As DeFi gains momentum, it’s important for businesses to deploy effective DeFi marketing strategies to stand out from the crowd and capture the attention of their target audience. In this article, we’ll explore key DeFi marketing strategies that will position your brand for success.
First and foremost, understanding your target audience is crucial. By identifying their pain points and needs, you can tailor your marketing message to resonate with them on a deeper level. Additionally, leveraging social media platforms and emerging technologies like blockchain can help you reach a wider audience and establish your brand as an authority in the DeFi space. Moreover, cultivating partnerships with influential industry leaders can significantly boost your brand’s visibility. Collaborating with experts allows you to tap into their loyal following while gaining credibility and trustworthiness in the eyes of your potential customers.
Ultimately, successful DeFi marketing in 2023 requires a combination of innovative strategies, a deep understanding of your target audience, and strategic partnerships. By implementing these key concepts, your brand will be well-positioned to succeed and thrive in the fast-paced world of DeFi.
The 2023 DeFi landscape
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is now on track to significantly disrupt financial transactions. As self-made millionaire Mark Cuban recently stated, DeFi is “not going anywhere”. In fact, the market valuation of DeFi enterprises continues to rise as more value is realized.
The entire value of DeFi contracts has risen from US$2.1 million to US$44 billion since September 2017. DeFi projects have also seen their worth increase three or four times in a year — and some by far more. The popularity of the DeFi space is growing at an exponential rate, and the market for new firms and projects has yet to be filled.
However, because DeFi seeks to infiltrate very different sectors of the market, DeFi marketing is a complicated procedure. To bring in the funds that may be used for DeFi activities, we need to recruit investors – both major investors and smaller investors. Then there’s the other side of crypto marketing, which is used to entice investors. This opens up possibilities for promoting DeFi services to a broader audience. Decentralized finance bridges the gap between these two audiences, and the DeFi marketing approach should do the same.
In this article, we will look at some DeFi marketing strategies that can effectively promote your DeFi platform. Before we dive in, let us go into a bit more detail as to what DeFi actually is.
What Is DeFi?
Decentralized finance, or DeFi, is a term that refers to smart-contract-based apps that try to recreate traditional financial products without the use of intermediaries such as banks or central agencies. Users can loan or borrow cryptocurrency using DeFi, just like they would with fiat currency at a bank, and earn interest as a lender. Interest rates change with demand, and borrowers must put up collateral (with other crypto assets). Furthermore, there is no way for lenders and borrowers to know each other’s identities— it’s all about mutual trust and maintaining privacy.
An important aspect of DeFi is that compared to traditional banks, borrowers who use DeFi apps cannot be held liable for tangible assets if they are unable to repay a loan properly.
The first DeFi applications were Bitcoin and Ethereum. Rather than central authorities, large networks of computers control both. DeFi apps, most of which are built on the Ethereum blockchain network, are dominating the scene. Maker, Compound, and Aave, for example, presently dominate the DeFi lending market. Compound and Aave are crypto versions of money market funds that allow users to earn interest. Maker (DAI) aims to be a worldwide currency that is impenetrable by central banks.
DeFi marketing strategies in 2023
When it comes to creating a DeFi marketing strategy, there are different stages that need to be taken into consideration: pre-launch, launch, and post-launch. In this section, we will go into detail about the strategies that should be used for each stage.
Pre-launch stage
If you want to give your DeFi project a boost, it needs to be seen, heard, and talked about. As a result, when planning the pre-launch of your DeFi project marketing strategy, you must consider how and to whom you will advertise. It’s important that you know who you want to interact with, where they congregate, and what their challenges are. Once you have that information, you’ll be able to guide your DeFi marketing strategy in the right direction.
Let us look at some DeFi marketing instruments that are absolutely necessary to effectively market your DeFi project.
1) A landing page/website
Your DeFi project may already have a website with numerous pages, but the landing page must stand out on its own. This is where potential subscribers will be directed by your advertisements, so it’s critical to get it right. Your DeFi or crypto marketing plan will all lead to this page. It’s important to make the visit worth it for your target audience. As long as someone is on your landing page, you can capture their attention with the right information.
It is essential that you communicate the ‘why’ and ‘how’ behind your DeFi project. The main purpose of your landing page is to pique people’s curiosity with a specific Call-To-Action (CTA) button. For example, you can encourage people to Learn More, Sign-Up, or Subscribe). The goal is to get your customers to click, whether they’re clicking to join a mailing list or get notifications. Consider providing a short video on your DeFi initiative or cryptocurrency. This can help enhance organic visibility and engagement.
2) Influencer marketing
This strategy will be effective throughout the whole marketing process, but the idea behind it is that people trust other people more than they trust brands. So you’ll want to work with key opinion leaders (KOLs) and DeFi influencers if you want to boost the position of your DeFi project. Influencer marketing is all the rage these days now because everyone appreciates recommendations from someone they trust. Many DeFi and crypto bloggers and influencers have worked hard to establish a loyal following in this field. It makes sense to try to harness their credibility while establishing your own brand and reputation.
Best platforms for DeFi influencer marketing
YouTube, Instagram, and Telegram have dominated the cryptocurrency and decentralized finance fields. These are popular venues for both decentralized finance and crypto themes. Although KOLs and influencers offer a variety of content styles, a review is likely to be the most profitable. Influencer reviews will typically delve right into your DeFi project’s platform, highlighting its merits to all of their subscribers. For this reason, it’s beneficial to keep track of the DeFi groups your target influencers join. It’s also important to make note of the crypto coin communities they participate in and the DeFi forums they frequent. Once you’ve made note of all these platforms, join them as well. Look at what they’re seeing, read what they’re writing, and figure out what makes them tick.
Instagram is the newest addition to the social media platforms used for DeFi marketing. When running your pre-marketing campaign, setting up an Instagram page might not seem like the most apparent decision. It does, however, fit into an omnichannel marketing approach, in which you reach out to potential leads wherever they are. Of course, viral posts can work wonders for the growth of your DeFi company. While they are frequently outlandish, they serve as a wonderful example of how to become viral from the start.
3) Display ads
Your advertising budget may be small during the pre-launch stage. So you’ll want to get the most bang for your buck, which is where well-established crypto display ad networks shine. Keep in mind that it’s critical to customize your DeFi advertisements to reach the proper audience. Make sure you talk to the platform’s representatives about how to set up the most effective crypto marketing campaign.
As previously stated, brand awareness is critical to the success of your DeFi project since it builds company recognition and trust. Decentralized finance is built on trust because it deals with money, which most people find difficult to part with. As a result, your pre-launch is where you establish yourself. It’s where you lay the foundation for your DeFi project. If you have an unstable foundation, your DeFi project won’t last long. This is something you’ll want to get right, so invest wisely.
4) Email marketing
Growing your mailing list will surely help your DeFi marketing approach. However, this list must be targeted in order to reach the intended audience. It’s a slow process that starts with the leads generated by display ads and landing pages.
Emails can be scheduled to be sent on a specified day, time, or another basis. Above all, email marketing can be a powerful strategy for growing your DeFi startup community. In other words, it keeps you in touch with every new user who expresses interest in your business and serves as a constant reminder of your progress.
5) Crypto partnerships
Taking on the arena of already well-known DeFi initiatives requires a multi-pronged approach. Joining forces with other projects can provide you with early access to your own early-bird users in this case. Since all partnerships are formed with the goal of achieving a mutually beneficial conclusion, look for those that offer benefits to both parties. In exchange, you’ll gain access to an already-existing pool of users who are eager to transfer to your services while also appreciating the DeFi solution you provide.
6) Social media groups
Since we’ve all done it, few people are startled to learn that a lot of product and service research is done on social media. These marketing platforms appear simple enough, yet they are rarely given the attention they deserve. The audience is important, but you also need to figure out what they want and need, as well as how your DeFi project can meet those needs.
Add links to your website and distribute articles about your company, videos, whitepapers, and litepapers through social media groups and pages dedicated to your initiative. Make use of what’s already available by joining communities that share a shared interest in decentralized finance. Increase indexation, community interest, and visibility by posting content to the DeFi project’s social media platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, Telegram, Facebook, and others). Developing an active social media presence can make all the difference for your DeFi project.
7) Medium
Most DeFi marketers use Medium to submit articles about their projects as well as fight for such articles to be published in Medium publications geared toward the blockchain and DeFi community (e.g. Coinmonks, The Capital). The best aspect about having your article published in a Medium publication is that it is completely free and serves as a kind of outreach to DeFi purveyors. Furthermore, Medium has a high domain authority. This implies that with the correct keyword optimization, your content could appear on the first page of Google Search.
8) Reddit & Telegram
Both Reddit and Telegram have a reputation for drawing crypto early birds. To promote your DeFi project, you can share links to relevant articles and topics in DeFi subreddits. You can also share content to community forums within Telegram (which may support up to 200,000 in one community alone!). On Reddit, there are two approaches to DeFi marketing. The first step is to become totally organic, which means starting talks and discussions about decentralized finance and the role your projects play in it. The second method is to contact moderators of DeFi-related subreddits. You can then discuss how you can advertise your startup with their support and reach the audience that the subreddit has access to.
Contact the Reddit Ads division for more information on how to market on Reddit. Instead of targeting only one crypto group, the platform offers such marketing as a stand-alone solution that can help you reach a far bigger audience. Although it may be pricey, outreach may be the strategy that yields the best results in terms of conversion.
Telegram groups like BTC Champ and IEO Pools attract a diverse range of people, including cryptocurrency traders. These people may be just what your DeFi enterprise needs. As with DeFi marketing on Reddit, you’ll have to choose between sponsored and organic marketing, with the latter involving talking to users, starting a dialogue, and being the community’s information source.
Launch stage
Let us now look at the strategies that will work during the launch stage of your DeFi project.
1) Exchange listings
If there is no demand for your token, then it’s useless. This is where centralized and decentralized (dApps) crypto exchanges come in. The dApps play a minor role in the marketing of the DeFi project. This is because they provide access to not only liquidity but also a large audience that is well-versed in decentralized finance. As a result, consider Uniswap, Pancakeswap, or another exchange (depending on the blockchain you’re running) as a critical milestone on the road to worldwide DeFi success. However, don’t skimp on the other crypto marketing tools. Remember – it’s all about a multi-channel strategy.
2) Rewards & incentives
Your DeFi token will be listed on a centralized or decentralized exchange when the time comes. However, even once you’ve done that, there is still more work to be done. Then there’s the build-up. This is the stage when your token first enters the market and requires some trading volume as well as liquidity, which is crucial to its success. This is when your trade rewards program comes in handy. Trading rewards are normally structured to reward users that trade the largest volume in a particular period of time. They serve as a foundation for the growth of your token.
Liquidity pools are well-known in DeFi initiatives, and filling one can earn rewards. Most DeFi players give extra tokens to early bird pool participants. However, this method can work against you in terms of marketing. According to industry experts, giving away free tokens implies that the team is lowering the token’s value on purpose. No matter how you look at it, this is horrible news. Instead, a successful DeFi marketing plan involves rewarding users with fiat currency. Winners are very likely to reinvest their prize money back into the DeFi project.
3) DeFi trackers
If you want other DeFi pioneers to see your DeFi/crypto initiative, you can use sites like DeFiPulse or Staking Rewards, which track new DeFi projects. They’ve grown in popularity among DeFi users, who can now quickly obtain information and offers regarding fascinating DeFi/crypto projects. For this reason, getting your DeFi project on as many of these DeFi tracker platforms as feasible would be fantastic. Moreover, make sure you’re listed on sites other than Coinmarketcap. Reach out to sites such as Coinpaprika and others.
4) SEO
The importance of SEO and content marketing for your DeFi or crypto coin project is sometimes overlooked. It’s critical to your DeFi campaign’s success that your DeFi display advertising directs potential subscribers to a valid, up-to-date landing page and website.
It’s also critical to keep up with DeFi trends. Take a look at the leaders in the DeFi and crypto industries, and you’ll see that their websites and content are SEO-optimized. If you want to be in the DeFi industry for the long haul, you’ll need to make sure your business is as well.
5) Content marketing
Knowledge is key, and the more you have, the more you’ll be able to improve your DeFi and crypto material and make it more relevant. You can advertise your DeFi/ crypto project through social media or DeFi community platforms using a variety of content types, including as video tutorials and infographics, webinars, or educational blogs.
The trust of your subscribers will be solidified if you target the correct DeFi clients, educate them about improvements to your DeFi/crypto project and keep them informed. Pay attention to what your DeFi audience is saying using social listening tools and make sure the content you generate is valuable. Direct your DeFi or crypto communication toward resolving the issues they’ve raised, and they’ll thank you for it.
6) Social media marketing
Once you’ve created and published your content, it’s time to focus on social media. Think of each item you write as a new opportunity to reach out to new users, pique their interest, and engage the community. Share this content on DeFi-related subreddits, Medium publications, Facebook groups, and Telegram channels. This way, each post has a chance to not only find a reader but also to be reshared. This is a free opportunity to promote your DeFi startup, discuss its mission, and gain new customers.
Last but not least, keep in mind that social media platforms like Reddit and LinkedIn provide access to a substantial portion of potential DeFi audiences.
7) Media mentions & PR
What’s one of the first things interested people do when they hear about a new DeFi initiative or crypto coin? Some significant Googling is required. As a result, discovering decentralized financial articles and mentions from respected media sources about you may be appealing to potential followers.
New crypto partnerships, milestone successes, and exchange listings should all be featured in the internet documentation for your DeFi initiative. The mentions should ideally appear in Tier 1 or Tier 2 media. Thus you should work with agencies that have long-standing partnerships with significant DeFi and crypto media companies.
Media outreach will do more than get your DeFi project featured on external resources and improve your SEO. Beyond that, media outreach will also help you create credibility, brand awareness, and a loyal fanbase. Although formal press releases aren’t required, consider collaborating with periodicals that will delve into the goal, concept, benefits, and economics of your initiative. Keep in mind that it’s not just about the number of links and mentions, but also about the quality of the audience. You could have a million views, but if your target audience is incorrect, it’s all for naught.
If you are a DeFi startup with a limited budget, you might think that the best option for you is to do your own PR and create your own content. While that is definitely a possibility, sometimes getting PR professionals to help you connect with media professionals is what will help you stand out from other DeFi projects.
How Pressfarm can help
If you find it hard or stressful to master DeFi PR and marketing, help is at hand. By hiring a company like Pressfarm, you’ll get all the assistance you need.
Given that they’ve helped several clients achieve their goals, the Pressfarm team has what it takes to help you carve out a space for your project and stand out from the other cryptocurrency projects flooding the market today. The team at Pressfarm can help you create quality content that can attract media attention and earn public trust. With a professional press release, some engaging guest posts, and a branded media kit, you can earn credibility in the crypto niche and excite potential investors.
In addition to creating this content for you, the team at Pressfarm can distribute it widely, thus boosting your online visibility. By sending this content to the right media outlets, startup directories, and professional networks, Pressfarm can make it easier for your target audience to find you through organic searches. This strategy helps you rank well on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing!
Once you sign up, the account executive at Pressfarm also builds custom media lists containing the best media professionals in your niche. You can combine the use of these media lists use of with Pressfarm’s media database of 1 million+ journalists, bloggers, and influencers. With all these media contacts, you’ll be able to continue doing extended media outreach for your brand long after Pressfarm has wrapped your PR campaign up.
One of Pressfarm’s PR packages could be just what you need to generate some buzz about your cryptocurrency project.
8) Referral programs
We cannot reiterate this enough – brand awareness occurs as a result of extensive exposure. You can then boost this exposure with display ads, SEO, and influencer marketing. Adding a little something more, on the other hand, will go a long way toward generating interest in your DeFi project. Affiliate programs and referrals allow you to offer Sign-Up bonuses or funds to begin trading. This is a terrific way to get people interested in your DeFi initiative. You can create referral links and publish them on social media, with everybody who joins becoming a referrer as well. While you expand your community, they earn prizes or a tiny profit.
9) Forums & partnerships
Partnerships as a growth strategy become no less crucial in the launch stage. By this point, your idea has gained some clout with a vibrant community and market capital. Now it’s time to look for projects that will add value to your product. You can do this by not only attracting new users but also improving your market offering. Listen to what your community has to say to get a few hints. A solid relationship with your community can help your DeFi project get traction in the communities of at least two of the collaborating companies, as well as serve as a good PR tool.
Blockchain forums and events used to be terrific places to meet new people and grow your network in the DeFi business. While most events were canceled in 2020, we are starting to see big gatherings becoming a thing again. It’s true that you should not expect to find the same amount of people attending as before. Even so, these are still terrific places to discover partners and raise your company’s brand awareness.
Conclusion
DeFi marketing is a continuous effort. You’ll want to boost your DeFi/crypto project and maintain its visibility and credibility once it’s off the ground. Therefore, if you want your DeFi/crypto project to succeed, you need to incorporate DeFi marketing strategies from the start.
DeFi marketing tactics are valuable tools that you can use both before and after the launch of your DeFi/crypto product, and they should be kept up to date. Competition is tough, therefore your DeFi campaign must be well-prepared and organized to stay on top. There is a lot of DeFi marketing help available, and you should absolutely consider working with the most experienced DeFi and crypto marketers.