How can one win on the battlefield of Crypto Twitter (CT)?
Written by: eNate, Head of Growth at Eclipse
Compiled by: Luffy, Foresight News
To be honest: I hate Twitter. I absolutely hate Twitter, and I wish I had never used it.
Life is too short. As we age, we see more and more how fragile life is (illness, accidents, wars, etc.). Time on earth is limited, and I prefer to be with positive people; being with them is a joy. I don’t want to spend time with negative people, and Twitter is filled with toxic and carcinogenic energy. But I'm still on this damn platform every day because if I'm not on Crypto Twitter (abbreviated as 'CT'), I can't do my job well.
A month ago, I indirectly wrote about this topic (how to filter for quality marketing talent), and mastering CT has become a necessity to succeed in the crypto space.
However, there are some exceptions:
Some companies almost monopolize specific markets (e.g., Dexscreener). They secretly earn huge profits and frankly don’t need to be that active on CT because their competitors are weak.
If your clients are entirely institutional clients (i.e., market makers or liquidity providers), then gaining attention on CT is less important. Key decision-makers you interact with will make decisions based on how much profit they can make when executing strategies, and this decision-making process does not happen on Twitter.
But if you don't belong to these categories (most people don't), you need to stay active on CT. Unlike a few years ago, the crypto industry today is filled with competition in almost every vertical. There are not just dozens of CEXs, DEXs, wallets, cross-chain bridges, and blockchains, but new ones appear every day. In the past, launching the best technology could win, but now there is no consensus on what 'the best technology' is. For example, three years ago, launching an L2 was considered novel, and now I can't count how many L2s there are.
It is important to adapt and evolve over time. We are in an attention-driven economy, and the future super users are only half our age. Simply providing technology will not yield usage, as the competitive landscape has fundamentally changed. 'Build it, and they will come' is a failing and naive strategy.
90% of these companies will die within 5 years. Even if they perfectly execute their product roadmaps (which is not easy to achieve), many companies will run out of funds before they find product-market fit/profitability. Or they will fail because their competitors attract all the users. Other companies will take all the risks and invest heavily because market conditions have improved, and then when the next bear market inevitably hits and funds dry up, they will be abandoned by the market.
The goal of marketing and growth efforts is to strategically distribute and promote the technology engineers are developing to attract attention and subsequently gain adoption. If done well, this is crucial for extending the company's lifespan. Solidifying your brand positioning and building brand image is just one aspect of this work. If you can’t execute on marketing channels, all of it is meaningless.
People need to know you exist (awareness), and then you can expect them to use your product (conversion; if they like the product experience enough, they may eventually promote your product themselves).
When it comes to the user acquisition process, the funnel model is essentially the bible. The top of the funnel is referred to as 'brand awareness,' which crypto insiders colloquially call 'mind share.' Effectively leveraging different distribution channels is how you gain mind share for your company. This, in turn, increases the opportunity to convert people who know your brand/product into users. The more ways you reach the audience, the greater your chances of gaining more users.
But here, two fundamentally different questions must be asked:
How do I get more people to know about my product/brand?
How do I convert people who know about my product into users?
In the early stages of a product, companies can focus on the top of the funnel. They don’t yet have a functional product that can actually be used, so they can focus on marketing spending and efforts to build a strong mind share. But as you get closer to launching the product, that changes. The pre-product and post-product phases are entirely different games, and many crypto startups struggle to develop go-to-market strategies in the post-product phase because they are trying to solve two different problems at the same time.
A quote I often reference is:
"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"
In other words, if people don’t know about your product, how can they use it? Conversion happens after awareness, and the team needs to face the reality that without first putting in the effort to ensure people are aware of your product, you cannot achieve usage. You can invest in both the top and bottom of the funnel simultaneously, but if you haven’t realized the top KPI, the bottom KPI cannot be achieved.
This is because at each step of the marketing funnel, the percentage of people entering the next step decreases. What does this mean? Let’s break it down:
You first need to gain awareness.
A smaller portion of these people will consider using your product.
The proportion of people who ultimately use it is even smaller.
Frustratingly, only a small percentage of people can retain long-term.
This is why CT is so important. Cryptocurrency insiders often mention 'mind share' in the context of CT, and there’s a good reason for that. CT is the most crucial distribution channel in cryptocurrency because it is the channel most likely to convert the audience into users. However, as I talk more with founders trying to elevate their marketing levels and offer advice, I realize that many do not understand why CT is such an important distribution channel. This article will explain the reasons for CT's importance and the successful strategies I’ve been considering.
Why is CT so important?
Before I started working in the cryptocurrency field, I worked as a marketing consultant for clients in various industries. These clients included cosmetics giants like L’Oreal and Revlon, social media companies like Instagram and LinkedIn, and sports leagues like the NFL and NBA, etc. These companies invest millions of dollars annually in advertising/collaborations and rigorously assess the effectiveness of different distribution channels (i.e., digital advertising, billboard ads, social media marketing, etc.) to continuously optimize their marketing strategy mix. If a channel works well, the client seeks ways to improve it to enhance ROI; if it doesn’t, they quickly cut back spending and put the money elsewhere.
At this stage of my career, one important lesson I’ve learned is that not all distribution channels are equal. The specific distribution channels that are most effective for your business vary based on your key audience/user demographics. With that in mind, you can imagine how surprised I was when I first joined a cryptocurrency company (dYdX) and realized that very few crypto companies were trying different distribution channels to improve user acquisition. Years later, I can sadly say that most crypto companies still are. Perhaps it’s because most of these companies are early-stage startups with limited funding, but at some point, you need to have multiple distribution channels to scale your audience.
It’s commendable that when I first joined dYdX, Twitter was one of the few channels they invested resources into to attract followers. Honestly, it took me about a year to understand why Twitter is such an important distribution channel in cryptocurrency. In fact, before joining dYdX, I deliberately avoided Twitter and had long refused to create a personal account. But when you think about it seriously, you realize why Twitter is the primary medium for cryptocurrency companies to interact with potential users.
The journey for ordinary users to get started in the cryptocurrency space is fraught with friction and pain points. Generally, to use any DApp, you first need to create a wallet. After completing this process and storing the private key, you need to convert fiat currency into stablecoins or assets like ETH. Then, you need to connect the wallet to a specific DApp and learn how to use the DApp. Honestly, this is a simplified description of a highly complex user journey.
After using crypto products for a while, you forget the complexity of joining as a new user. Compared to simply going to a store to buy something or registering for a social media account, you need to go through more steps before using these products. This has significant implications for overall marketing strategy.
For resource-constrained cryptocurrency startups, trying to hand-hold newcomers through every process of entering the cryptocurrency space is extremely inefficient. In the short term, you need to focus your marketing on channels with high concentrations of existing cryptocurrency users to see a positive ROI. Although there are some nuances (for instance, many people use Kakao in Korea, while many use WeChat in China), for western markets (US/Canada and Europe), CT is the channel with the highest user density to date. In many cases, I can see clearly:
The trading alpha circulating on CT far exceeds any other public channels (like Reddit or YouTube). Many excellent traders I know make decisions by monitoring new product launches and Twitter information. Interestingly, almost every 10x return I encountered in memecoin trading was discovered on Twitter or shared with me by a friend who found it on Twitter, then forwarded to another group.
Airdrop hunters on Twitter have shared fairly accurate predictions about which protocols to farm weeks or even months before incentive programs begin.
The most popular NFT collections often create a stir on Twitter even before whitelists open or public minting begins.
Venture capitalists request to see Twitter profiles when evaluating new startups, as part of the due diligence process.
In short, if you are not active on CT, you will lose a group of audiences who will definitely pay attention to new product launches. While figuring out what other channels are suitable for your specific product, you need to win on Twitter because it is basically the only channel you know the audience will pay attention to, and you have a fair chance of converting them into actual users.
Moreover, the importance of CT is not only reflected in user acquisition but also in user retention. When a place has such a high density of daily active users, they inevitably talk about a lot. CT is where you can most accurately gauge audience sentiment and receive honest, unfiltered feedback about what might be wrong with your protocol. Without CT, your company cannot successfully resist FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt).
There is much to interpret regarding the topic of FUD. I could write a novel on this topic, so I will follow up with another article in the future. Here are the key points outlined:
CT will help you understand the severity of the fire drill situation so you can respond accordingly. Is this a survival crisis, or will it pass soon? What are people actually upset or anxious about? How widespread is the impact?
Compared to any other medium, CT will provide you with more context to help you make key growth decisions. When you are active on Twitter, you will learn to distinguish real communities from profit-driven impersonators. You will gain a reference framework to understand why past decisions and even industry history affect your perception of brands/products.
Yes, I admit that filtering out a lot of noise to find truly valuable and high-quality information is necessary. But the above information is crucial for guiding the company through multiple phases of growth (pre-funding, post-funding, pre-product, post-product, etc.). When senior leadership/marketing teams lack a solid strategy for Twitter, it is the biggest warning sign that they will not succeed.
If you can’t focus some resources on the most successful distribution channels, it will be challenging to gain significant usage. Your understanding of how to retain your users will also be very limited.
So I'm sure your follow-up question is, 'How do I succeed on Crypto Twitter?'
The way to win on CT
In simple terms, the winning strategy on CT consists of three key elements:
Authenticity
Consistency
Understanding audience scope
Let’s start with authenticity. I’ve seen people on CT try various strategies to gain attention:
The founder is as quiet in real life as a mouse in a church, but only posts crazy comments on Twitter to attract user engagement.
Women who post tempting or foot photos to gain more views and likes.
Leadership performs LARP (Live Action Role Play) as technology experts in hopes of gaining points from thought leaders, but lacks the expertise in engineering trade-offs.
It should be noted that I am not criticizing anyone. Don’t hate the players; hate the game! If these strategies can win more attention, then it could be a successful strategy, right? That said, I want to warn that if these online personas are not authentic, then the strategy is likely to be unsustainable.
People will eventually find out that the identity you present online is fake, and when you make too many mistakes, the illusion will vanish. Additionally, one person cannot be an expert on every subject. I have several examples from Eclipse to share that illustrate how authenticity has helped us gain more attention on Twitter:
Before taking on the CEO role, many advised eVijay to act crazier and more explosive on Twitter. This is completely contrary to his style. If you've seen eVijay or watched his podcast, you'll quickly realize that 'crazy' is almost an antonym for him. His composure, grace, and extensive experience are major reasons why many respect him as a leader. People follow him not to see continuous trending topics.
Most of the Eclipse team is active on Twitter, but you will notice that the content we post differs because we have deep expertise on different topics:
My expertise is in go-to-market strategy and growth hacking. I won’t post content on technical topics because that’s not authentic to me. For instance, I know nothing about zk proofs, so I won’t discuss them on Twitter. But I write these long articles about marketing, and people find them valuable.
This is not the first time I've talked about the importance of CT.
etaetaehoho previously worked at 1kx and has published a significant amount of research. Thus, he has unique insights on some topics. He wrote articles on how venture funds evaluate portfolio companies when investing. He also posts articles on technical topics and advanced strategies on Twitter because he has a deep understanding of these subjects. This is why people respect his intelligence and interact with him.
eSe is one of the best traders I know. This guy has brought me several 50x returns (even though I often lose them due to stupidity). He posts trading strategies and trends he observes in the market. People follow him because he is a profitable trader, not a KOL selling his positions.
This all-hands-on approach works well for us because it allows us to attract different audience groups. Our Twitter content benefits from our thought-sharing because it resonates with different people for different reasons. Cryptocurrency marketers and founders may enjoy my content because I share insights on marketing strategies, but traders may not care much about what I write. In contrast, traders might read eSe's tweets.
The second key element of a robust strategy is consistency. Whether through a company account or a personal account, post content regularly. If you don’t have a large following yet, your account's followers won’t grow if you occasionally post once and then disappear for a long time. Don’t sacrifice quality for quantity, but try to post as much as possible about topics you genuinely want to discuss; this will significantly increase your engagement. Start with the company account and keep experimenting until you find the best point for the rhythm and content type combination.
To encourage everyone to post more consistently on Eclipse, we started regularly holding meetings to help people brainstorm tweet topics and enhance their social influence. Eventually, your colleagues will master the knack and can handle it themselves, but when they are new to the process, guide them! Not everyone is a natural social media expert.
At first, focus on staying active on CT and showcasing yourself. Regularly interact with other builders and community members. Identify general industry trends and common user pain points. As long as you regularly engage on CT, you'll gain a more comprehensive understanding of your business. You can also strategically contextualize your business decisions by observing the mistakes others have made previously.
Don’t believe it? Try it out. I guarantee that if you spend one hour on CT every day for 30 consecutive days, you will learn more about the crypto industry and related news than anywhere else, and you will raise your company's visibility while learning. It’s a win-win outcome.
As a leader, you can also turn it into a fun game! Whenever I surpass them on Slack, I humiliate all the younger teammates. Social media is a young person's game. If I'm older than you, your follower count should be much higher than mine 🥱
In the end, you must learn to narrow your audience. You will never connect with everyone on Crypto Twitter. There are many different ways to segment the Crypto Twitter audience (e.g., maximalists vs. agnostics, DeFi vs. consumer, etc.). Trying to find a way to resonate with everyone on CT is a waste of time. Find out who matters most to your company and prioritize them.
Prioritization is key because having a small group of loyal fans who continuously follow your content is more impactful than having a large number of followers who don’t care about what you post. Your core audience should be those who are most influential to your business, not those on CT who will never care about your product.
For example, if you are a B2B company, which companies or developers do you need to attract? Is your strategy aimed at winning the audience's attention? If you are a gaming company, is institutional funding really important to you? Tailor your content based on the audience most relevant to your core KPIs; you don’t need to win everyone's attention.
There is a strong causal relationship between trying to win everyone’s attention and failing to gain any attention. When you try to be relevant to everyone, you become irrelevant to anyone because there is no differentiation. Start with a targeted and clear approach, and then expand from there once you achieve success. As your business grows, you will organically gain more relevance, and then you can broaden your audience.
This is a marathon, not a sprint. Over time, you will naturally start delivering more significant things to new territories on CT.
Finally, I want to reiterate what many successful people on CT have said. Don’t overthink it, and don’t be afraid of making mistakes.
The attention span and memory on CT are extremely short. If you don’t post enough, it's likely that no one will notice you. Even if they do notice, and you mess up, they will forget within weeks. Get up, dust yourself off, and get back in the ring. Don’t be shy to try new things.
Additionally, some companies that launched cutting-edge and technologically advanced products have very low mind share because they did not effectively leverage CT. The reverse of this statement is also true. Many people in the crypto industry will tell you that some of the companies with the best reputations on Twitter have myriad problems behind the scenes because their technology simply doesn’t work.