The playbook for launching a Web3 project has changed significantly over the last two years. What worked in 2021 and 2022 — aggressive token incentives, speculative narratives, influencer pumps — has mostly stopped working, or works much more selectively.
The market is more skeptical. Users have been through enough failed launches and rugs that they now look for substance before engaging. A slick website and a whitepaper are not enough. Projects need to show real usage, real team, and a credible path to utility.
KOL marketing still works, but the ROI has compressed. The best KOLs are now selective about what they promote, and their audiences have learned to take paid promotions with a grain of salt. Reach alone does not convert the way it used to.
Community-first growth remains effective when it is genuine. Projects that build a real community around a shared interest or utility — not just token speculation — retain users and generate organic word of mouth. This takes longer but compounds better.
Selective airdrop campaigns tied to real actions still work. The key word is selective. Broad airdrops attract farmers who dump immediately. Airdrops tied to meaningful on-chain behavior or product usage attract people who actually care about the project.
Ecosystem partnerships have become more valuable. Getting integrated into an established ecosystem — as a tool, a use case, a featured project — gives you distribution that you cannot buy through ads.
Start with a small, high-conviction community. Identify the 200 to 500 people who genuinely care about the problem you are solving and treat them as co-builders. Let them shape the product. Let them be the loudest advocates. Then build outward from there.
Written by
Antonin
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