Most Common Web3 Marketing Mistakes

As Web3 marketers, there's no playbook to follow.

Building a SaaS product? Hundreds of marketers have done it before and many love to share their knowledge.

Building an eCommerce brand? Same thing.

With Web3 marketing changing so often and being still (relatively) new, successful strategies and processes are largely undocumented. It’s thereby nearly impossible to launch a Web3 product without making a ton of mistakes along the way.

Our agency has seen every mistake in the book (and made a lot of them ourselves).

Here are the top Web3 marketing mistakes we see and how to avoid them:

Common Web3 Marketing Mistakes

1. Trying to build a social media following for your company accounts rather than personal ones

The research overwhelmingly shows that people are much more likely to engage with a person rather than a brand. Too often, Web3 companies try to build their company Twitter (X) or LinkedIn as a top-of-funnel strategy when it's a super difficult thing to do successfully.

Your time is better spent on the personal accounts of your team's leadership.

Social media is most effective when engagement is authentic and it's difficult to build authenticity behind a faceless company account.

2. Ignoring SEO

SEO is one of those things that almost always works assuming you aren't in an ultra-competitive space. It also, unfortunately, almost always takes significant time to properly build up (6-12 months at least).

Too many teams approach Web3 marketing on a timeline of days or weeks rather than months or years, and the results show.

Teams that approach their marketing and growth with a longer time horizon come across as more trustworthy, build stronger brands, and ultimately win.

SEO is a good option for almost any digital business. Web3 isn't different.

"But I need results now", you say.

Ok... you can focus on short-term strategies while also putting an SEO plan in place. They aren't mutually exclusive. SEO teams can typically be put on autopilot after initial strategy and processes are in place.

3. Trying to build an in-house team instead of using agencies

No one is an expert at everything.

Working with an agency allows you to do a few things you can't do as well with an in-house team:

• Add or subtract resources quickly: It's a lot easier and faster to hire an agency than to build out a team from scratch.

• Access data and knowledge from previous campaigns of similar companies: It's unlikely anyone you hire has more experience than an agency that has been around for a while. Agencies can advise on when to pull which lever, saving you time and money in the process.

• Lower management requirements from you and your team: Good agencies self-manage. Read: you get good marketing without removing focus from your other responsibilities.

If you have experience building and managing Web3 marketing teams, you may be capable of getting good results with an in-house team but, for most, an agency makes more sense.

Helpful resource: The pros and cons of using a Web3 agency vs hiring an in-house team (eBook)

4. Overlooking web design

For digital businesses, your website is your everything.

It's where your marketing will direct people and if your site looks like crap, your conversion rates suffer (a lot).

Web3 companies with shoddy-looking websites see:

• Hiring marketing costs per result

• Lower trust than competitors

• Higher friction when onboarding users, customers, and partners

Still, time and time again, we see customers with 6-figure marketing budgets uninterested in doing a site redesign for a few thousand dollars.

Web3 audiences are highly visual and a lot of weight is put into the design of your site.

Just do it. It's worth the investment.

5. Paying too little for affiliate programs (or not having one at all)

Now this mistake only applies to the types of Web3 businesses where affiliate marketing makes sense. Namely:

• Exchanges

• Casinos

• Software/digital-based products

These business models see super cost-effective growth from properly designed affiliate programs.

Affiliate marketers have little brand loyalty. If they are creating content about the best exchange to try, they are going to recommend the one that pays the best.

Also, the affiliate marketing world is pretty close-knit. So, by winning over an affiliate, you'll likely win more soon thereafter.

Don't go cheap on affiliates, affiliate marketing has amazing network effects, and the companies that invest early win over the long term.

You can start at high rates (think 10% of revenue) and scale down later if the economics stop making sense.

And, if your business falls into one of the categories above, you should absolutely have an affiliate program. Preferably, one with multiple tiers.

6. Underutilizing media

I'm a firm believer in every digital business having an internal media arm. It's insanely helpful for:

• Acquiring new leads

• Building trust with leads already in your funnel

• Reminding people you exist

• Building a brand that outcompetes your competition.

Companies that invest in the production of regular, high-quality content do better.

If you're not an experienced media person, consider hiring an agency or content manager. This one can be a heavy lift and it's unlikely it can be properly managed by someone with other important responsibilities.

Wrap Up

Making mistakes is a necessary component of marketing innovative products. Avoiding some of the common ones outlined above will save you time and money.

Did I leave anything out? What Web3 marketing mistakes have you seen?

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