506 reads

DeFi Community Building: A Step-by-Step Guide for Crypto Startups

by Serge BaloyanFebruary 13th, 2024

Too Long; Didn't Read

Learn how to build a thriving DeFi community with this step-by-step guide. From defining your target audience to creating valuable content and engaging with you

featured image - DeFi Community Building: A Step-by-Step Guide for Crypto Startups

Decentralized finance (DeFi) has exploded in popularity over the past few years, offering a new wave of financial services that are open, transparent, and accessible to anyone with an internet connection. But building a successful DeFi project requires more than just a great idea and a talented development team. It also requires a strong and engaged community of users, supporters, and advocates.

In this guide, we'll walk you step by step through the process of building a thriving DeFi community. From identifying your target audience to creating valuable content and engaging with your community regularly, we'll get all the essentials covered. If you need a piece of advice on your DeFi/crypto project, you can message me.

Step 1: Define Your Target Audience.

Before you can start building a community, you need to know who you're trying to reach. Are you targeting experienced crypto traders, or are you trying to attract a more mainstream audience? Are you focusing on a specific region or language? Depending on these factors, your channels and content strategy may vary. For example, if you are building a DeFi project focused on lending and borrowing, you will target crypto traders who are looking for ways to leverage their assets and generate yield. The very different target audience will be for the DeFi project focused on remittances, where you are targeting migrant workers who need to send money back to their countries. The more specific you will be about the purposes of your project, the easier it will be to define your target audience and tailor your messaging and outreach efforts.

Case: Targeted audience is a key factor for exponential growth of the project, not only at the start. In particular cases, it’s critical when a project is expanding to foreign markets. For example, we had a case with Bifrost, a DeFi project that splashed over the Korean market a few years ago. To maximize the effect of every dollar invested into marketing, you need to specify your targeted audience requirement very precisely. That's exactly what was done in our cooperation with Bifrost. That led to increasing the English-speaking community of Bifrost up to 20k.

Step 2: Create Valuable Content.

Once you've defined your target audience, it's time to start creating content that will appeal to them. This can include blog posts, videos, infographics, and more. The key is to make sure your content is valuable and informative and that it helps your audience understand the benefits of your DeFi project. For example, you can create a blog post that explains the benefits of decentralized lending compared to traditional lending - or an infographic that explains how your DeFi project solves a specific problem in the crypto space.

Case: During times of our cooperation with Defexa.io, our main focus was on content generation at the very early stages. Right now, Defexa has a wide worldwide audience and user base. Content should be diversified on several topics, of course: entertainment for community engagements and market analysis for investor attraction. Defexa's community is a great proof of this point.

Step 3: Engage with Your Community on Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool for building and engaging with your DeFi community. Make sure you have a presence on all the major platforms, including Twitter, Reddit, and Telegram. Use these channels to share your content, answer questions in a timely and helpful manner, and interact with your community regularly. You may also consider organizing weekly Twitter Spaces or Discord/Telegram AMAs to discuss your project and answer questions.

Case: Coinburp was a sensation in 2022-2023, and one of the reasons is that a wide media and community campaign was arranged by our team. Major platforms were involved, such as Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, Telegram, and Media. Of course, for every platform, you need to tailor the content in a very specific format to catch the eye of the audience.

Step 4: Host Events and Webinars

Events and webinars are a great way to connect with your community and build relationships. Consider hosting regular AMAs (ask me anything) sessions or online workshops. You may as well consider organizing a virtual meetup in collaboration with a local blockchain community to introduce your project to a new audience. This will help you build trust and credibility with your community, and it will also give you valuable feedback and insights.

Case: The community of our current client, Vitruveo, is expanding exponentially. And one of the reasons is that the project CEO participates in worldwide events and AMAs regularly. Sometimes, quantity is important, too.

Step 5: Partner with Other DeFi Projects

Partnerships can be a powerful way to grow your DeFi community. Look for other projects that are complementary to yours, and explore opportunities for collaboration. This can include cross-promotions, joint events, or even integrations with each other's platforms. For example, partner with a DeFi project that offers a yield farming platform or a decentralized exchange or integrate with a popular wallet provider to make it easier for users to access your platform.

Case: An absolute turning point for the AQLA token, which we’ve worked with for a while, was a partnership with a platform that revolutionized the crowdfunding process. That move and partnership helped to gain a new audience that was very interested in the project.

Step 6: Foster a Sense of Ownership and Inclusivity

One of the key benefits of DeFi is that it gives users more control and ownership over their financial lives. Make sure you're fostering a sense of ownership and inclusivity within your community. Encourage users to participate in governance decisions by creating a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and distributing governance tokens or hosting regular town hall meetings to gather feedback.

Case: One of the DAO projects we've worked together on was the LegenDAO project, in which users were able to vote for further strategy of tokens and immission. That enhanced trust between the project and its community, which in turn leads to a more loyal and engaged community.

Step 7: Measure and Iterate

Finally, it's important to regularly measure and iterate on your community-building efforts. Use analytics tools to track engagement metrics such as website traffic, social media followers, and active users. Next, use this data to identify what's hot and what's not and make adjustments as needed. Don’t forget to conduct regular surveys to gather feedback from users and identify areas for improvement.

Case: This is a topic of superior importance. You should not be scared to make a Pivot. It's a regular and common process for all successful projects, as all good decisions are data-driven decisions. That's exactly what we've been doing with all of our cases mentioned in this article and our clients overall. After you measure the efficiency of every step, you might need to adjust your strategy and its normal and healthy process.