How to Successfully Market an ICO

The cryptocurrency boom in the past two years has really taken the world by a storm. At the moment, this is a fully fledged market that is only growing bigger. To put it in context, the first two months of 2018 saw nearly 50 ICOs (initial Coin Offerings). They raised a total of over $1.1 billion by the end of February.

Let that figure not distract you from the competitiveness of this market. Indeed, of 952 ICOs in 2017, 142 failed from the onset while an additional 276 failed even after raising funds. As a result only 48 percent were regarded with the best ten raising about 25 percent of the total haul.

Therefore, the line between a successful ICO and a failed one is really thin. The tighter regulations in certain markets don’t help matters either. Marketing is consequential or fatal. Some ICOs go the extra step of employing ICO marketing firms or experts. This just goes to show how high stakes the procedure is.

That said; let’s go through certain basics that are most consequential to success:

The Website – Your ICO’s face to the market

You cannot overemphasize the importance of a professional and captivating website. Absence of desirable qualities can in and of itself be a major turn off.

The website is the equivalent of a shop window. This is the first impression and pretty much bases a potential investor’s judgement. Some tips for a viable website are:

1. Well written and detailed white paper.
2. Clear and informative text and an appealing explainer video including the roadmap .
3. Great graphics and a clear call-to-action (CTA).
4. Introduction of the team to give the ICO transparency and trust

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

This is modern marketing in a nutshell. Having a smart, well researched SEO strategy ensures the ICO has consistent organic and targeted traffic. When given proper attention, this is a winning strategy pretty much by itself. This is because it can create long term visibility and viability.

PR and Outreach

This is a conventional general way of making forays in advertising. The use of articles on popular media outlets or other forms of press releases suffice. Once the website is up and the SEO strategy is in place, it’s time to get your ICO and its message in front of the right people.

A conventional yet effective channel is through Press Releases and articles on popular media outlets. Publications on popular websites also provide a decent alternative.

Coin Listings

This is another crafty way of getting the message out there. Listing your coins on crypto sites which specifically list upcoming ICOs is certainly helpful. The top tier may charge a premium but it is worth the expense.

Social Media and Community Management

Social media is the go to platform in contemporary marketing. It goes without saying that certain platforms like Facebook have banned ICO advertising. However there are popular pages that discuss all things crypto and should still be factored.

Other excellent fora are Reddit and Quora. An honorable mention is Telegram which has really caught on with the tech community. Additionally, there are specialized forums such as Bitcoin talk that when effectively utilized can provide a boost.