We stumbled across an in-depth, thought-provoking thread on Twitter this week. The thread came from a self-diagnosed efficiency maximalist & jpeg enthusiast, 'Dith' (@0xDith). The thread focused on what he believes to be key to forecasting a project’s growth: its ability to earn and retain attention. Whilst he was discussing NFTs explicitly with his hypothesis, we believe the same ideas are directly applicable to all projects within the space. We’ll attach a link to the thread at the end, but for now, let’s discuss some of what was outlined.
“You are a player in the attention economy.” No truer words were spoken. Whether we are aware of it or not, every step we take online, businesses, brands and corporations are slugging it out to gain our undivided attention, even just for a few seconds. The exact same view should be taken from the perspective of a project within the crypto space. Your vision, roadmap and eventual product could be ground-breaking, but growth will stagnate without adequate focus on capturing the wider space's attention.
'Dith' created a wonderful graphic to begin his thread that we have decided to include as the main image of this post as it perfectly encapsulates the cycle that most projects will go through. It provides food for thought. We’ll be providing our commentary on the steps outlined 1-4 with the difference being that our focus is more from the perspective of a general project rather than an NFT ecosystem.
1. Launch
The graphic perfectly depicts the expected spike in attention that most projects can expect to receive around launching. Of course, this is dependent on the level of noise and general hype generated around the project in advance of the launch. Just as sure as you can expect a spike in the attention you can expect a drop off as the initial buzz fades and investors divert their attention to the next shiny object for the day, week, or month. How can this be combatted? Well, it’s an unfortunate fact that the crypto market in general is irrational and somewhat fickle, to say the least.
The fact is we all know the underlying technology that is building the next iteration of the web is ground-breaking. It’s also a fact that many at this current moment in time do not care and are here to make money. There’s no harm in that either, as at the end of the day, it’s a mechanism for bringing newer entrants into the overall space. It does create the issue at hand, however. Retaining this attention is difficult but not impossible. It all depends on the messaging from a project standpoint. Over-promising and under-delivering for example. Hype is a huge factor in determining overall success from a price-action standpoint for any project but relying on it and being noisy for the sake of it is not a winning formula. The best ideas often take time. Outlining this from the beginning alongside the vision of a brilliant product and you’re likely to win people around to a long-term way of thinking. These are the kind of supporters every project should want and generally needs to be successful over a sustained period.
2. Consistent Work
This one speaks for itself. We’ve just weathered one of the most tumultuous chapters in the history of the space. 2022 was a complete write-off. How many projects and teams gave up and walked away is anyone's guess. Those that persisted and kept building & have a plethora of updates to reveal now that the market has taken a turn for the better and sentiment is improving are impeccably positioned to benefit. The projects that are consistently working towards building their vision will never be starved for the appropriate attention when the time does come to reveal. The market may be irrational at its core right now, but that’s not to say there aren’t investors out there with a sharp eye for those that are building and setting themselves up for long-term success.
3. Bullish attention captivating things released unexpectedly
It’s no secret, announcements are the predominant way to shine some spotlight on your project. This is where a solid structure and plan around marketing are essential to ensure maximising the attention when the time does come. Well-worded announcements via Twitter and Medium to convey a thorough feeling of professionalism is imperative. Utilising the right kind of influencers can be a hugely beneficial tactic to further spread the content. Figuring out what’s best for your project is a trial-and-error process. There’s no one size fits all approach. The unfortunate drawdown from dropping one-off updates or announcements is that it’s likely to attract those chasing a quick pump which is more often or not followed by a violent dump. This is just the game at present. There’s something to be said about being calculated in how to approach this. For example, if you had 3 substantial updates to drop, rather than dropping all 3 at once, maybe opting to run with one update per week or even a month so as to portray continual development. It may also make those considering selling think twice in the future.
4. Community
Your community is part of a foundational pillar for the overall project. That community grows in tandem with the project. They are a vital cog in the wheel that keeps everything moving forward. When the updates do come, they will be the first on the frontline ready to make sure others are aware of exactly what’s going on with your project. They wear the project almost like a badge of pride. It’s important to communicate with them throughout development and engage where possible to retain their interest. Going quiet for several months for example on socials or within the official Telegram channel is likely to result in an overwhelming loss of hope and general excitement about the project. It’s an often-overlooked aspect of crypto but without a strong community, it’s hard to really build for the long term. They are an incredibly important aspect of the process and need to be treated as such. Over time your faith in them will be repaid times over when you need to execute any kind of marketing strategy.
As 'Dith' outlined at the beginning of his thread,
“If a project you are building or buying can't capture attention, people don't know about it, they don't talk about it, they don't buy it, it doesn't grow.”
The onus lies with you, the project creator to ensure all boxes are adequately checked to maximise capturing attention when the opportunity arises. It’s no easy task and it’s exactly where TONSMA can be of service. It all boils down to structure and planning, something we excel at. If anything we’ve discussed above resonates with you and your project, do not hesitate to reach out to our team. You look after the building and we look after the rest.
A link to the aforementioned tweet and a massive thanks to 'Dith' for the excellent content,
https://twitter.com/0xDith/status/1612237474436370433?s=20&t=rQywTqo6XZW97rXT8PQ0Cw
If you need any assistance or guidance in levelling up your marketing, please don't hesitate in reaching out to our team via our website,
https://www.tonsma.io/#contact
or via Telegram - @ZKStef