While the concept of blockchain and cryptocurrency has been around for quite some time now, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have rapidly become more popular. This is due to new trends in technology that are constantly changing how we interact with each other. The rising sales of NFTs have inspired more brands to learn about the process. Moreover, many PR firms have had to create and learn NFT-specific public relations practices to help clients navigate the process. In all honesty, NFTs have already impacted many different industries. Likewise, for the PR industry, NFTs will change the way people consume and share digital content.
What is an NFT?
Different experts and industries have different ways of describing NFTs. Even so, NFTs or non-fungible tokens are unique digital assets that represent real-world objects like art, music, in-game items, and videos. These assets are bought and sold online, generally with cryptocurrency, and managed on a blockchain. They are also encoded with the same software as many cryptocurrencies. The most notable aspect of NFTs is that they are unique. While a creator can choose to have near-multiple identical copies of an NFT, they must somehow be different and distinguishable.
NFTs in the art industry
Even though NFTs have been around since 2014, with classic examples like domain names, they have been gaining notoriety recently. This is because they have become a trendy way to buy and sell digital artwork. Be that as it may, they can now be used for many different things. From an art standpoint, blockchain technology and NFTs have given artists and content creators the unique opportunity to monetize their wares.
These content creators no longer need to rely on galleries or auction houses to sell their art. Instead, they can sell their artwork directly to consumers, allowing them to keep more profits. Additionally, artists can also program royalties into their NFTs to receive a percentage of sales whenever their art is sold to a new owner. This added feature is attractive to artists because, in the past, they generally did not receive future proceeds after their art was initially sold.
NFTs in the gaming industry
Art is not the only way that people can make money with NFTs. They have also emerged in the gaming industry as social tokens and as a form of decentralized finance. Digital add-ons in games have existed for many years, but they were localized to individual development companies. However, the gaming industry has now seen a significant increase in NFTs, with one of the earliest examples being CryptoKitty.
This game allowed the purchase and “breeding” of digital cats. We can also look at Steam, a company that created a community market where members could sell items to each other for Steam Wallet funds. Alternatively, there is also Dark Forest, where people can explore different planets and collect Artifact NFTs on new worlds, win the battles and trade them in decentralized marketplaces.
NFTs as social tokens
Additionally, people can now receive NFTs in other ways, usually as part of a community where they are considered social tokens. Creators have issued quite a few to their supporters to signify early purchasing of their merchandise.
NFTs in DeFi
Last but not least, NFTs have also been introduced in decentralized finance. Also known as DeFi, this is a type of financial application in cryptocurrency or blockchain. It expands the use of blockchain to more complex economic uses rather than just simple value transfer. NFTs and DeFi go well together because most DeFi applications are built through the same cryptocurrency platform that introduced NFT standards. Additionally, with DeFi, people can buy shares in some NFTs rather than buy them outright.
As mentioned previously, NFTs are generally built using the same type of programming as cryptocurrency. Nevertheless, that is where their similarity ends. Fungible assets or tokens, like physical money or cryptocurrency, are designed to be traded or exchanged for one another and are equal in value.
Why NFTs make it easy to verify ownership
At the same time, NFTs each have a digital signature that makes it pretty much impossible for them to be interchangeable. This is why they are non-fungible. When it comes to understanding how they work, it is essential to consider that they exist on a blockchain. This is a type of database that stores data in groups digitally chained to one another.
More specifically, each group or block of data has limited capacity. When its capacity becomes full, additional data will go into another block – one that is “chained” to the original. In the end, all chained blocks will create a long history that remains permanent. Every time an NFT sells, details of the new ownership will get added to a new chain. This ensures that the history of the NFT remains intact and the ownership is secure.
One significant advantage of NFTs is that they are backed by something that is already well-known as being finance-related. This means that there are existing ways for issuing, recording, and trading them. They are created from digital objects that represent both tangible and intangible items. These can include, but are not limited to, art, GIFs, video and sports highlights, collectibles, virtual avatars, and video game skins, designer sneakers, and music. Since people get exclusive ownership rights for NFTs, their unique data makes it easy to verify ownership and transfer tokens between owners.
What PR professionals should understand about NFTs
In the previous section, we discussed how NFTs could be used in different industries and products. We also discussed briefly how NFTs would impact the public relations industry due to the change in how we consume and share digital content. Now, we will detail what PR professionals need to understand about NFTs. We’ll also talk about why you need to develop NFT-specific public relations plans. Finally, we’ll navigate through how to be successful in promoting your projects.
As we’ve seen, NFTs could be anything digital, from artwork, music, and games to sports trading cards and video clips. In order to support your clients who are interested in learning about the process of using NFTs, there are a few things you need to know.
1) Fully understand blockchain PR
Blockchain PR is still considered a relatively new term used to describe PR professionals and marketers who specialize in cryptocurrency. In order to fully support and advise clients, you need to understand this technology as well as know how to create content that will engage with consumers in the market. Ideally, you should realize that companies can use blockchain technology to create and tell stories as well as track the growth of any digital marketing campaign.
2) Continuously learn about NFT technology
With NFTs continuing to make their way into different markets and industries, PR professionals also need to actively learn how those tools can impact both brands and consumers. Besides helping clients create content that can be distributed to media professionals and on the client’s owned media, PR professionals are often tasked with informing clients about new trends that could impact their businesses. For this reason, you must accurately discuss how NFTs can move the original digital content that companies create for their products or services.
3) Keep the press informed
Just as with any tangible products, quality press releases are necessary for NFTs. More likely than not, brands may want to create, distribute, and share the news about their NFT. They may also need to look for PR firms and agencies to share the news with reputable media outlets. For that reason, PR agencies need to help brands by creating content and building a PR outreach process that will work for each brand. One way to do so is by assisting your clients to build a personalized list of media publications that will align with the goals of potential NFT consumers.
Pressfarm is a PR agency that works with startups and companies of various sizes 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, by offering a comprehensive database of over 1 million journalists across industries, Pressfarm can help you to continue doing media outreach for up to a year after you’ve signed up.
4) Create digital campaigns that are NFT-compatible
PR professionals are supposed to be a company’s strategic planners, so you need to understand how to create digital content that will align your clients with the new technology and market. After all, there is no point in creating content if it is not relevant to the landscape and will not gain the media traction it deserves.
5) Build relationships with NFT marketing agencies
PR and marketing go hand-in-hand when you’re trying to help clients promote their projects. The two are designed to work together to combine earned and paid advertising strategies to create successful campaigns. In order to effectively help your clients, you need to start by building relationships with NFT marketers to understand how to track cryptocurrency growth using SEOs, influencers, and publishers.
The moral of the story here is that NFTs are more than just a trend that will die away; they are the future of any industry’s digital ecosystem. For that reason, all industries will have to adapt to the new technology to stay relevant. The best way that PR professionals can support their clients is by learning more about NFTs and how recent technological innovations relate to the industry.
Best ways to promote an NFT project
Now that we have looked at what PR professionals can do to help their clients through the NFT process, we will now look at some of the best strategies that you can use for NFT promotion. To effectively promote an NFT, it is essential to understand that your company needs to engage in building a social community, growth hacking, SEO, content marketing, PR, and paid advertising to get the word out there about your NFT. It’s also important to highlight how your NFT benefits your target audience.
Here are some strategies that have been proven to work:
1) PR
As previously mentioned, public relations is the best way for you to build a solid online reputation and presence for your company. By using PR for NFT marketing, you can yield a better return on investment (ROI) because you can send the right message to the right people at the right time.
In addition, distributing content to niche media publications provides you with better opportunities to reach relevant communities that are interested in NFTs and cryptocurrency. When you publish quality content and engage in different types of PR marketing to increase visibility, more people start developing an interest in your digital assets. PR can also change the mindset of people towards an online entity when you reach your target audiences at different stages of their buyers’ journey. PR helps present your company’s unique selling points (USPs) positively to potential consumers. This means that PR can acquire, nurture, and pull your target audiences towards the end of a sales funnel. Additionally, it helps improve your NFT marketplace reputation.
2) SEO
Another strategy that can be used to promote NFTs is SEO. Search engine optimization can help you improve organic visibility for your project. When potential consumers look for information about NFTs, they will enter their search queries on various search engines. Some of those queries can include: what are the best NFTs to buy, where one can buy them, how to buy them, and more.
If your company’s NFT marketplace is ranked high at the top of the SERPS, it is a huge opportunity to attract bids and earn the maximum possible value from your investment.
3) Influencer Marketing
Influencers are specialists in their fields who can influence consumers’ purchasing decisions. NFTs and social media are inextricably linked. Influencers can help your company to spread the word about your digital artwork or whatever your NFT collection is. This results in increased traffic, project visibility, and bids.
Working with influencers has several benefits. Working with an influencer who already has a loyal following allows you to create trust immediately and, as a result, efficiently reach your target audience. You can also profit from addressing specialist groups with minimum hassle because the influencers you choose to work with might already have thousands of followers. Your NFTs can become popular on social media if you partner with numerous influencers who fit into your niche. As a result, influencer marketing should be a key component of any NFT marketing plan.
4) NFT marketplace listings
NFT marketplaces are specialized buying and selling platforms for digital artworks, trading cards, virtual games, and real estate. However, to trade in the NFT marketplace, you will need an Ethereum wallet.
Your NFT will undoubtedly be sold on a marketplace for NFTs. All of the other methods you use to promote your NFT will drive traffic to these markets. For this reason, you have a better chance of selling your NFT at a greater price if you list it on multiple marketplaces.
5) Guest posting
Another great way to advertise an NFT project is by guest posting. To guest post, you should contact web admins of cryptocurrency and NFT-focused websites that are searching for content contributors. You will need to send them an email explaining why you think that specific platform is a good fit for you to begin the process. The main idea is to provide these websites with free material to promote your company’s NFT project in your author profile or the content body.
Guest posting offers quite a few advantages like increasing the domain authority and reputation of an NFT website, and guaranteeing more visibility to NFT enthusiasts. A guest posting strategy can also provide relevant and high-authority backlinks to your domain, and the opportunity to network with other people in the niche.
6) Blogging
Blogging is another excellent approach to reach out to NFT buyers at various phases of the buyer journey. With the help of search engines, people browse for NFTs or look for information to help them learn more about a specific NFT. The search engines may pick up on a company’s information and display it on page one of the SERPs. This would increase the chances of your NFT popping up in response to typical inquiries that people would key in to learn more about NFTs.
By building and maintaining an informative blog, it’ll be easier for you to find consumers who are specifically looking for NFTs. You can use your blog articles to inform buyers, compare other NFTs, present a list of the best-selling NFTs, or demonstrate why your NFT is the best.
7) Airdrops
Airdrops are a popular way to promote NFT-based projects and with good reason. These are coins or tokens which you send to crypto wallet addresses in return for the user retweeting or sharing the news of your new virtual currency. Since active members of the blockchain community are always looking to earn more cryptocurrency, this is an effective way to promote a new virtual currency.
By offering an airdrop when you launch, you can easily get more people talking about your NFT project. Furthermore, you can get more people to use your NFTs regularly. Once you set up an airdrop, all you need to do is share the link on your website and share information about it widely on your social media channels. By doing that, you can drive more people to check your brand out and share information about you with their online networks.
Conclusion
Whatever you’re using NFTs for, one thing is for sure: NFTs are here to stay. There is no hiding from the potential that NFTs present in multiple industries. In order to remain relevant in any market, you need to make sure that you understand the landscape and do what you can to promote it best. Either on your own or with the help of PR professionals, you will be able to fully embrace the potential of NFTs in your industry.
How Pressfarm can help
For an entrepreneur, overcoming a crisis can determine your success or failure. At Pressfarm, we help companies define the right narrative in the media for their brand – either to improve their credibility or resolve a PR crisis. If you are an entrepreneur wondering how to improve your company’s publicity, get in touch with us. We can help you to craft and distribute your press releases, develop compelling guest posts and design eye-catching media kits for your brand.
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