Admittedly, this article comes in the wake of our agency landing our first lead through our newly developed content marketing channels so we are riding a bit high right now. However, if it worked for us we believe it could work for you too. After just a few weeks of direct effort into our content production and marketing we are seeing results, and when it comes to content marketing these kinds of things really start to compound once you break the seal. So with that being said, we want to get to the meat of the subject. Why should you consider content marketing as a part of your strategy?
What Is Content Marketing?
Of course to start we need to cover the basics, what is content marketing? The funny thing here is that you are probably already doing content marketing in some capacity. Broadly speaking, content marketing is just marketing that involves creating and sharing online media such as blogs, videos or even social media posts. For the sake of this post we are going to assume you’ve already read our content on Twitter marketing and will therefore not include social media marketing in our definition for now. In a general sense we are then going to mainly be covering written and video content.
Why Content Marketing For NFTs & Web3
The world of Web3 is a very connected one. Users are constantly on the lookout for the next big thing and will scour all areas of the web to find it. As a marketer it is your job to exist in the places your audience is looking. An area often overlooked are the third party channels that attract a larger audience. Channels like Medium, Substack, and Blockster all give you access to an ever expanding audience. Platforms like these are great as they spend time and energy bringing more people to their platform. Essentially they play the role of the marketer, whereas you just need to find the best way to get noticed on the platform itself. Popular social media platforms like Twitter and Linkedin have caught onto this and even offer newsletter integrations that can give you a solid boost of exposure. Although we are covering just 3 platforms here, there are a number of different places you can release content on such as; Youtube, personal blogs, social media, Discord, and much more.
Just for reference here let’s look at some of the numbers on the platform(s) mentioned above.
According to The Small Business Blog, medium has over 100 million monthly visitors. This is a massive audience to tap into, but how many of these users are into NFTs and the blockchain? Although this number is difficult to quantify we can provide some statistics that give us a hint to the popularity of Web3. Across the topics “NFT” “Cryptocurrency” & “web3” there are a whopping 879.3k stories shared and a total of 198k writers. One can only assume with that much content being created that there is an audience that is actively engaging.
According to Similar Web, Substack is getting roughly 50 million users a month. Not quite as big as Medium, however Substack comes with an added benefit. On Substack you can easily collect emails to build your email list. This way you can connect with your audience more directly and you have a concrete email list to shill to.
Blockster is an interesting newcomer on the scene. They are less established than the previously mentioned platforms, however what Blockster has that others don’t is a dedicated Web3 audience. The platform is specifically targeted for Web3 so you don’t need to guess who on this platform might be interested in your content.
While these options might all seem overwhelming we want to keep it simple for you. Use them all. You can use similar content across all platforms, just tweak them a bit each. Through this you will broaden your reach and get to as many people as possible.
With numbers like these it is easy to see that the audience and opportunity is there. The real question is; “how do you take advantage of it?”.
Content Marketing in Web3
Written content is a great place to start. For most it is an easier starting point than video as it requires less tools and you don’t need to put yourself out there on video so it can be a little less intimidating. This leaves many wondering on how to kick off their content strategy. Before you begin, you need to answer each of these questions:
- What channel(s) will you be posting to?
- Who is your audience?
- What content topics are you going to cover?
- What is your main conversion goal?
- What are major KPIs for your project?
- What content types will you be producing?
- What frequency will you release your content?
What to Write About
Figuring out what to write about is a difficult question to answer. You want to create something unique enough that you stand out from the crowd, but not so unique that you are writing about a topic no one wants to read. Finding this balance is a long process but it is an essential one for any good content marketer.
Your content topics will heavily depend on your audience. While general topics like news, product releases, and general how to’s (think crypto wallet set up) will work for just about any audience within the Web3 & NFT space, it doesn’t mean that it will always be the most aligned content with your target audience. You can create content that is specific to your audience’s interests, however you don’t want to stunt growth either. We recommend taking a hybrid approach here, writing about trending topics and news every few articles to maximize your visibility. In addition to this, consistently put out content that is specific to your audience’s interests. Writing on topics that are specific to your audience’s interests is something we can’t answer in this article as it is decided on a case by case basis. This is something you need to learn through research and if you have the opportunity to; surveys. Ask your audience some questions to understand what they like to learn about or read. This can help guide your content marketing strategy.
How to Get Eyes on Your Content
Creating content is one thing, getting eyes on it is another. While posting to major platforms like Medium, Substack, and Blockster is a great starting point for accessing an audience larger than your own it isn’t all you can do. Finding new and creative ways to push your content will actually help you achieve higher success on these platforms. So where else can you promote your content to help get the algorithms going in your favor?
- Discord Communities
Certain communities encourage the sharing of content and information so long as it is useful to their audience. To do this you must carefully read the rules of the channel and check with mods to make sure it is ok. We have found multiple communities who are happy with us sharing helpful content around marketing NFTs.
- Social Media
This ones a no brainer but… cross promote on your socials. Produce a creative to accompany the post and make sure to link back to the platform you most want to drive traffic to.
Reddit is a great way to cross promote your content. In general you don’t want to directly promote your article, however you can break it down into smaller pieces for a post then link to your larger article. Generally this bypasses most restrictions around promotion and you still provide value to the audience.
- Engagement
Platforms like Medium have a comment section. Finding relevant sources that you can leave comments on is a great way to improve your brand awareness and also to drive traffic back to your posts.
How to Turn Traffic Into Supporters
Here’s the golden question everyone has on their minds, “how can I turn traffic into supporters”? Well there are a few ways to turn those loyal readers into holders, let’s cover a few.
The 10:1 Rule
If you have spent time email marketing then you might be familiar with the 10:1 rule. This essentially means that for every 10 value-add content pieces (news, informational, DIYs etc…) you should post 1 promotional post. The concept here is that you don’t want to annoy your audience. If you promote yourself too much they will get the impression that you are just shilling. If you are providing 10x the value then no one will be too upset about a promotional post here and there.
Make it a Press Release, Not A Promotion
No one wants to read a piece of content if it’s just a clear promotion. Realistically, it’s boring. When creating a “promotional” piece you still have to have your content creator hat on. The best way to get around this is to make it similar to a press release. Find something really exciting about your project right now and write about that. Build some hype around it and make it interesting. Just dropped an updated roadmap with exciting updates? Write about that. Just added a new utility to your project? Write about it! Make your audience excited about your project, don’t just try to sell it to them.
Foster Connection With Your Audience
Don’t just be a mysterious figure behind a keyboard, connect with your audience! Ask questions and get people to leave comments. If you have a newsletter, request subscribers to respond with comments or suggestions. The key is to make it interactive. Your audience will be much more likely to purchase something from you if there is a genuine connection made.
Cross Promote
While we want to avoid direct self promotion there are still ways to weave your other channels within your writings. If you are referencing a subject you have already written on then link back to it. Showing image examples of a strategy you are working on? Take a screenshot and link back to it.
We did just this in our NFT Marketing Guide when we posted about our media platform Web3 Waves
Here we promote our own project in our article without actually making it promotional in nature. You can do the same by cross promoting other channels or featuring your project if you can find something relevant to link it to.
Final Words
Content marketing in Web3 is an undervalued tool that should be taken advantage of. Relatively speaking, there is a large audience of readers and a lack of creators. Start putting yourself out there and you might be surprised with the results, and after all content marketing is free!
If you are unsure of where to start then feel free to reach out to us here at Space Age and we’d be happy to help you out.