5 common web3 marketing mistakes to avoid

It’s like embarking on a trip to a foreign country: before you step onto the plane, it’s always wise to teach yourself a bit about the customs, geography and language that you’ll be navigating. Without a base-level understanding, you’re likely to be overwhelmed by culture shock – not to mention laughed at for being a clueless tourist.

Here’s the bottom line: before marketers start publicly discussing web3, they must have a basic lay of the land. This includes, of course, being able to speak and understand the lingo (you can check out our web3 glossary here); but you must also know what to avoid.

Here are five of the most common mistakes that marketers make when discussing web3:

1. Launching NFTs without incorporating utility

The most successful NFTs are much more than just pieces of virtual artwork; they’re gateways into broader experiences, communities or perks. They impart some form of utility.

“If people are selling NFTs without utility, and without communicating a plan for how they’ll gain utility over time, that’s definitely less exciting to a user than an NFT that has really awesome utility in it,” says web3 entrepreneur and Serotonin chief executive Amanda Cassatt.

Don’t launch NFTs unless they come equipped with a utility that will be of legitimate value to your target audience.

2. Underemphasizing the central role of community

Web3, at least in the eyes of many of its true believers, is all about community. At present, there tends to be stark dividing line between brands and ’consumers’. But in the age of decentralization, that line is being blurred. It’s no longer merely a transactional relationship – it’s one defined by collaboration and shared ownership.

Web3 “will introduce a whole new type of customer-to-brand relationship, where the consumer is not just a loyal advocate or even participant, but an actual shareholder and co-creator,” says Kate Watts, chief executive of Long Dash.

Cassatt adds: “The word ‘community’ isn’t just a rebrand of the word ‘consumer’; it isn’t a euphemism for ‘audience’.”

Always be sure to use the word ’community’ with clarity and purpose – and with a game plan for being able to back up your words with action.

3. Conflating the metaverse with web3

We can’t emphasize this one enough: the metaverse and web3 are not synonymous. The former is a blockchain-based virtual realm, accessible through virtual reality (VR) and some open-world online games, whereas the latter is an umbrella term used to describe the full suite of decentralized technologies that have been made possible through the advent of the blockchain.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the metaverse and web3 are one-in-the-same.

4. Getting distracted from what matters most (your audience)

New technologies can be eye-catching, but marketers shouldn’t let themselves lose sight of their fundamental mission: solving customers’ problems.

The adoption of radical new technologies has a tendency to follow a certain pattern. “When you’re in the peak of a hype cycle, the protagonist is the technology … When the hype dies down, we get back to basics, and you realize that the protagonist is the customer,“ says TJ Leonard, founder and chief executive of Storyblocks.

When the internet first went online, for example, it was treated by some as if it was just another form of IP – to be owned and operated by certain brands – before it became clear that it was going to be a ubiquitous technology, a substrate for civilization itself. “Right now there’s this rushing sound as everyone tries to self-identify as a web3 company,” Leonard says. “The hype will die down, 95% of the companies will fail, and we’ll be left with some really meaningful new technology that businesses will have to evaluate – alongside mobile and alongside traditional web as a mechanism for solving their customers’ problems.”

5. Giving up on web3

Yes, the crypto market is going through some tough times. But that doesn’t mean that brands should be abandoning all hope for the future of web3 – doing so would be like throwing in the towel on the internet after the dotcom bubble burst. Similarly, just because Meta has been facing some criticism for the apparent quality of Mark Zukerberg’s Horizon Worlds avatar does not mean that the metaverse is a lost cause.

“We have gotten so caught up in how early and distinct applications of blockchain such as crypto are broken, risky, speculative, or simply irrational that we are missing the bigger opportunity,” says Watts. “History is littered with examples of early innovation resistance and vocal skepticism, but rather than dismiss web3 or too quickly jump on the bandwagon, we should begin to understand what practical applications brands can apply now to gain an early competitive edge.”

These are very early days. Don’t be so quick to eulogize web3 when it is, in fact, still being born.

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