Marketing in the Times of Web3

Do you know how to become a good entrepreneur?

Trust me, you could lose count of the number of wrong answers.

Without this indispensable trait, sure, you could be an entrepreneur, but not one capable of creating something that lasts over time.

I'm talking about vision. 

Without mincing words, vision is the ability to look into a crystal ball and predict the future. Because that is what real entrepreneurs do, the leading figures behind the big legendary brands.

And it seems that today's startup founders know this well, especially those who choose to rely on the crypto world.

Simply, they sense that web3 is a compulsory step into the future, and they orient their business in that direction from the very beginning.

For a few years now, start-ups have been making use of a curious marketing tool, geared entirely towards web3, called airdrop.

What is it? Simple, a innovative technique, creative and capable of generating value. 

You want to know more? Just read on.

What is an airdrop?

Iphone users new to the crypto world will turn up their noses, so no, airdrop is not about how files are shared between Apple devices.

The airdrop is a token distribution technique, but in a marketing sense, that dates back to 2014, but has been widely used since 2018. Thanks to an airdrop, a startup, often in the cryptocurrency or technology sector, distributes tokens, NFTs or other digital assets to a group of users for free, to increase the visibility of the project, incentivise adoption and build a community. 

Of course, but nobody ever gives anything away, right?

In fact, in order to gain access to the rewards, users are usually asked to perform some task, usually directly on the platform that manages the airdrop, but also simpler actions, such as subscribing to the Telegram channel, or following a certain page on X.

Anyhow, a very fair price. So what does the company get out of it?

Maybe a few numbers will give you a better idea.

Here's why you should participate in an airdrop

Let's go back to 2020, the year everyone remembers for Covid-19 and lockdown, but no one remembers for Uniswap's airdrop, except for those who interacted with the platform during that time.

In fact, anyone who had deposited cash on the Uniswap platform, or performed a complex transaction by 1 September 2020, would have received a corresponding amount of UNI (the token). 

At the time of launch, 400 UNIs reported a value of $1.200 dollars, increasing by 10 times (12,000 for those poor at maths) in the following months.

Approximately 250,000 participating users.

2021, launch of Ethereum Name Service. The token was intended for anyone who purchased a .eth domain, in varying amounts, between 200 and 1000 tokens depending on the level of interaction. 

At launch, the ENS token reached a value of $85, guaranteeing participants rewards of up to $17,000, causing the token market to reach and exceed $1 billion soon after airdrop.

Users reached, approximately 137.000.

Surely at this point you will be clear what the return is for the user, especially in economic terms.

But the company gets, for its part, one of the most important resources it can rely on: visibility.

Anatomy of an airdrop here's what it contains

Not all airdrops are successful, let's be clear. Sometimes projects are interrupted, while it can happen, after the airdrop has already taken place, that the token undergoes a dumping, i.e. the eventuality that users sell the tokens in their possession at the time of the launch. 

And in the world of trading, when everyone sells everything, it is usually not a good signal (the price collapses).

But a self-respecting airdrop, at the root of which is a start-up with excellent potential, should follow these steps:

1. Define airdrop goals:The first step for an effective airdrop is to clearly define the goals. Attract new customers, or incentivise existing ones?
2. Segmenting the audience: at this stage, it is a matter of deciding who will receive tokens, based on the number of interactions performed by each user, prior ownership of certain assets, or simply upon signing up to a certain platform;
3. Define the rules of participation, detailing specifically all that a user must do to gain possession of the tokens, leaving no doubt;
4. Set the quantity and value of the tokens, which may be fixed for each participant, or variable;
5. Developing the technical infrastructure, which must be stable and able to accommodate the airdrop;
6. Creating a communication and promotion plan, establishing the channels to be used and possible collaborations with content creators and influencers to sponsor the launch event;
7. Launching the airdrop, which must always follow clear instructions for all users;
8. Post-airdrop monitoring and engagement: means keeping the community active, collecting feedback for the continuous improvement of the launch platform and the distributed tokens (e.g. increasing functionality);
9. Avoiding dumping; as already mentioned, it is crucial to avoid users selling all their tokens at launch with the consequent drop in price of the token itself. With this in mind, it would be excellent to use a vesting period, or to incentivise the use of tokens for the purpose of governance or use of the platform itself.

To ensure that everything you have read remains no more than a useful theoretical lesson, at the end of this article I will point out the best airdrops among the most interesting of the moment, which you should not miss.

But first, let me tell you...

Why airdrop marketing is so damn effective

There are so many reasons.

One of the most important is an aspect that every brand must take to heart: the community. 

In fact, there is no brand today that has value, around which there is not an active community of people who believe in its values, and who are not willing to spend money to be the spokesperson for that brand.

In fact, airdrops are extremely effective at attracting new users and creating an active community around a project. Thanks to free distribution, for example, companies are able to incentivise users to become part of an ecosystem. 

And the reason is simple, but powerful: each user feels rewarded in feeling like an active participant in the project, with the prospect of future economic benefit.

Second, but not least, is virality.

Today it is believed that to become famous one must necessarily go viral. And there are those who believe it or not, but one thing is certain: reaching millions of users a day can lend a real hand.

And what better tools are there than channels like Reddit, Telegram or X? Airdrops naturally generate visibility on social media through word of mouth, sharing experiences and ideas about the tokens received. 

Such an organic virality is likely to set a precedent for all those who think that making massive investments in marketing is the key to success.

Airdrop vs. traditional marketing

In your opinion, how much did Marvel spend on the Avengers: Endgame marketing campaign?

More or less than $38 million?

Well, if you think it spent less than $50 million, you're way off. Even if you think it spent less than 100.

Marvel did in fact spend over $200 million on its marketing campaign around one of its biggest movie products.

The same goes for Chanel No. 5, which in 2004 spent over $33 million hiring Nicole Kidman to produce a only 3-minute short film.

This is because the biggies with almost unlimited budgets churn out some of the most expensive marketing campaigns in history.

Something a start-up cannot afford to do.

This is why the marketing of the future will revolve around the creation of a community even before the product is actually launched, aiming directly at the desired target audience, and increasing the perceived value of the user disproportionately.

AA wanted: successful airdrops

I promised you, so here we are: the hottest airdrops of the moment.

As you will have realised, airdrops are not only an impressive marketing tool, they can build a truly great community with whom to share, and amongst whom to spread, the future value of your business.

Of course, one of the barriers to entry to participating in an airdrop is in terms of knowledge of the crypto market.

But I think you can find all the answers to all your doubts on this site, can't you?

Now, sniffing out airdrops is not a simple matter, especially if you are not a master of the various channels where the main news is disseminated. 

This is why this list could help you get to the most anticipated airdrops of the moment which, as of today, are still in the process of distributing their tokens:

• zkSync: this airdrop is highly anticipated and is linked to a zk rollup that aims to improve Ethereum's scalability by reducing transaction costs. To participate, one must use the zkSync protocol, e.g. by transferring ETH or USDC through their bridge. The airdrop is not yet confirmed, but the use of the protocol increases the chances of qualifying;
• LayerZero: this interoperability protocol between blockchains has already raised $120 million and an imminent airdrop of the ZRO token is expected. Although the airdrop is not officially confirmed, using the protocol and interacting with the platform will increase the chances of qualifying;
• Starknet: a scalability solution based on ZK rollups on Ethereum. This project has already attracted a lot of interest and could offer a significant airdrop in the future: start setting your sights on it;

Well, it's time to take stock.

You will no doubt have realised how an airdrop is an infallible, low-cost, mass marketing tool that can generate unique community engagement.

While many airdrops have enjoyed tremendous success, seeing the value of the token distributed skyrocket, it is also true that other airdrops cannot claim to have had the same success.

Also, not all airdrops come to fruition, due to a series of obstacles that the project encounters along the way, from conception to release.

But think about it: a film company can find itself spending hundreds of millions of dollars with the risk that the film produced will turn out to be an absurd flop.

We are now living in the age of web3, where blockchain reigns supreme. 

And if you think marketing is about spending wads of money to get a few more followers on social media, well, you might want to re-read this article again