2018: The Year of Building Communities
Based on my observations, 2018 was a year when smart FinTech startups deliberately focused on building online communities. From what I have seen, very few startups were able to improve their profitability or add substantial new revenue streams. Very often, existing sources or revenues actually shrunk 🙁
However, here is what helped some companies continue growing and to survive amidst the “crypto winter”:
What did (allegedly) not work that well?
However, here is what helped some companies continue growing and to survive amidst the “crypto winter”:
- Airdrops and partner airdrops (I don’t particularly like this method, but it worked for many, even if the value or the token was questionable)
- Smart referral and affiliation programs and gamification (think Binance – I really admire their marketing strategy)
- Meetups and more meetups, getting closer to local communities and cultivating micro-influencers. There is nothing like seeing someone face-to-face.
- Being present on Reddit (yes, I know, it’s controversial, but it worked)
- Videos and more videos
- Fiat crowdfunding (think Monzo – I adore this company and especially their approach to T&Cs, Privacy Policy and keeping things simple)
What did (allegedly) not work that well?
- Ad banners
- Telegram following
- Conferences
- Lower fees (because everyone was doing it)
- LinkedIn became overcrowded. It did work for B2B businesses and high-ticket sales, but is way too noisy and scattered for connecting with an average consumer.
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