Breaking Out of the Echo Chamber - Marketing that evolves with blockchain

The blockchain industry isn’t niche anymore, but we market like it is. It’s easy to get stuck in the crypto box when you’re surrounded by people who do what you do, and all it takes is one night out with my non-crypto friends to remind me just how thick the walls of that box are. 

Part of the reason for this is that we’ve made all of it so inaccessible and niche. CT (crypto Twitter) has been popping off about this lately, and it’s true: We are part of the reason people don’t want to participate, because we did all the things you’re not supposed to do when courting adoption. First, we made and used our own language to describe our campaigns and businesses (airdrops, farming, L2s, DEX—this list could go on), we ran campaigns on esoteric platforms like Discord, and we kept our outreach within the confines of Twitter/X, Telegram, crypto conferences, and rooms crowded with people we already know.

We also failed to prioritize the experience of users outside of the niche. DeFi has a UX problem, we all know it. I’m someone who lives in the space full-time, but I still struggle with clunky interfaces and multi-step transactions. Consumers have no patience, and the digital world has  trained them to be that way. Think about the applications you interact with on a daily basis. Teams of people—designers, product managers, engineers, marketers, random test groups in rooms with two-way mirrors and overhead fluorescent lighting—spend hours upon hours making sure that the user flow is seamless. 

Yet, in crypto, we commit the cardinal sin of assuming anyone who can’t figure out our complicated protocols isn’t worth having. When I hear people in crypto refer to outsiders as “normies,” the hair on the back of my neck stands up.

I get how we got here; founders had to double down in the spaces where their most accessible audiences lived, but we’re evolving, and as adoption increases, that audience will be reclassified as low-hanging fruit. Those normies we’re referring to are the people on the other side of the adoption curve. If we’re going to grow as an industry, we need to stop thinking small about the way we grab our audiences. By small, I don’t mean lacking in effort or creativity—crypto marketing is arguably one of the most creative marketing outlets in existence; what I do mean is limiting ourselves to the same old silos and tactics, because in many ways they prevent us from reaching outside of our comfort zones (hint: where the revenue is).

The shift: a new perspective

Lately, when I speak with founders about their marketing roadmaps and goals, I’m met with the same refrain: We want to talk to everyone, not just the crypto people. It’s a constant across almost every call, the undeniable signal being that this little cult of marketing tactics we’ve been relying on for the better part of a decade is in for a shakeup. 

Many crypto marketers entered the world of marketing through crypto, and crypto has its own marketing ecosystem that’s extremely industry specific (think: Kaito, CT, dare I say cookie.fun-). It’s an important skill set to have, but it’s extremely specialized, condensing the marketing talent pool in crypto to a puddle filled with hard-to-obtain talent who demand salaries most smaller companies cannot accommodate (and they should demand a lot—devrel is hard). 

And, while these outlets have been perfect for obtaining the small pond of crypto users, most people outside of the DeFi ecosystem don’t know what Kaito is and don’t want to. That institutional exec you’re trying to reach with your in-depth infra product is on LinkedIn, maybe, and the idea of CT terrifies them. They don’t want to scream into that void for fear it will scream back. 

Obviously, don’t give up on CT, because it’s still where crypto native people live, but we need to start looking at the broader world of marketing—we need to shift our perspective away from what we have to what’s waiting just outside the window of what we know. With blockchain’s evolving position in the minds of the mainstream, we, as an industry, have the privilege of thinking bigger. 

Ways for founders and marketing leaders to bridge the gap

There is no better time to grow. We’re in this really cool era where blockchain is getting more mainstream visibility. No longer shadow-banned by the events of 2022 and Operation Chokepoint, increasing regulatory clarity, global stablecoin adoption, and IPOs are changing the way people see crypto. Opportunities to speak to the new wave of users will be plentiful, and here’s how you can set your company up to take advantage:

1. Expand your reach. Think about who you’re trying to speak to, and then consider all the places they might find you. Where does that compliance officer you want to use your infra tools read their news? You know where the defi native trader is, but where does the crypto-curious pro trader find their preferred platform? Sure, it might be on X, but what if it’s through listicles and affiliate marketing, or are they seeing your ad at a basketball game? When it comes to reaching the people outside of the crypto bubble, think big.

2. Trust your marketers to try new things! Marketers need to have the support to test, explore, and expand the brand. Try the AMA, post to tiktok, talk on the non-crypto panel, publish to substack. Track the data closely over time, and don’t abandon the project if you don’t see immediate results. Treat your marketing the way you treat your tech teams and trust them—they are professionals.

3. Look for talent outside of web3. The introduction of talent from the web2 space into the web3 ecosystem provides an incredible opportunity for symbiosis—the pairing of two specialities to create an elevated marketing presence for our industry. Sure they don’t know all the web3 marketing tactics, but they have tactics of their own to share. Mentor them, take them in, hear them out. 

4. Foster connections across the marketing community. Create spaces where marketers from both sides can connect. Right now, our events are very siloed to our own community. Bringing both sides together will build connections crucial to expanding and strengthening the talent pool. Blockchain will be ubiquitous one day, right? So it only makes sense to bring it all together. 

Speaking of marketing community, I’m building this. I’d love to talk to anyone who wants to collaborate or knows of any cool existing communities. DM me or email at charlotte@blockchaincapital.com.