Take yourself back to 2017. A time when the blockchain world was still in its infancy, and the mainstream media were just starting to catch on to the revolutionary concept that is Bitcoin (and its many thousands of altcoins).
Back then, startup founders in the space didn’t exactly have a hard time raising attention (and funds for their projects). “ICO mania” was in full swing, and it seemed all that founders had to do was cook up a technical-sounding whitepaper, come up with a catchy name/logo, design a flashy website, and they were good to go.
Fast forward to 2025, and those same techniques don’t quite have the same effect. Today’s users, investors, and community members are far more switched on and savvy to things like hype and empty promises. They expect substance, relationship-building, and a genuine effort from teams to create real value.
Why Old-School Tactics Don’t Cut It Anymore
So what caused this massive shift in industry behavior? The crypto winter of 2018-2019 served as a harsh reality check for everybody in space. Projects that were built purely on hype and marketing fluff crumbled quickly,, while those with solid fundamentals and genuine community support struggled through and found ways to weather the storm (although many were not so lucky too).
This period fundamentally changed how people approach blockchain investments and participation. Retail investors became more aware and discerning, while institutional players entered the space with their own rigorous due diligence processes. Regulatory bodies also started paying serious attention to how projects communicate and engage with their audiences.
The blockchain marketing world of today operates in an environment where trust is earned, not assumed. Users have witnessed (and been burned) by rug pulls, exit scams, and failed promises enough times to develop a healthy skepticism toward grandiose claims.
That’s why modern projects require a well-rounded blockchain marketing strategy that focuses on building transparency, maintaining regular communication, and consistently providing evidence that teams are developing something with tangible value. Something that is worthwhile.
AI Analytics: The Smart Way to Understand Your Audience
While marketing may be more challenging from a user behavior standpoint, the other side of the coin is that teams also have access to powerful AI-powered tools that could only have been imagined just a decade ago. They can help you make sense of the massive amounts of data generated by blockchain networks and get more insights into how people spend their time and engage with various platforms.
These analytics can track user behavior across multiple chains, analyze sentiment across social media platforms and forums, and even predict market movements based on on-chain activity patterns. It achieves this by utilizing machine learning algorithms and real-time data feeds.
Marketing teams that are putting these tools to good use are using them to answer crucial questions, such as:
- Which wallet addresses show long-term holders versus short-term speculators?
- What types of content generate genuine engagement versus surface-level interactions?
- When is the optimal time to announce new features, considering community sentiment and market conditions?
The entire beauty of the blockchain lies in its transparency and openness of the ledgers. This transparency factor means that every transaction, every interaction, and every decision creates a permanent record that can be analyzed to understand user motivations and behaviors.
Combining this with the capabilities of AI tools and machine learning means that teams can gain access to a deep level of insights, allowing them to create highly targeted campaigns that speak directly to what their audience actually cares about, rather than what they think they care about.
Community Building: Creating Digital Tribes That Actually Matter
If analytics is what provides the brains behind blockchain marketing, community building is definitely the heart and soul. However, while community building in Web3 is often discussed, some companies make the mistake of being too passive. Members of your community aren’t just users. They are stakeholders with a genuine stake in the game through token ownership and active governance participation.
If you can find ways to build and leverage a community properly, it could easily become your most powerful marketing asset. Balance your communities with technical depth and accessibility so you can cater to both your developer and newcomer audiences.
Each of the community platforms serves various purposes and requires different strategies. For example, Discord may be best suited for core discussions, Telegram for real-time updates, Twitter for public announcements, and specialized forums for more in-depth governance debates where you can delve into the nuances of complex issues.
The primary goal is to create a system where community members naturally evolve into contributors, then become brand advocates who attract new members, fostering self-sustaining growth.
Content Strategy and Crypto Public Relations: Educating While You Engage
Aside from the new wave of skepticism in the market, blockchain projects face a different challenge: it’s all about communication and translation. They need to educate people about complex technology while keeping them excited about what’s being built. It’s like being a teacher and entertainer at the same time, which requires an entirely different approach than most traditional marketing approaches.
However, they can’t dumb down their communications too much, as there will be plenty of high-level devs and crypto veterans who want to see what the tech is all about. They don’t want to feel condescended to.
That’s why it’s essential to create content that works on multiple levels. Technical documents for developers who require detailed information. Simple explanations for newcomers who are still figuring out what a smart contract actually does.
Trust and credibility are also two of the most valuable currencies in this space, so it is crucial to meet audiences on crypto publications and platforms where they already consume information. This is where blockchain PR and crypto public relations strategies truly shine, as they secure that all-important coverage on crypto-native publications and platforms where your target audience is paying attention. These specialized outlets understand the technology and can communicate its value in ways that mainstream media often struggles with.
Final Word
The blockchain world has come a long way since its hype-driven growth days. Today’s blockchain projects need to work harder (and smarter) to earn their audience’s attention and trust.
However, by combining AI analytics with genuine community building and content that genuinely educates people, teams can create something much more valuable than hype – they can build lasting relationships. While the tools have improved and the audience has become more sophisticated, it is the projects that recognize and adapt to these shifts that will thrive.
