Messaging Strategies for a Successful Web3 Launch

4 months ago we got an impossible brief...gain 500K users in 3 months. I'm proud to say we just hit 2M users in 4 months, and still growing 10% WOW. To do this we didn't send a single email, pay for an ad, or an influencer, instead we used our community and our tech. Here's our Web3 growth playbook👇 The Web3 Growth Playbook: 1 - Build trust in the market: First you have to have people trust that you are worth their time. There are many projects offering quests, so why do yours? We highlighted our team, our tech, and our successes to prove we were a legit project and worth their time. 2 - Open the aperture: Wallet based quests limit you to Web3 natives. Our tech enables anyone with email or Apple/Google wallet to join in. This allowed us to go beyond just Web3 natives, to create a much larger community by making it easy to participate. 3 - Nail The Value Exchange: There needs to be value for people to take action. We used a combination of early community rewards paid out from our upcoming listing, partner rewards, early access to other projects, mentorships, NFT's, and Discord roles. 4 - Design Quests for key goals : We didn't just ask you to follow us on Discord, rather multiple steps; follow us, and then get a specific role. We didn't just ask you to tweet, we created AI prompts ensuring tweets were unique allowing us to create new trending hashtags each week. 5 - Keep up the momentum: We released new quests regularly, and enabled one off ways to earn points so our admins could award points to any member easily for things like answering question in Discord, participating in a emoji contest, or alerting us to a bug. 6 - Create Rewards: We leveraged our NFT technology to create the Smart Cats, an NFT derivative of a Cool Cat we own. Our community minted over 500K of them in a week. 7 - Create Ambassadors: We created an ambassador program and guided them as to what content to create. In exchange we gave them mentorship, status, and points in return. 8 - Activate your Ecosystem: We are now working with our partners to integrate our quests into theirs, have them offer rewards to our community, and to allow them to personalize experiences with our Smart Pass. So now the pass is the key to our ecosystem, not just our project giving it greater value. We built all of this from scratch with our tech because we didn't see what we wanted in the market. It's provided us with the flexibility to go beyond other questing solutions to drive rapid growth. > 4m individual quests completed in 120 days > 2M users in 120 days > 500K NFT minted in 1 week > 200k unique tweets in 2 weeks > Trending multiple #hashtags > 5k average attendance for Twitter Spaces This effort has been so successful we are now offering the playbook and the Growth Tooling to others. DM me if you're interested to see what we could do for your project.

Most founders test their messaging with expensive marketing campaigns. Smart founders test it with coffee conversations. The big marketing push approach: • Spend $10K on ads to test messaging • Launch to everyone at once • Get unclear feedback mixed with noise • Pivot the entire strategy based on vanity metrics The conversation experiment approach: • Talk to 10 people from ICP #1 this week • Try different messaging with each group • Learn what resonates before spending a dollar • Refine based on real reactions, not click-through rates Why conversations beat campaigns: → Real-time feedback → You see their face when you explain your value prop. Data can't show you confusion. → Deeper insights → 'That's interesting, but what I really need is...' vs. a bounced visitor → Multiple ICP testing Week 1: Talk to small business owners Week 2: Talk to enterprise managers Week 3: Talk to freelancers See who actually gets excited. Messaging iteration Try 3 different value props with the same ICP. See which one makes them lean forward. The conversation experiment framework: Week 1: 5 conversations with ICP #1, messaging version A Week 2: 5 conversations with ICP #1, messaging version B Week 3: 5 conversations with ICP #2, best messaging from week 1-2 Week 4: 5 conversations with ICP #3, refined messaging What you learn: Which ICP immediately understands the problem What words make them say 'Yes, exactly!' Which objections come up repeatedly Who's willing to pay vs. who just thinks it's 'cool' The goal: Find the ICP + messaging combo that creates genuine excitement. Then you can spend marketing dollars with confidence. Conversations scale insights. Campaigns scale what's already working. Which ICP are you assuming will love your product without actually talking to them?

Why most web3 press releases and relations fall flat (and how yours won’t) In my agency, we handle about 15-20 press releases per month for Web3 clients. But here's the kicker: around more than 50% of them miss the mark. They don't get the traction or attention they need. Why? Because they're not connecting with journalists in the right way with their press releases, even with our personal connections. So, I decided to dig deeper. Lst week, I spent some hours of quick chatting with some of the top crypto journalists from CoinTelegraph, BlockWorks, TheBlock... Just me, a coffee, and a whole lot of insight that’s pure gold for anyone in the Web3 space. Here’s what they had to say (and, you’ll want to hear this): 1. Data speaks. Gone are the days when saying “we’re changing the game” was enough to grab attention. Journalists now want hard, on-chain data. Think user growth, transaction volume, or measurable impact. As one editor said, “Show me the data or don’t even try". 👉 What to do: Use tools like Dune Analytics to find those eye-catching stats. Make them pop with simple visuals. 2. Keep it human. Blockchain is cool, but what really catches a journalist’s eye? Real people and real stories. How is your project making a difference? Who are the faces behind the numbers? 👉 What to do: Discover and develop those stories. Connect journalists with real users or partners who have something meaningful to share. 3. Timing is, still, everything. The crypto news cycle moves fast—miss it, and your story might never see the light of day. 👉 What to do: Stay on top of trends. Time your announcements to align with major industry events. 4. Build relationships, not just pitches. Journalists love genuine connections, not just a blitz of PR pitches. One journalist put it best: “I’m more likely to consider a pitch from someone I know". 👉 What to do: Engage with them long before you need their help. Comment on their articles, share your insights, and be sincerely helpful. 5. Know your audience. Not all media is the same. What’s a headline for a crypto site might be a minor mention in mainstream business news. 👉 What to do: Do your research. Know the journalists you’re reaching out to. Make sure your story fits their style. Bonus Tip: Journalists are so over the hype. During a “crypto winter,” skepticism is high. As one editor put it: “We want projects that can survive, not just thrive in a bull market”. So, here’s the takeaway: focus on quality, build strong relationships, and deliver real, newsworthy stories. Forget those generic press releases. Your turn: What’s your best strategy for getting media attention in the Web3 world? Share your thoughts below! 👇 PS: Don’t forget to tag your favorite creator or journalist. Let’s keep this conversation going.

Everyone says you should start marketing early — and they’re right. But early marketing isn’t about cranking up the volume. It’s about learning your audience, figuring out what matters to them, and testing your story until it clicks. The companies that have a successful launch are the ones that get the message right before they amplify it. Here's how to do the right marketing at the right stage: 1. Do 300 discovery calls before building anything There are companies spending $100,000+ building products in isolation. The market inevitably rejects them. Look at Scout RFP (now part of Workday): back in their startup days, the founders conducted nearly 300 discovery calls with procurement leaders before writing any code, shipped a one-page MVP, and eventually sold for $540M. Ask three questions: What are you doing now to solve this? What budget do you have allocated? Who else needs to approve? 2. Document everything like an anthropologist Interview every stakeholder type. Record their exact words, their objections, their internal metrics. Map who actually signs checks versus who evaluates. Learn what triggers budget allocation. Name 200 exact accounts and the specific buyers within them. This intelligence becomes your entire go-to-market strategy. Most empty pipelines at launch are list problems, not timing problems. 3. Get 3 paying customers before you scale Not free pilots. Paying customers. These design partners become your proof that the market actually wants what you're building. They should match your exact ICP - same size, same industry, same buying process. They're your template for everything that comes next. Three referenceable wins changes everything about your launch. 4. Test your story before you amplify it Early noise locks you into promises that don't match what buyers actually want. In complex B2B, sales cycles run 6 to 18 months. Use this initial stage to test messaging with ideal customers, validate what resonates and refine your positioning. Every conversation helps you understand exactly what makes your audience lean in versus tune out. Lock in your message before you amplify it. 5. Run a concentrated blitz when ready Once you have proof - real customers, real outcomes, validated messaging - concentrate your entire budget into a 90-day blitz. You need three fast, referenceable wins you can deliver inside those 90 days. A short campaign with locked-in messaging outperforms months of scattered experiments. You only get one chance at a first impression. TAKEAWAY: Start earlier. Test everything. Refine your message. The companies that explode at launch didn't start marketing later. They used early marketing to understand their audience deeply. When they finally amplified, they knew exactly what would resonate. That's the difference.

I've sat down with Otherlife & talked to 20+ CMO/CTOs to find out what's next for Web3 x Brands. Here are 4 non-secret secrets to succeed in Web3 WITHOUT ending up as the NFT drop that's irrelevant on launch day: 1. Focus on value, not technology You might think: “It’s the missing UX”. No. Brands understand that successful engagement isn’t about throwing technology at people (such as NFTs or wallets). Antonio Carriero: "Technology is never the issue... you have more technology capability than good ideas. The most interesting challenge has been to align the entire organization around one unique project." Example: Mastercard integrated NFTs into events like the UEFA Champions League, offering exclusive experiences through digital collectibles. BREITLING created digital product passports for watches, massively improving the pre-owned experience for customers (and getting a ton of valuable data!) Instead of focusing on the tech, they created real value for customers. 2. Bridge tech and business goals     Ensure every digital asset or tech layer supports your broader business strategy. Integrate these tools in a way that simplifies the user journey and delivers tangible value, not just novelty. 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: DeLorean Motor Company 's marketplace for car reservation slots uses blockchain to secure transactions. This aligns perfectly with their brand’s focus on exclusivity and consumer protection. 3. Beyond NFTs The era of standalone NFT projects is done. Brands initially jumped into Web3 with flashy NFT drops — but 90% of these fizzled out. Integrate digital assets, payments, data, gaming across platforms – NFTs could be a part of that.  4. Fail often, fail faster Start small, run a pilot, scale it, test and learn. If it doesn't work, pull it down immediately and pivot. Gucci did an amazing job in testing the waters with their “Vault” concept, Roblox activations, and strategic collabs (case study in comments). Don't be fooled: The chart is an approximation of what we've heard in our community. We're soon going to do a much more comprehensive study on this. 🔥 Read our deep dive here: https://lnkd.in/gThdBuBS Wanna crack the code? Reach out to our friends at Otherlife Michael Perrow, XYZ Michael Moodie Examples of brands who nailed this? _ 🔻Subscribe for more & join 10k+ Web3 execs: www.51insights.xyz