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Update from the blockchain and innovation Delta Summit, in Malta 2018. In this episode Daniel shares some marketing advice for new companies starting out in blockchain or tech in general.
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Key takeaways:
- Simplify your offer and get down to the core of why customers should use your service. Create an elevator pitch for your company and service, making it easy and quick to explain.
- Work towards being transparent and authentic. Share your long-term plan, be realistic with your numbers and clearly present who is behind the company (owners and other company information)
- Obviously you should market your company in both online and offline channels. Social media is a given marketing space using content such as infographics and videos. However since many blockchain companies are working with cryptocurrencies (which is currently under an advertising ban in most social medias) using influencers is a viable approach.
TRANSCRIPTION
Hello and welcome everyone!
So, I was on Delta Summit last week. Which is a pretty big blockchain, cryptocurrency, innovation / startup summit here on Malta. There was about 3 500 delegates attending from all over the world. It is a little bit special because Malta (and there are some other countries as well) is proclaiming themselves as the blockchain island, or at least the government is.
They are inviting a lot of blockchain technology companies to the island, and they are also setting up regulation and other incentives for these companies. Walking around the exhibition floor I met a lot of different companies and people, it’s clear that the blockchain is a vibrant industry sector. There is a lot of different companies and technology applications for blockchain right now.
It reminds me a little bit of when the Internet came to be in the late 90:s early 00:s. The blockchain industry also reminds me of when social media became a thing, around 2012. It’s the same kind of spirit, anything can be done with this technology, there is a lot of players with let’s say eccentric founders. Also governments are trying to catch up with regulation, and getting this sector a bit more in shape.
So many companies in this sector are very young, they maybe have been around a couple of years. When I was roaming the exhibition floor they asked me a lot of questions about marketing, what they should think about and that kind of thing.
I will share this on this podcast, right now, so good for you.
The first tip from me, which applies for a lot of companies is that blockchain companies need to simplify. They really in their communications need to drill down to the value for me, as a customer, as a user of their service, as an investor in their ICO or whatever. I think there is some work there to be done, and it’s not uncommon in technology companies.
There is a lot of technology companies that are struggling with this. The companies that are successful can explain their business model and value in about ten seconds. If you can’t do that it’s really difficult in this kind of world to get your message across.
Another important tip for any kind of company, but especially in the blockchain space. It is to communicate transparency and authenticity. To be quite the honest in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space there is a lot of regulators gunning for it, and a lot of people who lost money in different ICOs etc.
So if you are in the blockchain space you need to work on transparency. I don’t really like the word transparency because we are always talking about it in the PR and marketing world. So let me give you some actionable advice here.
First of all share your plans, what is it that you are going to do? What is the long term view and how will your customers and other stakeholders benefit from it? Because people and customers need to understand that you are not only after to make a quick buck from them, you are in it for the long haul, to achieve change, to do something in this market or for the world.
Secondly, don’t try to kinda play with numbers. Share your data openly, like number of users, number of transactions etc. Of course you do not need to share business sensitive data, but try to communicate as much as possible in this area. Don’t sugar-coat the numbers or try to inflate them, be transparent with them.
Communicate your founders, who is behind your company? Who founded this company? Where is it based and that kind of stuff.
Work with the authorities, don’t try to fight them. I think that’s also really important, because companies that are fighting with the authorities are at a natural disadvantage when it comes to communications and marketing.
Of course some people asked me about channel mix and that kind of thing, when it comes to marketing their blockchain company. You know what channels they should market themselves in. I think all companies should market themselves in both offline and online channels. I think conferences, like Delta Summit is a good way to get the message out. Then to general consumers or like a wider audience, social media. But as you are probably aware you cannot buy cryptocurrency ads and that kind of thing in social media, it’s not allowed.
That means that you need to build it organically on Facebook and all the other social platforms. To do that you need content, like articles, texts, infographics, videos etc. I think it’s really hard to day to build an audience only organically in social media, but it’s possible of course.
You can also use influencers, in social media, influencer marketing. That’s always good if you don’t want to do the advertising part.
Of course another proven method in online marketing is e-mail marketing. For stakeholders that are interested in your company, of course you should provide them with an exclusive newsletter or updates about your projects.
All right, so that’s my tips for companies just starting out in new technology areas, like blockchain. I hope to see you next time on the next episode. Have a great week!