In the crypto space, where thousands of projects are constantly building different products and services, marketing isn’t just a luxury. It’s a lifeline for projects to amplify their unique value propositions.
But effective crypto marketing is not just about catchy slogans and viral tweets. In this exclusive interview, Tim Haldorsson, CEO of Lunar Strategy, demystified the art of crypto ecosystem growth marketing, offering invaluable insights for projects grappling with this dynamic terrain.
Haldorsson is a seasoned veteran whose agency has worked on campaigns for crypto titans like Polkadot, ICP, and ROSE.
Q1. Can you share your journey into the world of crypto marketing and what inspired you to focus on this niche?
When I first got into the crypto space in 2017, I worked in Asia for an OTC Bitcoin cafe, which showed me how Bitcoin enabled banking access for new people, allowing them to transact without trusting middlemen.
In 2019, while working in the marketing of software and tech companies, I decided to go all-in on crypto marketing because there was a substantial demand for trusted marketing agencies.
Since then, I have seen the real-world impact of the campaigns we create, and I’m super excited about continuing to grow crypto ecosystems.
Q2. How has your experience contributing to platforms like Coindesk and Cointelegraph shaped your understanding of the crypto market?
I have always liked to share knowledge and experience with the broader market, especially after running campaigns for various ecosystems and seeing their impact. I managed to pitch stories to editors at Coindesk, who liked my articles and opinions.
These articles often get tens of thousands of readers, and I have had many people reach out, explaining how the marketing tips supported them with growth and launches.
Q3. What are the key components of a successful crypto ecosystem?
An ecosystem needs to balance two things:
- A great developer community that builds the best products out there.
- An active ‘degen’ and serious community that uses the tools and products built within the ecosystem, spreading the word about them around the crypto space.
At the core, DeFi has been the main value driver of ecosystems. The more volume and funds that are locked in the ecosystem, the more VCs, builders, and community members it will attract.
So, the final piece you also need to have is the financial numbers backing up your ecosystem.
Q4. How do you assess the potential of a new crypto protocol for ecosystem growth?
First off, the technology stack needs to make sense and provide unique value in speed, efficiency, security, or any other reason why people should build on your ecosystem.
Then we dive into the ecosystem, which raises a series of questions:
- Do they have a good DEX?
- Is there an active degen community in place?
- Any memecoins that people are excited about?
- Does the ecosystem have a launchpad that consistently takes good projects to the market?
Answering those questions helps to evaluate the current state of the ecosystem.
Once that’s done, I create a plan focusing on its strongest parts and lay out a strategy on how we can amplify it and reach new communities.
Q5. What are the most effective marketing strategies for promoting a crypto protocol?
At the core of any strategy is a compelling narrative.
Some great examples are “GameFi Season on Polkadot”, “DeFi Summer on Solana,” and “Airdrop Season on Cosmos”.
These narratives are extremely powerful tools for onboarding the broader community into the ecosystem. But then comes the question of how to amplify them and generate reach for the message.
Collaborating with top key opinion leaders on platforms like X and YouTube, combined with PR and articles in crypto magazines, works effectively to achieve these goals.
Additionally, leveraging tools like Galaxe and Zealy can build a community army to further amplify your messages within the broader market.
Q6. How do you tailor marketing strategies to different stages of a protocol’s lifecycle?
For new TGEs launching in 2024, strategies include:
- Airdrops
- Launchpads
- Exchange listings
The focus should be on building trust within the ecosystem for a successful launch and convincing the community to stay and build, especially by supporting builders and big ambassadors.
For already launched ecosystems, it’s crucial to support the community and provide a strong grant system for marketing and development. In this case, the narrative must be compelling, and support should be available to accelerate new projects within your ecosystem.
Q7. How important is community building in the growth of a crypto ecosystem?
Community support is always key to growth.
However, it’s also important to focus on the broader community and prevent a loud minority from controlling major decisions. This can be a small part of the community that continuously hijacks the community, hindering its growth.
That’s why having inspirational leaders like Vitalik in the Ethereum ecosystem, Dominic in the ICP ecosystem, or Gavin with Polkadot is important to drive community growth.
Q8. What are some innovative ways to engage and grow a loyal community in the crypto space?
Build a strong ambassador community and reward them well for their valuable contributions.
Also, a great idea is to give back value to long-time builders in the community, not just newcomers. Being the foundation that built the ecosystem, they should be rewarded with airdrops and benefits that new users won’t always get.
Q9. What role does content marketing play in educating and attracting potential investors?
Start by addressing the 10 most common questions in blog articles and video content. Then, create deep dives into different utilities within the ecosystem, such as using particular DEXs or wallets, to educate the broader market.
Q10. What are the biggest challenges in marketing crypto protocols today?
The main challenge is the lack of understanding of the value of marketing.
Builders want to invest all money into development and building products. But it’s in the balance between investing in product development and allocating funds for marketing where crypto ecosystems will see the highest ROI and significant growth in new users.
Q11. What emerging technologies do you believe will shape the future of crypto marketing?
I would highlight two main technologies which are on the rise as of now.
Firstly, tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) is one of the biggest sectors that will continue to show huge growth. Everything from yield-bearing stablecoins to real estate and multiple other industries will leverage the unique tech that tokenization has to offer.
Secondly, AI is clearly changing how protocols are built, as it’s being used for development, stress testing, and improving overall efficiency, resulting in more advanced products coming into the crypto market.
Q12. What metrics do you prioritize to measure the success of a marketing campaign for a crypto protocol?
- Submitted MVPs to the ecosystem.
- Developer attendance at hackathons.
- Organic mentions on platforms like X and YouTube.
- Number of features in top crypto and Web3 publications and sentiment analysis of coverage.
Q13. How do you use data analytics to refine and improve marketing strategies?
You can leverage ChatGPT to analyze data and understand more about the correlation with other ecosystems as well as trading and investment patterns. This can give you guidance on where you need to focus your marketing activities, whether it’s doubling down on certain regions or collaborating with similar ecosystems.
Data analytics is also great for testing marketing slogans and campaign narratives using the A/B tests. It helps to stay agile in your marketing efforts and allocate resources only to amplify the best-performing narratives.
Q14. Can you share a success story where your marketing strategy significantly impacted a protocol’s ecosystem growth?
During the 2021 bull market, we supported a project in the Cosmos ecosystem, growing it to tens of millions in market cap. At the time, we executed one of the first airdrops in the Cosmos ecosystem, attracting tens of thousands of community members overnight.
Moreover, our campaigns for top protocols like Polkadot and ICP have been reaching millions with high-impact impressions on platforms like X, YouTube, and news publications.
Q15. Are there any marketing campaigns in the crypto space that you admire or draw inspiration from?
I vividly remember the 2021 campaign by Crypto.com, “Fortune favours the brave.” This was an incredibly powerful campaign that made Crypto.com one of the largest exchanges by volume at the time.
Also, Solana’s campaigns around their latest phones have gone viral on social media. Their approach, which combined a unique product with community engagement through a leaderboard and referral system, has shown to be particularly effective.
Q16. What advice would you give to new protocols looking to establish a strong presence in the market?
My top advice is to invest in collaborations with the best educational YouTubers, X content creators, and publications. Paying top dollar for these collaborations is totally worth it, and you will see returns in the form of goodwill, trust, genuine community engagement, and a strong market presence as a result.
