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Every serious endeavor begins with proper planning. One of the primary mistakes crypto projects make during this stage is neglecting to align the priorities of all departments within the organization, whether it’s marketing, PR, GTM (go-to-market), or any other area.
To illustrate, let’s take GTM as an example and examine what potential oversights might occur. A strong GTM approach enhances cross-departmental collaboration and ensures that marketing, PR, and business development teams work in unison. When properly implemented, it helps spread your business message across the necessary regions, identify the ideal target audience, and select the most effective marketing channels.
It's imperative to realize that a successful GTM strategy requires 100% personalized and region-specific PR efforts. At Outset PR, we offer tailored services to help our clients maximize the impact of their market entry.
However, when GTM priorities aren’t communicated or integrated with other departments, it can lead to conflicting strategies. For instance, PR campaigns might target one demographic, while GTM efforts focus on another.
This misalignment often results in mixed messages and a disjointed brand narrative, ultimately confusing potential users and stakeholders from the outset.
Another key issue is that public relations is often viewed as supplementary to marketing efforts, which limits its overall effectiveness.
PR involves cultivating long-term relationships with various stakeholders, managing communication, and building brand reputation, requiring a distinct approach compared to marketing's focus on immediate sales and lead generation. Blending these approaches can dilute the distinct objectives of each – when PR is pigeonholed into a marketing framework, its strategic depth is often overlooked, resulting in campaigns that fail to fully leverage the potential of public engagement.
We understand the importance of clear objectives in implementing specific tactics, which is why we always ask our clients about their goals. Regardless of the end goal, we offer tried-and-true solutions that allow us to think creatively and strategically.
Finally, this confusion causes clients to misinterpret the tools and metrics used by PR and marketing specialists. Marketing typically relies on quantitative indicators such as impressions, clicks, and conversion rates. PR also uses measurable parameters like total/joint outreach, number of republications, and similar metrics, but its overall impact encompasses intangible outcomes, such as improved brand sentiment and increased customer trust, which can't be fully captured through numerical data. Forcing PR efforts to be measured against marketing metrics only results in a misguided assessment of their effectiveness.
One more common mistake businesses make is treating PR in isolation rather than integrating it with other marketing and communication tools. While we have discussed how PR should function independently, relying on it exclusively can also limit its impact.
Conversely, when PR is properly merged with marketing, lead generation, community management, social media marketing (SMM), and other tools — leveraging the strengths and compensating for the weaknesses of each — the results can be significantly more impactful. This integrated approach is rare, primarily because effective coordination requires a deep understanding of each tool's unique role.
Collaboration is essential in such cases — not as isolated efforts, but as a coordinated integration of tools to maximize productivity and outcomes.
For example, in our work with BlastUP, we combined several tools: SEO tactics from lead generation, alongside outreach, media partnerships, and high-quality content from our PR practice. By taking the best of both worlds and managing all traffic acquisition processes, we published thousands of texts in more than 100 media sources. Without any outside assistance, this strategically helped the project raise over $8 million in just 15 weeks.
Inadequate budget planning is a major pitfall when executing successful PR campaigns. Many can't even imagine that a PR campaign may evolve or face challenges along the way, often leading to unexpected expenses. This misjudgement results in inflexible budgets that offer little room for adjustments and limit adaptability as needs shift.
Budget planning for PR is indeed a double-edged sword. While a substantial budget can undeniably amplify a campaign's reach and impact, it is not a cure-all. The true art of PR often lies in leveraging connections, which can sometimes deliver more value than financial investments alone.
Interestingly, working with limited budgets can foster resourcefulness among PR professionals, helping them develop valuable skills and strategies. These lessons can prove indispensable when more substantial funding becomes available. For a real-world example of how we successfully executed a full-scale PR campaign with extremely limited budgets, click here.
Our founder, Mike Ermolaev, pioneered media partnerships as a standalone PR tool for the crypto industry. For example, implementing such partnerships enabled us to save tens of thousands of dollars for the StealthEX instant crypto exchange service during a PR campaign.
However, it's crucial not to underestimate the role of budgets in accessing high-impact platforms or influencers, who can significantly elevate campaigns once media partnerships have laid a solid foundation. The key takeaway is: striking balance is essential, as effective PR relies on both strategic financial planning and creative problem-solving.
Crypto projects involve a myriad of technical details, which can be overwhelming for the average consumer. Without clear and simplified communication, potential customers may struggle to understand your unique selling proposition, leading to missed opportunities and lost conversions.
To prevent unclear messaging, it's important to have a deep understanding of the product. PR experts must develop a solid grasp of what they're promoting. Rather than relying solely on second-hand information, they should test the product and familiarize themselves with its features firsthand. This comprehensive understanding allows PR teams to effectively communicate the project's value.
Besides, identifying the key areas of the project's appeal is crucial. Developing a content plan that strategically addresses its various aspects and crafting compelling copy can further help capture attention and drive traffic. If you need assistance with these services, feel free to contact us right away!
Equally important is highlighting the real-world utility of your project and demonstrating its applicability in everyday life. Remember, most users are not concerned with the intricate technical details; their care about how the product benefits them directly.
Finally, many projects fail to understand and connect with their target audience. Without thorough customer development, PR efforts risk becoming generic and missing their mark, as the audience profile remains an abstract concept confined to the PR specialist's imagination. This underscores the importance of grounding communication strategies in genuine insights about the people they aim to engage.
Effective PR is not just about crafting messages but tailoring them to specific segments, such as users, investors, or partners. Each group has unique expectations and requires a distinct approach. For instance, as previously mentioned, regular users are more interested in how a product improves their lives, while communications targeting investors often focus on financial aspects. Recognizing these differences and customizing strategies accordingly is essential for meaningful engagement.
When targeting consumers, creating a detailed customer profile is crucial. This involves understanding demographics like age and interests, as well as cultural nuances that can influence how messages are received. These cultural considerations are particularly important for the aforementioned GTM strategies, making it vital for PR specialists to collaborate with local experts to ensure an accurate understanding of the cultural context.
To get it right, thorough research into the specific characteristics of each target market is essential. This includes aligning content with cultural values, building relationships with key media outlets and influencers, and ensuring that messages resonate deeply with the intended audience.
By addressing and avoiding the six key mistakes we've outlined, your crypto project will stand a much better chance of not only gaining recognition but also fostering trust and transparency within the Web3 industry.
As blockchain technologies continue to evolve, it's crucial to present these innovations in a manner that is both clear and understandable. To many everyday users, the crypto world still resembles a "Wild West," fraught with danger and uncertainty. Changing this perception and unlocking real-world value from Web3 initiatives should be our shared goal.
As our founder, Mike Ermolaev, recently highlighted in an interview discussing the "Wild West" and other pressing issues, it is up to all of us to drive mass adoption in this field. By refining our messaging and engaging thoughtfully with audiences, we can help pave the way for the bright future for the crypto industry as a whole.