“The purpose of a business is to create and maintain a customer. Since a company’s goal is to create a customer, the company has two – and only two – basic functions: marketing and innovation. “
These are the words of the late administration guru Peter F Drucker. You can try reading “ Growth through marketing and innovation: how Peter Drucker shaped ReadyTalk ” For a detailed account of Drucker’s thoughts on this one.
Start with the basics. Find out if you have a viable business idea that will sell in the market. Also, find out who your customers are. If there is no valid business case for blockchain, do not plan an ICO. Go back to the drawing board.
You need to do market research because the only way to know if you have a viable idea is to check out the market.
You also need customers! You need to know who they are, where they live, what they do, where they get answers to their questions, etc. To build a successful business, you need to visualize your customer. Create a “Buyer Persona”, that is, a fictitious customer, albeit based on real market data.ICO investors are increasingly examining projects and may consider your project a scam if you don’t have a viable business idea.
The business leaders who are good start with “who” not with “where”. They start by putting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right places. “
These are the words of management expert Jim Collins. Read the importance he attributes to a great team in ” GOOD FOR GREAT “.
You need a large technical team with a proven ability to build blockchain cryptocurrency systems. They also need relevant industry experience. Team members should have eminence, eg. they should have published several insightful articles on blockchain technology.
ICOs are not regulated, however, around the world, regulators are paying attention to them. You need a competent legal team that has proven ICO experience and is at the top of the evolving regulatory landscape vis-à-vis ICOs.
A large ICO marketing team is mandatory because they can be just the difference between a successful and a lackluster ICO.
Investors first verify the credentials of the ICO team as part of their preparation to invest in an ICO. Read how important they consider this to be in the “Beginner’s Guide: How to Participate in an ICO?”.
How to successfully launch ICO: you need a great strategy first
Product Development Strategy Plan
- Check if a decentralized project is used to incorporate blockchain technology.
- Check if you want a token.
- Reduce the use of untested technology solutions. Because untested technology leads to more risks.
Remember that when your investors read the ICO white paper, they will ask you these questions.
You need to strategize how you will stay on the right side of the regulations. Consider the following questions:
- Are ICOs legal in your jurisdiction ??
- Do you need to meet the requirements of ‘Know your customer (KYC) and ‘Anti-Money Laundering (AML)?
- Are you selling security tokens or utility tokens? Regulatory requirements are strict for security tokens, read more about this in “Security token vs. utility token: a comparison“.
Decide on a governance strategy, eg the project will become a democratic networked organization in the future, eg. an ‘Autonomous Decentralized Organization’ (DAO)?
The marketing strategy is a key component.
Several concepts need to be taken into consideration.
How to better use digital marketing channels using your website, white paper, content, etc.?
- Which advertising channels will you use?
- How will you involve cryptographic communities?
- How many tokens should you launch in the air?
Use your blockchain product development for progress:
Alpha or Beta versions of the products are expected by ICO investors. If you’re not there yet, get ready to show off a working prototype. Investors would be fine if their UI wasn’t the most elegant yet, but they hope to see a product.
If you don’t even have a working prototype, make sure you have the open-source on GitHub ready for review. Investors suspect that the project is a scam if the GitHub repository is empty or if the project has closed source code.
Read how investors treat their product and code with great importance in the “Beginner’s Guide: How to spot ICO scams”.
Comply with ICO regulatory requirements:
With Ponzi schemes making their way into ICOs, regulators have started looking at ICOs now.
Your legal team must prepare for current and future regulations as far as they can reasonably anticipate. This includes your ICO’s legal status in a jurisdiction, KYC, AML, securities regulations, and potentially much more.
You don’t want to be on the “Top 5 Blockchain SEC investigations to watch in 2018” list or similar lists!
Run a proactive ICO marketing campaign:
While product development and legal preparations are in progress, your team must continue to create the content. This includes the ICO website, white paper, blog posts, social media posts, engaging infographics, video, podcasts, etc. Content should be professional and engaging.
Be proactive
Hire an ICO community manager to proactively engage cryptographic communities in chat apps, social media platforms, and cryptographic forums. Read why you need staff for this important role in ” ICO community manager: the importance of the role in your ICO”.
Use PR and media reach, advertising campaigns, reward campaigns, and email marketing to great effect to attract investors to your ICO development. Make sure you have the right infrastructure in place. You need to attend blockchain cryptography events and present your project to potential investors and potential customers.
Remember to guide your potential investors through your website, blog, and community publications on how they can participate in your ICO. I recommend that you read “An ICO marketing checklist for your blockchain cryptocurrency project” to better prepare yourself.
Create ICO tokens and launch the sale of ICO tokens:
While you can create your blockchain and crypto-token network from scratch, it takes more time and requires a larger budget. Alternatively, you can use the Ethereum blockchain platform to get started, create your ICO tokens, and start selling ICO tokens.
