Marketing for Decentralized Finance (DeFi)-based projects can determine the level of success they attain. As of now, DeFi’s market cap according to CoinMarketCap is a whopping $42bn despite the recent drop. This indicates that there’s still a huge potential in DeFi that you can tap into so as to grow your crypto projects. Further, Decentralized Finance has a lot to offer, from decentralized exchange trading (PancakeSwap) to monetary gain by lending (Aave).
At the moment, DeFi is one of the fastest-growing financial models in the crypto ecosystem. The dramatic growth of this financial instrument over the years is attributed to the active user base. Due to the increasing number of crypto projects leveraging this tool, succeeding through DeFi marketing is challenging. As such, the only means to succeed is by deploying superior campaign strategies.
By the end of 2023, DeFi is expected to reach mainstream adoption as more financial institutions and service providers embrace this technology. This shift will lead to increased utilization of DeFi protocols, wider acceptance of DeFi-based products, and improved regulatory clarity. As more users and developers enter the DeFi space, the number of ecosystems, use cases, and services available will grow significantly, creating a more comprehensive DeFi environment with a wider range of products and services. In this article, we will focus on DeFi marketing strategies that can help improve brand awareness and SEO.
Why choose DeFi?
The emergence of DeFi technology has changed the crypto ecosystem. Many people are migrating from centralized platforms to adopt DeFi-driven solutions. Even so, the puzzle remains, is DeFi an alternative solution to Centralized Finance when it comes to security and transparency?
Nonetheless, crypto experts agree there are no counterparty risks in DeFi. That’s because it uses technology and smart contracts to eliminate intermediaries in transactions between parties.
DeFi Trends in 2023
- Crowdfunding: DeFi is increasingly being adopted as an alternative to traditional crowdfunding platforms. This approach enables businesses and individuals to access digital asset markets easily, raising funds from various sources, including investors, venture capitalists, and the public. Leveraging decentralized finance protocols such as Ethereum, this fundraising platform provides access to a wide range of capital from global investors. It offers a secure, transparent, and efficient way to raise funds, providing investors with a clear view of the raised funds and empowering them to make informed decisions.
- Improved scalability of DeFi platforms: In 2023, the scalability of DeFi protocols will witness significant improvements. This will result in more efficient utilization of blockchain technology and lower transaction costs. As a result, DeFi will become a more attractive option for both users and developers.
- Emergence of new DeFi protocols: With the entry of more developers into the DeFi space, we can expect the emergence of new protocols that offer unique and innovative solutions to existing challenges. This will provide users with more options and foster a more competitive environment within the DeFi ecosystem.
- Increased security and privacy: By the end of 2023, DeFi protocols will implement enhanced security and privacy measures, ensuring a more secure and private user experience. This development will make DeFi a more appealing investment option for financial institutions and other investors.
DeFi marketing
Regardless of the DeFi project you are launching, enhancing brand awareness and search engine optimization is essential. According to Google Trends, there has been a drastic increase in searches related to DeFi. As such, you must keep up with marketing trends to remain competitive, and enhance your popularity. As mentioned earlier, this platform is very competitive. For this reason, the only way to succeed is by deploying potent marketing campaigns.
DeFi marketing is a continuous process
Before we list the marketing strategies that you can use, it’s important to note that DeFi marketing is a continuous process. Therefore, instead of picturing it as a static process, consider it as living. It’s alive and needs to be nurtured for it to promote the growth of your project.
Therefore, you’ll need to set up plans on how to execute these strategies and keep them up to date. Typically, there will be stronger strategies and weaker ones. You need to take these into account as you deploy the following marketing strategies for your crypto project.
Ways to market your crypto and improve brand awareness
There are a plethora of options when it comes to marketing techniques for DeFi. The following strategies are some of the best in the industry. In fact, many DeFi projects have leveraged these strategies effectively.
1) Define your target audience
Before launching a marketing campaign, it is essential to understand your target audience. Gain insights into their interests, motivations, and reasons for using your product.
2) Perform crypto SEO
Directing your attention to certain DeFi trends is one way you can achieve success in the crypto realm. What’s more, leveraging certain keywords can help capture a prospect’s attention and lead them to your site. As such, you must pick keywords that evoke curiosity and generate a high ranking on search engines. Speaking of which, when altcoin dominance sours, multiple trends will pop up. At that point, it’s important to keep up with these trends and stay ahead of your competition.
2) Update project info on DeFi tracking platforms
DeFi tracking platforms are hotspots for prospective investors. This is where investors run their due diligence before hopping on a project or product. Therefore, it’s essential to submit up-to-date project info to these sites.
Speaking of tracking platforms, one of the notable sites you can leverage for your project is Coingecko. It’s an investor magnet and offers a comprehensive list highlighting the top100 DeFi projects by market cap.
Additionally, it includes details on exchanges and tokenomics. From Google’s perspective, this platform has a significant amount of daily searches. Thus, it’s worth listing your project there for prospective investors to find it.
Besides Coingecko, defiprime is another notable platform for DeFi tracking. It also has an extensive and comprehensive list of these projects. Moreover, it categorizes them according to various criteria. Most importantly, this tracking platform helps investors avoid fraudulent projects.
That’s because the project info on these sites is up to date with all credentials. That being said, you can consider DeFiRate and DeFiPulse among the notable tracking platforms.
3) Develop an authoritative brand image in the cryptocurrency space
Even though DeFi has a massive potential that investors and enthusiasts can leverage, the crypto realm remains the “Wild West.” In fact, regulators are looking for ways to boost the regulations and restrictions in DeFi and crypto space. Meanwhile, new applications and concepts are drastically gaining traction. The presence of smart contracts and a reliable team are indicators of secure projects to invest in.
To stand out in the crowded DeFi market, it is crucial to establish a strong brand identity. This involves creating a unique logo, defining a distinctive color scheme, and adopting a consistent brand voice that aligns with your project’s mission and values.
Yield Farming is a powerful strategy that has been utilized by notable companies. Yield farming features are a reassurance to target investors on what to look forward to and the potential risks of taking that route. Beyond yield farming features, transparency is among the notable features that drive prospects to DeFi.
Finally, regdoc reviews and certik audits are ways of determining the susceptibility of smart contracts to cyber theft. Getting reviewed by these sites showcases transparency on your part. This is especially important given the inherent risks that come with crypto investments.
The best way to improve your brand image is by leveraging your audit scores from these platforms for advertisement. You can include a brief description to help prospects understand what they are looking at. Lastly, publish posts on DeFi websites where enthusiasts stop by to look through security reviews of various projects. Rugdoc is an excellent example of such a website.
4) Aim at display campaigns and cryptocurrency ad networks
We all know that Google has placed restrictions on crypto advertisements. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t reach your target clients. By using some old crypto marketing tricks, you can surpass Google restrictions and reach your target base.
On a related note, the Ethereum subreddit offers a great avenue for reaching massive audiences. It allows you to run striking ads that can capture prospective attention. Most importantly, you’ll be tapping into the crypto community, not just an audience base with all types of users.
Great examples of subreddits you can follow include
Another potential advertising platform includes Twitter promotions. With the right content and target market, you can create a positive impression for your project.
5) Keep Medium’s crypto community up-to-date
Gone are the days when you had to maintain secrecy until the day of your project launch. Nowadays, sharing the company news with project updates is the new trend. Additionally, you can diversify the types of content you’re sharing. For instance, you can share informative or educational content that relates to your projects.
Also, you can point out the common challenges in the crypto realm. And as a bonus, you can explain the possible solutions the audience can get for choosing your project. Remember to enlighten your audience on the inspiration behind this project. This will help you create organic traffic instead of being seen as a money-chasing venture. If you provide insightful content about your Defi project, it’s easy to connect with the crypto community on Medium.
To keep them engaged and possibly turn them into a loyal community, keep them up-to-date on your project progress. You can find a good example of how to leverage the Medium Crypto community on Onomy’s Protocol page. Instead of focusing on marketing directly, they prioritize educational articles. This helps them come across as experts in their niche and a reliable company.
5) Publish crypto subreddit posts
Having a powerful and reliable crypto community is not a matter of choice. It’s essential if you want your DeFi project to succeed. To generate organic traffic, you can generate Q&As on social platforms like Discord and Telegram. Furthermore, promoting your project by a word of mouth can help in enhancing the awareness of your project.
The best way to manage this is via a referral program. This is an effective technique with a positive track record. While a positive reputation can help you with referrals, using incentives is more effective. You can offer free tokens or a percentage of yields for every referral. Most importantly, generate exciting talking points that will motivate your community to spread the word about your project.
6) Leverage crypto PR mentions and influencer marketing
Crypto technology is globally renowned and DeFi has also captured people’s attention across the world. As a result, crypto communities have emerged across various platforms e.g. Twitter, Discord, LinkedIn, Facebook, and beyond. Nevertheless, due to the fierce competition in the crypto space, tapping into these communities is challenging.
Luckily, influencer marketing makes it easy. Crypto influencers can help you connect with large communities with crypto enthusiasts. If you know who to hire, you can help your new project gain traction in the crypto realm pretty fast. Additionally, you can gain organic traffic through crypto PR mentions.
Collaborating with influencers in the blockchain and DeFi space can help expand your project’s reach and connect with a broader audience. Partnering with influencers to promote your project can significantly impact brand awareness.
That being said, it takes a good PR marketing agency and the right crypto influencer to reach your audience effectively. At Pressfarm, you can get both of these. They’ll help you with PR mentions and finding the right influencer for your Defi project.
7) Crypto bounty/ airdrops/ giveaway campaigns
It’s relatively expensive to run crypto bounties, airdrops, or giveaway campaigns. In spite of the added expense, they are effective campaign strategies with promising results. The giveaway strategy is the new trend in the crypto space.
UniSwap is an example of a successful DeFi project that has pursued this strategy before. Based on this project’s success, you can tell this is a potent strategy. With an ERC-20 valued at $10bn, this project is proof of how airdrops can yield massive results.
There’s much more you can do with crypto bounties, airdrops, or giveaways campaigns. For example, you can host Q&A sessions, games, and contests, or you can try a more engaging approach.
8) Marketing through trading competitions
Enhancing trading volume is essential if you want to boost the visibility and popularity of your project in the crypto market. For example, you can leverage trading competitions to narrow the gap between bids. This is especially effective if your crypto project is on an exchange platform that uses an order book system. The trading competition will serve as an incentive for prospects to invest in your project.
It’s the same reason why Binance, among other exchanges, hosts trading competitions. Running events for your project is among the effective ways to gain more users.
9) Arrange crypto partnerships
While you can run your campaigns on a specific platform to generate user growth, cross-promotion is more effective. In this case, both parties benefit from exposure through the partnership. Your partnerships don’t have to be restricted to crypto projects alone. You can expand your horizon by partnering with businesses in other fields.
Collaborating with other DeFi projects can increase your project’s visibility and build credibility. Co-creating content, hosting joint events, and cross-promoting each other’s projects are effective strategies to reach a wider audience.
A good example is a partnership between VeChain and Shopping.io. You can leverage the same idea and discover valuable partnerships for your project.
10) Use social media
Social media platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Reddit play a pivotal role in marketing any blockchain project, including DeFi. Leverage these platforms to reach your target audience, share informative content about your project, and actively engage with your followers.
11) Host events and webinars
Hosting events and webinars provides an effective way to build brand awareness and educate your target audience about your DeFi project. Inviting industry experts to speak at your events can further enhance credibility and provide valuable insights into the DeFi market.
12) Engage with the community
Building trust and loyalty within the DeFi community is crucial. Create online communities on platforms such as Discord and Telegram, where users can interact with each other and the project team. Actively participate in discussions, address queries, and solicit feedback to foster a vibrant community.
Your turn
Regardless of the marketing approach you take, it’s always important that your project goal remains at the forefront. Moreover, there are no specific marketing strategies that can guarantee the quick growth or success of your business. Keep in mind that, given the ever-changing crypto trends, what works today may be useless tomorrow. As such, trying multiple strategies is a good way to increase the probability of your DeFi project succeeding.
Ultimately, there’s more to marketing than setting aside its budget. You’ve got to build a positive reputation by guaranteeing the security of investments and your commitment. Meanwhile, your marketing strategies must clearly indicate the benefits – both monetary and otherwise. While you can save money by experimenting with the strategies above on your own, this can be frustrating and exhausting.
The good news is that you can hire the services of a marketing or PR agency with experience in the crypto industry to ease this burden.
Pressfarm’s PR services can help you get featured in the press, a very important aspect if you are trying to build a credible and successful DeFi project.
With a professional press release, some engaging guest posts and an eye-catching media kit, you can make a splash in the crypto industry. In addition to creating content that’s specifically tailored to the crypto industry, the team at Pressfarm can help you put it in front of the right eyes. By submitting your content to the right media outlets and startup directories, Pressfarm can boost your online visibility. This distribution method ensures your brand ranks in relevant search results across different search engines.
Finally, as a client, you get custom media lists. Together with a media database of 1 million+ journalists, bloggers and influencers, these media lists are designed to help you do effective targeted media outreach.
With a PR package from Pressfarm, you can boost credibility for your crypto brand.