Is it worth building a crypto-based community?
Many business leaders are still stuck in the old way of looking at things: they see their community as a cost center rather than a growth machine. But those days are over.
Yes, it’s true that it “costs” you to build a crypto community. Yes, it’s true that community building in the crypto/NFT space is not an easy task.
However, you’d miss out on a whole world of opportunity by thinking about community in terms of what it costs.
Today, community members with shared tokens are the most engaged ambassadors. They are people who love what you do and they're willing to tell others about it. By creating an environment where they feel respected and heard, you create an army of brand advocates who will be out there every day telling people how amazing your business is.
Below are 4 quotes and insights you can use to justify your investment in crypto-based community building.
Increase product retention and engagement
Greg Isenberg, the CEO of LATE CHECKOUT - a community building company - defines a community for product people.
“I'm a product person, so I'll define it in product terms. Community is another word for retention and engagement. Retention, because you're going to come back to this product, we always go home at the end of the night, no matter how much fun you're having. And engagement, because, a great community-based product has rituals. And designing those rituals to use the product is a core part of what a community-based product is.”
Customer retention and engagement are even stronger if members are bound with crypto tokens. You can measure the ROI of your investment by analyzing retention & engagement (or more precisely LTV) of your community members vs non-community members.
Deliver a unique experience
Dylan Field, the CEO of Figma, a super-popular design tool, argues that NFT can serve as proof of fandom.
“True fans have an inherent desire to support their favorite creators and build communities with other true fans. As creators increasingly monetize their work through NFTs, we will start seeing NFTs serve as “proof of fandom.”
This quote is applicable to a variety of industries, including video games, movies, comic books, or even K-Pop fandoms. You, as a business leader, can see how your fans interacted with your tokens on the blockchain and give them a unique experience based on their records.
Build another revenue stream
Zora, an NFT Marketplace Protocol, suggests that it solves the Yeezy Problem for creators, by offering a marketplace whose price adjusts dynamically without a middleman.
"What if we could allow Kanye to create his own exchange like StockX or GOAT, and drop his Yeezys at a dynamic price? This would mean that as the Kanye sells more Yeezys and demand increases, the price increases with it. Not only that, what if we could give Kanye a share of the trading fees as hypebeasts and traders are buying and selling them as the price changes? That’s an entirely new stream of revenue for creators that gets earned in real time!"
Zora states that community members can also get benefits as blockchain-based marketplaces are internet-native and members no longer need to line up for hours to get the items.
Build a moat for your business
Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder of Reddit & Founder of 776, advices that building community is your moat in this noisy world.
“Build community, because it's your best moat to combat the infinite competition you have for people's attention.”
Getting up to the competitive race is becoming harder every day. Building a thriving community for your brand would be a solution to put your business in a better position.
Summary
TLDR: Why you should build a crypto-based community.
It allows your business to...
- increase product retention and engagement
- deliver a unique experience
- build another revenue stream
- build a moat
Hope it helps!
