The previous article KOL Marketing Manual deeply explored the differences between investment-oriented users and product-oriented users. This article will build on this foundation to further explore the essence of Web3 marketing and build a new market framework suitable for investment-oriented users.
Web3 Marketing Dilemma
First, let’s review the difference between investment users and product users.
Product-oriented users: refers to consumer users who focus on the user experience and functions of the product itself and expect to gain satisfaction or convenience through the product.
Investor users: refers to the user group that expects to get a return on investment through the product. Their focus on the product is not only on the user experience, but also on the economic value and future development potential of the product.
The very different needs of the two user groups have led to the current dilemma in Web3 marketing, namely, the separation of products and assets, the disconnection between product user growth and asset price fluctuations, and the inability to effectively convert user growth into asset appreciation.
The reason for this is that the project team still follows the market logic of Web2, with product-oriented user thinking dominating the marketing strategy, and is unable to meet the core demands of investment-oriented users.
The core demands of investment users
Unlike product-oriented users, investment-oriented users are not satisfied with the status quo; what they need is hope for the future .
Expectations for future development: Investors hope that the project can lead industry change and create greater value.
Expectations for investment returns: Investors hope to gain substantial returns through investment projects.
Therefore, every investment user will have an expectation of the project and use it as a behavioral judgment standard for whether to invest. The more the expectation is in line with ones investment goal, the stronger the willingness to invest.
Web3 Market Framework
In response to the above difficulties, the project team urgently needs to establish a new Web3 market framework with investment users as the core:
1. Deeply understand the psychology of investment users: accurately identify and analyze the needs of investment users
2. Spread the narrative to build a basic consensus: widely spread the project narrative to attract the attention of potential users
3. Empower asset value through consensus: Use narrative constellations to strengthen asset consensus and pass it on in the form of values
Insight into user psychology
Some people may wonder why the first step is to understand the users psychology instead of understanding the users needs? Because products are not necessarily needed. Products are just a form of presentation that serves the narrative. They can be any carrier that can inspire the users imagination and hope .
A few examples:
False Stories: Even a fictitious story can attract user attention and form expectations about the project.
Urban air: Packaging the city’s air as a scarce resource and giving it unique value can also attract users’ investment.
A check that can never be cashed: Even a check that can never be cashed can serve as a promise to attract users trust and investment.
More often than not, as the narrative changes, project owners will create completely unrelated products to cater to user expectations.
For companies that already have certain products or services, I would recommend cautious asset issuance. Because when a project party issues assets, the number of investment users will be much larger than product users. Although this can create the illusion of false prosperity, when investment users find that the project party cannot give them sufficient expectations, a bad consensus will be formed in the community, thus affecting product users who normally use the product.
Spreading narratives to build a basic consensus
Before building consensus, we must first clarify three concepts:
Expectations: are estimates of future conditions.
Narrative: The description of a story.
Consensus: a common concept spontaneously sought by people from different classes and with different interests in a society.
If applied to market work, the general logic is this: the project party creates a narrative and spreads the narrative to users in a unilateral direction. Users reach a consensus after exchanging expectations with each other, and when this consensus is gradually accepted by more people, it affects the development of the project party.
For this reason, the Web3 market promotes the development of projects by managing expectations (creating and spreading expectations) and forming a consensus that is conducive to project development.
This is also the most essential difference between the Web3 and Web2 markets.
For example, a good friend tells you that a certain project has been agreed to be listed on Binance. When you find out that it has indeed received investment from Binance and has frequent official interactions with Binance, you will have the same expectation, so you continue to spread this idea, and the community will form a consensus on listing on Binance. This consensus has therefore attracted a large number of investment users.
Although this case is extreme, we can draw a conclusion that once the narrative can satisfy the user psychology, Web3 projects do not need to make large investments like Internet products to find users, but only need to open a door to let users in.
Please note that since the narrative is unilaterally disseminated to users by the project party, there is no guarantee that users will fully absorb it. Therefore, please always pay attention to the expectations that users have after obtaining information, as this is an important part of forming a consensus.
If a consensus is formed that is beneficial to the development of the project, no matter how small it is, it must be protected, because it is the torch that will gradually light up every user. If it is a consensus that is not conducive to the development of the project, please deal with it immediately, because the more people who reach the consensus, the less likely it is to shake the consensus.
At the same time, we must also consider the existing consensus in the minds of users. Do not challenge the existing consensus, but provide a new hope. As Positioning emphasizes that being the first is a shortcut to entering the minds of users, when you are the first project that can meet the users hopes, you will have a huge advantage.
Consensus empowers asset value
The power of consensus lies in assigning value to an object or behavior. For example, the value of artworks and credit currencies is derived from peoples common understanding. However, the significance of consensus goes far beyond this. It can also artificially create causal relationships and assign value to behaviors.
Typical examples of behavioral value:
Consumerism marketing: Marketing slogans such as “the first cup of milk tea in autumn” and “a diamond is forever” create consensus and make consumers believe that a certain product or behavior can bring satisfaction, identity recognition and other values.
Launchpad Platform: Empowering platform coins and enhancing their value and liquidity.
It is often more difficult to directly assign value to an object because it requires binding the asset to the user’s values. Values can be understood as what people think is important. When people agree that something is important, they will not question the rationality of its value.
At this point, the asset has completed a magnificent transformation. It has transcended financial valuation and become a part of the cultural gene.
Taking BTC as an example, this article briefly explains the process of how consensus empowers asset value.
Basic narrative: As the first narrative of anarchism based on technology, BTC has laid the foundation for its value.
Narrative constellation: New narratives are constantly derived around the basic narrative of BTC to form narrative constellations, thereby meeting the psychological needs of users at different times and resonating with their values.
In the 2011 recession, BTC became the hope for personal economic sovereignty. Then, after the “Occupy Wall Street”/“We Are the 99%” protests, Bitcoin saw its first price surge.
In 2016, the Internet began to decline, and Web3 carried by BTC was considered to be the new future to replace the Internet, ushering in a bull market.
AI is experiencing an unprecedented explosion in 2022, and BTC is believed to be able to control AI and become the hope for controlling machines.
Value Binding: As narratives and price increases become two sides of the same coin for BTC, new narratives fuel new high prices, and new high prices once again lead narratives. When a wide range of people begin to recognize the value of BTC, BTC gradually becomes linked to values, and it will gradually become a symbol of digital gold, representing values such as value storage and anti-inflation.
In addition to BTC, another asset that can quickly transform is MEME. In the past, it took decades of effort for the project to establish value through consensus, but MEME makes consensus faster and easier. Whether it is through the rapid acquisition of users through asset issuance, or its own communication attributes and identity recognition, MEME is easier to gain consensus and obtain universally recognized value.
In the future, when MEME can break away from the nothingness of communication and become a symbol of value for a specific group, it will be able to show its true face.
Summarize
With the rapid changes today, there is less and less consensus on a large scale, but this is exactly what we are working towards. Later, I will work with Consensus Power to start from actual cases and try to deconstruct the consensus formation process. Please stay tuned.
About the Author Tracy
Web3 KOL｜Six Years in Crypto Market Operations｜Prev Binance｜ Twitter
About Consensus Power
Consensus Power is the first Web3 consensus incubation platform, dedicated to cultivating and supporting consensus-based Web3 projects. We will provide early Web3 projects with comprehensive services such as funding, marketing, community, and resources, and use the power of consensus to drive user growth and asset value.
