Boosting the holders of a low-utility token by 32% with a research-based strategy

After a successful IDO, a token’s price and trading volume often drop due to lack of utility and interest, as the main product isn’t ready yet. To boost the volume and the number of token holders, we use a multichannel, user insight-based approach that unifies different marketing services into a  streamlined strategy. 

Challenge: attracting buyers for a low-utility token

In this case study, our client was a very large crypto financial provider that had recently held an IDO, raising over $2M thanks to a successful integrated marketing strategy developed by BDC Consulting. 

However, after the IDO the interest in the token went downhill. The company launched a yield farming program and was integrating the token into its token offerings, but its utility remained low - and so did the sales volume. 

To increase the number of holders, we used our signature research-based omnichannel approach. Through an all-in-one digital marketing strategy that covered 10+ instruments, we managed to increase the number of token holders by 32% in 3 months.

Solution: an integrated marketing campaign

Step 1: research

Before implementing any all-in-one marketing solutions, BDC Consulting always conducts research to find out the real needs and fears of the target audience (TA). In this case, the team started with an industry study to determine the size and location of the TA. Based on the results, we focused on two GEOs: Turkey and Spanish-speaking countries.

Next, a poll and a series of AMA sessions allowed us to evaluate the effect of the marketing campaigns and make changes as needed. 

Step 2: a news & updates roadmap

We mapped various scheduled events around the token: partnerships, yield farming launch, award nominations, an ambassador program, weekly airdrops, new platform features, the app release, etc. All these updates were divided into major, medium, and minor depending on how interesting they would be to the audience. 

All the subsequent elements of the all-in-one online marketing strategy (influencer reviews, PR, paid ads etc.) were based on this roadmap of events.

Step 3: integrated marketing in action

What is integrated marketing?

Complex, or integrated, marketing combines all promotional channels and tools into a unified strategy, where each element strengthens the others, be it paid ads, blogger reviews, reputation management, SEO, etc. This sort of strategy requires a long-term cooperation relationship between a client (crypto startup) and an integrated marketing agency. 

Influencer marketing

• A total of 35 YouTube reviews of the token were produced, out of which:
• 3 Tier-1 vloggers with 1.6+ million followers combined 
• 10 English-speaking YouTubers (2.5M followers)
• 13 Spanish-speaking YouTubers (1.5M)
• 9 Turkish YouTubers (1M followers). 

Each of the influencers covered one of the elements of the news & updates roadmap, so that together they created a more rounded and attractive image of the token. 

Paid ads

Two paid ad campaigns were launched: one targeting the app release and the other the project’s quarterly report. 

The campaigns were a big success: 

• Token page visits: 3.94x times higher than the KPI 
• Cost per click: only $0.45

Engagement, content & SMM

We launched a series of weekly token airdrops for those who subscribed, retweeted, and purchased the token. The effect of the airdrops was strengthened by quizzes, AMA sessions, and news posts – as well as 4 articles published in the crypto media, including NewsBTC. This media outlet is particularly useful, because CoinMarketCap automatically sources news from it. 

Result: the engagement rate in the English-, Turkish-, and Spanish-speaking communities (20+k followers in total) rose from 2.5%-5% in March 2022 to 8.1%-17.2% in May 2022. This is more than a 3x increase – only carefully planned integrated marketing solutions can achieve this kind of effect on a moderate budget.

Ambassador program

Through collaborations with Tier-1 and Tier-2 YouTubers, we obtained 800+ applications for the program. 75% of them came from outside of the client’s community, showing a strong interest in the token and in the program itself. 

Final result

In just 3 months, the number of token holders increased by 32%. The most impressive part was that it happened in March-May 2022, during a major altcoin correction. 

Insights

1. The best way to minimize the cost of leads is to use quality research covering the market, the audience, and token performance.
2. It’s crucial to generate enough updates and newsworthy stories that can fuel the campaign.
3. A complex marketing strategy makes differentiation possible: delivering different kinds of information to different sections of the target audience in various GEOs. This is key to organic promotion that doesn’t lead to so-called ‘banner blindness’ – an effect where users ignore repetitive advertising.
4. This complex, research- and ROI-based approach can be successful even when the market is going down. 

The multichannel, ROI-based approach employed by BDC Consulting requires a willingness for long-term cooperation from the client, as complex marketing strategies take a few months to play out. However, the results usually far exceed the KPIs and expectations.