Despite the recent slump in the cryptocurrency market, the industry is still thriving, and crypto awareness is expanding.
Simultaneously, there has been a notable change in expenditure from bitcoin firms, who now seem interested in getting involved in how the space is regulated. According to a report published earlier this month, crypto businesses have spent more than $20 million on political campaigns throughout the country.
Since 2018, at least $100 million has been spent on lobbying and other measures to strengthen crypto regulation, according to the study. Multiply the above numbers by at least a hundred, and you will end up with an amount that crypto companies spend on advertising.
This rise in crypto companies’ spending hasn’t gone unnoticed. Furthermore, concerns have been raised about what seems to be the growing influence of crypto and crypto companies across the board – especially for marketing and awareness. Why is this?
Crypto Ad Spending Is Off The Charts
To begin, it is important to note that the crypto industry is drawing a lot of money. Crypto firms have been raising large amounts of funding despite the weak market. FTX—the trailblazing exchange founded by ‘now a billionaire’ Sam Bankman-Fried—raised $400 million at the end of January 2022, nearly doubling its valuation to $32 billion.
Even companies in more nascent sub-industries are attracting investment. Yuga Labs, the studio behind the wildly popular Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible tokens (NFTs), raised $450 million, leading to a $5 billion valuation in March.
With an influx of investment, these companies have been spending a great deal on marketing and advertising. Several of them have embarked on different initiatives to proclaim their names out, with some being more ambitious than others. Crypto.com, a Singapore-based exchange, shocked the world when it purchased the naming rights for the iconic Staples Center for $700 million last July. The company then took to becoming the main sponsor of F1 Grand Prix. Other companies have embarked on massive marketing blitzes as well.
Why Are Companies Expending Tons of Money On Ads?
The very nature of business
It goes without saying that the first—and most important—reason for ad spending is companies’ desire to generate revenue.
Advertising has become a crucial aspect of business operations for decades now, and this isn’t expected to change soon. The global media owner advertising space is valued at $763 billion, with an industry-wide increase of 15.6% in 2021 alone. Any company looking to grow will have to supplement organic growth and spend more on ads.
Building the right brand reputation
This rationale for ad spending is simple. Currently, the crypto market has fully entered mainstream consciousness in the developed world, and companies need to maintain their reputations.
The crypto market is vast, with different opportunities to make money. However, there are also risks to be considered. A major issue presently remains the lack of uniform regulations and laws guiding crypto companies and virtual asset service providers. Thus, we’ve seen an increase in the number of scam projects in the industry. As you look to distinguish yourself and maintain your reputation, you’ll find that ad spending is crucial for you.
Distinction in an ever-growing field
Crypto’s growth has also presented a bit of an issue for many companies. Even in the smallest of sub-industries, you can find several companies and protocols doing pretty much the same thing. The need (or desire, as the case may be) to distinguish yourself necessitates ad spending.
If you run a crypto company right now, the focus for you will be to set yourself apart from others—both in the broader field and in your current sub-sector. So, you’ve got to spend on ads!
How Crypto Companies Can Begin Advertising
If you’re running a crypto firm, it’s critical to get your ad game on point. You may not necessarily have the funds to pull some of the stops that these global brands are pulling, but it helps to start from somewhere.
Here are some channels available to brands:
Banners ads
Banner ads are among the oldest forms of digital marketing. These ads essentially leverage the viewership that several online platforms have, allowing you to place banners on these online platforms and attract views.
The important thing to note when handling banner ads is to find online spaces that members who make up your target market regularly visit. This exponentially improves your marketing efficiency and bolsters your chances of achieving success.
With this in mind, crypto companies usually use crypto ad networks like Bitmedia. As one of the pioneering crypto display ad platforms for the crypto space, Bitmedia offers a one-stop solution to running banner campaigns and content marketing for crypto-facing companies. Among other things, these platforms have heaps of experience when it comes to creating the right kind of stir, so it is a definitive must for all industry participants.
Social media
Social media is a tremendous way to get word about your brand out. Crypto enthusiasts are innumerable on platforms like Twitter, Reddit, and Discord. If you can get enough traction through these platforms, you’ve got a good hold on the market and can leverage that to grow your brand.
Influencer marketing is also a great way to scale your company. Here, you get influencers to engage potential customers. By leveraging their presence and influence, you can improve your brand awareness across social media.
Content marketing and press releases
Content marketing also does a great deal to boost brand reputation. Striking relationships with some of the biggest content hotspots in the market (including news outlets, review sites, and other educational platforms) will guarantee proper brand exposure and help you exponentially improve your market share.
You should also remember to share press releases about your company and updates being made. This is another service that Bitmedia can provide for you—crafting press releases and ensuring that you receive the right type of exposure as your company grows and seeks synergistic partnerships. This way, you get to maintain your brand awareness and show your competitive advantage.
Bringing In The Big Names
One growing advertising trend for crypto companies has been the addition of big celebrity names to endorse their projects.
The list is endless. Basketball stars Stephen Curry and Shaquille O’Neal regularly run marketing for FTX, while Oscar winner Matt Damon is firmly fixed on the Crypto.com home page. Cash App—one of the most famous retail crypto spending apps—even began an entire educational series with Grammy-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion last year.
Also, there’s the Bored Ape NFTs. The collection, already one of the world’s most popular NFT names, became so hot primarily because of the amount of celebrity endorsements it attracted. Today several top names—including Stephen Curry, rapper Eminem, singer Justin Bieber, and comedian Jimmy Fallon—have Bored Ape NFTs. It’s no wonder why these tokens now sell for close to $200,000 a pop.
The symbiotic relationship between crypto brands and celebrities is simple. Celebrities would always love the additional income, and the brands can always rely on the star power of these big names to help boost their market awareness and exposure.
For these celebrities, the opportunity to be at the forefront of the crypto and blockchain space is also too good to pass up. When he joined FTX, Curry especially pointed out his excitement about joining a brand that “demystifies the crypto space and eliminates the intimidation factor for first-time users”. The superstar athlete, who admitted to not knowing much about crypto at the time, will now lead efforts to improve crypto education and awareness across the world with FTX.
And for others, there’s also the passive income opportunity. Last November, Super Bowl winner Odell Beckham Jr. announced that he’d take part of his salary in Bitcoin thanks to his partnership with Cash App. For Beckham Jr. and many other celebrities, the prospect of earning and investing in crypto is undeniably attractive.
Conclusion
Marketing plays a key role in the success of any business. It is imperative to gaining traction and crypto industry is no different in this regard. The days when it was enough to be related to blockchain for users to fly in en masse are long gone and key industry player recognise that, spending hundreds of millions in a bid to become a household name.
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