Most Web3 teams running paid campaigns are stuck between two flawed assumptions: Web2 platforms offer scale, so they must be worth the spend, and crypto ad networks speak directly to wallets, so they must convert better.
In practice, neither tells you whether the spend delivered anything useful. Web2 gives you reach but no insight into wallet value. Crypto ad networks get you closer to intent, but the volume is low, quality is mixed, and data is rarely actionable.
Most teams hedge across both types of channels, burning budget on campaigns that feel productive but can’t prove which ones actually drive valuable wallet connections. They optimize for familiar metrics like clicks, impressions, cost-per-acquisition, while the numbers that matter remain invisible: true customer acquisition cost, wallet connect rates, user retention, engagement depth.
Like rebuilding a ship piece by piece, crypto marketing teams replace traditional tools with Web3 alternatives, hoping the new stack will somehow reveal what’s working. But swapping tools doesn’t solve the fundamental measurement problem.
This isn’t a Web2 vs. Web3 debate. Instead, we have to ask: Which type of channel is more likely to drive actual outcomes that matter in Web3? Where does ROI actually happen, and what does it take to prove it?
Key Takeaways:
- Web2 platforms offer reach, but rarely the kind that translates into crypto-native value.
- Crypto ad networks reach wallets, but without clean data, you’re often guessing on performance.
- ROI in Web3 starts with knowing which channels bring in quality traffic—wallet-based or not.
- A working growth stack connects campaign, cost, and contract activity. No single platform solves this, you need tools built for wallets.
- Mintfunnel helps connect ad spend to traffic performance across Web2 and Web3 channels.
What ROI Actually Means When You’re Marketing to Wallets
The traditional funnel: click, browse, convert, was built for centralized platforms where every action is trackable. That logic doesn’t survive in crypto.
Here, users connect with wallets, not emails. They bounce between tools. They might mint from a landing page one day and show up in your Discord a week later. And most of the time, you have no way to link any of it back to your paid campaign.
Still, too many teams treat CPC and CPA as if they mean anything in this environment. They chase low-cost traffic and over-index on top-line metrics, without knowing if any of it led to high-quality users—or anything onchain at all.
ROI in Web3 marketing isn’t about tracking every mint or token swap. But you need to know which channels and campaigns brought in the kind of traffic that leads to traction: wallet connects, community growth, repeat visits, or even just enough intent to move deeper into your funnel.
You don’t need perfect attribution. But you do need signal.
Also see: Crypto Ad Network Attribution: How to Know What Actually Drove the Mint or Wallet Connect
Web2 Paid Channels: Scalable but Blind
Meta, Google, and Reddit still command the bulk of crypto’s paid media spend—for one reason: they scale. Massive reach, granular targeting, strong creative controls. But reach doesn’t equal relevance.
For Web3 teams, the real issue isn’t just compliance barriers or ad policy headaches. It’s that these platforms weren’t built to measure what actually matters in crypto.
Here’s what you’re working with:
- Targeting based on outdated proxies, like interests, devices, vague affinities
- Conversions that stop at webform fills or clicks
- No visibility into what happened next, or whether that traffic had any real value
You might run a 5-figure Instagram campaign for a mint and come away with thousands of clicks and zero context. No wallet connects. No engagement you can tie back to the ad. At best, someone on the community team hears “I saw this on IG,” and you call it a win.
Web2 isn’t useless. But if you’re spending in Web3 and still reporting based on CTRs, you’re not seeing ROI, just reading shadows on the wall.
Also see: Web3 Analytics Stack: How to Build an Attribution System Without Google Analytics
Crypto Advertising Networks: Contextual, But Not Complete
A crypto ad network promises a cleaner fit for promoting Web3 projects: wallet-aware targeting, placements that speak the right language, and users who (theoretically) understand crypto culture.
In theory, it’s what paid media in Web3 should be.
In practice, most crypto ad network campaigns still suffer from the same core issues:
- Scale is limited
- Inventory lives across fragmented sites and publishers
- Quality is inconsistent because real users are mixed with bots, bounty hunters, and airdrop collectors
- Performance reporting varies wildly between platforms
You might see wallet traffic. You might even see decent engagement. But can you tie that back to a specific campaign or creative variation? Can you compare results across channels or run reliable A/B tests?
Most of the time, no.
And that’s the disconnect. Even when you’re speaking to the right audience, you’re flying blind on what worked, what didn’t, and where to scale.
Until crypto ad networks evolve beyond isolated dashboards, they’ll stay stuck as contextual channels.
Comparing Real Campaigns: Web2 vs. Crypto-Native
Let’s say you run a campaign on Meta and another on a crypto ad network. Same creative, same budget.
- Meta Campaign: 150K impressions, 4.5K clicks, 1.2K site visits. After that? Silence. You can’t see if anyone connected a wallet, minted, or even stuck around.
- Crypto Ad Network Campaign: 40K impressions, 1.8K clicks, maybe some wallet traffic—but no standardized way to measure what happened next. No breakdown by creative. No way to compare cost per engaged user.
So what did we learn? That neither channel gives you the full picture. Your stack has to normalize these results and surface actual signals.
What Counts as “Quality” Traffic in Web3
Clicks in Web3, they rarely mean anything, unless they convert into deeper signals.
If you’re serious about ROI, stop treating impressions, click-through rates, and form fills as stand-ins for traction. Instead, track signals you can trust:
- Time on site or scroll depth
- Wallet connect intent (even if incomplete)
- Repeat visits or post-click session paths
- Community joins with on-site referrer context
- Any on-site behavior that shows real interest
None of these are perfect. But together, they give you a pattern: was this campaign worth paying for, or did it just generate vanity metrics?
Not every tool will show wallet-level outcomes. But almost every crypto ad network and Web2 paid media platform will let you measure quality, if you bother to define it.
What a Working Growth Stack Actually Looks Like
Top-performing crypto teams don’t waste time debating Web2 vs. crypto-native ads. They run both—and make them work together by building clarity into their stack.
But here’s the shift: they stop expecting clean attribution, and instead focus on performance visibility.
Not “who staked what,” but “which campaign brought in traffic worth paying for.”
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- Clear UTM structures tied to creative and platform
- Reliable tracking on click-to-site behavior
- Smart tagging so you can group campaigns by intent or audience type
- A/B testing based on engagement and funnel progression—not just wallet outcomes
- Tools that pull performance into one view, so you can actually compare channel ROI
You don’t need to see every onchain event to make better decisions.
You need a setup that makes patterns visible, costs measurable, and traffic quality comparable.
Mintfunnel helps bridge that gap. It brings campaign-level clarity across Web2 and crypto-native channels, so even if you can’t track every wallet move, you can track what you spent, where it went, and what it actually did.
Also see: The Best Crypto Marketing Tools & Agency Partners for 2025
Mid-Funnel Signals That Still Matter
Everyone wants clean attribution from ad to mint. But if you’re only tracking contract interactions, you’re ignoring half the funnel.
Plenty of ROI lives in what happens before the wallet connects:
- Did the user visit your launch page more than once?
- Did they sign up for updates or whitelist access?
- Did they join your community or ask a real question?
- Did they click through to your docs or demo?
These are the behaviors that can predict if someone will take the next step. Track what you can. Flag real engagement. Build your own internal benchmarks. In crypto marketing, mid-funnel traction is the closest thing you’ll get to leading indicators of ROI.
The Real ROI Test for Any Crypto Ad Network
There’s no shortage of crypto ad networks promising “wallet-level targeting” and “onchain conversions.” But what matters is whether any of it was worth paying for.
The real test is simple: can this advertising platform help you make better decisions about spend?
Ask yourself:
- Can you see where your paid traffic came from, and how it performed?
- Can you compare results across creatives, formats, and placements?
- Can you tie spend to signals that actually matter: wallet connects, time on site, community joins, or site actions?
Most platforms show you clicks, maybe wallet interactions—but rarely in a way that helps you improve. Without standard metrics or a clean way to compare across channels, you’re stuck guessing.
Mintunnel doesn’t try to track everything. It focuses on helping crypto marketers understand which campaigns performed across both Web2 and crypto-native channels.
With structured UTM tracking, creative tagging, and clear visibility into ad performance across both Web2 and crypto-native placements, Mintfunnel helps you understand what actually drove traffic worth paying for. It helps you be able to say, with confidence, this campaign pulled its weight. That one didn’t.
And because it also supports crypto-native PR distribution, it helps you combine paid and earned media to amplify reach and relevance, without needing to stitch together ten tools just to report performance.
You don’t need every detail. You need to know what worked.
Start Measuring What Matters
Web2 gives you reach, but not resolution. Crypto ad networks offer intent, but little insight. Neither is enough if you’re trying to prove results to a team—or a treasury.
Real ROI isn’t an impression. It’s a wallet that shows up, does something, and comes back.
And until your stack is built to track that, you’re just reporting surface metrics with conviction.
At Coinbound, we help Web3 growth teams run campaigns that drive behavior:
- Creative tied to real engagement
- Performance tracked across platforms, not just within them
- Paid ads backed by PR that doesn’t read like filler—and actually earns attention
Still stitching together screenshots and praying for “proof”? You’re not alone. But you are overdue for a stack that works harder than your community manager.
Mintfunnel’s crypto ad network and press distribution system give you a clear, centralized way to see what your spend actually did, whether it came from Google, DegenScore, or somewhere in between.
Coinbound works with Web3 brands who are done guessing. If you’re ready to find out which parts of your funnel are working and which are wasting budget, we should talk.
