While NFTs seem like a “new” type of art and investment that emerged on the scene just last year, NFTs have existed long enough for people to develop tangents and derivatives.
This article will look at NFT derivatives and how to promote them. However, before diving in, let us look at what NFTs are and talk about their brief history.
History of NFTs
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are units of data that are stored on the blockchain and can be sold or traded. They can represent ownership of virtually anything from digital art and gaming to virtual real estate. In the past, it has proven quite challenging to establish rights in the digital asset space. However, due to the emergence of NFTs and NFT derivatives, demonstrating ownership has become easier.
The history of NFTs goes back to 2012, even before the existence of Ethereum. The concept behind them came from a paper by Meni Rosenfield introducing the ‘Colored Coins’ idea for the Bitcoin blockchain. The purpose of colored coins was to identify a class of techniques for representing and managing physical assets to prove ownership on the blockchain. Essentially, NFTs are similar to regular Bitcoins but have additional “token” elements that specify their use, making them distinct and segregated. Unfortunately, the Colored Coin concept was never realized due to the constraints of Bitcoin. Even so, it served as a starting point for the experiments that eventually led to the development of NFTs.
On May 3rd, 2014, digital artist Kevin McCoy created the digital image that included a pixelated octagon and changed colors and pulsated in a manner similar to an octopus. A significant amount of experimentation and creativity followed the development of this NFT. As a result, multiple platforms were built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain. One example is “Quantum,” the first-known NFT on the Namecoin blockchain. Additionally, the Ethereum blockchain also started its domination over NFTs.
The major shift of NFTs to Ethereum was legitimized with the introduction of token standards, a subsidiary of the smart contract standard. They were built to help developers build, issue, and deploy new tokens following the underlying blockchain technology. After this, the most famous NFT project (CryptoPunks) was created by software developers John Watkinson and Matt Hall. This experimental project was considered to be the first NFT developed and offered for free. Following the immense popularity of CryptoKitties, NFT gaming started to take off and advance, with more and more people being aware of it.
2021 was dubbed the “Year of the NFT,” as both production and demand for NFTs skyrocketed. One of the leading causes of this surge was the profound shifts within the industry when renowned auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s started selling NFT paintings and expanding their online auctions. As a result, Christie’s sold Beeple’s Everyday: the First 5000 Days NFT for a record-breaking $69 million. Due to this sale, the NFT market was extensively validated by a sizable sale from this famous auction house. Many projects emerged during this time. However, the biggest news in the industry was Facebook’s rebranding as Meta and its movement into the metaverse. This caused an increase in NFT demand, especially within the metaverse.
Regardless of certain doubts that have been expressed about NFTs over the past several years, NFTs are here to stay. What’s more, they will play a significant role in the future of the art world. The art market has seen a substantial change in recent years, and the effects of the pandemic have led to an even more significant departure from the established mode of operation. Now that NFTs are part of the mainstream market, they have limitless opportunities and boundless potential, moving beyond the age of innovation and experimenting. That leads us to our next section about what NFT derivatives are and how to promote them.
What is An NFT derivative?
An NFT derivative is an NFT project developed using an already completed project’s intellectual property and creative resources. NFT supporters frequently have conflicting opinions regarding NFT derivative projects. Some refer to them as opportunistic cash grabs while others refer to them as original tributes or appreciations of other well-known enterprises.
The main reason that NFT derivative projects became a thing was new investors and buyers entering the market during bull markets. They would then spot well-liked, quickly moving NFT ventures and develop FOMO. Granted, everyone in the cryptocurrency industry experiences this feeling from time to time, but generally, newcomers tend to be less skilled at knowing where to channel it. For this reason, many start to act with a little more hurry in markets where the price of an asset or security regularly climbs, throwing caution to the wind in search of the next big thing.
It can be challenging to figure out whether a derivative is official or unofficial. Unless there is a formal notice of partnership issued by the original project, people can presume that the derivative is unofficial. After all, most are already unofficial copies of existing projects. Derivatives frequently incorporate parts of previous projects and are highly imitative, lacking many fresh ideas.
A creative could choose to build a derivative project for a variety of reasons. Firstly, they can occasionally be enjoyable and give individuals a chance to express their creativity. As a result, members of the group who are inspired will try to express their joy and admiration for the larger community in a unique setting. Alternatively, some creators just want to generate a profit when they produce a derivative product. This means that they develop predatory projects that are intended to appear as “the next great NFT project” to satisfy the need of new entrants.
As mentioned above, many NFT derivative projects are typically money-making schemes designed with no thought for long-term community development or value preservation. Unofficial ventures frequently display pump-and-dump traits, including social media hype, significant buy-ins during minting and launch, and a sharp decline afterward. Through false endorsements using Twitter, Telegram, and Discord, these manipulative methods seek to raise the price of the NFT.
Given that millions of dollars can be made immediately after the debut of some schemes, they provide an incentive for the growth of NFT derivative scams. A term frequently used to describe most of these scams is “rug-pull.” Rug-pulls are short-term cash grab endeavors that are swiftly abandoned by their anonymous or fictitious founders who vanish with tokens valued at thousands or millions of dollars. The primary objective of these projects is to sell as much as possible while its founders progressively sell off dozens or hundreds of NFTs that they own.
While these initiatives will hype the community, they tend to have no plan of executing past mint day. This is essentially market manipulation. Unfortunately, the majority of consumers only discover the deceit driving the project after the fact. However, a few things people can consider keeping an eye on a project’s long-term viability; an increasing base price over time and the number of individual wallets that contain the NFT.
Of course, not all NFT derivative projects are cash grabs and there is a distinct difference between unofficial derivative projects, related derivatives, and future groups by a project’s founding team.
Since the original project creators issued it, the value of the project is similar to that of the original founders. For example, the Doodlebank, a community-run DAO for the Doodle project, has certified Noodles as the first Doodle derivative project. Another example is the “Mutant Ape Yacht Club,” a project that The Bored Ape Yacht Club has officially released.
The majority of these derivative projects aim to keep the elements that give the primary NFT project vitality while recreating the hot moment of a bluechip collection. Ultimately, we are creatures of habit and are very sensitive to what we are accustomed to. Therefore, these collections make sense if we consider them in the context of our behavior.
What is a Bluechip collection?
A “bluechip” company is regarded as a safe investment in the traditional stock market. Bluechip stocks are considered secure, long-term investments that produce consistent returns on the principal invested.
However, when individuals refer to a project as a “Bluechip NFT,” they suggest that its worth will remain high in the long run. In other words, going forward, it will act like a typical blue-chip stock. There are blue chips in NFTs, just as there are blue chips in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. We have discussed above. Some examples include; CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Doodles, Cool Cats, Mekaverse, CyberKongz, and Art Blocks.
If a person can obtain a bluechip NFT in their wallet, it has the power to transform their life completely. In the virtual world, it serves as a status symbol. People buy them as investments, but the majority do so to access exclusive communities, change how people perceive them in the market, quickly open new doors, and form new connections.
With this knowledge, the question remains why people would buy other NFTs if blue chips are the ultimate goal. The main reason is that blue-chip collections are costly and unobtainable for a large section of the population. As a result, many entrepreneurs continuously seek to fix the problem, creating NFT derivative projects. Their unique selling point is that people can join a community with similar traits as a bluechip collection at a lower price.
How to do public relations for Your NFT derivative project in 2022
Starting an NFT/NFT derivative project let alone knowing how to promote it is stressful. While people may learn the basics, knowing where to begin the whole process may not be easy. That is entirely understandable since the initial stage of building an NFT project is generally the most exciting.
Promoting a project is not easy. Luckily, there are several ways in which creators can gain exposure to their projects.
Public relations is an excellent NFT marketing strategy to implement. Companies are also able to target crypto audiences with the appropriate messages by working with a crypto PR agency. While they may know to create a PR strategy on their own, hiring an outside point-of-view can help them reach a larger and more appropriate audience. For example, press releases published on specialized media can assist in interacting with the crypto community. This technique increases investor interest in a project and raises its visibility.
Pressfarm is a PR agency that has worked with NFT artists and developers to help create newsworthy content like email pitches, press releases, guest posts, and press kits. Their PR professionals and expert writers will also create customized media lists to help clients find their perfect media match. The experts at Pressfarm also come armed with a content distribution strategy that has worked for hundreds of brands across different industries.
By submitting your content to the right media outlets and startup directories, Pressfarm can help your brand to rank in relevant search results across various search engines. Additionally, Pressfarm can build custom media lists in addition to offering clients access to a comprehensive database of over 1 million journalists across industries. With these media contacts, Pressfarm can help you to continue doing media outreach for up to a year after you’ve signed up.
Additionally, PR helps influence the consumer experience as a marketing tool. A good PR strategy ensures that audiences hear multiple messages at various points in the purchasing process. This makes it easier for companies to explain their key differentiator. Finally, PR aims to attract, cultivate, and push a company’s target audiences towards the sales funnel’s closing stages and enhance the company’s standing. Prospects will think about purchasing an NFT/NFT derivative if they realize it is a wise investment.
Let us now look at some strategies that can be used to gain visibility in an NFT/NFT derivative project.
1) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Creating content that is keyword-optimized specifically for search engines is known as SEO. SEO refers to the process of raising a website’s search engine ratings. Making sure that their NFTs are adequately optimized should be a company’s main objective in this procedure. A good SEO strategy increases the company’s online exposure on Google and other search engines.
Ultimately, the fact is that without doing SEO for NFTs, companies will not reach their target audience.
They can use SEO for NFTs to build the foundation they need to dominate the SERPs, get more visitors to their website, and boost conversion rates.
At the moment, more than a billion people use Google services monthly. However, to gain traction, the content must be indexed on the platform. Unfortunately, it is already challenging to get content indexed, even content that has failed to get enough traffic. The reasoning is that all content is not correctly optimized for search engines. This means that it will not be shown to people when they do searches.
When done effectively, NFT SEO has the potential to bring in more traffic, find new consumers, and boost brand awareness. Additionally, instead of a company’s website losing its appeal after a few weeks of launch, SEO will draw customers and visitors in for a considerable time. It is the most effective and long-term profitable way to bring traffic to a site, establish brand authority, and convert visitors to customers.
2) Work with influencers
Companies must have connections with multiple influencers for any NFT project. Influencers are well-known for promoting specific projects and brands on social media, but they do much more. For example, depending on their platform, they may include a link to a company’s website in every post or video they make about the company’s project. In addition to adding quality backlinks, they will help make sure the company site receives more traffic.
Ultimately, these days, people who follow influencers have already developed a sense of confidence in them. As a result, when influencers talk about a company and its products, their followers are more inclined to check out what a company offers. Working with influencers will pay off in the long run, even if the results aren’t noticeable immediately.
Influencers in the NFT marketing industry primarily serve to generate organic interaction by teaching their audiences about a company’s digital assets. As mentioned, modern consumers have demonstrated a strong desire to purchase the goods their favorite social media influencers promote. As a result, influencers already have a dedicated audience that looks past the “Ad” or “Paid Promotion” label and listens to their opinions instead.
The percentage of millennials who invest in NFTs is currently 27%. This figure is expected to rise in the next few years. As a result, connecting with an NFT influencers’ audiences will increase the exposure of a project. Companies can find the ideal influencers to collaborate with on any social media site, but the best NFT influencers can be found on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and industry-related blogs.
It cannot be reiterated enough, but for NFT marketing, influencers are essential resources. This is because the right ones can help a company successfully reach its target audience. Even on a small budget, partnering with the appropriate influencer will increase reach and increase a company’s number of followers overnight.
3) Create an online community
An NFT/NFT derivative project can benefit significantly from building an online community of people who come together to support a cause. These people not only help a company by regularly making purchases, but they also spread the word about it to their friends, family, coworkers, and other people in their lives. Additionally, they are the ones who read all of a company’s fresh content, follow their social media pages, and actively engage in campaigns and other initiatives for the company. They enthusiastically praise a company’s goods or services, provide reviews, and distribute its content to others. Ultimately, they are the ones who most strongly identify with a brand and sincerely appreciate what it does.
To build an online community, companies must always be transparent when they begin developing their network of people. After all, building a solid NFT community requires trust. A company will not get away with lying or omitting truths. Additionally, companies must be careful to convey details about their project in simple terms. When it comes to NFTs, not everyone will be as knowledgeable as the people who create them. For this reason, companies should gradually introduce the concept to them in words they can grasp.
Social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Discord, and Telegram are some of the best places to find your target audience. Since millions of individuals utilize social media daily, this gives a company’s current and potential consumers a quick and convenient way to get in touch with them. Once the company account is operational, it should start by sharing informative articles regarding NFTs as well as their characteristics. Depending on perspective, NFTs are still relatively new, so it is essential to spread awareness about a specific project using all available tools. On the other hand, there are also enthusiasts out there who know the ins and outs of the industry. This means that a company must ensure that they create and share a wide range of content that caters to both sides.
4) Improve brand visibility through content marketing
There are so many content marketing strategies companies can employ to raise awareness of their project. In this day and age, infographics, research papers, keyword-optimized blog articles, and interviews are the most popular types of content. Press releases and social media posts are also helpful because they can start conversations in online communities that companies may not ordinarily target. Companies need to use whichever platform they deem appropriate to market their project.
We will talk about how to create compelling content in more detail, but it is imperative for companies to routinely execute their content marketing strategy because doing so will help raise brand awareness and visibility. Companies need to make sure that they write frequently, for instance, if they are creating blog posts that are keyword optimized. If companies post on an irregular schedule, visitors to their site might seek their information elsewhere. People tend to want to find one place where they can consistently get the information they need. Companies can increase traffic to their website and the potential for conversions by consistently updating fresh content.
Additional benefits of content marketing
If everything mentioned above is not enough, let us dive into further detail about the benefits of content marketing.
Firstly, it increases the number of visitors to a company’s website. The content on a site makes a company discoverable, especially for search engines like Google. This is usually a big challenge when trying to help consumers locate a business among the vast amount of information online. Additionally, relevant content increases website traffic, in the same way that attention-grabbing content draws users to social media or email marketing efforts.
Secondly, it provides value for a company’s audience. The content a company produces and makes available to its consumers can be used to do more than educate them. It also conveys an important message to the right audience at the right time. It can help surpass expectations, establish a company as an expert on the subject, and benefit both a company and its audience.
Thirdly, quality content helps engage an audience. When companies provide relevant and helpful information to their audience, they will be excited to spread the word to their friends and followers. In addition, readers will engage with a company’s work in other ways, like posting comments and reactions.
Additionally, well-developed content helps reduce customer acquisition costs. CAC is a metric that shows how much money is spent on marketing and sales to attract new customers. Content marketing gives companies a lower CAC since one content piece can reach more individuals. The majority of created content is evergreen, meaning its informational quality will continue to deliver results for a very long time. As a result, the content gains value and becomes an asset for the company. Therefore, beyond lowering CAC, content gives additional weight to a company and helps their consumers without requiring the efforts of their salesforce, freeing it up to concentrate on a more individualized and assertive approach.
5) Focus on domain authority
Every company should consider its domain authority. This is the number assigned to each website and indicates a company’s level of authority within its specific domain. The larger this number, the more reliable search engines will consider a company to be. The higher they rank in the SERPs, the better. More backlinks can generate a higher domain authority, better rankings, and other benefits. The key to raising domain authority is creating exciting content related to a company’s niche and increasing the number of high-quality backlinks.
There are two types of links that a company wants for their website that can help with domain authority: internal links and external links. Internal links connect a company’s posts on their site. If a topic is mentioned in a post, but a writer wants to go into detail, they can insert a hyperlink that will connect readers to an internal post that explains the topic extensively. On the other hand, external links go to a company’s site from an outside source and the other way around.
6) Have optimized blog posts
Since the search numbers for NFTs are high, the opportunity for companies to build a solid brand is also high. That means that companies must create a big collection of content that provides value to their readers.
We mentioned this briefly, but creating keyword-optimized blog posts for their website will help companies get ranked on Google much faster. However, it is essential to remember not to put keywords in posts that do not make sense. Search engines tend to penalize posts for that. Companies must create informational, helpful, and, most importantly, truthful content. They also have to ensure that the topics they choose for their blog posts are both relevant and exciting. Regardless of the industry subject, nobody wants to read a boring blog post. It is possible to make dry topics interesting while also being educational.
Conclusion
The concept of NFTs and NFT derivatives is here to stay. Regardless of people’s opinion of them, the industry has expanded since its conceptualization back in 2012. It may have only become mainstream in 2021, but the idea behind NFTs began even before the creation of Ethereum. However, with advancements in technology and knowledge of the industry, there have been many startups and entrepreneurs that want a piece of the pie. To properly promote an NFT project, there needs to be an effective PR and marketing strategy so that companies can stand out. Withouta good strategy, there is no way that a project can gain the attention that it needs.