The valuation of FTX has increased by 4571 times in 3 years. What did they do right?

Original title: "Web3 Marketing Case Study: How FTX Scaled from a $7M to $32B Company in Just 36 Months"

Original author: Joydeep Bhattacharya 

Original compilation: Misaki, Diamond, WhoKnows DAO

You are in advertising marketing Have you spent money but received nothing? Are you looking for more potential customers to increase sales, but you don't know how to start, where to start? Call us for help from world-class marketing experts.

FTX is a virtual currency trading platform with an average daily trading volume of 10 billion US dollars and more than 6 million daily registered users.

FTX got off to a bad start in 2019 with only $7.2 million in revenue, but in just 36 months, the company’s valuation increased by 4,000% to $32 billion Dollar.

Why is FTX growing so fast?

What strategy did they use to transform into the world's second largest cryptocurrency trading platform in 3 years?

Through this Web3 marketing case, let’s take a look at how FTX builds a successful cryptocurrency trading platform—you can also apply these marketing strategies to your own projects middle.

#01 What does FTX do?

FTX focuses on complex "encrypted derivatives", market participants do not need to hold physical assets, which means that transactions do not require wallets or other complex markets Infrastructure that allows clients to bet on the future prices of major currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Encryption products offered by FTX:

·  Industry-Leading Derivatives

· Options and Volatility Products

· Tokenized Stock

· Market Forecast

· Leverage Token

·  More

In short, FTX is a platform that allows users to easily trade cryptocurrencies.

In just 3 years, FTX has become one of the most respected cryptocurrency trading platforms in the world.

FTX also issued its own practical Token FTT (you can see that the market value has increased by 850% since 2022)

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FTX users and investors each account for 50%. The following are the outstanding achievements of FTX:< /p>

·  , Deutsche Bank is more valuable. (Can it be replaced by "higher market value"?)

· In 2021, FTX will become the fastest growing virtual currency Exchange platform, outpacing rivals such as Coinbase, Stripe and Binance over the same period.

· As of March 2022, FTX has received a total of 1.7 billion US dollars through 7 rounds of financing (including some top investment Agencies Softbank Vision Fund, Tiger Global Management, Blackstone Group, Temasek Holdings, and Lightspeed Venture Partners)

· their websites (ftx.com) gets about 700,000 total traffic per month through 77,000 keyword searches.

· The most popular markets (trading pairs) for FTX are BTC/USD and ETH/USD. The trading platform is rated "A" by Nomex, the largest crypto index, where A means "transparent". Out of 778 trading platforms, FTX ranks 4th for transparency and trading volume.

Perhaps most amazing is how efficiently founders Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang have navigated the competitive cryptocurrency trading market.

Read more:An NFT Marketing Checklist for Your Crypto Project* What Is Web 3.0? The Future of the Internet

#02 8 Marketing Tips Learned From FTX's Success

Now you have a pretty good idea of what FTX is and the fierce competition they're in environment, and why they are able to succeed in Web3, we look at the following marketing tips extracted from FTX's incredible success.

[Tip 1] Focus on influencers to increase brand awareness 

FTX is very concerned about KOL marketing. In order to fight against strong competitors in the United States, they held a marketing campaign event, seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and model and businessman Gisele Bndchen were also invited:

< img src="https://image.blockbeats.cn/upload/2022-09-05/85514dcca49ee21c4a9342750c51d777a697047e.png?x-oss-process=image/quality,q_50/format,webp">

FTX committed $20 million to the event. The event will take place during the 2021 NFL season opener between Tampa Bay (Brady's team) and Dallas, throughout October, with NFL broadcast and digital marketing components go hand in hand.

An agency working with Brady and Bndchen, DentsuMB, created a humorous tagline: "FTX: You're Coming Too ?”

The purpose of cooperating with Tom and Gisele is to let consumers familiarize themselves with technology, customer service, products and at the same time reach cooperation with well-known companies Binance, Coinbase and Kraken.

FTX.US President Brett Harrison said: "We are still new to the crypto service scene, and we also know that if we want to achieve this, we must start some mass brand and ad marketing, sponsorship type jobs, etc.”

KOL + sports marketing seems like the perfect path to make this happen.

What else does FTX do besides football:

· Contact NBA player Stephen Curry to be another brand ambassador.

·  Signed a $135 million naming contract for the NBA's Miami Heat stadium.

· Agreement** with Major League Baseball to become their official Virtual currency trading platform, which means we will see referees wearing uniforms with the FTX logo.

·  Partnered with tennis star Naomi Osaka to focus on guiding women into crypto platforms.

Athletes aren’t the only target demographic: FTX also reached out to beauty entrepreneur Lauren Remington Platt, founder of high-end grooming company Vensette. The company has established brand alliances with Vogue, Chopard and Michael Kors, among others.

Platt has been invited to form partnerships with luxury and fashion brands. With the luxury industry worth $300 billion, FTX aims to target a new generation of high-end consumers created by crypto wealth.

In recent years, luxury brands have also entered the encryption circle, including ：

· Prada and Adidas cooperate to issue NFT

· Ralph Lauren opens nearly 7 digital stores in the Roblox metaverse

·  Gucci cooperates with Superplastic to release limited edition NFT

Therefore, Platt’s experience in the fashion circle and luxury circle is very important for FTX’s future development stage and brand cooperation, as well as brand building aspect is crucial.

But if you're thinking: "FTX is doing well, but we can't afford Tom Brady." Don't worry! While FTX is still hesitant to choose A-level KOLs, many successful crypto projects have begun to cooperate with lesser-known KOLs to gain early influence.

For more information, please read:Influencer Marketing Strategy: The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Business with Brand Partnerships

[Tip 2]: Build a strong community on Web3 (using an "omni-channel" strategy)

< p>Community building is a necessity for the growth of Web3 projects, because it will help attract many new users to trade. Having a large fan base can increase user confidence and self-confidence in this emerging field.

The community can help create a highly active and highly engaged user group. On the contrary, the user group can drive more trading activities and bring more transactions to the trading platform quantity.

FTX uses social media to build a community to increase the number of fans. As brand awareness increases, users are naturally more willing to use the platform and then recommend it to other users. Social media has also created a more competitive environment for FTX, resulting in lower transaction fees and better service.

They use Twitter, Telegram, Instagram and other social media to find a wider audience of crypto enthusiasts. FTX has more than 665,000 Twitter followers and 136,000 Instagram followers. They regularly provide content to users to guide them, increasing interaction with each other.

Through a series of social media optimization and brand building, FTX's market share increased by 600% from 2020 to 2021.

Building a community to help FTX outperform competitors (Coinbase and Binance) stand out.

FTX believes that brand recognition and user retention are critical to growing the user base of crypto trading platforms.

Community projects are designed to help keep members connected and provide support to members who have questions. Loyal cryptocurrency buyers and investors help drive new products on the trading platform. They use text, video, and pictures to encourage users to communicate and interact on mainstream social media platforms.

Unlike many other brands, FTX keeps user activity at its peak by personally responding to user comments and engaging with them.

Here are some great tips for growing your social media following:

A) Announcing Major Events and Updates

Announcements are a major part of FTX's Twitter marketing strategy. They promise to keep fans informed of any product launches and acquisitions:

On Instagram, FTX announced that it was valued at $32 billion, up from $25 billion:

B) Encourage users to communicate

Let users It is actually very simple to communicate between products and brands:

· Post a message asking questions for fans to give suggestions

· Organize online activities through group chat, users can send you messages or ask questions, and you reply immediately

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·  Hold regular online gatherings for fans to increase fan interaction.

FTX uses KOLs to ask fans crypto-related questions. And reply to them immediately. This approach also helps them gain instant attention.

The following is an example of how FTX used the influence of the famous American basketball player Stephen Curry to encourage users to try cryptocurrency trading in the form of video. The tweet got more than 2,900 likes and 799 replies.

Read more information: Best Community Management Agency: Top 7 Choices for 2022

C) Integrating Social Channels

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One of the most effective ways is to increase fan interaction through the combination of powerful different social media platforms.

FTX currently supports many leading social media channels, such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Discord and Telegram. They have a large number of loyal crypto fans who actively interact with posts from FTX, one of the top crypto trading platforms in the world.

This is the power of omni-channel marketing.

Omni-channel customer experience is made up of multiple marketing channels such as email, phone, SMS, social media and even in-store each touchpoint. Omnichannel refers to creating a cohesive customer experience across all of these channels, regardless of where customers leave or come in.

Compared with traditional marketing methods, the omni-channel approach focuses on going where customers or potential customers are, rather than having customers come to them.

D) Harnessing the Power of PR

Public relations are critical to building a fan base. Like Sam Bankman-Fried, try to build a positive and effective brand image. Early on he did an interview that gave him a chance to be famous and his name could be searched online.

For this it is important to make connections in the media and then attend local events to expose yourself in the right places. This will help you get maximum exposure for yourself, your brand and your products. When it comes to cryptocurrencies, this is even more critical because the industry is still very new and many people are still skeptical.

Example: When FTX was looking to expand in Africa, Bankman-Fried worried that no one had heard of FTX's cryptocurrency trading:

“We’ve been around for two and a half years, but that’s much shorter than many of the big exchanges in the crypto trading space. Said FTX."

So, in July 2021, FTX hired Harrison Obiefule as PR manager to hype the company.

...seemed to immediately bring more traffic and referring domains :

E) Contest

Contests are a great way to convince people to give crypto and NFTs a try. FTX uses contests as bait to encourage people to comment on tweets and get involved.

For this contest, FTX gave away 6 NFTs worth $11,000:

[Tip 3]: Simplify information content to make it easier for target users to understand the project

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The crypto world can be difficult to navigate, especially for newcomers. To make the crypto world better understandable, FTX works with well-known creators to create high-quality content that clearly explains their products in plain language.

In order to break the gap between FTX and those who have just entered the encryption field, the brand launched a campaign called "Not an Expert".

They use KOL to create short videos regardless of their image power Tutorials to grab the attention of newcomers.

The wonderful thing about this project is that it only uses 60 seconds of video to explain the basic concept of an encryption term, just like Erika Kullberg's article explaining Bitcoin The same as the article:

Other KOLs that cooperate with FTX to provide users with short video creation include:

·  Kyla Scanlon, founder of Bread, explained the three core functions of Stablecoin and currency in a one-minute video.

· Kayla Kilbride, founder of TheDropNFT. He explained the metaverse.

· Humphrey Yang is an independent video creator explaining smart contracts.

· Duke Alexander Moore, TikTok tax expert, explains the difference between short-term and long-term capital gains.

· Daniel Iles, YouTuber and TikTok KOL, explains the difference between cold and hot wallets.

· Austin Hankwitz, co-founder of Witz, explains DeFi concepts.

· Patrick Kim, Founder and CEO of Worth Network Inc, explains P2E gaming.

· Tejas Hullur, YouTube blogger and digital creator, explains where Bitcoin comes from.

· Adi Adara, Investment Specialist at Brown Venture Group, explains Bitcoin.

· Danny Devan, financial KOL, explains the difference between a bull market and a bear market.

In addition, users can freely download the FTX App to obtain industry news and the latest information from top project parties.

Even, FTX also has a blog, including encryption, NFT and other content for everyone to learn:

< p>· The market review column is used to inform the community about the ups and downs of cryptocurrencies.

· Company News and Events

· A downloadable monthly digest in PDF format of FTX's activities and a list of changes to enhance the user experience.

· A series of videos and blogs attract users' attention to guide and support users to continue investing in cryptocurrencies.

Content marketing can turn potential customers into real customers, Because companies can present their products in an interesting and informative way. FTX utilizes quality content to attract buyers at different stages, including:

Convincing CTA (Call to Action) to invite website visitors to take action.

A catchy tagline is also great for converting potential customers into real customers, as companies can tell users what they're planning next in a clear and concise way ( Read More, Login, Download Free XYZ, Buy)

Here is an example of a CTA on the FTX website:

FTX managed to attract millennials and Gen Z users by using the headline "Join the team" and some images of KOLs . The CTA "Create Free Account" makes it easier for people to sign up for an account without paying any fees.

One of the main reasons people are not interested in crypto trading is because they feel it is It's hard for them.

Therefore, FTX uses the slogan "Open encrypted transactions in the most convenient way" to minimize user bottlenecks in the simplest way.

[Tip 4]: Find Your Prospects

FTX teamed up with comedian Larry David as part of the "Don't Miss" campaign for the first 60 seconds of NBC's Super Bowl halftime show.

In the short film, Larry David plays a version of himself (the proverbial version - Curb Your Enthusiasm). As a time travel skeptic, He laughs at inventions like the wheel, the fork, the toilet, the light bulb and the portable music player.

Towards the end of the ad, David sits behind a table promoting FTX as A safe and secure cryptocurrency trading platform. "Huh? I don't think so, and I've never missed it, never," he said.

Because David is a notorious and cynical person who has never been featured in an ad before, the purpose of this ad is to promote cryptocurrencies to people who are skeptical of the digital currency space.

David's longtime creative partner, Jeff Schaffer, told The Hollywood Reporter that they've been approached by various agencies over the years to talk about collaborations, but when they tried to come up with some concepts, The conversation ended up going nowhere.

However, when the ad agency dentsuMB came up with the idea of David playing a time-travelling idiot, it was too perfect to pass up.

Read more:  The Ultimate Guide to Blockchain Digital Marketing and Cryptocurrency* 5 Best NFT Marketplaces for Beginners in 2022* How to Promote Your NFTs the Right Way

[Tip 5] : Design an irresistible offer to convince users to sign up for your project

Want to get a better result in Web3 marketing overnight? Offer something to convince people to sign up for your service - like FTX offers free and exclusive items to platform users. The trading platform also hosts contests with attractive prizes.

For example: In 2020, FTX held a "100 eth" competition for the top three users of the platform trading. In the competition, players can use cryptocurrency, Futures or options such as altcoins, leveraged Tokens, Stablecoins, and indices.

In 2019, FTX issued the native cryptocurrency FTT and launched Tokenized BTC, which is a A synthetic asset that can track the price of Bitcoin. FTX is one of the few trading platforms that provide leveraged Token, which is an ERC-20 Token with built-in leverage. For example, a 3-fold increase in Bitcoin (bull-3x) for holding 3x exposure to Bitcoin price movements.

Therefore , if you are looking for more ways to acquire cryptocurrencies, or have already spent money to buy/trade cryptocurrencies, it is definitely not a loss to sign up for a free FTX account to get these rewards.

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Of course, after each transaction exceeds $10, the number of Tokens you receive is unlimited. But after $10 or more compliance transactions, you will receive a Token message, These tokens will be automatically deposited into the account. The tokens you get are randomly selected and will not receive the same tokens as in other or previous transactions.

[Technique 6]: Maximize the use of paid search advertising to drive user registration

Using search advertising is a good way for trading platforms to increase brand awareness, because PPC advertising has a high response rate. Google Ads is one of the most efficient ways to acquire new users. It can attract users with high "registration intention" to help increase conversion rates.

Here is an example of a PPC ad run by FTX, emphasizing how easy it is for users to start crypto trading:

Pay attention to the title - "Crypto Investing Made Easy: The Easiest Way to Open Trading" - for the People who are indecisive on the journey are more attractive.

In the ad copy below the headline, they list the timeline — “less than 3 minutes” — for crypto transactions to turn on faster conversions. With excellent copywriting, this specific and short investment copy encourages everyone to start crypto trading because it only takes 3 minutes. Can you test this trick in your own project ad?

Read more advice:How to Improve E-Commerce Landing Pages with Paid Ads Data* 22 Alternative Ad Networks for Best PPC Conversions in 2022* Ecommerce Advertising Strategy: How We Doubled PPC Sales for ThinSlim Foods (with a 3X+ ROAS)

[Skill 7]: Improve website conversion with sincere trust Rate.

There are several ways brands can use trust signals to increase conversions:

· Display customer testimonials or reviews on their website or product pages.

· Provide customers with a money-back guarantee or free returns/exchanges (also referred to in copywriting as "risk reversal" ).

FTX builds a strong relationship with its clients with several clear signals that foster trust. One of the most important trust signals is transparency.

For example, FTX launched the FTX Card, which allows users to start trading crypto with millions of merchants around the world at zero fees. The card is free and offers the highest security standards to keep user funds safe.

FTX maintains transparency in its operations by writing news and publishing Push regularly to update activity dynamics and information. This helps build trust with clients and makes them feel that the trading platform is open and honest about its business.

Another key trust signal is security. FTX has implemented several security measures to protect client assets. FTX maintains cold storage of all client funds and employs a multi-layered security model including 2FA and IP whitelisting. These all help reassure customers that their assets are safe.

FTX has built a solid reputation in the industry. It is one of the most popular and respected cryptocurrency trading platforms. Users also maintain a positive attitude towards them.

This helps build trust with potential customers who see a good user experience with each other.

This helped drive FTX's hypergrowth to over 6 million users.

[Tip 8]: Earn respect by donating to nonprofits

For decades, Corporate philanthropy has always been a murky topic.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goes beyond donations to good causes. Cause marketing goes beyond one-time donations and creates partnerships between companies and nonprofits.

Gain marketing always benefits from working together:

·  Enhance brand loyalty

· Establish a good brand image

· stand out from the competition

· improve Brand Awareness

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has pledged to donate most of his assets (USD or Bitcoin) to non-profit and charitable organizations. He says he only keeps 1% of his assets, which is enough for him to live a comfortable life. (approximately $100,000 per year).

His friends describe him as a strange capitalist monk. Based on the principle of effective altruism, Bankman-Fried is very interested in his philosophy of life "earn more, give more".

The following is FTX's contribution to charity Steps for Institutional Giving:

A) Start the FTX Foundation

Bankman-Fried and Wang started FTX with the goal of making the biggest, most positive impact in the world. Since 2020, FTX and its affiliates have donated millions of dollars to charitable causes. In addition to Bankman -Besides Fried, other members of FTX have also pledged to donate what they create.

In 2021, they formed the FTX Foundation and really made a positive impact on the world .The Foundation's mission is to reduce global extreme poverty, reduce animal suffering, combat climate change, and improve human long-term development prospects.

The FTX Foundation also commits that FTX will Donated projects have a say. Currently, the foundation has raised 1% of FTX fee income.

B) Hire Gisele Bndchen as environmental and social director Head of Initiatives

FTX recently announced that supermodel Gisele Bndchen is now Head of Environmental and Social Initiatives at FTX. Her role is to help FTX connects with high-impact charities.

Bankman -Fried shares the supermodel's passion for philanthropy, as well as building organizations that protect wildlife and the environment to end poverty for future generations. So this is the perfect role for Bndchen.

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C) Donate to Ukrainian officials

Ukrainian officials have cooperated with FTX to launch a Official website for receiving cryptocurrency donations to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and humanitarian aid programs.

The Aid for Ukraine page on the official Ukrainian website is the digital version of the country A joint project between the Ministry of Transformation, US-based cryptocurrency trading platform FTX, staking provider Everstake and Ukrainian trading platform Kuna.

The goal of this website is to raise $200 million. As of March 2022, $60 million has been raised. The site accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polkadot, Solana, Tether, and Dogecoin, as well as lesser-known currencies like ICON and Casper.

FTX is converting all received cryptocurrencies into fiat currency and sending them to the National Bank of Ukraine.

Donation is a very successful marketing strategy for FTX, and the effect is remarkable. Finding a cause or charity is a good strategy, as customers like companies that give back: 85% of consumers prefer businesses that support charities.

Read more:How a Brand Persona Plays Into Effective ROI

#03 To summarize, 8 marketing techniques

FTX has developed an effective marketing strategy , helping the brand become a top cryptocurrency trading platform in a very short period of time.

The company focuses on providing a comprehensive and user-friendly platform to meet the needs of experienced traders as well as novice traders.

FTX builds products for traders, such as leveraged tokens and tokenized stocks. They used Token incentives to acquire early users, and because of the high switching costs, they chose the right L1 blockchain to help expand the DeFi ecosystem around Solana.

Here are the 8 marketing points of FTX's growth strategy:

·< /b> Work with first-line KOLs and less influential KOLs (depending on your budget) to gain project or brand awareness and get involved in industries that are not relevant to you. FTX partnered with a high-end beauty company to reach a new audience.

· Community building is especially important for your crypto school as communities help create more active and engaged higher user base. Use an omnichannel strategy to build your community as this enables a broader user experience across channels. Customers leave here and come back there. FTX has dabbled in most of the leading social media platforms and has a large number of loyal crypto enthusiasts who actively interact with FTX.

· The crypto market can be difficult to navigate, so you need to make your project easy for your target users to understand. FTX has partnered with popular creators to create product education that clearly explains their products in understandable language.

· ** Anticipate problems, explain confusion or doubt, allowing you to understand potential customer sentiment,** and They answer questions before they ask them. To make this happen, FTX teamed up with the consummate skeptic, Larry David. They created a video ad promoting cryptocurrencies to those who are skeptical of the digital currency space.

· If you want to see results quickly with your marketing strategy, you need to provide some sweet bait to Convince people to sign up for your service or buy a product. FTX offers free and exclusive merchandise to platform users and hosts contests with very attractive prizes. Nothing gets people to take action like offering something free/valuable.

· Run search ads to increase brand awareness as PPC ads have a high response rate . FTX ran a PPC ad with excellent copywriting, emphasizing how easy it is for a novice to start a crypto transaction in as little as three minutes. This makes it really hard to resist.

 I hope this Web3 growth research can help you Learn about the marketing strategies FTX uses to attract more users to its crypto trading platform. You can be inspired by their strategies to launch your next big Web3 business.

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