ICO Marketing: Creating a wildly successful campaign

In today’s day and age, ICOs are on the rise, dominating the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries. However, they too bring along risks, challenges, and unforeseen opportunities. Most successful ICO projects have produced tremendous returns, but others have resulted in fraudulence. This brought a lack of trust in the investors and they are much more careful in choosing the right startup to invest in. That’s why ICO marketing is essential in securing enough capital. But how should they do that in order to lure potential investors?

Why doesn’t normal marketing work for an ICO?

Four words: new technology, new concept.

While ICO is a revolutionary technology with massive implications for the future, not a lot of individuals understand the concept. How do you explain the concept of digital tokens instead of hard cash? How do you explain the concept of “possible” high return on investment? It can be baffling because different purposes can be solved with different tokens and cryptocurrencies. As a result, your investors may be sceptic about investing in your ICO project.

This is where multi-pronged marketing comes into play.

The three pillars: interacting, educating and informing

When it comes to marketing your ICO project, it is not just about getting investors to buy your token or cryptocurrency. They need to be aware and informed at multiple levels. A lot of what is lacking for ICO projects is a general presence. That is, supporting evidence with continuous publications and updates.

Multi-pronged marketing is a marketing strategy that uses multiple marketing tools to achieve a strategic objective. It gives you the opportunity to effectively adjust the message of your ICO project to reach your target audience. The multi-pronged approach uses the same tools as traditional marketing, but different ways of using these tools and communicating the message. For instance, a large percentage of individuals around the world are showing interest in various cryptocurrencies. They are your ‘broad audience’. But eventually, initial funding comes from pinpointing your, target audience.

Your target audience can be anywhere. They can be on Facebook, on Twitter, they can even be on almost every channel internet users’ rely on to receive updates and to share their opinions.

four coins, two golden bitcoins and two silver ethereum coins

Some of the most effective marketing channels and tools that you can consider using include:

  • Video

    Using various video streaming channels, such as YouTube, Vimeo, and Instagram – to name a few;

  • Website

    Creating a dedicated website for your ICO project to reach prospects and to keep in touch with them;

  • Blog

    Creating a blog as a way to engage prospects and to build trust. You can publish multiple posts so that individuals looking for informative and useful content on ICO and cryptocurrency come to your blog to gain knowledge;

  • Email marketing

    Sending out emails containing interesting and reliable content about your ICO project to prospects;

  • White papers

    Publishing white papers as a credible way of letting prospects know that you have authority in your field. They are also a great way to introduce your development team and to show off what great work you have been doing;

You can even use social media for ICO marketing. Potential investors need to be able to understand how your tokens and cryptocurrencies are going to affect e-commerce. Moreover, they need to know the manner in which your legal documents are authorized and managed. For this, you should get active in advance – at least several months before launching your ICO project.

The Importance of having a whitepaper

Generally, startup businesses launch ICO projects for the purpose of avoiding the timely, regulated capital-raising process by venture capitalists and banks. To gain the trust of the investors you need to address every concern they have and answer all their questions.

The investors are usually looking for a white paper to get the whole picture of the startup and maker an informed decision. That’s why the white paper needs to answer these questions:

  • What the ICO project is about;
  • Which needs the ICO project will fulfil upon completion;
  • How much capital is necessary to undertake the venture;
  • What type of capital will be accepted;
  • How much of the ICO-specific cryptocurrency token the inventors of the ICO project will keep for themselves;
  • How long the ICO project will last;

More than marketing

The cost of marketing your ICO project will depend on what channels and tools you want to use. It will also depend on how much you use them for promotional purposes. For instance, are you in a rush to market your ICO project in a short amount of time? Do you want to run a continual campaign over the course of a few months or even a year?

Marketing is necessary when there is competition. It is necessary when there is too much commotion and not enough awareness. Your entire growth plan depends on it if you wish to raise capital for your company. And with 1500 cryptocurrencies across 10,000 markets in 2018 alone, the competition is fierce.

ICO marketing is a combination of education, information distribution, trust, and reason. It should be informative and engaging. It should also be done in such a manner that your prospects do not realize that they are being marketed to. Despite what is known about ICO and cryptocurrency in general, each ICO project is different. This is why you need to tell your story. You need individuals to be able to hear your message loud and clear in order to compel a desire to support your cause.

Above all, ICO marketing is more than just marketing. It is making something meaningful that will contribute to the environment.