In his recent interview with SF, Jared Polites of LaunchTeam, a strategic consultancy, and agency that connects experts with companies to facilitate growth, and a Venture Partner at 7BC, explains some of the most obvious changes in recent years within the industry.
Singapore – April 10, 2020 —
April 10, 2020 – A recent study by Statista found that spending on blockchain solutions is estimated to reach $15.9 billion by 2023. With the Coronavirus lockdown in full-force, companies around the world are using this time to re-evaluate their business models and marketing strategies. Blockchain companies are no exception.
Despite blockchain’s massive potential, getting users to use blockchain products has proven to be harder than expected. The learning curve can be steep and consumer products are often overshadowed by B2B enterprise blockchain solutions that cater to larger corporations. In both cases, marketing has proven to be a critical component of educating and acquiring new customers and users.
Jared Polites is a partner at LaunchTeam, a strategic consultancy and agency that connects experts with companies to facilitate growth, and a Venture Partner at 7BC, an early-stage VC firm. Part of his role at LaunchTeam is to evaluate and execute marketing strategies for tech companies and entrepreneurs, including those working in the blockchain industry. Polites explains some of the most obvious changes in recent years within the industry:
“The industry has completely morphed. We started with oversubscribed token sales that were being fueled by pools and syndicates. Then came the crypto funds to take the dominant lead. As this shift occurred, the retail market slowly dried up. Then the Asia wave hit. All projects started running to Asia like a reverse gold rush to scout “easier money” from wealthy Asian investors. Right now, we see a market where most fundraising is traditional, with the exception of a few occasional offerings coming from leading platforms like Binance.”
These events have also changed the way agencies and in-house marketing teams think about their strategies. Rather than relying thousands of crowdsourced marketing participants, the industry is now more traditional with marketing teams being led by experienced managers and or agencies with a track record of producing results.
Polites states, “I can’t emphasize this enough: it’s go time. It is time to build a real brand and a real business. Think of your brand identity, customers, product market fit, and use cases. Switch your mentality from “who will invest” to “who will use the product”. This means the community is still at the core, but with a focus more on developers and builders rather than speculators.”
In some cases, blockchain companies have relied on foundations or external marketing arms to help promote a project without directly having control of the underlying technology. One example is the Telos Foundation, which acts as the marketing arm of the Telos blockchain.
“The Telos Foundation is a great example of how a dedicated team of specialists can form a foundation to help promote the technology in an effort to drive mass awareness,” states Polites. “LaunchTeam has been lucky enough to work with the Telos Foundation and see how this format operates. It is seamless and without critical conflicts of interest that are often seen in the industry. This is important for the broader community, especially app developers and founders looking for tools that are robust and trustworthy.”
Given the nascency of the industry, it is important that marketers and marketing campaigns distinguish between their various target audiences. For example, developers are likely going to be interested in the details of a product roadmap or the technology being built, while retail users will simply want to know how a product adds value for them specifically.
“Try not to overcomplicate your marketing strategy. Carefully choose your target audiences or personas and craft campaigns that are attractive to the respective audiences. A one-size-fits-all approach in blockchain tends to be less effective than carefully tailored strategies that are long-term focused.” explains Jared Polites in his recent interview with SF.
Contact Info:
Name: Dave Viii
Email: Send Email
Organization: Startup Fortune
Website: https://startupfortune.com
Release ID: 88953194
