The crypto marketing trap: Hire crypto experts | Opinion

Every trader knows that trading his expectations, not the market conditions, will liquidate his positions. If only crypto companies could follow the same logic and stop hiring marketers who go against the marketing fundamentals with 100X leveraged expectations that they know better. 

I’ve met dozens of marketers who think crypto marketing is a different beast. It’s easy to buy into this misconception, given that the industry is flashy, fast-paced, and often feels like the Wild West of finance. Compounding this issue are the trailblazing founders of new crypto companies who believe their industry and products are unique, require a unique approach, and consequently hire specialists who know crypto more than they know marketing.

This has resulted in a surge of untrained crypto marketers concocting quirky and inefficient solutions on how to scale their businesses. By blindly following the industry trends, marketing departments often become a liability to crypto companies. 

So, if you have a marketing team that is constantly missing the mark and is about to get liquidated—follow me on this one.

How to spot a lame marketer?

1. Your marketer does not go beyond leads. In crypto marketing, lead generation is like the bread and butter, giving marketers a clear ROI attribution and impressive results that make everyone nod in approval during board meetings. But let’s face it, relying on leads alone is like putting all your Bitcoin (BTC) in one wallet.

Do you know those tense internal meetings where we realize we’re losing prospects somewhere along the line, and your lead-to-revenue rate starts going south? Yeah, that’s the tipping point. Some marketers call it a plateau and blame the market; others try to fix it with ABM or shake up business processes. Surprisingly, this problem comes from a basic marketing constant that untrained marketers often ignore. They do not know how to apply funnels and work with them. Follow me on the next one, where it gets clearer.

2. Your marketer messes up the funnels. Imagine you are a startup with a new cutting-edge, hacker-proof crypto wallet. I bet your marketer is shouting about the wallet’s ultra-secure features, believing it to be the ticket to success. But if you are a startup and no one knows your brand exists, he’s essentially yelling into the void. Just like an influencer without followers, his messages won’t land where they need to.

Where is the funnel in it, you might ask? Let’s zoom out—by default, lead-gen brings in prospects interested in your product, your category, and the pain point solved. Here’s the funnel we use to represent this journey: top, middle, and bottom of the funnel.

Needless to say, the juiciest prospects are always at the bottom; they are the smallest and the most desired group. Now, consider that your marketer needs to show short-term marketing accountability that is clear and visible at the board meeting. How can he do it, given that the number of prospects with active demand at the bottom of the funnel is low? 

The first thing he’ll commit to would be bringing more leads to the top of the funnel and nurturing them until he gathers the necessary volume. And that’s when he hits a snag. If he took the basic marketing course, he’d know that active client demand comes from the brand awareness funnel, which is:

While generating leads at the bottom of the funnel seems like the most direct path to sales, it’s essential not to overlook the importance of a brand awareness funnel to increase your active demand.

How it should be done:

Take a look at Ledger, the rockstar of the hardware wallet world. Initially, Ledger was all about the bottom of the funnel, hammering home their product’s “Fort Knox” level security features to reel in sales. Sure, they snagged some customers but then hit a resistance level.

Realizing they needed to crank up their ToFu game, Ledger switched gears. They started crashing major crypto conferences, splashing at blockchain events, and rubbing elbows with crypto influencers. This power move shot their brand recognition through the roof (ToFu).

But they didn’t stop there. Ledger got into the content game, rolling out educational articles and videos on crypto security and best practices, boosting their brand recall (MoFu). As the crypto crowd started to know them better, Ledger became the hardware wallet of choice over the competition (BoFu).

This well-rounded approach across the funnel stages led to a sustainable growth pattern. The brand awareness boost at the top eventually trickled down, pumping up conversion rates at the bottom.

3. Your marketer does not know and . Every crypto trader knows what long and short mean, but do they know what it means in marketing? They stand for short-term sales activation and long-term brand building, and the trick to successful marketing is to do both.

If you know the demand generation curve, you should know that no matter how hard you try, you won’t be likely to scale in the long term. I recommend reading a book called ‘The Long and The Short of It’ by Peter Field and Les Binet, where data speaks for itself.

The most common mistake marketers make when it comes to scaling is overfocusing on short-term sales activation activities to maintain and display immediate results to the management. The pitfall is that sales uplifts do not promote long-term growth and increase market share. 

How it should be done: 

Take a look at Binance. They didn’t climb to the top by just shoving promos and short-term sales down our throats. Nope, they played the long game, big time. Binance poured resources into long-term brand-building moves like educational initiatives and community engagement. Binance Academy, their educational powerhouse, is packed with resources on blockchain and cryptocurrency. This isn’t just a side project—it’s a trust-building, knowledge-spreading juggernaut that’s helped Binance solidify its market dominance and keep the growth train rolling​. 

Spotting a good marketer

1. Your marketer applies long-term and short-term marketing. Now, telling the difference between these two can be like finding your way through a maze blindfolded. You can market your stuff in two ways: the long and the short. The long brand-building way is all about the big picture, building up your brand over a long stretch. It’s like planting seeds and waiting for them to grow into big, beautiful trees (making people aware of your technology brand, convincing them your soft drinks are perfect for any occasion, or making them think your luxury cars are, well, luxury).

Meanwhile, the short sales activation way is more like, “Let’s sell something right now!” It’s all about getting people to act fast (visiting your website, buying your latest device, getting your hands on a seasonal pumpkin spice beverage, or test-driving your new car. You know, the urgent stuff).

Think of it like this: the short way is like sprinting to the finish line, while the long way is more like a stroll with some detours to admire the scenery. Both will get you there, but they have different vibes.

And here’s the kicker: if you combine both approaches, it’s like having the best of both worlds. You build up your brand for the long term while still getting those immediate sales. It’s like planting those seeds and having a few ripe fruits to snack on while you wait for the trees to grow.

2. Your marketer strikes the balance. So, if you’re still on the fence, I’ve got one word for you: balance. Short-term tactics can give you quick results, but they must be balanced with long-term brand-building efforts. It’s all about finding that sweet spot between the two.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to maintain sustainable marketing performance. Effective lead generation is as much about brand awareness as it is about generating demand. The principles of crypto marketing are fundamentally the same. It’s all about getting leads that actually convert. Yep, this applies to both B2C and B2B.

Start building awareness long before the prospect even considers knocking on your door. By blending both strategies, you can create a powerful marketing approach that fuels sustainable growth. 

For my beloved crypto company owners

Finally, if you own a crypto-related business—hire people with marketing rather than a crypto background. They’ll know how to apply these principles effectively because, unlike your current hires, nothing written here is new to them. By doing so, you’ll dodge the usual pitfalls and steer your business toward lasting success. It’s like choosing between someone who only knows how to hype a meme coin and a strategist who can navigate the bull and bear markets with finesse. Trust me, you want the strategist. 

Ilias Melikov

Ilias Melikov is a marketing leader with over a decade of experience in the tech industry. His work is grounded in the principles of long-term brand development and short-term tactical marketing, balancing sustainable growth with measurable results. Throughout his career, Ilias has held key roles as marketing director, brand marketing lead, chief communications officer, and managing editor. Orchestrating campaigns that amplify brand awareness and drive user adoption, he excels in crafting clear and precise brand narratives, executing performance-driven marketing strategies, and managing multi-channel engagement strategies. Passionate about decentralized technologies, Ilias actively contributes to discussions on their transformative impact on global markets.