Why

As the trend of decentralisation continues, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and Blockchain projects keep popping up. Even if you are not working in the fintech and blockchain space, you would know that there are tons of ICOs out there. As of the time when this blog was written, according to ICOdata, halfway through 2018 and there has been 943 ICOs launched raising $6.035bn USD. 

How

The age old adage says, "Nothings ruins a bad product faster than good marketing." - so now that you have learnt how to tell a good ICOs versus a bad one, here we will discuss the basics of how to market a good ICO.

Who

A key component of ensuring that the ICO is looked upon favourably is the team. Internally, it would mean the core team. It will be great if there are those with experience in finance and/or fintech regardless of the utility of the token. It adds credibility to the project and if it is unavailable to the core team, it is a must that some on the advisory panel is. 

One of the ways to work the manpower to marketing success is to pile on credibility. This can be achieved by getting the team members to speak at relevant events. Think panel discussions, forums, conferences, networking sessions and more. By rubbing shoulders with industry players and being recognised as an expert with an unique perspective will allow for the ICO to shine.

What

Up to the day of the ICO, most companies have merely a whitepaper. Tech companies usually have to have a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) at least to raise funds but so far not in blockchain projects*That said, it does definitely help if your ICO has a MVP (setting yourself a step above plenty of others)*. This would mean that all there is to sell investors on your business is limited to a couple pages of text, charts, and graphs. So needless to say, the whitepaper needs to be on-point and captivating. Easier said than done.

To market this well, what we have noticed is that it is often quality over quantity. While Bitcoin never had an ICO, as the coin that started it all for cryptocurrency, it had only 9 pages of content. Having a concise whitepaper that is high in readability is extremely handy. Pass this on to reporters or macro/micro influencers in the cryptocurrency scene and get an honest review. Utilise their audience and goodwill to bring in a wider audience.

Where

"Location, location, location" - works for real restate and ICOs. In my opinion, for marketing, it is more about which markets will have the highest rate of token adoption. While there is much activity in Eastern Europe, Asia is where the money is at. Specifically Japan, Korea, China and Singapore. Yet, most of these countries (except Singapore) have severe regulations on cryptocurrencies to outright bans. This also applies to the marketing of ICOs.

So what can you do? Conduct roadshows. There is undeniable interest in tokens so feed the need with a face-to-face event. Draw in interested participants to hear from the team and answer questions. Do note the language barrier so having a local partner is imperative.

When

The time is now. Successful ICOs tend to need at least 6 months of pre-marketing to while the technology, whitepaper, hype, team is getting ready. It requires a concerted effort to get everything in place and in time. So plan for success from the start and think through the basics.