Web3 Marketing: Bull Market vs Bear Market | Ep 67

Ty Smith0:05

What's up, guys? Today we are discussing Web3 marketing in a bear market versus marketing in a bull market. As marketers in the world of crypto, we have to acknowledge that there are macroeconomic factors outside our control that affect how our marketing efforts are received. In this episode, we're going to break down what you need to know regarding how to position yourself in a bull market versus a bear market, what type of content strategy you should use, what your strategy should be regarding attending conferences, and how marketing prices and costs change depending on what the market is doing. At the end of the episode, we will do a hack that I like that will get you a big bang for your buck when the market is hot.

Ty Smith0:58

All right, let's dive right into it. So, positioning, first of all. In a bull market, there's tons of noise that goes around. Whatever you're doing in the world of crypto, there's probably 20 people doing the same thing, probably all have a website that looks relatively similar, probably following the same basic playbook as far as how they're positioning themselves and how they're marketing themselves. Don't fall into the trap of, 'Well, this worked for my competitor, so it's going to work for me.' Most people are thinking that way, and because of that, most people will miss out on the ability to differentiate themselves.

Ty Smith1:33

So, look trustworthy. Don't look like a cash grab. That is another big thing to pay attention to during a bull market because that is one of the biggest concerns that people have. They think, 'Oh, I'm going to sign up for this service or something, and it's not going to exist once they get my money.' That goes for NFT projects, that goes for services in the world of crypto, that goes for really everything.

Ty Smith1:50

Look unique from the competition. Don't just copy what they're doing. Don't make your website look exactly the same as theirs. If you're an NFT project, for example, we just recently saw—and it's the same thing for ICOs—the roadmaps looked very, very similar, basically everyone just copying what Bored Ape Yacht Club is doing. That's not necessarily a great way to build a community long-term. It's a difficult trap to avoid, but definitely don't copy everything your competitors are doing.

Ty Smith2:30

In a bear market, you really don't have to worry so much about looking like a cash grab. When the market's not hot, people tend to just implicitly trust products in the world of Web3 more. So, you can market yourself, as far as positioning, a little bit more like Web2 brands do, which is just focusing on the value prop. Focus on what problem your customer, client, or investor is having and how you address that. It's a little bit more of a low-key positioning where you can focus on who you are and why you're different.

Ty Smith3:07

As far as content strategy goes, in a bull market, eyes shift really heavily towards social media, especially Twitter and LinkedIn. I would focus big-time on your social media presence during those times. Everyone is talking about crypto, crypto products, and crypto services, and social media is a huge component of where they're finding that. Content isn't as evergreen on social media, which is why I say focus on social media because there's less content going out, and the content that has gone out already doesn't last as long.

Ty Smith3:38

Versus in a bear market, we tend to advise to focus on evergreen content that's going to exist forever. Things like blog posts, videos, and podcasts are stuff that is going to exist forever. It'll just live on your YouTube channel, your podcast channel, or your blog, and can be easily shared once the market picks up again, as well as people can find it in their own ways, regardless of what the market is doing.

Ty Smith4:05

All right, conference strategy. So, your strategy regarding attending crypto, Web3, and Bitcoin conferences. During a bull market, they get super busy with tons of people, both retail and B2B. If you're a B2C type company, you'll find tons of consumers there that will want to know about you. It is really good for business, very busy, and you should definitely attend them because they're great networking events as well. But the shift really should be on acquiring business because that's when you're going to get the most eyeballs and most people at these conferences that can use your product.

Ty Smith4:43

In a bear market, there are much fewer people at the conferences, and less retail. The shift tends to go more towards B2B companies, companies that provide services to other businesses. But the opportunity there is in networking because what you lose in volume of people, you gain in the quality of connections that you can make. If you're going to go to conferences during a bear market, I still advise to very much do so. Prices tend to go down also for conferences when the market's not so hot, so use that and focus heavily on the networking component.

Ty Smith5:22

All right, so the last component that will differentiate marketing in a bull market versus a bear market is the costs of marketing. During a bull market, we see a huge rise in cost for anything marketing-related because media inventory goes down, they get booked up really quickly, and influencers get booked up. Just supply and demand of marketing—the shift goes to the demand side, and as such, the supply has to jack up their prices. So, it gets very expensive.

Ty Smith5:55

In a bear market, there is a little bit more hunger on the side of media. In this case, we'll say influencers, for example. A YouTuber that charges, let's say, $10,000 for a video, might charge like $5,000 during a bear market. You can get pretty good deals. Again, that content is evergreen if you're going to focus on YouTube content. It'll always be up there, and you can share it with people for years to come. So, you can get some good prices to get out some evergreen content when the market is bearish.

Ty Smith6:25

And then, as promised, the hack that I love during a bull market. The beauty of a bull market is, especially at this point—it didn't used to be this way, but at this point, when there's a bull market, everyone essentially globally knows that there's a bull market. It'll be on CNBC, it'll be all over the news talking about crypto. Because of that, especially if you're B2C, using marketing channels that are outside the world of Web3 works well because you can get good deals that aren't subject to the prices of crypto bull market marketing, and you also have an audience that is already generally interested in crypto.

Ty Smith7:08

I was just in Miami for Bitcoin 2022, the market was hot, and they basically bought out a bunch of different terminals in the airport. In a bearish market, people aren't so interested in crypto, so that might not work so well. In a bullish market, it works well, and airport advertising isn't super expensive usually compared to other things. That's a great hack, and that was done by Crypto.com, so big props to them. All right, that is all for this episode. Hopefully, you found value. Be sure to like and subscribe and recommend this to a friend. I'll catch you on the next one.