Hello Content Creators!
Over the past week I’ve been falling down the NFT rabbit hole, and it’s fascinating.
Not just for the technical side of it, but for the marketing.
The successful ones are giving a master class in how to build a community and foster engagement. The result is a huge base of raving fans that help them spread the gospel of NFT and drive up demand.
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Give me an example
I’ll give you several, starting with a pre-launch strategy. Let’s say you have a new product coming out, and you want it to sell out on day one.
That’s the goal for every NFT, because it kickstarts their revenue and gives them the cash to grow the business.
So they create Twitter and Dischord channels, then actively participate in them. And they create pre-launch incentives for followers to participate, too. Whether it’s giveaways, special NFT tokens, or early minting (buying) opportunities, they make it worthwhile for people to hype the NFT on their own channels.
The image above is for Outlaw Gals Motorcycle Club, which gave early Dischord members and active chatters a special key that allowed them to pre-mint a character, a full day before the public sale.
OK, what else?
Once an NFT is minted (meaning, created and purchased), the buyer is the owner of that digital graphic. Beginning with Bored Ape Yacht Club, the creator gave the NFT owners full rights to those images.
Meaning, those owners could then do whatever they wanted with them. Create merch, use their characters in a YouTube cartoon, whatever. They own them, and they can profit off their use.
Which means they’ll want to promote their NFT. Conveniently, those square JPGs are perfect for…
…social media profile pics (PFP in NFT parlance, BTW).
Yep, that JPG has just the right amount of space around the face to work perfectly in a round profile pic on pretty much every social platform.
But they didn’t stop there.
My first NFT purchase was a Lazy Lions Bungalow. Guess what? When I downloaded the image, it just happened to be in the exact dimensions needed for a Twitter banner! (Check it out and follow me @tylerbenedict)
But they didn’t stop there, either.
Lazy Lions’ creator pays its owner community a percentage of each sale, but only if they’ve used their Lion as their PFP. Meaning, as Lions are sold on the aftermarket (and believe me, they’re selling!), a percentage of each transaction is reserved for the creator, and they issue part of that back to every Lion owner…as long as the owner has a Lion PFP.
They didn’t even stop there!
They’re financially (and otherwise) incentivizing their fans and customers to spread the word, dropping loot and other bonuses on their most active members. And by active, they mean chatting and sharing on social.
Which is why they have a Twitter following several times larger than their owner base…because they’ve created a community that’s actively growing that community, and people just want to be involved.
The point is, these NFT brands have not only made it easy for their fans/customers to promote them (image sizing and prep), they’ve encouraged them to do so in ways that those fans are eager to do. How could your brand do the same?
You don’t need an NFT to do this.
Recently, we’ve had a community manager start working on Bikerumor’s Facebook page. She’s posted more questions and engagement “hooks” to get comments, likes, and shares.
It’s working. Our engagement is way up, and our followers seem to feel more connected and willing to engage.
It’s like Gary Vee’s $1.80 strategy. Just commit to engaging with your community on their terms. Comment where they are first, and eventually they’ll start to engage with you on your platforms and on your terms.
It’ll just happen faster if you have something to incentivize them with…
If you’d like to discuss some ideas for your brand, let’s talk.
Cool Stuff I’ve Found
If you’re making quick videos on your phone and don’t want to mess with the wireless mics that I’ve recommended, the Movo VRX10 universal shotgun micĀ ($40-$50 on Amazon) is the perfect little substitute.
It uses a combo 1/4-20 + Cold Shoe mount, letting it attach to most phone grip handles or tripods, and delivers dramatically clearer, sharper voice capture than just relying on your phone. No more ambient hiss or dull sounding chit-chat.
I’ve found it also makes a great tool for recording voiceovers for other videos, or just making sure you sound clear on Zoom calls or video chats. It even works with DSLR and other cameras that have a 3.5mm mic input.
It comes with cables for both cameras and smartphones, and a dead cat wind sock for outdoor use…but I keep it on when doing voiceovers because it helps soften the hard S, P and K “plosive” sounds.
I have it mounted in the Movo PR1 Smartphone Grip, with a mini tripod to hold it steady on my desk. I also use this mount for shooting video on the go, but if you’re mainly going to be setting it somewhere static, I’d go with a flexible tripod like the UBeesize Phone Tripod.
Make it easy,
Tyler Benedict
PS – If you enjoy these newsletters, you can support it by buying me a coffee.
PPS – I’ll be speaking at Philly Bike Expo in November if you’d like to hear a creatively titled session on how to get more exposure from the media.
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