The NFT storm is sweeping the internet right now faster than Will Smith’s slap of Chris Rock. A buying frenzy is underway, driven by speculation and gossip of rich rewards. You hear on the news that digital images and videos are selling for millions of dollars and want a slice of the action. No?
Or you got yourself some awesome NFTs but are not sure about how to market them to potential customers. Maybe you want to avoid the competition in big marketplaces, I bet?
Enter the influencer.
Read on to see how our influencer department, led by Alicia, has used influencers to market NFTs in this $41 billion market that is only expected to grow.
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NFTs are a business model made for influencers and content creators.
We are not solely an NFT marketing agency but we have delved into this space in the past year. It started with a client called Sarah (not her real name). She told us that she is involved in affiliate marketing and crypto but wanted to expand her portfolio into NFTs.
We guess that news of NFS being auctioned for thousands of pounds every day was too attractive for her to let up.
We then presented our solution, influencers.
She was apprehensive about this approach, but we were prepared with an example.
Gary Vaynerchuk.
If you haven’t heard of Gary Vee, his opensea name, he is one of the most known business influencers in the NFT space. He is making sales in the six digits daily.
Check out his portfolio from the last 90 days.
But before we dive into our NFT marketing strategies, let’s dig into NFTs briefly
NFT briefly explained
An NFT, or non-fungible token, is a digital store of value that cannot be replaced. Others also refer to it as a certificate or contract. Depending on the content of the NFT, all terms are correct.
NFTs can digitally record authorship, ownership, terms & conditions of ownership such as shares, other contract details such as prices, or even files. Simply put, it’s a contract. It is also called a smart contract.
The most widely used technology for creating NFTs is currently the Etherium Blockchain. However, there are also other blockchain projects such as Tezos, on which an NFT market is built.
So an NFT is always generated in the blockchain and is therefore also part of it. As a result the content cannot be changed once the NFT is mined. This is the most important thing about NFTs
Another way of looking at it is that NFTs are frozen pieces of data in the blockchain. Once the data is mined, or let’s say hard-coded, it is impossible to change. However, the NFT can be transferred to other people, for example by selling it, auctioning it, or giving it away. This is done on special marketplaces such as Opensea.io or Nifty Gateway, to name just two.
The blockchain is also public. This means it can always be tracked when an NFT was created and by whom or from which wallet. It also shows when, how often, and at what price the NFT was sold.
NFTs have one important feature. You can set them in such a way that the creator receives a self-defined sales fee (royalty) for each sale. The royalty is set as a percentage when creating the NFT. Marketplaces often recommend about ten%. If a buyer sells his NFT, the creator of the NFT also receives a percentage of the new purchase price. This happens automatically with every sale and is controlled and monitored by the blockchain.
I like to think of it as a diamond that is mined from the ground with permanent details etched on its surface that reflect the latest transaction. These details can’t be changed once placed on the diamond. NFTs are the same but just in the form of digital assets or digital art.
I hope that gives you a clearer idea of what NFTs are.
How we use influencers to earn money with NFTs
We have a number of strategies that we have implemented over the past year. Some with more success than others. But first, we need to draw attention to one important thing that governs our NFT marketing strategy:
Promoting NFTs is crucial for sales success.
Let us repeat that again.
Promoting NFTs is crucial for sales success.
You need to make sure that your NFTs are seen.
And what do influencers have?
A community of attentive followers.
By using Influencers, you have an existing community that is hooked to their words. This is the secret sauce and at the same time the driver of your NFT business success.
But how can some famous guy who I never heard about sell my NFTs?
Keep reading to understand the logic behind this approach
The influencer business is a fan business
The influencer business is a fan business, much like that of athletes or soccer players. Many people follow a person and celebrate them for what they do, what they represent. As their reach increases, it is not uncommon for the fan community to desire to own an original of their idol.
How about an original drawing, video, or even a Twitter posting of their icon to call their own? That’s worth hard cash to many people.
A few real-life examples: As The Guardian has reported, Jack Dorsey, founder of the Twitter platform, sold a picture of the very first post on Twitter, for $2.5 million. The image was packaged in an NFT. Another example is shown by the artist Beeple. He sells his artworks as NFTs on the Nifty Gateway marketplace. There they are traded for sometimes millions of cold, hard cash.
But that’s not all
The originals are valuable
How can a digital copy be valuable when I can screenshot it for free and print it?
The answer is simple. Because you can hold the original in your hands!
The NFT- or in other words, the blockchain technology is the game changer here!
In an NFT, not only the artwork but also the ownership and the origin of the publisher are irrevocably stored.
Only those who hold the NFT in their hands, or rather in their crypto wallet, can claim that they also own the original.
A brief example for better understanding. The image of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci can be found by anyone on the internet. You can download it and use it as you wish. But in this form, it has no value for you.
Let’s assume that the picture would still hang in the Louvre, but you would have a certificate in your hand that clearly proves that you are the owner of the picture.
All of a sudden, the painting is an object of value. It’s the same with NFTs.
Now that you understand how you combine this strange relationship between the value of a unique digital asset and an influencer fan base we can get back to the strategies.
Marketing strategy number 1: Sell either individual works or collections
We use an influencer who has a creative streak to give his or her approval for an NFT and release them for sale or auction via marketplaces.
There is no point doing NFTs that focus on hip music and using a soccer influencer to market them.
What’s needed is a popular hip artist to promote them.
Whether it’s images, graphics, or videos, there’s no limit. They can sell individual works or even entire collections, which is currently the trend.
Of course, they take a slice of the action. But our clients still make a handsome profit.
A collection consists of several works of the same series. The motifs within a collection can be identical, but numbered, similar to trading cards. For example, Beeple has sold multiple series of his work, each time making more and more money. There is no such thing as more than that, an artificial scarcity.
NFT collections can also consist of different motifs that are similar. The “Crypto Punks” are a good example of this. Each punk is individual, but there are only 10,000 of them. Again, an artificial scarcity.
In the marketing of NFTs, scarcity plays an important role. In the end, that’s what makes an original, too.
Marketing strategy number 2: Collaborate with influencers
If you don’t have a creative streak, a desire to design NFTs, or just don’t have the skills, you can copy Paris Hilton. Her first NFT collection “Planet Paris” was created in collaboration with artist Blake Kathryn. Among other things, the artist created a memorial to Paris’ late dog Tinkerbell Hilton. She designed the dog as a 3D model, animated it, and accompanied the animation with pop music. A funny idea that sold for $11,000.
We have a bank of global influencers who have collaborated with us on previous projects. They are open to entering the NFT industry.
Marketing strategy number 3: Identify potential talent and buy the rights to their special moments
This last option is risky but if it turns out well then jackpot.
In a nutshell, we identify an influencer who has potential and buy the NFTs of special moments in that influencer’s “career”. This could be their first Tik Tok video, Twitter tweet or Facebook like.
This comes off the success of Jack Dorsey selling his first tweet as an NFT.
We advise spreading the risk amongst several upcoming influencers.
Where we see NFTs going
NFTs are still very much in their infancy. It’s hard to keep track of the NFT market. There are many NFT projects, marketplaces, and blockchain projects. In addition, blockchain technology is still poorly understood. In our opinion, the USA is where most of the growth is happening, and NFTs are only just starting to take hold in the UK.
The situation resembles the early days of social media. Most people don’t know what to make of the term NFT. Others shake their heads because they don’t understand how so much money can be spent on digital documents. People who deal with NFTs are often laughed at or considered lucky when they make money. But the fact is that there is a huge market emerging. NFTs feel like a trend right now, but they represent a technology shift. Perhaps we are experiencing the turning point for the entire Internet.
Overall, NFTs are a real opportunity for artists, especially for content creators and influencers. Whoever deals with it today can be a celebrated pioneer of tomorrow and build up a business with their art. It would be wrong to close your eyes to it. It is essential to have fun trying out and exploiting the technology, especially as a social media creator.
We are constantly improving our influencer marketing and social media marketing strategies so keep an eye on future posts on NFT marketing hacks.
How do I get started with NFT marketing?
If you have an NFT project or want to market your digital assets outside of NFT marketplaces then contact us about our NFT marketing services.
FAQs
Is email marketing a good way to promote my NFT?
No, the NFT community is the new “woke” generation. Use the trending social media channels to promote your NFT art. Remember that your target audience may use a certain channel more than other target audiences, e.g. Generation Z vs Millenials.
Do you do search engine optimization to ensure that my NFT stands out?
Yes, we do SEO optimised content to ensure that your content is at the top of the Google rankings
Is telegram marketing a good way to access potential NFT buyers?
Honestly, we have never looked at this medium. Maybe consider contacting marketing agencies that deal in this form of digital marketing.
