Here's Why Your Marketing Sucks 🧵

In the last two months, I spoke to ten entrepreneurs in Web3. Wanna know one of their biggest pain points? Not blowing money on the wrong type of ads. It sounds simple, but the quagmire that is Web3 marketing runs as deep as a rainforest bog.

This week’s newsletter is a starter pack for anyone looking to do business in the blockchain industry. We’re talking about alpha on:

• The “Gold Check Cartel” (a.k.a. catfishes)

• Advertiser’s reputation score

• Finding marketing solution providers

The “Gold Check Cartel”

Everyone who’s done some serious digital marketing knows about funnels. You need to draw your audience in through different stages of decision-making. It goes from Awareness (A) → Interest (I) → Desire (D) → Action (A).

The scammers behind the “Gold Check Cartel” are pretty good at making funnels. Consider the first time you spot one of their burner accounts. It looks like a real crypto influencer. Complete with the $100k PFP and “DM for promo” call to action.

Awareness. Look at all those followers.

This account has been around since 2012. Wow. It also has better branding than 50% of crypto Twitter accounts (You should definitely steal this swag 😎).

• Popular PFP + clean banner ✅

• Call-to-action in bio ✅

The only problem is that I’ve seen this account somewhere before. Right here:

That gold check looks clean ngl.

So why did Razor.eth downgrade from the coveted gold check to a regular blue check? Let’s check with the source: Crypto Stars.

Of course, I clicked the link.

Solid business model.

So there you have it: the Gold Check Cartel.

Scammers buy old Twitter accounts and spam them with thousands of followers. Buy and stake some $GCHECK, and you'll be an influencer in 30 days.

This is just one example of many elaborate social engineering ruses in Web3 marketing. It’s a simple enough example to convey the message. But there are even more complex traps that ensnare real builders in the industry (or help bad actors).

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There is a need for solutions that can provide ways to index proof-of-self in a socially decentralized manner.

Advertiser’s Reputation Score

Provenance is a familiar idea to everyone in Web3. It’s the reason why the blockchain is littered with cartoon doodles 😂

It also has a valuable use case for this situation. The technology exists for legitimate professionals to explore ways of proving their authenticity. In a scene overrun with catfish, your identity is everything.

Indexing your work history, industry affiliations, idea banks, etc. on-chain builds a proof-of-self. This should be the type of résumé that we aim to adopt in the future.

But there’s an even bigger problem. Twitter is no longer an ideal space.

Due to the centralized and unpredictable state of the platform, more creators will be alienated as a handful rise to the top. Just like YouTube. There is a need for solutions that can provide ways to index proof-of-self in a socially decentralized manner.

But how about today? What can we do about it right now?

Twitter also has some cool features for indexing:

• The “Highlights” feature is a pretty cool way to show proof of work at a glance.

• Searching and following Twitter lists is a great way to find legitimate gems, too.

I’ve been curating Twitter lists for a long time. They helped me grow my network and share value with the best minds in Web3. Now, I’m sharing these lists for the first time ever. All you have to do is join our Twitter community here.

A sweet advantage of using these ultimate Twitter lists is that they help you find even more valuable accounts to follow. Ranking high among these are some top-notch advertising solution providers.

PS: This is not a paid ad, so I can only guarantee that they are real humans and not bots.

Surgence

The best thing about Surgence is its community. It’s a talent hub that feels like a living organism. This makes it an excellent way to tap into the social heart of Web3. From top-level marketing and community management all the way to discord growth and security, Surgence is a one-stop shop for builders. They also host a fire podcast 🔥

Discover more about them here.

Lunar Strategy

Lunar Strategy is in the business of building brands. The group is web3-native, which makes them a good fit for many initiatives. They help businesses build their reputations with go-to-market strategies and great PR.

Check them out here.

Web3 Ascend

This is not your regular marketing agency. It’s the face of trust-driven community building. The team is a good mix of big brains and solid personal brands. Web3 Ascend helps brands stand out with growth hacks, content creation, and community building.

Read more about them here.

In addition, I highly recommend checking out The Growth Guide by Zaimirii, the writing Bean. He’s got fire alpha on leveraging Twitter for brand growth.

The Growth Guide