THE LUNAR STRATEGY APPROACH TO BLOCKCHAIN MARKETING: WHY PR MATTERS IN WEB3

Blockchain is revolutionizing marketing strategies, offering brands unprecedented transparency, security, and customer trust. This innovative approach addresses long-standing challenges in advertising, influencer marketing, loyalty programs, and supply chain management. By leveraging blockchain's decentralized and immutable nature, marketers can build genuine connections with their audience and foster a more rewarding, interactive relationship.

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At Lunar Strategy, we’ve seen ahead of the crypto curve and come to operate our marketing strategies in a way that combines organic growth with the perks of strategic paid placement. This allows our crypto projects to resonate with a new type of audience - the ‘crypto conscious’. We’ve earned our stripes marketing to a new generation of Web3 investors, tech entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, culture fanatics, degens, and more. Here’s our in-depth guide to blockchain marketing and a little about our experience within crypto PR.

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What Is Blockchain Marketing?

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Think of a blockchain as a digital ledger, kind of like a communal notebook that everyone can see and add to Smart contracts, but no one can erase anything from. It’s a secure place where transactions or data are recorded in a way that's transparent, tamper-proof, and accessible to everyone involved.

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Since blockchain is all about transparency and security, it's a game-changer for marketing. It lets customers see exactly where their products come from and ensures their data is handled securely. For marketers, this means building better trust with their audience by being open about their processes and protecting customer information like Fort Knox.

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Blockchain marketing is a new approach for brands to advertise their products and services. At the most basic level, the model works by using blockchain’s decentralized and transparent nature to help brands get more trusted connections from their customers. Unlike traditional marketing, which is filled with information asymmetry, inefficiency, and security threats, blockchain marketing is based on trust models that were impossible until now.

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Application Cases For Blockchain Marketing

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One of the real beauties of blockchain marketing lies in its application across various use cases. From influencer marketing to loyalty programs and affiliate marketing, blockchain offers solutions that address long-standing issues such as transparency in transactions, verifiability of engagement, and security of data. Let’s take a look at some of the applications of blockchain marketing and how it helps projects grow.

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1. Crypto Influencer (KOL) Marketing: Web3 marketing introduces transparency and trust into the influencer marketing ecosystem. By using smart contracts, agreements between brands and influencers can be automatically executed, ensuring that payment is released only when agreed-upon conditions are met. This system mitigates the common issues of fake followers, bots, and unreliable engagement metrics, providing a more secure and trustworthy framework for influencer partnerships.
2. Loyalty Programs: Blockchain tech revolutionizes loyalty programs by creating a secure, immutable ledger of customer rewards. This decentralization allows for real-time tracking and redemption of points across different platforms and services. Customers can easily access and redeem their loyalty points without the usual hassle, encouraging continued engagement with the brand.
3. Affiliate Marketing: The affiliate marketing sphere benefits from blockchain through enhanced transparency and reduced costs. Smart contracts automate the verification and payment processes, ensuring affiliates are compensated accurately and promptly for their referrals.
4. Supply Chain Transparency: In marketing, the authenticity of products can be a USP, especially for luxury goods, organic products, and ethical brands. Blockchain enables companies to provide a transparent supply chain journey to consumers, enhancing brand credibility and customer trust. Customers can actually verify the authenticity and ethical sourcing of products they purchase, fostering a deeper brand connection.
5. Data Management and Privacy: Blockchain offers solutions for more secure and transparent customer data management. By using it, companies can give users control over their personal data, allowing them to share it selectively and securely with brands for personalized marketing.
6. Ad Fraud Prevention: The digital advertising industry is plagued by fraud, with billions lost annually to bots and fraudulent activities. Blockchain can mitigate these losses by validating ad deliveries, ensuring that advertisers pay only for genuine interactions. This transparency can save huge amounts of money and increase the ROI of digital advertising campaigns.

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These application cases illustrate how blockchain/web3 tech is being used to solve traditional marketing challenges while paving the way for more innovative, secure, and customer-centric marketing strategies.

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What Are Some of the Best PR Strategies In Crypto?

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Crypto PR strategies are mostly about creating a narrative that sticks and grows within the digital currency space. By weaving a story that resonates, these strategies aim to build trust, raise awareness, and spark interest among potential investors and the broader community.

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With crypto being a (fairly) new form of tech, the builders and investors within its ecosystem are at the edges of tech, building things that improve on the current tech capabilities. This essentially means that when a product offers something new, they’re targeting the niche of a niche community. To really help stand out, Crypto PR strategies are what define and shape a story around these products or services.

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In our 5+ years of crypto marketing operations, we’ve learned a few things about how to apply these PR strategies to this fast-moving industry. They're the bridge connecting groundbreaking tech with the people it serves, turning complex crypto concepts into relatable stories.

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This human touch is crucial in a field often needed in technical complexity, helping projects stand out in a crowded market. Here are some of the things you need to know while setting up PR strategies:

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• Define Clear Objectives: Before you do anything else, it’s essential to pinpoint exactly what you’re aiming for with your PR campaign. Are you trying to collect investor interest, increase your user base, or elevate brand recognition? Having precise goals sharpens your focus and provides a clear benchmark for success.
• The Narrative: Every crypto project has a narrative – why it exists, the problems it solves, and how it's different from the rest. The art lies in telling this story in a way that’s not only understandable but also compelling to your audience. This could mean different things in different contexts. You could highlight the real-world application of your technology, use memes to build community (or spread the word about your project), or share your vision for the future. Stories stick; make sure yours is worth remembering.
• Establish Thought Leadership Networks: Thought leadership isn’t just about being seen as an expert; it’s about contributing value to the conversation. By publishing research, insights, or even commentary on the state of crypto, you not only showcase your knowledge but also help shape the discourse. This could be through blog posts, whitepapers, X spaces, telegram engagement, and more.
• Leverage Influencer Marketing: In crypto, trust is the real treasure, and the right influencers aligned with the right projects can help build that trust. Whether it’s through sponsored content, blog posts, reviews, or social media shoutouts, influencers can help spread the word effectively. Choose wisely—authenticity matters in web3.
• Engage with the Crypto Community: The crypto community is vibrant, diverse, and incredibly vocal. Engaging with this community isn’t just about broadcasting your message; it’s about listening, interacting, and participating in the broader conversation. Whether it’s through forums like Reddit, social media, or attending meetups and conferences, being an active community member can pay dividends in loyalty and visibility.
• Use Social Media: Social media is a powerful tool for storytelling and engagement. Regular updates, behind-the-scenes peeks, and interactive content can keep your audience engaged and informed. Platforms like X, LinkedIn, and even Telegram and Discord, offer unique ways to connect with your community. It’s not just about what you say, but how you say it—keep your content fresh, relevant, and engaging.

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How Is Blockchain Marketing Different From Traditional Marketing?

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Blockchain marketing represents a significant shift from traditional marketing practices, primarily through its foundational technology that emphasizes transparency, security, and user empowerment. This evolution touches various aspects of the marketing landscape, offering both businesses and consumers new ways to interact, transact, and build trust.

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User Empowerment and Privacy:

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• Traditional marketing often operates on the principle of maximum exposure, where user data is a commodity traded and utilized for targeting without explicit consent. This approach can lead to privacy concerns and a feeling of intrusion among consumers.
• Blockchain marketing, conversely, places control back in the hands of the users. With technologies like the Brave browser, individuals choose whether to engage with ads, rewarding them with cryptocurrency for their attention. This opt-in model respects user privacy and preferences, making advertising feel less intrusive and more rewarding.
  

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Transparency and Trust:

• Traditional marketing channels can sometimes lack transparency, leaving consumers questioning the authenticity of what they're buying or the claims made by a brand. This opacity can erode trust over time.
• Blockchain brings transparency to the forefront. For instance, it allows for the tracking of product origins and ethical practices, offering undeniable proof of claims such as organic sourcing or fair worker treatment. This level of transparency builds trust between consumers and brands, as purchasers can verify the claims for themselves.

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Engagement and Rewards:

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• Traditional marketing strategies often rely on one-way communication where the brand messages consumers, hoping for engagement without providing immediate tangible value in return.
• Blockchain marketing introduces a two-way street by directly rewarding users for their engagement or participation. Whether through loyalty programs that are more secure and versatile or direct rewards for viewing ads, blockchain enables a more interactive and mutually beneficial relationship between brands and their audiences.

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In essence, blockchain marketing diverges from traditional paths by fostering an environment where trust, privacy, and mutual benefit are paramount. Its innovative use of technology not only changes how messages are delivered and received but also redefines the relationship between marketers and their audience, making it more transparent, respectful, and rewarding.

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Lunar Strategy: How We Help Market Crypto Projects

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As we mentioned previously, we’ve come a long way in our crypto journey, delivering 150+ crypto projects into the mainstream – building hype, connecting KOL networks, and growing communities using our battle-tested PR, content, and communication strategies. This well-built bank of experience over the years has connected us to even more brilliant minds across the globe.

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Ranging from Crypto thought leaders, new-age products/services across multiple verticals (AI, metaverse, energy, biotech, cloud computing, NFTs, fine art, etc.), and most of all - the communities that support each of our happy clients – we’ve learned from, and built for, all of them.

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When we integrate crypto clients into our marketing strategies, we’re recalling and building on success strategies that are battle-tested and ready to launch for each specific client case. This is what sets Lunar Strategy apart from the crowd. To go one step further, we’ve even built our own web3 investment arm - Lunar3 Capital. Lunar3 Capital is the culmination of our years of effort and experience to help develop and nurture newcomer projects and allow them to become future-proof web3 powerhouses.

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Lunar Strategy Case Studies:

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1) Applied Primate

Applied Primates, an NFT project aimed at supporting biological research, faced a big challenge: they needed to get the word out about their 10,000 NFTs but didn't have the reach or the community to do so. We stepped in with a plan, picking just the right influencers and getting the word out through key publications. We made sure the message hit home with people who would be genuinely interested.

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The campaign, which ran for 60 days starting April 6, 2023, managed to create a big buzz. With over 500,000 impressions on X, and more than 280,000 views on articles, we got on the right track to push this biotech blue-chip. The best part? They sold out their entire collection of 10,000 NFTs. This success story shows how the right strategy and reaching out to the right people can make a huge difference, especially when it comes to NFTs.

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2) Superhow.ART:

Superhow.ART, an art platform that combines real-life fine art with NFTs, faced a unique challenge: they wanted to sell the rights to a Russian oil painting by Oleg Tselkov through an auction. To gather interest and get enough people to join the auction, we decided to use a mix of paid ads, crypto influencer marketing, and crypto PR.

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We set up professional ad campaigns on Google, teamed up with influencers on YouTube and X to spread the word, and got a buzz-generating article published in Cointelegraph. This strategic combo was all about making sure the right people saw the auction at the right time.

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And the outcome? It was a big win. The NFT painting was sold for 30 ETH, which was around $120,000 at that time, leaving the client more than satisfied. This success story from Superhow.ART shows just how powerful the right marketing mix can be, especially when you're aiming to catch the eye of fine art and crypto enthusiasts at the same time.

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Conclusion

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As the digital landscape continues to evolve, blockchain marketing emerges as a powerful solution for brands seeking to establish trust, enhance engagement, and deliver tangible value to their audience.

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We also go into deeper detail about web3 marketing in our recently launched book - The Secrets Behind Crypto Ecosystem Marketing. In this book, we help uncover what it really takes to launch your crypto project in 2024 and beyond.

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By embracing this transformative approach to marketing in the crypto space, projects can differentiate themselves, build lasting connections, and pave the way for a more transparent, secure, and mutually beneficial marketing ecosystem. We at Lunar specialize in fostering environments that help our industry leading clients manifest their moonshots. In case you are a builder or project interested in navigating the crypto space a little smarter, feel free to reach out to us directly via discovery call. We’re always open to share our expertise with the web3 world!