Cryptography projects should not be satisfied with shallow marketing

Cryptography is a highly technical, engineering-driven category built by people solving extremely difficult mathematics, cryptography, software engineering, and logical problems. But as the industry gears up for a wave of optimism and friendly regulation in 2025, projects that rely on technological laurels will be doing themselves a disservice.

I don’t blame crypto technology teams for being skeptical about marketing. In this category, we encounter many self-branded “Web3” or “crypto” marketers who are promoting a type of marketing that is not rooted in fundamentals or overarching strategies. Instead, they’re usually paying key opinion leaders (KOLs), they’re managing influencers, they know how to post shit on X, they’re interested in crypto meme do, etc. It shows a close relationship with crypto projects and certain tactics. Joule. (To be fair, there are places to do all of this.)

Cryptocurrency marketing is different and comes with unique challenges

However, these “crypto marketers” are also after something. They recognize the fact that cryptocurrencies are not a typical industry and require understanding a unique set of dynamics not found in traditional markets.

Since 2021, Blokhaus has supported a wide range of crypto clients from Layer 1 to Layer 2, DeFi protocols, Web3 gaming and social apps. We have seen firsthand the challenges these projects face and how a lack of marketing infrastructure, talent, and support prevents them from achieving their potential. This is a complex situation that few individuals or teams can effectively deal with.

Cryptocurrency projects looking to stand out in what is sure to be a tumultuous year should be ready to ramp up their marketing efforts rather than settle for shallow strategies. When onboarding a marketer or agency team to support a project, you should look for key skills such as:

1. Ability to effectively navigate decentralized ecosystems and be a key point of integration

The cryptocurrency ecosystem operates in a fundamentally different way than other sectors. Projects often have decentralized global teams, separate organizations driving governance, technology, and business development aspects, and vibrant communities that are not just consumers but active participants in the evolution of the ecosystem. Exists.

For marketers to enter cryptocurrencies from traditional centralized organizations, a major mindset shift is required. Rather than dictating and implementing top-down strategies, marketing in a decentralized environment requires the ability to listen to, observe, and integrate ideas, and translate them into the world that existed from the beginning. .

In practice, this means you need to look for marketing talent who can maintain strong relationships and lines of communication with numerous community organizations, ecosystem projects, and stakeholders. The marketing team needs to be a key function for integration and coordination, allowing them to see the connections that lead to insights for the technical team. Technology teams may be too busy building in distributed silos to see the big picture.

2. Ability to deeply understand technology while helping flesh out the story.

It’s no wonder why cryptocurrencies haven’t yet been adopted by the mainstream. There is little the average consumer can do other than speculate about the potential success of various projects. The cryptocurrency category is still figuring out a whole new infrastructure of plumbing (layers and layers of plumbing).

Cryptocurrency marketers need to be skilled in very important ways. You need to understand the technology with enough depth and nuance to devise strategies for a variety of audiences, from experienced developers to consumers interested in cryptocurrencies. And you need to be able to do this while helping your technical team flesh out your big-picture vision and story.

I encourage crypto teams to view marketing not as a nice-to-have or gimmick, but as a critical function that extends and completes the engineering cycle. Marketing is more than just getting clicks and attention. It’s about building products that meet market demands, and requires a continuous feedback loop between developers and marketers.

3. Ability to move at the speed the industry demands while getting out of “react” mode.

Cryptocurrencies are volatile and fast-moving, so many teams in this category are naturally in a constant state of reactivity. But being agile and not having a clear strategy are two different things.

It is also very difficult to escape the pressure of “prices going up”, which leads to an over-reliance on KOLs and influencers to sell industry tokens. These tactics are not a substitute for a strong marketing strategy centered around solving problems and driving meaningful audience engagement and activity. Effective marketing requires a shift from token-centric narratives to building a sustainable ecosystem that users care about.

Cryptocurrency teams must avoid getting so obsessed with short-term token price increases that they forget to build a solid strategy to sustain them over the long term. The technology roadmaps for these projects often span several years, recognizing that achieving the engineering vision will take time and effort. This same mindset should be applied to your marketing efforts.

Yes, the best technology requires great marketing

For cryptocurrencies to achieve mainstream adoption, marketing must not be viewed as an afterthought or something that drives up the price of the token. This is an essential part of the process and should drive innovation, user adoption, and long-term growth.

The technology teams that succeed in cutting through the noise in 2025 and beyond will be those that invest in marketing as a strategic function rather than a peripheral activity. And while it’s certainly difficult to find people and teams who are as comfortable participating in technical discussions about rollup frameworks as they are creating beautiful creative assets, they do exist.