How to create a winning IEO marketing strategy 2020

Vincent Olago
5 min readJul 16, 2019

Crafting a winning IEO marketing strategy requires focus, and staying updated about the trends in crypto marketing can help you develop a successful marketing campaign.

Initial exchange offering (IEO) is a new financing model that allows blockchain startups to raise funds directly on a cryptocurrency exchange platform. With IEO, the exchange provides a platform where you can conduct your token sale as well as a guaranteed listing on the exchange after the sale concludes.

The hype around IEO is real. According to a recent report by InWara, IEO projects worldwide have collectively raised a whopping $1.67 billion to date. Of these, almost 84% were raised in 2019 alone. This increased interest in IEO has seen several top exchanges start their own IEO launchpads in a bid to have a piece of the pie.

Binance was actually the first crypto exchange to create an IEO launchpad. Among the projects to have successfully conducted a token sale on the Binance platform are BitTorrent and Fetch. AI. BitTorrent, for example, managed to raise $7.2 million through IEO.

There are many exchanges out there offering IEO launch services, but the most popular one currently is LATOKEN.

Winning IEO Marketing Strategy

The IEO launch services that exchanges provide come with basic marketing, which involves sending out social media blasts and newsletters. For a great digital presence, you must embrace new approaches to IEO marketing and apply them to maximize exposure for your own project.

Here are five practical ways to mapping out a winning IEO marketing strategy that will get you where you want to get to.

Have a whitepaper

The best way for investors to know about your project is probably through the project whitepaper. Initially, you want to have a well-written and updated whitepaper.

The whitepaper should provide all the details about your project, including technology, business plan, token model, project team, and other relevant information.

Remember, exchanges care so much about their reputation. As a result, they conduct strict vetting for blockchain projects. So make sure your technology is viable, convincing, and promising.

In addition to the whitepaper, it is important to have a modern and professional website to showcase what you offer. A responsive website is a great way to engage with investors and improve your branding.

Prioritize community engagements

A great strategy that plays a huge role in enhancing your IEO marketing efforts is to consider engaging your target audience. Community engagement is highly valuable and should be given a lot of importance.

Why? Because it gives you a clear understanding of who your investors are and what they want! Engaging investors enables you to cater the experience into something that they desire.

You want to build a strong relationship with your investors, so prioritize providing updates on a consistent basis and responding to community questions and feedback.

PR and Media outreach

With the website, whitepaper, and community engagement sorted out, the next step involves creating awareness about your project. PR (press release) and media outreach will help you achieve this. To do this, an article and have it distributed across a variety of cryptocurrency news outlets.

Whatever option you choose, make sure you provide value to the community, as lousy content won’t help you get any exposure. The article could be about the issues you have identified in a particular industry and how your project will solve these problems.

Good PR will help you gain credibility within the crypto ecosystem. It can also put you in a great position to be accepted by the exchange since you already have strong backing.

While the IEO is running, you can optimize your reach by conducting contests, airdrops, and AMAs. AMA (ask me anything) is a great way to grow active followers and get everyone more involved.

Social media marketing

Social media is one of the most powerful tools for IEO marketing. People love social media because it allows them to share their perspectives and opinions on different topics. Therefore, it is a good idea to be proactive when using social media. This means that you start by posting updates about your project to raise awareness and spark interest. Twitter, for example, is a great platform to update your community and interact with crypto influencers & brands. Reddit is the core of the crypto community, so you’re more likely to get maximum exposure here. However, you need to create high-quality content that is both valuable and relevant to achieve success.

Additionally, a rule of thumb dictates that you must always have an active Telegram group if you want to build a strong community around your project.

Partner with a reputable exchange

Your IEO marketing is not complete until you get a reputable exchange to list your project. When selecting a crypto exchange for your initial exchange offering, pay close attention to its popularity, as a more popular exchange will ensure you sell to a wider network of investors. This could also help you to fundraise faster.

Finding the right exchange is not that straightforward. Exchanges conduct very strict vetting for blockchain projects to get listing opportunities. To increase your chances of having your project approved, consider partnering with an IEO marketing agency that specializes in running the marketing operations for IEO projects.

A good IEO marketing firm has a unique relationship with the exchange, which includes vetting and submitting highly promising blockchain projects for IEO to the exchange. In addition, they will help you reach the highest possible number of investors for a successful token sale.

Conclusion

In conclusion, IEO presents a wonderful opportunity for startups to raise funds transparently, securely, and quickly. To capture this opportunity, companies should create a solid IEO marketing strategy for optimal results. It is also essential to engage an IEO marketing company to assist you with launch, listing, and marketing.

Above all, the expertise and strong investor connections of a cryptocurrency marketing firm can give you entry to deeper funding pools and broader brand awareness.

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Vincent Olago is the founder of Crypt, a blogging service for crypto projects and businesses. With 6+ years in the crypto/web industry, he is a highly-sought after blockchain writer and strategist.

Shoot him a message at dr.plancksolago@gmail.com. (hey, what do you have to lose!)

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Vincent Olago

Blockchain/crypto writer with a sweet spot somewhere in the metaverse. Hire me (dr.plancksolago@gmail.com)