Getting started with a crypto product: The Best Web3 GTM Models

If you stumbled across this piece, you're likely curious about launching a new Web3 product or you're a new Web3 marketer eager to learn how to build an ideal self-marketing strategy from scratch. So I'll gladly hold your hand doing just that.

In this article, we will focus on the various ways to launch a new Web3 product. Subsequently, we will analyze different products and the combination of models that can best fit each product.

Let's get right into it!

Web3 GTM Models

1. Community building

In Web3 the fulcrum of a successful project is the community - the loyalists, who love the project idea, use it and will gladly recommend it to others (effortless brand evangelists).

Before getting a picture of what your Web3 community should look like, you've already gotten an answer to the following:

• What's the product about?
• Who’s our target audience?
• What channels are our target audience conversant with for communication? (Discord, X, Reddit, Farcaster)
• What's our key message? In at least one sentence, how can I communicate our product's offering?

So you're conscious about building a community that understands the message of your product and is committed to staying long-term.

It's important to build a community that goes beyond just numbers on Discord. Aim for a close-knit, family-like bond with inside jokes. Begin to see your community as individuals rather than just tools or mere numbers.

Use memes and jokes that relate to your project liberally to foster this sense of connection.

When choosing which KOLs to bring in to amplify your community’s reach, ensure that their brand voice aligns with your community’s. Their involvement should feel natural, not forced or paid.

2. DAO Governance

Building a successful decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) requires a well-defined structure.

As your community grows, you will have "strong community members" – those who hold a significant percentage of your project's tokens because they believe in the project and want their voices to be heard in its decisions.

It makes sense to include stakeholders in your project's decision-making and marketing efforts. How? DAO members can become brand ambassadors, promoting the project through their networks and social channels. This organic marketing can be highly effective and reach a wider audience.

Token holders can collectively decide on the direction of product updates or developments. Creating an interesting reward system will help.

DAO governance will only be successful in a truly decentralized world, where contracts are self-binding through smart contracts, and all votes are visible on the blockchain, as is done on Ethereum.

3. Integrations

You've just joined a startup as the Marketing Manager, and your task is to generate X number of users for a DeFi protocol within the first three months of your start date. The product is still in its beta stage, and you are expected to craft a go-to-market strategy to achieve this goal within the given timeframe.

What are you going to do? Run ads, hire influencers to promote your project, or pay for sponsored articles? One of the best things to do is consider possible integrations for the DeFi protocol that allow you to meet your target audience where they already are. It's like stopping your train at the train station to pick up passengers instead of waiting at the sea.

For early users who started using the protocol during the beta stage, it's a plus; they now have the opportunity to use it elsewhere at their convenience. That's the beauty of integrations—the product hasn't changed; it's just reaching more people.

Some examples:

• Phantom wallet extension seamlessly integrated into your browser
• SolanaPay integrated on Shopify and PayPal to allow you to pay with SOL

It could also be in this form:

• Trying to swap tokens, and a new protocol pops up alongside Uniswap and others, with maybe even better benefits.
• Trying to buy an NFT and a new NFT marketplace pops up beside OpenSea.

As a Web3 marketer, you should be deliberate about integrating your product to other platforms; ensure it's somewhere the product can easily be found.

4. Developer led

If the product you're marketing has a core target audience of developers, you must ensure it delivers its best. Creating a long-term strategy of incentivizing developers to use your tool is not sustainable—you'll run out of funds, and it may limit your reach. It's crucial that the software solves a problem developers face in the blockchain space and provides useful documentation to help them use the tool effectively.

5. Product led

If you have an analytics tool to bring to the market, you will focus on using the product as the primary driver of customer acquisition.

So you've checked for user experience and feedback, thanks to your beta testers. The next step is to create an excellent landing page that guides users to take direct action through a clear call-to-action.

This could be:

• Launch app
• Sign up
• Download Wallet

6. Sales led

If you have a Web3 SAAS tool to bring to the market, you shouldn't necessarily rely on the product-led model. Instead, focus on outreach and building relationships to secure sales. With this, you trigger potential users to take direct actions like:

• Start your free trial
• Request a demo
• Download our whitepaper or case study.

7. Partnerships

You're bringing a new product to the market with little online credibility. To build trust, consider collaborating with established A-list projects in your niche. This can amplify your online presence and credibility. It's important to form partnerships not just for the hype but to ensure both parties have mutual benefits. Co-marketing efforts could include AMAs, videos, blog posts, and other campaign content.

In conclusion,

Depending on the nature of the project you're tasked with bringing to the market, you should have a good mix of any of these GTM models.

I help Web3 projects create and execute ideal GTM strategies and have assisted top-tier Web3 projects in crafting impeccable stories. Send me an email to [email protected] to get started.