When the bears descended on the cryptocurrency market, many blockchain focused projects felt it necessary to pull back on promotional activity, pause the expansion of their marketing teams and even let some of their key communications staff go. Is this a wise decision given that the industry is yet to be understood by vast swathes of the general public?
The Cision Global Comms Report 2023 pinpoints the pandemic as a turning point for recognition of the value of communication across all major brands. As blockchain projects only grew from their infancy during this period, it hasn’t had to track previous communications mistakes. Perhaps, now is the time to evaluate the potential of fostering a spirit of positive communication.
Not only is it crucial to communicate activities, roadmaps and plans during a downturn, it is also a critical component of the future of blockchain technology. A piece of hardware or software can be wondrous yet never have any real life application. Pulling down all communication barriers between ecosystems will be vital for the longer term viability of the projects in Web3.
In my role as a reporter I often have to put my opinions to one side. However, the storytellers in a nascent industry need to make their voices heard. The viewpoints of communications professionals will provide useful insights into the tactics employed across all ecosystems. When piecing together the wider thoughts around communication standards, tactics and education for project management, getting the narrative right is the starting point.
From speaking with writers and professionals it is clear that there is a lack of experience, management and respect for the art of communication in the world of web3. One project which shall remain unnamed says “We are in build mode, our marketing staff were the first to go”. This insouciant attitude to effectively reaching out to the wider public to position products and services is death by technology for those projects that ignore the need to explain the benefits of what they are providing.
Why do Web3 projects undervalue communications?
One might consider themselves too busy building to be concerned with education of the wider public. However, when brands and organizations are still asking the most basic questions about the deployment of blockchain technology, one may need to revisit the building to see if anybody will use the products that get built. What is blockchain? What is Web3? What is an NFT? What is the metaverse? These are just the tipping point of questions posed in public conversations.
When it comes to decentralized finance; what is self custody? What is a wallet? What are utility tokens? Where do I start? There are endless questions and the world has far from embraced this new way of imagining services. Furthermore, mainstream education is busy looking for valuable resources, leaders, and thought provoking ways in which this technology could potentially disrupt their fields of study. Yet, communication is undervalued and not yet harnessed for the true power of its potential.
It is one of many ingredients that you find in a stew of success that remains a valuable asset to most successful leaders across all industries.
Follow the leaders, most are not at the Web3 table
Communication has been locked out of many conversations until now. Therefore, the expert communicators are rarely seen at the decision making tables. For projects to learn, they need to look outside of the blockchain bubble. Consider the tech giants that are holding firm in the storm of a bear market.
LinkedIn, a hugely successful business model with a focus on product delivery but also a bottom up approach to all external and internal communication. You often see linkedin.com employees actively seeking audiences for their personal posts. Their communication efforts are encouraged and admired by other internal members of their community.
The same for leadership teams within Google. They essentially become necessary educators, often positioned alongside University modules that are slow to adopt new technologies. The onsite training I can personally vouch for; the workshops, the roundtable discussions are all key parts of a wider respect for communication and a long term focus on the benefits of these narratives presented to the public.
Now taking a closer look at blockchain. There are a few players that are mastering the art of communication. These tend to be dAPPs that rely on downloads like SWEAT (one of the best performing dAPPs) and games like Upland and Alien Worlds that have not only managed to market effectively but also have grown communities from nothing to become blockchain gaming giants. Who in the blockchain industry is showing communication leadership and investing in the wider opportunities that effective marketing brings? This is something to ponder.
There are blockchains aiming to bring people in, talking about adoption, asking themselves why nobody is talking about their big news. However, the storytellers, authentic content enthusiasts, professional marketers and communicators need to be shown just as much respect for their knowledge as the engineers who are architecting protocols that may or may not add long term value to an industry. Afford communicators this time, energy and respect and the stories will follow.
“Data needs to be looked at through a human lens. We can’t lose sight of the humanity communication brings to companies. All that data and AI can’t be levered outside the context of a very human relationship.” Putney Cloos, Cision.
There are visionaries that aim to build the future of virtual industries, however the lack of focus or interest in discovering the benefits of communication is disheartening.
Communication as an untapped component of Web3
A focus on technical expertise and technical solutions as key problem solvers has created an invisible wall around some of the blockchain technology providers. This prevents a wider range of professionals from accessing an easy entry point to career paths within the industry. As one cyber security team leader pointed out at the Silicon Roundtable Women in Tech Conference last year, “There is a closed curtain between the world of blockchain and the wider tech community. Some just don’t feel welcome.”
Although there are many open grants available for start-ups across the ambitious layer-1 projects, most tend to focus on developer-led initiatives and individuals that can easily adopt infrastructure without the need for technical support or guidance. Showcasing the benefits of blockchain to the wider public requires a new approach to the delivery of messages that the industry wants the public to hear.
This will require a recalculation of the value placed on conversations, marketing, content creation and delivery. All of which are key components of effective communications.
Interestingly, two of the major challenges for communications experts identified in the Cision report are creating effective content and distributing content. The creation of content is an issue for 77% of respondents in Europe and 85% of respondents in the APAC region.
Content experts exist both inside and outside the world of blockchain. For an industry not so well acquainted with academic standards of communication there are numerous distribution channels and content creators willing to contribute to the space. Across all ecosystems and projects there is a wealth of knowledge that remains largely untapped. Pair these organic creators with experienced content strategists and you may have the seeds of a winning communications formula.
