What Cryptocurrency Projects Don’t Understand About Dark Social
I’ve been hanging around in the crypto space for some time now, and as a marketer, I am often highly critical of how these projects reach out to build user bases. I think one of the most significant issues with alternative currency projects is the fact that they know tech, but they don’t know users.
Most crypto projects struggle with user retention and user growth and don’t know how to build sustainable churn rates that not only replace lost users but reactivate old ones and build momentum around their platforms.
I think Twitter and Reddit and to an extent Medium also YouTube to an extent, but this is more dominated by influencers than brands. These social media platforms have established themselves as the places where cryptocurrency information is pumped outs regularly with the most traction. This is how cryptocurrency projects get their message out, attract users and retail investors.
While open platform social media is where most projects focus, I think the real key to crypto is a community, and this is why dark social has taken the space by storm, the issue I have with dark social is that these cryptocurrency projects do not actively leverage the already established rules of engagement with crypto communities.
A vast majority of cryptocurrency enthusiasts are using applications like Telegram and Discord to get their messages across, and some of that also trickles down into other messaging platforms like Skype, WeChat, WhatsApp and even email.
I think cryptocurrency projects need to be more engaging and strategic about how they leverage dark social since it cannot be censored or be held at the mercy of algorithms or require the need for paid social media sponsorship.
Dark social is the network effect going to work, and if you an push your narratives in these networks, you only need to make consistent ripples to start to generate waves of interest over time.
I think that playing in the dark social space isn’t popular because it got a lot of unknowns that’s for sure, and its also a long game. Cryptocurrency projects are often focused on the here and now and wanting to boom overnight instead of slowly and steadily building up and audience that over time turn into a fanatic and loyal user base.
Going dark with your social strategy
Going dark with your social media marketing also suits the narrative of cryptocurrency as it is a more decentralised approach you spreading the message through multiple messengers and building a word of mouth or referral network or even an affiliate network out of your dark social.
Dark social is also very informal and allows you to shed your ties of traditional corporate communication and allow you to be more experimental with your messaging.
If done correctly you can turn it not only into a lead generation tool but as an active audience of brand ambassadors that will amplify your messaging constantly over time
About the Author
Che Kohler is the co-founder of nichemarket, a South African Business Directory and digital marketing agency. He is an avid blogger who specialises in writing about marketing tech and cryptocurrency.
