Last Updated on March 29, 2024
A token presale generally serves two purposes: crowdfunding to see through the completion of the project and marketing your crypto project before the initial token offer. And you should keep in mind that a successful token presale is always the catalyst needed for the successful launch of the initial token offering.
Mismanaging a crypto presale could most certainly jeopardize your project’s future, and you must be prepared. That’s why we’ll discuss how to attract interest for your token throughout this guide.
What is a Crypto Token Presale?
Token presale is the first offering of a project’s tokens to investors before the project is fully completed. They serve as crowdfunding vehicles for developers to get the much-needed funds to see the project to completion.
They help devs to spread the word about their upcoming blockchain project and attract more attention from an overall marketing perspective. Think of a token presale as a pre-IDO or pre-IEO offering designed to set the stage for the fully-fledged IDO or IEO.
How to Execute a Crypto Token Presale
Given their popularity, conducting an IDO or IEO presale is advisable. This basically involves doing your token presale through a decentralized or centralized crypto exchange. In this case, the exchange handles all your presale needs, from vetting your project, whitelisting the potential investors, handling the investors’ funds, and creating the smart contracts.
Typically, the token presale process will vary depending on your chosen exchange. For example, if you conduct a pre-IDO token sale, there won’t be any KYC requirements for the potential investors. In a token presale, you can decide whether to do an investor-only presale by setting a significantly higher minimum presale amount or an open-for-all token presale to accommodate retail investors.
Crypto Token Presale Checklist
Before you proceed with your token presale, you must first consider checking off a few things.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
Think of a minimum viable product as a proof of concept for your crypto project. It’s a project with sufficient features to show your early investors that their funds will be put to good use. Generally, the crypto community doesn’t expect your project to be fully fledged when you go on a token presale. After all, you’re raising funds to see through the completion of the project.
Whitepaper
This goes without saying, but we’ll say it anyway, if you’re going to a presale without a thorough whitepaper, then expect your project to be dead on arrival. The whitepaper should be simple, easy to read and has all the information about your project. It should point out the existing gap in the industry and how the project will plug it, the project’s Tokenomics, its roadmap, and the technical specs.
Your prospective investors will want to know what your game plan is. Keep this section as transparent and realistic as possible.
Website
We’re in the 21st century; if you don’t have a website, you might as well not proceed with your project at all. Your website is always the first place any prospective investors will go to gather detailed information about your project. So as far as first impressions go, ensure your website is properly designed, with sections detailing everything about the project. You can also put a countdown clock to the start or end of the token sale and a counter showing how much was raised.
Social Media Community
In this day and age, growing and nurturing your digital footprint is a no-brainer. This should be the first step in your marketing campaign; these channels will serve as your primary contact with the crypto community. Always reserve social media handles related to your project’s name early on.
It’s no secret that crypto projects tend to be judged by the size and how active their community is. So, if possible, build and grow your Discord community from the onset of your project, or at least once you have the minimum viable product ready. Hire competent community managers and invite as many users as you can – from your friends and family to early investors. And make sure they are all engaged in active conversations regarding your project, which will encourage them to spread the word too.
Protocol Audit
Nothing attracts investors’ interest more than a fully audited crypto project with a clean bill of health. If you want your token presale to be taken seriously and attract big money investors, consider a full audit from reputable blockchain auditors. This should be the first step before you consider listing on token presale calendars or partnering with launchpads. Sharing the audit report tells the world that your contract is safe from potential vulnerabilities and exploits.
Token Presale Marketing Strategy
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Once you’re through the token presale checklist, here are some of the best marketing strategies.
Token Sales Calendars
The ideal way to directly get eyeballs on your project is to list your upcoming token sale on token sale calendars. This is also one of the most direct methods of reaching out to interested investors since no one really checks out token sale calendars unless they’re interested in initial token offerings.
There are hundreds of reputable token sales calendar websites like CoinMarketCap Calendar and ICO Drops. These calendars could give you more exposure.
Collaborating with Reputable Launchpads
Getting hosted on a launchpad often gives investors additional confidence since most reputable launchpads conduct thorough due diligence before you’re listed. Finding a reputable launchpad should be relatively easy since most top crypto exchanges have their own launchpads. And you can list on multiple launchpads to maximize your exposure.
Collaborating with launchpads makes the entire token presale a seamless process. They usually have a community of investors ready to pounce on promising projects and always play an active role in the marketing process.
Some even have incubator programs where they invest in your project and ready it for the market. You should consider applying to such programs and benefit from the additional hands-on marketing support.
Social, Content, and Influencer Marketing
Goes without saying that content is king in the digital age. A blockchain marketing campaign is the simplest way to build up the credibility and authority of your token sale. Video marketing is one of the easiest ways to consume content – not much effort is needed from the user.
Content marketing helps you engage with the community, and with search engine optimization – you avoid disappearing into oblivion. The best option is to produce blog posts on product announcements, distribute press releases, and educational content regarding your project and the industry.
Admittedly, not every potential investor has the technical know-how to pour through pages of a whitepaper; this is where animated video explainers excel. Video marketing lets you describe the project in-depth with “how to” guides and explain how to participate in the token presale. Ideally, you should partner with the best crypto YouTube channels for your video marketing strategy.
And since you can never have too much help when it comes to marketing your token presale, you should onboard crypto social media influencers to help spread the word about your token presale. Don’t just stop there, go a step further and partner with some of the most reputable key opinion leaders (KOLs) within the crypto industry to back your project.
The goal here is to be consistent.
PR Outreach
PR marketing is perhaps one of the best marketing strategies for community outreach. It’s an ongoing concerted effort throughout the token sale cycle. Token presale PR outreach could take the form of regular AMA (Ask-Me-Anything) sessions with the community, setting up challenges, contests, and giveaways, running ads, and partnering with top websites to share product updates. Email marketing is also an invaluable aspect of PR outreach. There’s no better way to reach potential investors than by knocking right in their inbox.
You can run joint AMA sessions on some of the best crypto podcasts as a PR strategy to introduce you to their community. It’s ideal to plan a coordinated marketing strategy in advance, probably months before you launch your presale. This gives you enough time to grow and engage with your online community, which will help you shape your marketing message.
Ideally, partnering with a crypto marketing agency will help you with PR outreach and content marketing.
Conclusion
Conducting a token sale is a serious task. As we mentioned, botching a token presale could most certainly jeopardize your project’s future. As detailed throughout this guide, a successful token presale is a concerted effort involving several individuals and organizations and must be carefully planned. This is why your project could benefit from the professional expertise of crypto marketing agencies to attract interest in your token presale.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do crypto projects conduct presales?
Projects conduct presales to secure early funding and support for their development. By offering tokens at a discounted rate, projects can attract investors who believe in their vision and want to benefit from the potential future value appreciation of the tokens.
How does a crypto presale differ from other token sales?
Crypto presales differ from other token sales in terms of timing, investor participation, and token price. Presales occur before the project's public sale or initial exchange offering (IEO), and they usually involve a smaller group of investors who have access to discounted tokens not available to the general public.
