The initial coin offering is a decentralized and blockchain-based version of fund raising from the public. ICOs are a type of cutting-edge initial public offering for stocks, so the approach to marketing should be somewhat similar.

 

Launching a successful ICO PR campaign requires a few niche and professionalized techniques to get institutions and accredited investors interested in your team’s tokens. Here four ways you can make that happen:

 

1) Pick the right platform

ICO investors are a very distinctive audience, so it’s no surprise that they prefer some platforms over others. The most popular ones seem to be Twitter, Reddit, and Telegram.

 

However, institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and accredited investors can’t be expected to be as tech-savvy as young venture capitalists and developers with spare cash. Traditional large investors need to be approached through formal channels like email, LinkedIn, and business news networks.

 

Perhaps the easiest way to reach out to ICO investors is through dedicated listing platforms like ICO Buffer, Smith & crown, Icoalert.com, and tokenmarket.net. Your team could go the extra mile and have your whitepaper and investor deck translated into Russian, Korean, or Spanish for listing platforms in other countries.

 

Depending on the nature of your project and target market, take the time to study different platforms to pick the right one.

2) Adopt B2B marketing tricks

ICO PR is intrinsically linked to business-to-business (B2B) marketing efforts. This means creating an email list for marketing, sending out newsletters, sharing slides on LinkedIn SlideShare, answering questions for reporters through helpareporter.com or appearing on business news channels like CNBC, Bloomberg, or the Wall Street Journal must be part of your ICO PR strategy.

 

3) Analog Networking

Considering the competitiveness of digital marketing, perhaps the best way to gain exposure with your target market is by meeting them in the real world. Investor roadshows, developer conferences, blockchain workshops, and one-on-one meetings could go a long way towards helping you create a base of potential ICO participants.

 

4) Timing is everything

The ICO and crypto market is volatile. Investor interest ebbs and flows as the industry struggles to find its footing. With this in mind, it’s absolutely critical to time your ICO and marketing efforts perfectly.

 

Use online tools to track the market’s sentiment and the performance of recent ICOs to see if your launch date is optimized for maximum impact. Closely monitor the crypto and technology news cycle to see if your audience and pool of potential investors are excited about the future of your project or nervous about losing their money in a downturn. Delay or postpone your launch if necessary. When it comes to launching a successful ICO, you only get one chance. Make it count.

 

Creating buzz and signing up potential investors for an initial coin offering is drastically different from promoting a consumer product online. Not only does your team need to wrangle with regulations and formal protocol, but they also need to go the extra mile to reach heavyweight investors like wealthy venture capitalists and specialized hedge funds.

 

By picking the perfect platform, using traditional B2B marketing tactics, reaching out to your audience in the real world, and timing your launch date correctly, you can maximize the chances of a successful fund raise.

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May 23rd, 2019 by financetwitter

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