Building a successful blockchain company is not as easy as it once was. Back in 2017, all you needed was a flashy website, a catchy name, and some half-appealing tokenomics to attract a crowd of thousands of willing users and investors. It’s safe to say times have changed.
Today, the crypto industry is far more competitive. There are more regulations, more scepticism, and people want to know that they are investing in a trustworthy and legitimate project that delivers real value.
As a result, building a blockchain community from scratch can feel like a daunting task these days. Discord servers echo with silence. Twitter threads get two likes from bot accounts. The standard marketing playbook doesn’t work when dealing with crypto natives who have seen every trick in the book.
Yet, some projects still manage to establish thriving communities of thousands, while others struggle to reach even triple digits. The difference isn’t luck or massive marketing budgets. It’s more about how well these companies understand that blockchain communities operate by different rules entirely.
Acquiring the first 1,000 engaged users lays the foundation for everything that follows. Here’s how to build that community from zero, with strategies that actually work in today’s competitive landscape.
Know Your People
When you first start formulating your blockchain marketing strategy, you absolutely need to have a complete understanding of your audience and user personas. While it’s helpful to define your audience by age, location, and income, it’s much better to understand what actually drives someone to explore decentralised technologies in the first place.
Some people are drawn to financial opportunities and the prospect of investing. They’re looking for the next big play, following yield farming opportunities, and building diversified crypto portfolios with their favourite coins.
Others are more motivated by the tech and the promise that Web3 brings. Think of decentralisation as a force for good, or consider those who are skeptical of traditional institutions and excited about technological sovereignty.
Then there are the builders and tinkerers, fascinated by the technology itself, who always experiment with new protocols and delve deep into technical documentation. You need to understand which of these “tribes” you are marketing to and which ones you want to make up your community. Of course, there is absolutely room to have a wide range of personas in your community, but you’ll need to create different content for each of them.
Start Small, Start Right
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Don’t start off with too grandiose of a target to begin with. The idea here is to start off small and get the foundations right. How you kick off your community building will set the tone for how the community functions in the long term. Keep this in mind.
You might feel the temptation to be everywhere at once (Discord, Telegram, Reddit, Twitter, TikTok). This approach does nothing but dilute your efforts and creates ghost towns across multiple platforms. It’s much better to dominate one or two channels than to maintain a mediocre presence everywhere.
In general, Discord is well-suited for projects that require detailed technical discussions and aim to foster tight-knit communities. Telegram suits projects with global audiences and those wanting rapid information dissemination. Twitter remains essential for visibility and thought leadership, but it’s more about broadcasting than community building.
An important thing to keep in mind here is that the first 50 members matter a lot more than the next 500. These early adopters will be the ones who establish the culture and become the community’s immune system against bad actors. They’re also the most likely to become unpaid evangelists, sharing the project with their networks.
Proven Growth Tactics
Once you’ve established your foundations and started to build a small community of loyal followers, it’s time to scale up to the 1,000 mark.
Educational content that goes deep – Crypto natives want technical depth that delves into the details and isn’t afraid of the nuances that decentralized tech brings. Be sure to conduct in-depth discussions about how your technology works and openly address trade-offs to establish credibility. It’s a good idea to write up a whitepaper and a roadmap so your technical audience can see what you’re all about, and people can follow along on your journey.
Strategic partnerships – Since you are starting out from scratch, securing a more established partner can significantly enhance your credibility and community-building efforts. If you find a genuine synergy with a complementary project, their audience will likely also show an interest in what you have to offer.
Engaging community events – The blockchain space is all about participation. Use this to your advantage and try to engage with your followers, users, and investors as much as possible. Hosting AMAs with challenging questions, technical workshops, and fair competitions drives participation. People want to learn and compete, not just consume.
Blockchain PR that reaches crypto natives – Getting featured in leading crypto-native publications, such as CoinDesk, Decrypt, and The Block, provides credibility and targets the right audience. Have a genuinely newsworthy story, not just another minor update. Getting your cryptocurrency public relations strategy right can make a significant difference in the visibility your project receives.
Smart incentive structures – Reward quality engagement in your community over quantity. You want to discourage spam comments and encourage more thought posts that spark discussion and helpful debate.
Final Word
Building a blockchain community has become more challenging over the past few years, but it’s far from an impossible task. The space is still growing day by day, and more people than ever are engaging with and interacting through blockchain projects and solutions.
Yet, if you want to capture a portion of this market, it will require a strategic approach. Start off by getting the foundations right. Carefully build out your first 50 community members, keeping the long game in mind. Once you’re ready, scale things out from there with solid content, PR, and use an acquisition strategy that will see your community numbers soar.
Remember, the space needs more projects that prioritise community over hype, substance over speculation, and long-term thinking over short-term gains.