When we talk about vanity metrics, we are referring to metrics that look good, but lack substance. They are not indicative of true performance and do not correlate to campaign objectives. For example, if you may have 5 million Twitter followers, but if your post engagement is non-existent, then impact will be minimal. You may have 250k signups to your dAppVanity metrics, but only 100 daily active users where revenue is generated. It is too easy to focus on big numbers, but the focus should be metrics that actually contribute to your project goals; engagement rates, clickthrough rates, daily active users, signups, total value locked, revenue earned etc.

1. Believing The Web3 Marketing Hype

Web3 technology exists. Lots of Web3 marketing experts exist. Marketing for Web3 exists. Web3 marketing doesn’t yet exist at a scale that projects can be a success on it alone. Mastodon and Presearch are making great progress in creating decentralised competition for Twitter and Google respectively. However, they do not have the user base to replace the latter businesses for serious marketing.

The reality check for most projects is that unique marketing strategies and tactics do not yet exist for Web3. Most tactics around social media, community management, gated communities, incentives, rewards, content marketing and SEO are Web2 marketing and they are highly effective. The Web2 marketing rulebook needs some refinement for Web3 audiences of course. Fostering a data-driven and experimentation mindset to innovate is essential. But, disregarding what works in Web2 is a sure-fire way to ensure your marketing fails every time.