Without a doubt, blockchain PR has become a powerful force in this industry over the past few years. We’ve seen new projects come out of nowhere to a glittering reception, small projects blow up, and entire companies rise from nothing. But, behind every success story is a PR department that’s finding ways of communicating the brand to the public.
As blockchain has evolved, its audience and their unique perspectives have also begun to morph and change. The receptive audience that PR teams write for today is far different from that of ten years ago, and much larger.
In this article, we’ll dive into the challenges and opportunities of blockchain PR, demonstrating just how effective a well-crafted PR messaging campaign can be. Let’s dive right in.
What is Blockchain PR?
Blockchain PR is a subsection of public relations, one that focuses directly on the world of blockchain and the applications of its technology. From cryptocurrency and exchanges to new projects that are taking point in this field, blockchain PR effectively shows them off to the world.
Historically, the situation from which blockchain PR arose was significantly different from that of traditional PR. Blockchain has notoriously had a difficult past, with rug pulls and other financial scams being common in this industry. Especially across 2018-2020, this industry was one of the worst in the world in terms of the commonality of financial scams and companies stealing money.
In fact, in 2018, 80% of every initial coin offering launched turned out to be a scam. While the industry is moving in the right direction, we’re still not quite in the green zone. This can be seen from the recent news of the third largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange stealing billions in user funds.
These events, sadly, have caused those that follow the world of blockchain to become a little resistant to new projects that spring up. With this difficult platform to navigate, PR teams have developed their blockchain-specific public relations tactics and skills to combat the lack of trust in the industry.
As traditional PR and blockchain PR now vary so greatly, they’re often seen as completely distinct practices.
Advantages of Blockchain PR
If you’re looking to bring exposure to a new blockchain project, you can never go wrong with some well-timed and carefully planned PR. With the wide network of available sites and channels to utilize to spread the word, this is a fast way of getting people in the community to notice your new launch.
When blockchain PR goes well, it’s a wonderful tool to use, helping to:
- Generate New Investors – Without liquidity and a continual flow of new investors, it’s tough for blockchain projects to get off the ground. A great PR campaign will help put you in contact with people that are interested in contributing to your project. It only takes a few core investors to completely change the course of a new blockchain endeavor.
- Increase Community Awareness – PR materials will increase people’s awareness of your brand, getting you onto their screens and helping you to show off the ingenuity of your project. More awareness will help translate into more investors. And, by using a crypto pr distribution service, you’re able to rapidly get the word out there, even if you don’t yet have your own news network distribution service established.
- Boost SERP Rankings – Search engine results pages are vital when it comes to running a business. Especially considering that 71% of all web traffic goes to the first page, it’s vital you’re as high as possible. PR efforts will boost your ranking, bringing authority and more traffic to your site over time.
These advantages are really only just the beginning. Blockchain PR is incredibly effective when your team knows what you’re doing.
Challenges of Blockchain PR
As powerful as a blockchain PR can be for a business, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s easy to do, especially when managing your campaigns yourself. Unless you have experience in this area, even more so with blockchain marketing, it’s going to be a steep climb to make the waves that you’re looking for.
Despite the benefits and advantages of using blockchain PR, they come with a whole range of challenges:
- New Industry – As a relatively young industry, especially compared with other financial fields, the world of blockchain is uncharted territory. When it comes to almost any other field, there are years of case studies, effective campaigns, and content to pull up and read through for advice. In the world of blockchain, very few agencies have the experience needed to create successful PR campaigns.
- Fast-Moving – In a year, the total market cap of cryptocurrency has fallen by over 65%. In any other industry, this would be field-altering news. In blockchain, although still a shock, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. The scale of movement and the rapidity of change means that this industry is incredibly fast paced. To keep up, you’ll need to produce a constant stream of PR materials.
- Easy to Lose Trust – With the history that blockchain has, one wrong move and your business will lose the trust of all the customers it’s worked with. Trust is not an easy thing to gain in a financial industry, meaning you need to be extremely careful with your messaging.
While potentially difficult, these challenges are all something a campaign can overcome with enough determination, planning, and experience.
Final Thoughts
No matter the size or specifics of a new blockchain project, the truth is that they’ll all have to deal with public relations to some extent. Some companies outsource their PR, hiring agencies that help them get the benefits without any of the challenges.
That said, many effective campaigns have been headed up by the blockchain project themselves. If you’re conscious of the challenges that your project will face, you’ll be ready to take them head-on. From there, you’ll be able to reap the benefits of great blockchain PR.
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