Three Reasons Why Crypto Marketing is Becoming Increasingly Challenging

By Emily Lai, CMO, Hype

In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, cryptocurrency marketing presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities. As new chains, infrastructure, and dApps (decentralized applications) continue to emerge, each project faces the task of cutting through the noise and capturing the attention of a discerning audience.

With an increasing focus on streamlining processes, saving money, and executing tasks efficiently, good marketers play a crucial role in navigating this competitive terrain.

But as we navigate the complexities of crypto marketing, a pressing question arises: what exactly happened, and what can we do as founders, builders, and marketers to adapt and succeed in this new phase?

Why Is Crypto Marketing So Hard Now?

The crypto ecosystem is becoming increasingly saturated with chains, infrastructure, and dApps, and each project is competing for attention with its own token.

According to @DeFiLlama, there are currently over 356 blockchains.

After a talk I spoke to @cattybk (from @thirdweb) and he told me they work with over 2000 EVM chains alone. So I looked up @coingecko’s data:

More than 8,700 L1 chains

More than 5,200 L2 chains

In addition, there are:

1500+ AI agents according to @cookiedotfun

According to @pumpdotfun and @Dune, over 50k tokens are added every day

44 narratives tracked by @KaitoAI

The question is, will there be an influx of new users to support these new chains, infrastructure, dApps, and tokens?

In terms of total locked value (TVL), the performance of this cycle is comparable to the previous one, and is consistent with the performance of the word “crypto” in Google search trends – the search volume periodically declines, indicating that mainstream users’ interest is waning.

Even when new users come in, they are faced with hundreds of chains to choose from, not to mention hundreds of wallets. It’s more confusing than ever.

2. Target audience is fragmented

The crypto space has a diverse audience, each with different motivations, which further exacerbates market fragmentation.

Developers and builders:

If you are a developer of a blockchain/network/ecosystem, you need to attract developers to build applications that will attract new users.

This requires developer marketing and onboarding. Developers’ motivations may include: wanting to use your technology stack to implement a unique idea, getting development funding, or seeing a higher chance of success based on network effects and distribution capabilities.

Customers and Users:

If you are a protocol, dApp, middleware, or service provider, you need to attract users to generate revenue.

For the ecosystem, dApp teams may be considered customers.

It is important to note that users and token holders are not always the same, and sometimes token holders may just be speculators who do not actually use your product.

Venture capitalists, angel investors and other investors:

These groups provide you with funding and are motivated by a return on investment (ROI), usually achieved by a token whose performance is not always directly correlated to the technology, number of users, or number of developers.

Retail investors and token speculators:

These people may or may not be your users. Their goal is also high return on investment (ROI) and profit from token transactions.

Technology Partners:

These are usually other infrastructure or middleware projects. As blockchains scale in terms of speed, security, and cost, a whole field of middleware infrastructure has emerged, including chain/wallet abstraction, cross-chain bridges, interoperability, modularity, etc.

In addition, there are service providers, not just limited to agencies, but also blockchain browsers, advertising technology, unlocking software, etc.

These partners are often a broad audience to target, which is why business development (BD) is so popular in the industry.

Listing Partners:

Including trading platforms, launch platforms, market makers, intermediaries and KOL transactions, etc. The performance of these groups directly affects the success of your token, and their motivations are usually related to ROI.

Regulators and institutional investors:

This audience can bring a lot of liquidity, but it can also cause your company to fail.

In addition to all of these audience types, the globalization of the crypto industry has further exacerbated market fragmentation. This means understanding cultural differences, coordinating messaging across different time zones, and managing localized marketing efforts.

All of this makes marketing in the crypto industry more difficult. In comparison, Web2 marketing is more direct, the messaging is clearer, and the motivations are more consistent.

For example:

· Selling health products: targeting health-conscious people, the elderly, and high-income groups.

· Selling winter jackets: for people