Building blockchain marketing teams, and why it’s critical for mainstream adoption

Written by Kelcey Gosserand and Antony Demekhin as part of an ongoing series examining the current state of ICOs.

So-called “blockchain experts” on both the investment and technology sides of the space will argue about a great many things. But there's one thing we can all agree on: For the industry to grow, we need products that solve real consumer problems. A whole generation of would-be tech entrepreneurs came of age with a false sense of security when it comes to product development. This feeling of confidence, currently rampant among blockchain founding teams with successful (and frequently over-valued) ICOs under their belt, has not been stronger or more misguided since the dot-com bubble of the late 90’s.

The problem is partially related to the origins and make-up of “blockchain industry culture.” Early adopters and significant players in the space come from very technical and academic backgrounds, and a majority of crypto founding teams are, unfortunately, more professional than they are business savvy. Their ability to innovate -- or at least articulate innovative ideas in a white paper -- on blockchain technology, decentralization, governance models, and complex tokenomics has paid off so far. So far this year ICOs have already raised more money, at around $7 billion, than in all of 2017. And that's despite the market losing over 70% of its value since January. Investors at all levels have been primarily guided by FOMO, with both retail investors and venture capitalists flooding the market with cash in hopes of riding the next major technological innovation wave. And while the FOMO is probably inspired by profits made during the last technological boom, the industry is bound to repeat some of the same mistakes as well.

So what happens when a bunch of tech-oriented founders gets a massive influx of investment capital? Well, they typically hit the conference circuit, hire more developers, get office space, and go heavy into build mode. But while they work towards their initial product launch, more projects would be smart to invest in their go-to-market strategy simultaneously. After all, you won’t achieve critical mass if consumers don’t (1) understand the product (2) see a definite value and (3) love your brand from the very beginning. This involves staffing the right product marketing and business development leads, expanding on the often loosely-researched market fit portions of their white paper, and developing a clear consumer target for their big launch. This is the level of preparation and rigor big enterprise players put towards new product launches, and while they have the expertise to hire excellent marketing talent and the infrastructure to ensure those hires deliver the goods, even they get it wrong sometimes. So what can recently-funded blockchain start-ups learn from successful marketing teams that lead today’s mainstream markets?

1. Hire marketing people based on track record, not their network

Marketing people are great at marketing many things, including themselves. They have many friends, and they network their butts off. They know how to put their best foot forward and dress things up, especially if those things are not very good. If you’re going to trust a person with your marketing plan, make sure they explain to you their specific contribution on past projects and give you an overview of how they envision taking your product to market.

2. Leverage consultants to develop your strategy

Before getting into tactics and execution, pull in one or two seasoned people who understand your market and industry. They can be marketing consultants, business executives or people you trust in your network. Work with them to develop a clear audience, value proposition, and reason to exist for your product before pulling in teams to execute on the strategy.

3. Pull in product marketers to bridge the language barrier

A technical product marketer can help tremendously to bridge the gap between your development and marketing teams. They understand the technology, how it works, and its value to the end user. They can also help development teams differentiate between the technically complex features and the most commercial ones. Sometimes they are the same ones, other times they aren’t. It’s important to know the difference, so you don’t spend time and resources marketing features your users don’t want.

4. Hire the right agency partners.

If you’re building a consumer product or launching an enterprise solution aimed at corporate business clients, you will need some help. Managing an internal marketing team effectively takes a lot of effort for established companies and its a significant strain on resources for start-ups. Internal teams also frequently focus on only one of two core components to effective marketing; strategy or execution. Some teams crank out a ton of content, are active on social media, and continuously make stuff to put into marketing. Others are substantial on a holistic vision but fall short when it comes to delivering the tactics. You can pull in outside marketing and PR partners to make sure you get both right but be smart about it. Develop a strategy internally and clearly identify where you need outside help so you can better evaluate who the right partners are to fill those gaps.

5. Manage your budget, and invest heavily when it counts    

Start-ups can get a lot done with cost-saving growth hacking tactics, but they will only get you so far when you’re after scaled market penetration. You can keep costs down while you beta your product and gather feedback but once you feel you’re ready, do something big. Invest in a big push once you’re clear on your audience and where to find them, and you’ve validated your value proposition with a smaller test audience.

6. Fire fast, hire slow

Marketing teams, especially those who come from the enterprise world, are great at wasting time and money. They will spin up mediocre performance results as huge successes, and continue to spend marketing dollars long after something is a proven failure. Make sure you vet your marketing hires carefully before bringing them on by speaking with references, examining their track record and asking them in-depth questions about their approach to the work. And if you do let someone slip through that isn’t delivering value or driving business results through communication, put them on a performance plan or cut them loose.

Building an effective marketing team is a difficult task for any company, but it's especially tricky for start-ups working on never-been-done innovations and defining an entirely new market as they go. Choosing a good head of marketing to outsource the task to is a common approach, but founders shouldn’t be wholly hands off. There are so many ways to build a marketing function. But if left to its devices the marketing function can waste a lot of resources quickly or worse yet, sabotage a product launch completely. So spend as much rigor on hiring as you do when recruiting dev talent. And once you have the right people in place work jointly with them to ensure you’ve got a solid strategy, a thorough understanding of your target audience and a definite plan to get your product in front of them.