Please describe your proposed solution
Cardano’s Marketing Problem
Despite the fact that Cardano has been built to be an exceptional, academically-backed, and highly secure blockchain, many will agree that it has a marketing problem.
Cardano supporters appreciate the mission of the blockchain and the intricate care that has gone into ensuring it meets a high standard of performance. However, the methodical pace of its development has left it vulnerable to being outpaced by other blockchains with less impressive capabilities but better or more aggressive marketing strategies.
In the highly competitive cryptocurrency market, some chains have even positioned themselves as rivals to Cardano with an eye on capturing as much market share from Cardano as possible. This has led to the creation of misinformation campaigns that get picked up and repeated as “fact” by those unmotivated to engage in Snopes-style myth busting.
Lack of Marketing Support and Guidance for Builders and End Users
Since Cardano is a decentralized chain, no central authority determines how businesses, developers, and end users market the chain or what’s built on it. This leaves the community flush with wonderful Dapps, products and services, but somewhat lost on best approaches to attract target customers. As a result, promising products flounder and eventually die.
> My Perspective as a Community Reviewer…
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> I’ve had the privilege of volunteering as a Community Reviewer in past Project Catalyst rounds. After reviewing hundreds of incredible proposals I quickly noticed a trend; while great care was taken to flesh out a proposal’s Problem & Solution statement, its milestones, team and capabilities, marketing (if even included) was often treated like an afterthought.
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> For example, I’ve seen projects mention purchasing press release blasts, or simply posting about their finished product on their social channels, and consider this activity to be adequate marketing. Also, the portion of the budget earmarked for marketing was often too small to make an impact.
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> Mentioning this is not meant to denigrate these projects or their proposers; it simply highlights the reality that many businesses in this ecosystem could benefit from targeted marketing guidance to help them grow and thrive.
Empower Cardano Users to Market Their Products
As a digital marketer I’ve worked with numerous SaaS (software as a service) clients who understand the power of Customer Success. When a customer is able to achieve their goals with a SaaS company’s product, they are more inclined to speak well of that company and mention it to others.
Savvy SaaS companies capitalize on this good will by providing happy customers with the tools and positive experiences they need to become brand evangelists. In doing so, they are rewarded by significant upticks in customer retention and growth.
> In my opinion, one of the greatest assets that can be mobilized to amplify Cardano’s brand and attract more people to the chain is its active community of makers and builders. By empowering these business owners to be able to better market what they make, the ecosystem will retain more of its current users and be in a better position to attract new ones.
What Funding This Proposal Will Accomplish
This proposal seeks to assist Cardano’s builders, makers, and end users by pushing The Cardano Marketing 101 Guidebook to them and using a Digital PR campaign to ensure the resource is easier to find by major search engines like Google.
If awarded funding, this proposal will:
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Provide a high-value go-to asset for developers and businesses that are using Cardano and need some independent guidance with marketing.
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Help it get found as a go-to resource in major search engines.
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Help builders and makers on the chain quickly get started with best practices and avoid common marketing mistakes.
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As the guidebook is promoted to the community, provide a real-time case study of what can be accomplished by using marketing methods discussed in the guidebook.
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Attract more developers and businesses from outside of the chain that may be curious about Cardano, but are not sure <u>its</u> marketing challenges can be surmounted.
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Establish a publishing hub for future high-quality guidebooks to assist the Cardano community.