Diving into Crypto-PR: A Beginner's Guide

Whether you’re completely new to blockchain PR or have years of industry experience, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know before launching your own blockchain PR campaign.

From what exactly blockchain PR is to a detailed description of all its benefits and best practices, this guide encompasses it all.

In this guide, we’ll be covering the following topics:

• What is blockchain PR?
• How is blockchain PR different from traditional digital PR?
• What are the benefits of blockchain PR?
• What should Blockchain PR content include?
• How does SEO come into Blockchain PR?

Let’s jump right in.

What is Blockchain PR?

Blockchain PR is the practice of creating, cultivating, and sustaining a brand identity mainly in the crypto community by putting out content onto the internet. This content can range in form, from detailed articles around cryptocurrency to social media posts shared to all the best blockchain channels.

In general, blockchain is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. TechJury predicts that by 2022, spending on blockchain solutions will expand to around $11.7 billion USD. Due to this predicted increase (which shows no signs of slowing down), blockchain is a fantastic industry to get started in.

But, getting started is easier said than done. That’s where blockchain PR comes in! With a solid blockchain PR strategy, you’ll be able to create brand authority around your company, ensuring that you gain the trust of the blockchain community.

How is Blockchain PR Different from Digital PR?

Blockchain has a complex history, which has led to the creation of a different style of PR. While many elements of traditional PR still remain in use, there are several major differences.

Here are just a couple of differences between these practices:

• Since the ICO bubble burst several years ago, Blockchain PR is less trusted and therefore will focus more on building trust and brand authenticity.
• Blockchain PR uses alternative acquisition channels.
• Digital Marketing is more predictable than Blockchain PR.

Let’s dive into these a little further!

One of the central distinguishing features between how a blockchain PR company and a digital PR agency will operate is the channels they will use.

Blockchain companies nowadays are limited with their marketing channels. The ICO bubble that burst several years ago is one of the main reasons.

In 2019, a series of cryptocurrency scams caused investors to lose over $4 billion USD. These false crypto projects created a wave of doubt within the blockchain community and eventually led to Facebook and other social sites banning the advertisement of anything related to blockchain.

These scams didn’t end there. In fact, a large number of false companiesscammed the blockchain community back in 2020.

Even as recently as September 2021, China declared that all crypto-currency transactions were to be made illegal. Due to this, many windows into foreign markets were shut down, seriously impacting the general uptrend of cryptocurrency.

With a long history of bans, scams, and things going wrong, blockchain PR agencies have had to think outside the box.

The first example of the struggle crypto projects face is launching a PPC campaign.

Normal tech startups can easily launch ads campaign on different sites like Google and Facebook.

Blockchain startups can’t do that since running ads for fundraising like IDO is not allowed.

So how can a blockchain startup reach its target audience? High-quality PR and content distribution are the keys.

Once your company publishes an article, distributing the content in the right channel can make a great impact and expose the content to thousands of people.

A great example is Reddit. Just take a look at the picture below which shows some popular crypto-related subreddits. Many of these have thriving blockchain communities.

Pros Tip:

You can easily find the right subreddit by using this great tool.

Blockchain PR agencies will always make use of different digital pathways than traditional PR agencies. If you hire a blockchain PR agency, you should expect them to know a significant amount about which channels are the best for cryptocurrency-related public relations.

While there are opportunities to advertise on traditional media platforms, a blockchain PR campaign will focus on ones directly linked with the cryptocurrency community.

With a history of broken trust, a large part of blockchain PR is building up a sense that your company is a reputable, trustworthy investment. The best chance of finding people that engage with your project will be within these social site channels.

Pursuing new clients in these specific channels, you’ll be able to give your blockchain PR the best chance possible.

What are the benefits of blockchain PR?

Now that we know the core differences between blockchain PR and digital PR, let’s take a look at some of the benefits.

The key benefits that great blockchain PR can result in are:

• Increased brand authority and brand authenticity
• Boosted traffic to your IEO/IDO project
• The attraction of new investors and boost funding

Each of these benefits directly comes from the efforts of a well-managed blockchain PR campaign.

#1 Increase Brand Authority and Brand Authenticity:

Blockchain PR focuses on boosting the relations and points of contact between your blockchain company and the cryptocurrency community. By creating guides, sharing great insights with the community, Participating in AMAs, you’ll be providing genuine value to the community.

As members of the blockchain community notice your work, whether a useful guide or an insightful post, they’ll become more familiar with your brand.

Over time, by continually providing useful content to the community, the repeated exposure will solidify your brand’s name as a reputable and authentic brand.

Considering the history of blockchain scams, this benefit is absolutely vital to the success of any IDO project.

#2 Boost Traffic to your IDO Project

The more that people come across your content, the more frequently they’ll click onto your actual website. There is a reason that 89% of content markets are currently using blog posting as a method of boosting traffic to their site.

If someone comes onto your website from a blog post and enjoys your content, there is a higher chance they’ll then stumble upon your IDO project by clicking around the website. Not only does launching a content marketing strategy as part of blockchain PR boost your overall traffic, but it also means that more people will be seeing your IDO project!

#3 Attract New Investors and Increase Funding

Following on from boosted traffic comes increased funding. If there are more eyes on a project, it’s likely that more of those will convert into actual investors.

Alongside this, by utilizing the correct social channels, you’ll be reaching an audience that is actively interested in blockchain and IDO projects. By targeting sites like Steemit and Reddit, you’ll be catering to an audience that is already open to new projects.

What should Blockchain PR content include?

Content is key when it comes to PR. No matter whether it’s social media posts or long-form content, blockchain PR will be your first point of relation with a potential investor. Due to this, there are a couple of tips you should try and follow when constructing your content.

These three tips delve into the nitty-gritty of article creation, showing you how to bring useful content to your target audience.

1. Create articles of value.
2. Educate, don’t sell.
3. Readability, Length, and Style.

Let’s touch on these a little further.

Create Articles of Value:

When it comes to blockchain marketing, content has always been king. Instead of just recycling competitor companies' ideas and blog posts, try to bring some value to your audience.

One of the best ways you can do this is to stay current. Think of the latest trends, discussions, and ideas within the blockchain community. You could even browse on a site like Reddit to see what people are discussing. Then, seek to write content that responds to what people are talking about.

Try to provide content that is littered with facts and statistics. These will help qualify your writing, provide a baseline of evidence. Put yourself in your audience’s shoes; would you want to currently read the article you’re planning on writing?

If the answer is no, then it might be best to think of a different title. Always remember, providing value should be your first objective!

Educate Your Audience:

No one wants to read an article that is constantly shoving their products or IDO projects into the mix. Much like providing value, your articles should aim to educate and provide a benefit to your user base.

Try to avoid name-dropping or linking to your projects when you can. You’ll be gaining traffic and boosting brand authenticity naturally, so there is no need to overload your users with link after link.

Readability, Length, and Style:

Longer blog posts are currently dominating the internet. An article that has over 3,000 words is likely to get 3x the traffic than a shorter blog. While that already seems incredible, it gets even more so when you consider that top-performing articles on Google are over 5,700 words in length!

These numbers directly demonstrate the article word count length you should be working towards. That’s not to say that every post needs over 3,000 words, but longer articles consistently rank better and gain more traffic.

That said, don’t make your article one long paragraph. The opposite is actually more effective; stick to short paragraphs with readable sentences. Try and include lots of bullet lists if possible.

Additionally, make sure your post is structured with titles and headings. White space is your friend!

The above techniques in writing are all ways of creating blank space in an article. This white space lets users rest, ensuring they’re not overwhelmed when reading your article.

Remember:

• 2000-3000+ word count
• Headings and titles throughout
• Short paragraphs
• Readable sentences
• White space helps your readers

How does SEO come into Blockchain PR?

Every great piece of content posted by a blockchain PR firm will have a layer of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) worked into it. In the blockchain niche, this will mostly consist of attempting to rank for specific keywords within the niche.

There are a lot of spinning plates to SEO, including on-page, off-page, and technical. Here’s a useful infographic to point you in the right direction.

Once you master SEO, your blockchain PR posts will naturally begin to reach a much larger audience. But that’s not everything!

Let’s break down some of the key benefits of incorporating SEO into your blockchain PR content marketing strategy:

• Increase your business’ exposure within the blockchain community
• Increase traffic to your site and IDO project

Increase Exposure

At its core, SEO is the practice of making sure your content ranks well on Google. Instead of appearing on the second page, where less than 1% of clicks come from, you’ll be reaching toward that top spot.

Considering a significant portion of natural internet traffic comes from the first page, the SEO strategy that gets you there will ensure more people see your articles. This, in turn, means more people will see your business.

Increase Traffic

One step of SEO for blockchain PR companies is outreach, with the process of gaining backlinks to your site an integral part of off-page SEO. In fact, recent research found a positive correlation between the number of backlinks an IDO gets and the total funding it has.

By improving your SEO during a blockchain PR campaign, you’ll be able to potentially improve your IDO chances to secure more funding and boost the likelihood of success.

SEO can be a make or break part of a blockchain company. This could be the difference between a successful IDO launch and one that needs a second funding campaign.

Final Thoughts

By following this guide, you’ll have learned all the basics that you’ll need to begin to launch your own blockchain PR campaign.

From specific social site routes to the importance of SEO, there is a lot to take in.

Best of luck on your blockchain PR journey!

Feature Image Credit: Viralchop