We’ve collected some links to work out what’s happening among industry participants since the cryptocurrency and ICO ads ban on Facebook came into effect.
Anti Danilevski, CEO of KICKICO crowdfunding platform, has an optimistic view on the matter. According to him, “this new trend might even turn out a positive outcome for the platform: our chance to become the place that unites people willing to learn about the launching ICO campaigns.” He thinks that ICO market will become more professional, as higher costs of running tokesales will push out weak and scammy players. His other prediction is about “some new large advertising, banner and CPA networks to appear in the world of crypto.” https://medium.com/@kickico/facebook-and-instagram-ico-ad-ban-ddfac3053ae2
A similar outlook is expressed by Sid Kalla, co-founder of Turing Group, in an article on why Facebook’s crypto ad ban won’t affect cryptocurrencies or ICOs: “Less technically serious projects might raise less money and thats probably good for the space.” http://www.tearsheet.co/blockchain/reality-check-why-facebooks-crypto-ad-ban-wont-affect-cryptocurrencies-or-icos
Reddit threads contain a wide range of opinions and might be a good place to vent one’s anger regardless of whether you hate Facebook ads or their new policy. https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/7u3erk/facebook_bans_all_advertising_related_to_bitcoin/
And, inevitably, there are those who find ways to evade the ban, like creators of this recent ad, which replaced the "o" in "BITCOIN" with a zero, and the capital I’s, with lowercase L’s. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-09/cryptocurrency-ads-find-ways-around-facebook-s-ban

How ICOs utilise the magic power of blockchain to reform dating, relationship & marriage advice, and adult content industry.
https://viola.ai/, a marketplace for dating and relationships, is supposed to make dating easier for singles and improve relationships in couples with an ‘A.I. and crowd-wisdom engine that gives sound advice, useful recommendations, timely concierge service and quality matches’. This includes highly targeted and relevant content such as notifications for dates, gifts recommendations, dating and marriage advice, and even breakup grieving support. The goods and services from experts/merchants on the platform are customised for each user according to their personalised needs (e.g. no wedding rings ads for singles who have not found a partner yet).
The following companies make bet on security and anonymity of the blockchain for adult content consumers and performers. Apart from the predictable purplish-pink palette and abundance of naked flesh in visuals, marketing strategies involve attracting industry professionals (webcam models and pornstars) as advisers. The list of questionable ideas for questionable content includes:
https://livestars.io/, a webcam platform that implements blockchain technology, assures its users of complete anonymity, secure messaging, instant automated purchases and payouts with no third-party involvement.
https://erotix.io/, a video tube website for uploading and viewing adult photos and videos. Any user will be able to earn tokens for both watching and uploading content. The Erotix Store will offer adult related products, merchandise, and themed games.
https://okoin.io/ is a decentralized blockchain-based VR platform for professional adult video distribution. The company has released its own virtual reality headset specifically designed for viewing interactive adult video content.

​​Here's a response from an investor to the news that their ICO project team plans to focus on developing the product before looking for more followers on Telegram.

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

For professional help with community management and marketing for your ICO, email us at hi@cryptosmm.com today.

Our collection of events related to ICO advertising & marketing that made it into the news since last week.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/polish-central-bank-secretly-funds-anti-crypto-youtube-propaganda-videos - State banks have realized the power of influencer marketing.
https://news.bitcoin.com/japanese-crypto-exchanges-tap-star-power-marketing-arms-race/ - Have you ever thought about alternatives to Facebook? Crypto ads in Japan made their way on TV and in the streets.
https://www.coindesk.com/actor-steven-seagal-endorses-questionable-bitcoiin-ico/ - Celebrity endorsement as a scam indicator: action film star Steven Seagal has become the brand ambassador for a controversial ICO.

French regulator curbs cryptocurrency-tied derivatives ads, and addresses a prospect of regulating ICOs.
https://news.bitcoin.com/france-cracks-down-on-bitcoin-derivatives/

A list of 40 most influential cryptocurrency and blockchain experts to follow in 2018
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@dainisg/40-best-blockchain-influencers-and-cryptocurrency-experts-to-follow-in-2018-on-steemit-too

Influencer marketing is currently one of the fastest growing categories in advertising. By 2020 it is projected to be a $5 billion to $10 billion market. But, despite the popularity and proven effectiveness, there is still room for improvement, and, naturally, there are a lot of ICO startups trying to do that by introducing blockchain into the game. We’ve found 3 projects that all highlight the following issues with the status quo:
opaque pricing due to big number of agents that get from 10% to 50% commissions from influencers’ revenue and up to 30% of the corporate marketing budget;
fraudulent agents, agency managers and advertisers;
lack of industry standards and guidelines resulting in low quality social media mentions or failure to meet a set task;
complicated, time-consuming negotiation and onboarding process.

Here’s what the companies propose as a solution:
https://socialmedia.market/, a decentralised influencer advertising marketplace, aims to simplify marketing interaction between business and influencers by creating a safe and transparent ecosystem, which will allow bloggers and brands to easily find each other, create, perform and analyze advertising campaigns. The platform will provide its users with secure transactions, mechanisms for dispute resolution, identity verification, campaign templates, CRM-system, and analytics tools.

https://patron-ico.io/ is developing a sharing economy system which could work similar to Airbnb, with ‘hosts’ purchasing influential posts. This model is designed to eliminate the need in an intermediary between bloggers and their clients. In addition to that, the company is planning to launch an application, which will allow social media influencers to stream live videos simultaneously to more than ten different platforms including the leading social media such as Facebook Live, Periscope, YouTube.

https://mavin.network/ico/ sets itself apart by extending their user base to include micro and nano influencers with the amount of followers ranging from 1000 to 10 000. The platform will give acсess to four core campaign products. Campaign results will go through AI and user verification that can determine hashtag accuracy, as well as tonality of comments. High verification score will allow influencers to score points on the platform and use them to apply for new jobs. This should prevent users from participating in campaigns which do not match their profile.

Our collection of articles on ICO advertising & marketing that have appeared since last week.
- Spreading rumors about Google AdWords ad suspension despite no official changes in the company’s policies regarding cryptocurrencies and ICOs.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-advertisers-on-google-adwords-report-ad-suspensions-and-account-terminations
- Twitter is taking some steps to combat cryptocurrency scammers on its platform. But these are best classified as ‘baby steps’ at this point.
https://beta.techcrunch.com/2018/03/08/twitter-is-suspending-some-users-who-solicit-crypto/

A calendar of upcoming international blockchain & cryptocurrency events and conferences at
https://bravenewcoin.com/industry-resources/events-calendar/bitcoin-and-blockchain-events/

Can an ICO marketing campaign benefit from posts translated into English via Google Translate, and from the copywriter having no clue about current cultural contexts in other countries? Spoiler alert: turns out it can.

At the end of February, The New York Times published an article on women in cryptocurrencies (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/25/business/cryptocurrency-women-blockchain-bros.html). It illustrated the inevitable sexism in the industry, using an advert by ICO DateCoin. The company, which has a Russian-speaking team, released a picture which “featured a reclining woman in a swimsuit with text over her body that read, ‘Touch my I.C.O.’”

On March 8, International Women’s Day, DateCoin responded on their official Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/DateCoinLT/photos/a.1519899001465161.1073741828.1519885531466508/1594021067386287/?type=3&theater), claiming to be against sexism and discrimination. The company thanked the journalists for bringing up the gender equality issue and added that “together with the author” they “hope to strengthen the role of the beautiful half of humanity in the field of cryptocurrencies and blockchain.”

“The beautiful half of humanity” doesn’t seem to make much sense until you run it through Google Translate to get the Russian expression “fairer sex,” which any native English proofreader wouldn’t allow to be printed.

This could either be a genuine attempt at repairing one's reputation, compromised by a lack of English skills and an unconscious sexism thriving in Russia, or an attempt at trolling. Both potential variants seem to have failed as the post still doesn’t have any comments, and no scandal ensued.

Moral of the story: if you are planning an ICO marketing campaign, give it to professionals who can develop a social media strategy, create engaging and respectful content, and handle negative feedback. Email us at hi@cryptosmm.com

Industry experts keep discussing the wave of ICO advertising bans by major social media platforms and search engines. We’ve made a collection of the most interesting opinions on the subject.
Forbes: “There will be growth in industry-specific advertising services. Niches will form to pick up where Google and Baidu have left off” https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2018/03/16/heres-why-the-cryptocurrency-market-is-not-too-spooked-about-googles-ico-ad-ban/#744d267d71be
Financefeeds: CEO and FX industry marketing, branding and public relations specialist Nicc Lewis “looks at how to conduct good quality marketing and gain wide coverage to a good audience going forward”
https://financefeeds.com/no-online-marketing-guest-editorial/
aNewDomain: “The best ICOs have always relied on some level of independent press coverage to back up their claims. But now they’ll need the press a lot more, and the planning, personnel and strategy to get there. Strategic, well thought-out PR and marketing plans to reach journalists and analysts are going to be a must.”
http://anewdomain.net/twitter-crypto-ad-ban-grow-up-ico-babies/
Cryptovest: Google’s “decision as a futile attempt “to stem the tide of the eventual replacement of the old centralized economy with the newly decentralized crypto-economy.”
https://cryptovest.com/news/exclusive-blockchain-space-unfazed-by-social-ban-on-crypto-ads/

Blockchain dev and writer Michiel Mulders gives an interesting first-hand opinion on why bounty campaigns are not worth it anymore:

“The original goal of an ICO bounty program is receiving ‘free’ marketing, or other tasks to benefit the project. Perhaps early on, this was a very effective marketing tool. People wrote blogs, created great content and received a nice amount of tokens in return. In this way, the project could create a healthy long-term community.”

Nowadays, people falsely see bounty programs as a way of getting easy and free money to be sold as soon the token gets listed. This has a negative effect on the long-term tokens holders as the price of the token immediately drops because of these short-term gold seekers.

This also results in a very poor quality of content that bounty hunter produce as they “do not even visit the project’s website for a prolonged period of time, let alone read their whitepaper, and lack much, if any, understanding of the project. These types of people are toxic to blockchain startup communities and contribute no value to them, unless “when moon” is the type of question you like to read twenty times per day in your Telegram.”

For people participating in bounty campaigns the situation is no better because of the oversaturated market. “Many ICOs fail and people receive worthless tokens which will never get listed, are worth too little to exchange off the platform, or equate to far less than minimum wage in many countries.”

https://hackernoon.com/3-essential-things-i-learned-being-part-of-an-ico-fb22f52da758

Didn’t you forget to integrate blockchain into your business?
There’s already a blockchain-based toothbrush out there that lets you mine coins by brushing your teeth
https://technode.com/2018/03/27/the-worlds-first-blockchain-toothbrush-lets-you-mine-coins-by-brushing-your-teeth/

All marketing news over the past couple of weeks continue to be focused around restrictions on crypto-related advertisements.

Who’s next? MailChimp and LinkedIn banned ICO and cryptocurrency ads https://www.coindesk.com/email-service-mailchimp-block-ico-crypto-marketing/

Companies now implement different tactics to bypass Facebook’s ICO ad ban http://bitcoinist.com/c-currency-circumvent-facebook-ico-advertising-ban/

Cryptocurrency associations and businesses from Switzerland, Kazakhstan and Armenia have joined the initiative to sue Internet corporations over restrictions on crypto-related advertisements https://news.bitcoin.com/more-communities-join-the-legal-action-against-crypto-ads-ban/

We keep collecting useful resources that might prove helpful in ICO marketing.
BitClave released The DeSearch Crypto Search Engine https://desearch.com which is primarily indexing crypto&blockchain-related materials including Telegram channels, BT, company and influencer Medium content, and Reddit. It can be used to facilitate quick search for a specific cryptocurrency, ICO, or personality (for example, a developer).

Our digest of things to read on ICO marketing.

Words that marketers have to use to avoid problems with the SEC:
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-05-31/sec-isn-t-needed-with-this-ico-vocabulary.
Meanwhile, the SEC has also exercised their design skills, and created a mock ICO site to warn those who are into investing:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-sec-created-a-mock-ico-website-to-show-just-how-easy-it-is-for-investors-to-get-fleeced-2018-05-16.
A comprehensive article on everything you need to know about ICO Marketing in 2018:
https://99bitcoins.com/ico-marketing-guide-strategy/.

An ICO marketing stunt that led to the death of its participant:
“To attract the public’s interest, ASKfm tasked four cryptocurrency enthusiasts with the audacious mission of scaling Mount Everest to bury two hardware wallets containing $50,000 worth of the company’s tokens, ASKT, at the summit.
https://cryptodaily.co.uk/2018/06/horrific-askfm-marketing-stunt-has-caused-the-death-of-a-guide-on-mt-everest/

There are a lot of blockchain startups out there working on disruptive solutions for marketing and advertising industry. We’ve picked 3 ICOs to illustrate the trends in value-driven social engagement.

All of them try to cater to the needs of users, content creators, sellers, and advertisers at once. Suggested solutions to their problems revolve around providing users with control over their personal data, compensation for content creation based on popularity, monetary incentives for content moderation. Advertisers should get more control over their marketing campaigns with direct access to their target audience. Platforms functionality includes options for selling and purchasing goods and services online, as well as wallets for making easy cryptocurrency payments to businesses and individuals.

Howdoo (https://howdoo.io) is a social platform that aims to give users tools to create financially incentivized social communities based on the common interests, which can earn a share of the advertising revenues generated from their contributions to the network.

All.me (https://all.me/) social network offers accounts (magazines) that can earn rewards by transmitting ads on behalf and from user’s profile. The reward size depends on the user activity and popularity.

JustHive (https://company.justhive.com) proposes micro-forums as an alternative to social media platforms. Improved interface with features that allow to organize posts, create groups (colonies), sell products, or raise funds are supposed to support creation of meaningful content and community interaction.

​​If you’ve never heard about ICO airdrops here is a short guide that can get you started (Part 1).

What is it? Airdrop is a free distribution of project coins or tokens, used as a marketing tool to spread the word about the ICO among the relevant audience of potential investors or rewarding existing token holders.

What is the difference between an airdrop and a bounty campaign?
During a bounty campaign participants are asked to provide a certain service or complete a task (do a translation, write an article or make a review, promote an ICO on their social media accounts, etc.) to get a stake of tokens as a reward.
Airdrops are supposed to allocate an equal amount of tokens (or on a set scale) via a registration form or snapshot without getting anything in return. It is all about creating a viral effect without making participants complete tasks.

In the next part we will give examples of different types of airdrops and some tips on how to organize them.