So you’ve created a thing. And not just any old thing, but the thing: a crypto product that’s going to shake up the industry, transform DeFi, and unlock new use cases for blockchain users. Your thing is the best thing since Bitcoin, and your cryptocurrency audience is going to love it. There’s just one problem: you don’t have an audience. Yet.
But all that’s going to change now you’re ready to exit stealth mode and share your crypto creation with the world. But where to start? Do you begin banging out press releases and commence a crypto marketing campaign? Contact a crypto influencer? Email crypto news sites begging for coverage? Attempt to build a crypto community, trawling Telegram groups and image boards with a pack of ready-made memes to explain your groundbreaking product and corresponding token?
You could do all those things. But rather than pray and spray, you’ll find the best crypto media results come from targeted volleys. Where you aim that fire depends on your target audience within the crypto market and the internet corners where they hang out.
Thankfully, these are matters you don’t need to spend hours agonizing over: there are professionals who can help with that. A good Web3 PR agency will help to establish you as a thought leader: an expert in your field willing to dispense wisdom on industry developments. From there, it’s a short leap to becoming a talking head whose soundbites, pithy observations, and expert commentary can be relied on to bring clarity to complex issues while shining a spotlight on your project.
Providing commentary on the cryptocurrency market will raise your profile and establish authority within the crypto space. It’s all about visibility at this stage, ensuring your name pops up in all the right places. You don’t need to discuss your project directly: just talk sense and demonstrate deep knowledge of cryptocurrencies, the latest ecosystem trend, and breaking news, even if it's something as banal as the latest token to be listed on Coinbase.
The fastest route to having your crypto project mentioned in the top crypto news websites lies in the arms of a specialist PR agency. There are numerous advantages to outsourcing your comms, not least in freeing you to focus on your core operations: building out your game-changing protocol. But at this early stage, there’s an even greater benefit a good agency will provide: opening doors to media sites covering the entire Web3 ecosystem.
Crypto PR firms cultivate relationships with journalists and media sites and have a handle on which journalists at each outlet will be receptive to specific pitches. Their involvement can make the difference between receiving organic coverage in a Tier 1 publication such as CoinDesk or Cointelegraph and being compelled to purchase sponsored content on a Tier 2 news site.
Initially, don’t expect carte blanche to shamelessly shill your project, no matter how ground-breaking it may be. At this stage, you’re simply trying to establish authority within the cryptocurrency ecosystem; to get your name out there. If you’re developing a liquid staking solution, for example, it follows that commentary on Ethereum ETF applications, network upgrades, restaking protocols, and LSTs are areas ripe for you to add value.
Web3 PR agencies regularly field requests from overworked journalists seeking commentary on all kinds of topics. By making yourself available at short notice to dispense such tidbits, you’ll maximize your chances of becoming the go-to expert for developments that affect your sector, developing your crypto brand in the process.
This type of coverage – building relationships and getting quotes in articles by journalists for free – is what we call “organic” PR. There’s nothing wrong with sponsored content, it should be noted; every Web3 project will pay to be picked up in crypto media at some stage. Particularly so around the time of key announcements such as a crypto exchange listing or a mainnet launch. But it’s unwise to predicate an entire media strategy around the pay-to-play model.
Paying for coverage can make a great deal of noise in a short space of time, and this can be very useful. But make no mistake: it’s obvious when a piece of content is sponsored. What really sets you apart as a thought leader in your niche is being recognized as an expert by the media, and this means commenting on articles on a regular basis. Not only will you get your name out there but you’ll open the door to direct news coverage when your project has major news to share.
However, getting this organic coverage is no mean feat. Journalists’ inboxes are filled to overflowing with PRs from emerging crypto projects praying for coverage. Most of them don’t get opened. That’s why it’s so important to have a competent crypto PR agency on your side, so they can leverage their extensive network of journalists that they have spent years cultivating to help you get your foot in the door.
It’s also important to realize that organic coverage is a momentum gain. So don’t expect to get hundreds of media mentions on day one. It takes time to establish yourself as an expert, but once you’ve done this consistently for several weeks, media pick-ups will follow. After all, it’s far easier for a cryptocurrency marketing agency to arrange coverage when they can preface the pitch with “This is so-and-so of Project X, who’s spoken to you in the past…”
A competent Web3 PR agency can help you determine the main topics you want to comment on, and even what you want to be saying. Your main task is just turning up to the weekly check-in calls to ensure the strategy remains on track. Do this consistently, and regular media coverage will follow.
Where your project goes from here depends on who you’re targeting within the crypto market (enterprises or consumers), and what your key goals are: building awareness, growing the user base, attracting investment, or perhaps something else. If you’re creating an Ethereum SoFi app or hosting a token sale on a cryptocurrency exchange, your PR and communications strategy will be different from, say, a Web3 middleware for existing blockchain technology.
However, the most important thing with a PR strategy is always the first one. Before your Web3 project can start appearing everywhere, it needs to appear somewhere. The first crypto publication you’re featured in can open the door to broader cryptocurrency industry coverage that will get eyeballs on your project. Which is why the first contact is the most precious.
Unless you’re blessed with a vast network of founders, investors, and existing media contacts, you’re unlikely to be able to achieve this without professional help. That’s why it makes sense to find a crypto PR agency that can do the hard work for you. One whose efforts in cultivating relationships with journalists began long before you signed on the line.
