The popularity of initial coin offerings and its more common acronym ICO has been more of a sinusoidal wave. At one point in time, it was considered the de facto standard of confluence between traditional fundraising through crowdfunding and the application of blockchain technology. ICOs have also had their tough trough having been marred by scams which took a heavy toll on their reputation.
However, both the technology and the fundraising method have triumphed over these setbacks and have risen back to being one of the most prominent methods of crypto fundraising. There might have been new options like the Security Token Offering [STO] and the Initial Exchange Offering [IEO] but ICOs remain one of the most preferred methods for a lot of crypto projects.
Creating an ICO is no main task. It involves putting together quite a lot of development efforts and business strategies. One of the most important aspects of the ICO business is marketing your ICO. Equal effort has to be factored into marketing your ICO as much as developing it… If not more!
Marketing your ICO is said easier than done. It might not be possible for people who oversee the ICO to market them. This is one of the reasons why ICO marketing companies and ICO marketing consultants are on a steady rise. Just because you have committed your marketing efforts to a reliable agency doesn’t mean that you should completely stay away from it. To help you in finding out if your marketing efforts are in line with the best practices, we have given below a checklist that can come in handy for your ICO marketing efforts.
Before you market…
Even before you start marketing or ICO, there are a few important questions that you need to ask. It should be remembered that the blockchain is just a technology and not the means to an end. There might be instances where you might not need a completely secure and decentralized ledger. Therefore, even before you embark on your ICO, it is highly recommended that you conclude if you really need a blockchain.
There might not, in most cases, be a need for you to create a completely new blockchain. You can use forked versions of existing blockchains like the bitcoin or dedicated blockchains for the development of ICOs like Ethereum.
Not only with respect to ICO but with respect to almost everything dealing with blockchain, the legal systems have been hazy at their best. Therefore, it is important for you to figure out all the legal aspects. If we have to take the United States for example, cryptocurrency is not considered a legal tender but it is legal and is considered as a valid property in Australia. The worst thing that can possibly happen to your ICO is getting caught in the mire of legal troubles.
The marketing checklist
The idea – it is to be remembered that the course proposition for marketing your ICO lies in the idea. To be precise, it is about the problem that you are intending to solve with your product or your project. The idea that you present to your investors should be viable and practical. There should not be any competition that will exploit your weakness. Expanding on your idea, you should also talk about the value proposition your tokens bring. It is an added advantage if you can talk about your future plans and long-term vision.
The team – the team plays a very important role in strengthening your marketing muscles. Investors are bound to do some background check on the team, and if the team is credible enough, the ICO is not likely to attract investors. You should also ensure that the tasks related to marketing are entrusted to the right team. If not, it is recommended that you hire an ICO marketing consultant or partner with an ICO marketing company.
The plan – one of the most basic steps that determine the success of your marketing efforts is in having a proper plan. The planning should include components like market research, legal research, target market analysis, product presentation, competitive analysis, the budget, and the marketing strategies involved. Above everything, the plan should also talk about your white paper and mission statement. The white paper can be considered the single most important document when it comes to marketing at ICO. You should also understand the price, quantity, and the returns on the tokens.
The presence – the ICO is in essence, a digital endeavor. Therefore, all the aspects of digital marketing would apply to an ICO but with a few restrictions. You will need to have an engaging website that is easy to navigate and provides all the information that is needed for investors. The website should contain a link to the white paper. In addition, you will also need to mark and engaging presence on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, telegram, Quora, YouTube, Slack, Discord, and Reddit. Not all of these platforms might double up as paid advertising platforms.
In addition to these generic platforms, there are a lot of dedicated crypto and blockchain platforms that you can use to market your ICO. These platforms and forums are frequented by crypto enthusiasts and investors, and some of them even provide paid advertising solutions. This is probably one of the best places where you can turn out a mix of both organic and paid marketing efforts for your ICO.
The power – when it comes to marketing your ICO, there is no maintenance pace. Once you get into the stage where you will need to market your ICO, you will need to go with all your guns blazing. The social media marketing, the presents on dedicated platforms, search engine optimization, and paid marketing should all be initiated and set to go in full throttle.
The press – irrespective of all the platforms that have been discussed so far, PR and media still plays a very important role in heralding your ICO to the world. There are a lot of press release sites that will accept your release for free, and there are premium paid press release websites that will ensure maximum breach for a premium cost. Your marketing strategy should involve a total mix of both of these.
The professionalism – probably the hottest period of your ICO is the time when the tokens have just entered into sale. She also marks a time when you will have a lot of grace to be answered from different investors. Therefore, it is recommended that you have a support team that is always ready to address the concerns of your investors, both who have already committed and who are still in the list of prospects. On an equally important footing, your legal team will also need to be in standby to address any possible lapses and concerns in the legal front.
Conclusion
ICOs have stood the test of time as one of the most dependable avenues for raising funds for crypto projects. Marketing your ICO is as important as developing one. If you have a great idea and have already developed your ICO, all you need to do is get in touch with an ICO marketing consultant to get your ball rolling.
In most cases, it is quite possible that the ICO development company has a dedicated marketing wing to take care of your marketing needs. They will understand your ICO and your product from scratch making it extremely effective for proper marketing.