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Despite the overlap in strategies between Web3 marketing and Web2 marketing, they’re significantly different.
For starters, a Web3 user’s journey through the marketing funnel involves a mix of on-chain and off-chain activities — a potential user discovers your project through a newsletter or social media and joins your Discord community. They then complete a transaction on your platform and continue engaging with it on-chain.
That means you can’t run ad campaigns or retarget users on Facebook using traditional marketing and growth tools. Why? Because they’re not designed to understand on-chain activities or resolve a user’s Web2 activities with Web3 activities.
You need a different set of growth tools to scale your Web3 product.
So, in this article, we’ve outlined the different stages of a marketing funnel and the tools you can use at each stage to convert and retain users.
What is a Web3 Marketing Funnel?
A Web3 marketing funnel is the path customers take from discovering a product to transitioning into dedicated and loyal customers. It’s segmented into three phases namely awareness (discovery and consideration), conversion, and retention (loyalty and advocacy).
To understand the funnel better, let’s look at how Uniswap’s users may go from initial awareness to the retention stage.
- Awareness (discovery and consideration): A potential customer discovers Uniswap on a crypto-centric podcast or a newsletter. There, they learn about its unique features and how the platform is different from centralized exchanges.
They encounter the platform once more while comparing the fees collected by various decentralized exchanges (DEXs).
- Conversion: Intrigued, the potential user visits Uniswap’s website, reads more about its offerings, and decides to perform a token swap on the platform.
- Retention (loyalty and advocacy): The user then learns that Uniswap offers rewards for liquidity providers. So, they decide to provide liquidity to the platform. Over time, they also become an active community member and start participating in governance votes and discussions held by the Uniswap DAO.
In addition to this, they also take to social media platforms to spread the word about Uniswap and how they benefited from it. Potential users come across this user-generated content on their feed and the cycle continues.
In essence, the Web3 marketing funnel is about guiding potential customers in the decentralized space through their journey, from discovery to loyalty.
To execute on your strategy, you will probably need multiple tools to drive each stage. This is powerful because you can choose the very best tool for each job, but it’s also adding a lot of complexity to work with integrations and ensure the best experience.
That’s why it’s always a good idea to start on the foundation of a platform designed to support your strategy through every stage. Raleon is one such tool with a comprehensive set of features that can be used out of the box or integrated with your other tools. This way you can build your growth stack on a rock solid foundation for every stage of your funnel.
How? Let’s find out.
Growth Tools Web3 Marketers Should Use at Each Funnel Stage
To effectively guide customers towards conversion and retention, it’s essential to implement different marketing strategies at each stage using various tools.
Awareness
The marketing journey begins with the awareness or discovery phase, where potential users first find out about your product. The main objective here is to make users familiar with your brand, emphasize what sets your solution apart, and convince them to move to the next step of the funnel.
For Web3 companies, this discovery happens through social media channels and Google search, especially when users are problem-aware and are actively looking for solutions.
To better understand what “problem-aware” signifies, consider this scenario: a user wants to execute a token swap. And to accomplish this task, they require a digital wallet. In response, they perform a quick online search and download a suitable wallet from Google.
This behavior demonstrates that they are aware of the problem they’re facing (the need for a compatible wallet).
Now, consider another scenario: A Web3 developer wants to secure their project but the catch is that they have to create a group of validators and stake ETH to achieve this. This is a time-intensive and costly endeavor.
And EigenLayer, a restaking solution, helps eliminate this issue.
But the project’s target audience i.e. blockchain developers aren’t likely to search for “restaking solutions” on Google to find them. This is likely because they think staking ETH is the only way to secure their project.
That means their ideal users are “problem-unaware” and need to be educated about the problem before being introduced to the product.
Once you’ve crossed the hurdle of educating your users about the problem, you need to stand out from the crowd and encourage users to explore your platform instead of your competitors’. So, you’ll need to use the following tools and strategies to improve visibility and get potential users to the next stage of the funnel.
PR and News Distribution
Press releases and earned media coverage from trusted news outlets help you reach a broader audience and improve your credibility in the Web3 ecosystem.
But securing earned media coverage is challenging as brands must invest time in creating quality content, nurturing relationships with journalists, and developing an effective press strategy.
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This is where agency partnerships prove wise. PR agencies possess industry-specific expertise and tailored strategies that will help you get featured in notable media outlets. Listed below are some potential agency partners you can work with to get your project more traction:
Decentralized Advertising Platforms
While PR operates on broader outreach, ad platforms utilize algorithms to spread the word about your project to targeted audiences across various websites, apps, and the Metaverse.
This precision increases the relevance of the advertisement, ensuring it reaches individuals who are more likely to be interested, resulting in higher engagement rates.
Another advantage of running ads through advertising platforms is that they
offer immediate feedback through analytics. This enables real-time adjustments and improved conversion rates.
So far, Google has maintained its position as the most popular and effective ad network, and its efficacy should not be underestimated for promoting your Web3 project.
But in addition to Google, it’s also important to consider decentralized advertising platforms. These platforms not only maintain transparency and lower intermediary costs but also open the door to innovative experiences like showcasing your ad within the Metaverse.
This helps improve your engagement, strengthens brand recognition, and fosters deeper interaction with your audience. Here are some ad networks you can utilize:
Web3 Affiliate Networks
Affiliate networks connect Web3 businesses (advertisers) with affiliate marketers (content creators) so they can drive sales or specific actions for the brand in exchange for commissions.
The unique aspect of these networks is that they employ a performance-based model. Marketers are compensated based on actual sales or specific actions, so they tailor their promotional strategies to genuinely appeal to potential customers. This targeted approach not only amplifies brand awareness but also effectively converts interest into tangible user sign-ups or purchases.
While there are centralized affiliate network platforms, decentralized advertising platforms often provide higher payouts and rewards which are more attractive to affiliates and translate into more engagement for your brand.
These incentives not only appeal to affiliates but also boost engagement for brands. If you’re keen on exploring affiliate marketing within the Web3 realm, here are two platforms to consider.
Social Media Platforms
Marketing is about meeting your potential customers where they are. More often than not that place is social media which is where 60% of the global population resides online.
Notably, the crypto community is no exception. Data from Reuters indicates that every 2 seconds, there’s a new social media post discussing cryptocurrency. That means you can meet your potential customers where they are and spread the word about your project.
Moreover, the dynamic nature of social media means that content has the potential to go viral, reaching audiences beyond your followers. This makes social media the ideal vehicle to boost product awareness.
A large portion of the Web3 community is still active on traditional platforms like Twitter. So, it’s important to have Twitter marketing strategies in place. But at the same time, it’s also essential not to overlook the emerging decentralized platforms and diversify your presence to amplify your reach and engagement.
Below, we’ve highlighted both web2 and Web3 platforms that can be instrumental in your marketing strategy:
Conversion
Conversion is when a potential customer transitions from being interested in a brand to actively engaging with it by making a purchase, subscribing to a newsletter, or registering for an event.
To seamlessly guide a user from this initial interest to the point of conversion, it’s crucial to employ the right marketing tools and develop strategic content that directs them towards the intended result.
Quest Building Tools
Quests reward users for accomplishing specific tasks or achieving set milestones. It helps enhance engagement and conversions as it taps into the innate desire for achievement and gets users to invest more time in your product.
There are different tools you can use to effectively implement and manage quests. However, they require you to direct users to external platforms for task completion. Raleon’s Embedded Quests, on the other hand, ensures a seamless and uninterrupted user journey by allowing you to set up quests directly on your platform.
You can also use Embedded Quests in the retention stage as a part of your loyalty and rewards program to keep users coming back to your platform.
That being said, we’ve listed all the tools you can use to set up quests and boost conversions and loyalty.
Analytics Tools
Analytics tools provide insights into user behavior and pinpoint where users drop off or engage the most on your platform. By analyzing this data, you can optimize your marketing strategies and refine user journeys to enhance conversion rates.
However, it’s not possible to use web2 analytics tools for your Web3 projects as they often rely on cookies and an extensive collection of user data to provide insights.
Moreover, the Web3 user journey consists of on-chain and off-chain interactions and web2 tools can’t offer precise attribution data for events. This underscores the need for analytics tools specifically crafted for Web3 projects.
There are two kinds of analytics tools you’ll need, namely user analytics and community analytics tools.
User analytics tools analyze individual wallet activity and assess groups of users to identify potential high-value segments that might be ripe for targeted marketing or engagement strategies.
The only disadvantage is that most of these tools can’t provide attribution data or tell you if a user has multiple wallet addresses. Raleon’s attribution engine does both. It maps multiple wallet addresses back to a single user and gives you a holistic picture of the customer journey by combining off-chain and on-chain data.
For example, it tells you if a wallet performing a transaction came from your Discord community or LinkedIn post.
Community analytics tools, on the other hand, offer insights into your Discord or Telegram community. For instance, they’ll tell you which other communities your members are a part of so you can partner with them, buy ad space, or even sponsor newsletters to maximize outreach.
We’ve listed both types of tools below so you can gain valuable insights into user behavior and translate it into more conversions
Retention
Retention is the last stage of the funnel and measures the proportion of users who continue to use a product or service after their initial engagement. It not only indicates satisfaction, loyalty, and the product’s ongoing value to its users but also reflects the potential for brand advocacy.
In other words, high retention rates indicate an increased likelihood of loyal users transforming into brand advocates who actively promote and spread the word about the platform. Low retention rates, on the other hand, can signal issues with the product or user experience. So, here are a few tools you can employ to keep your retention rates high.
Community Management and Engagement Tools
Communities form the backbone of Web3 projects as they validate a project’s relevance and drive its evolution. That means you need to foster community growth and ensure sustained member engagement to continuously grow your project’s user base. This is where community management and engagement tools come into play.
These tools foster regular interactions, recognize the contributions community members make and facilitate conversations, which in turn ensures continued participation and loyalty.
In addition to this, they also provide in-depth analytics which helps you understand your community better and double down on activities that boost engagement. Here are some of the most prominent community building and engagement tools in the Web3 landscape.
Loyalty and Rewards Platforms
Loyalty programs play a pivotal role in fostering long-term relationships between brands and their customers. They not only incentivize repeat transactions but also enhance the overall customer experience, leading to increased brand loyalty and advocacy.
However, traditional loyalty programs are broken as they favor the business and not the user. Web3 loyalty programs, on the other hand, reward customers fairly and give customers access to unique experiences in the virtual and real world to improve retention rates.
The Immutable network’s IMX reward program rewards traders with $IMX tokens based on the number of NFTs they trade on the blockchain’s marketplaces. This enables more users to stake the $IMX tokens and stimulate the creation of more Web3 games and NFT marketplaces on the network.
That being said, here are a list of tools that will help you build retention and improve customer loyalty:
Airdrop Distribution Platforms
Airdrops refer to the distribution of free tokens or digital assets to a specific group of users. Most Web3 startups conduct airdrops to attract new users. But the downside of using them as conversion tools is that they might attract users who lack genuine interest in the project and participate in the airdrop only to obtain free tokens.
However, airdrops work better as retention tools. By rewarding users who genuinely engage with your products, airdrops distribute value to those who truly deserve it, rather than solely catering to users seeking free tokens. The recent BLUR airdrop is a great example that demonstrates this.
So, if you want to set up an airdrop to improve your retention, you can use the tools listed below:
Set Up your Web3 Marketing Funnel With Raleon
There are plenty of Web3 marketing and growth tools to effectively engage customers across various stages of the funnel. But instead of spending your marketing budget on multiple tools and subscriptions, you can engage users across all funnel stages with Raleon.
With Raleon, you can get deep insights into your existing customers which you can use to create top-of-the-funnel content. In addition to this, you can use Embedded Quests in the conversion and retention stages to foster an engaged and loyal community.
What’s more, Raleon also offers the flexibility to integrate with additional tools as your growth and business demands evolve. And the best part is that our comprehensive toolkit is user-friendly and doesn’t require any coding knowledge to set up. Try out Raleon for yourself to see how it can help you with all stages of the marketing funnel.