MELD is a non-custodial DeFi protocol for Web3 finance, providing cross-chain lending, borrowing, and staking on the MELD blockchain. It supports the six leading blockchains. MELD is a TOP 10 DeFi project built on Cardano. During 2023, they’ve been building the ultimate Web3 neobanking app for integrated fiat and crypto finance, set to launch by the end of the year.
Gameplan
MELD started to expand its ecosystem and aimed to launch an ultimate Web3 app for integrated fiat banking, named MELD.fi. We supported the launch from the initial brainstorming stage to execution to adjustments in the strategy.
Here is what was done
- Strategy
- Creative Campaigns
- Social Media
- Airdrop Marketing
- AMAs
Strategy
To jumpstart our collaboration and ensure a smooth launch, we first established the strategic direction of MELD and defined how:
- The launch fits within their existing communication & branding.
- The new product offering retains Web3-natives that use the protocol already.
- The neo-bank acquires new Web3-curious users to the ecosystem.
Trust was crucial for the campaign. MELD aimed to uphold its reputation for two audiences:
- Existing 100K+ protocol community looking forward to a new addition to the DeFi ecosystem.
- New Web3-curious users searching for a retail-friendly product.
- Target Audience
By analyzing the current offering, existing community, and USP of the product, we identified three key user personas to target in our marketing:
- Early adopters, Web3 users, and enthusiasts.
- Digital nomads and travelers.
- Entrepreneurs, startups, and freelancers.
A sneak peek into our target audience research.
- Tactics
Collaborating closely with MELD’s internal marketing team, we came up with five key strategies we can leverage on a long-term basis. We focused on mixing creative campaigns with data-driven tested tactics to ensure success.
- Campaign #1: Bidding on competitors’ keywords
Launch ads on Google specifically targeting keywords associated with competitors’ service issues, like “Why Revolut blocked my account?”, to capture the attention of unsatisfied users.
Redirect these users to a dedicated landing page that offers MELD as a more reliable alternative, emphasizing USPs and highlighting advantages over competitors.
Encourage registrations by offering a monetary reward of $1,000 to every 1,000th user who signs up through these targeted ads. - Campaign #2: Airdrop for Web3 audience
Reach out to MELD’s current user base on the DeFi platform, inviting them to join the waitlist. For each dollar they deposit into MELD during the campaign, they receive an additional 2 dollars in MELD tokens.
Attract and retain dedicated users by executing a token airdrop into their MELD accounts, deepening their engagement with the platform.
Advertise this exclusive offer through MELD’s newsletter, across its social media channels, and with direct notifications on the MELD DeFi app. - Campaign #3: Engagement campaign with lottery mechanics
Introduce MELD’s unique banking solution by capitalizing on community involvement. As more people register, each participant’s chances of winning increase, with the lottery results being completely randomized.
Users who register and complete the KYC process are automatically entered into a lottery, with every 1,000th user having a chance to win $1,000. This campaign is amplified through influencers, MELD’s social media, and email communications.
15 randomly selected users will receive a unique “Diamond-hands” utility NFT over three months as the MELD community grows and reaches specific milestones. - Campaign #4: Newsletter quest to build community
Spread the word about MELD using social media and influencers. Ask users to sign up and then send them fun, easy tasks by email.
By doing these tasks, users earn points. Later, they can use these points to get rewards when the bank starts.
After joining, users get a welcome email, do small tasks, and get their rewards based on how much they’ve done. - Campaign #5: MELDionaire
Launch a 60-day Airdrop challenge where a new challenge is introduced every 4 days. This keeps the competition lively and helps the campaign potentially go viral. There will be a total of 15 rules.
New participants complete challenges to maximize airdrop rewards. Weekly visual posts will highlight the number of active competitors and their progress.
After completing each challenge, participants verify by commenting on the relevant Twitter thread, providing evidence like links or screenshots. Those who finish all the steps have a chance to become the MELDionaire, winning 1,000,000 MELD tokens. If multiple people complete all steps, a random winner is chosen.
- KPIs
To stay on track and quantify the success of our creative marketing approach, we set specific Key Performance Indicators that married our out-of-the-box approach to measurable data.
Here is a quick look at our KPIs:
- 75K Twitter community by launch
- 30K waitlist sign-ups
Creative Campaigns
When we started working on MELD.fi, we knew one thing: the usual approach wouldn’t work. With a product that challenges traditional banking, a more creative and out-of-the-box approach was needed.
As part of our social media strategy, we brainstormed, created, and implemented three key creative messaging campaigns.
Instead of selling the idea of decentralized banking as a need, not want, to a crypto-native audience, we focused on a different angle. The campaign didn’t glorify crypto but showed hard data and facts about traditional banking. That way, the community decided on their own what future they choose for their finances.
Let’s dive deeper into campaign highlights and why we did it.
Be Your Own Bank
A series of visual-centric posts with minimal copy that communicates one central idea: showing the current state of TradFi and what it will lead to if crypto takes over.
Crypto myths
To continue the narrative of honest and transparent finance, we ran a month-long campaign, focusing on hard facts about crypto and traditional finance that many people overlook to vilify or glorify one side over another.
MELD alphabet
With the alphabet campaign, we targeted a central message: rethinking modern finance terms in a decentralized language of MELD. Every day, a new letter with a different definition was posted to MELD’s Twitter feed, reclaiming the terminology for user-centric platform.
We also implemented a creative format, so that all captions rhyme, both as separate posts and as an overall poem. This twist aimed to catch attention and make MELD stand out.
Takeaways
- To appeal to the Web3 natives and stand out from the marketing buzz, strategies that directly communicate the vision of the project in a creative way are key.
- When implementing creative angles, it is essential to use accessible formats like visuals that are easily re-sharable to boost engagements. Alternatively, text-heavy content performs poorly.
- Messaging in creative campaigns either breaks or makes the tactic. Distilling one message into 2-3 word phrases is essential in communicating the core of the campaign.
Social Media
Even though we placed a heavy emphasis on creative campaigns, we knew that we couldn’t rely exclusively on them to generate sign-ups. Our creative approach was supported by tested and reliable social media content management tactics to bring the community together.
Here are some of the posts we added to our creative approach
Airdrop Marketing
To secure sign-ups, we needed to engage with the existing community and build hype and trust toward the MELD.fi neobank. We ran an extensive marketing campaign for one of the biggest airdrops in Web3, ensuring secure sign-ups.
For the airdrop, we adopted a similar creative approach, leveraging user-generated content as much as possible. We set up the activities, created and implemented the system for participation, structured the incentives, and communicated key announcements on Twitter.
Every user who signed up for the neo-bank waitlist received MELD tokens. The number of tokens increased when users participated in weekly challenges connected to DeFi and MELD’s mission. These challenges varied from a simple retweet to creating custom videos, memes, and even music jingles. The end goal for users was to participate in as many challenges as possible to earn more tokens.
This strategy not only drew significant attention but also ensured that the most dedicated supporters were rewarded the most.
A notable part of the MELD Airdrop was the “MELDionare” campaign. We posed a crucial question to the community: what would they do with a million MELD tokens?
The most active community member would get a million tokens to their MELD.fi account. This tactic did not only generate hype but helped build a strong and trusted community.
To track audience participation and ensure we distributed the tokens to the most active members, we implemented and managed Zealy, a dedicated platform for engagement campaigns in Web3.
AMAs
We strategically engaged with pivotal Web3 communities through active participation in AMAs. These sessions provided a platform to address questions, share MELD’s vision, and demonstrate thought leadership in real-time.
By directly connecting with potential community members, MELD not only established trust and credibility but also fostered organic interest and enthusiasm.
This proactive approach significantly boosted MELD community growth prior to the official launch, setting the stage for a successful and engaged user base.
Final Insights
- Creative strategies are effective in resonating with Web3-native audiences but cannot be the sole tactic for social media marketing.
- We successfully built the community foundation through educational threads and consistent engagement.
- We then supplemented the core strategy with creative campaigns that made MELD Twitter effective in both driving massive engagement and converting users into dedicated community members.
- The airdrop campaign was a booming success in the Web3 space for similar reasons.
- We combined trusted and tested techniques like influencer & AMA marketing with creative angles and an intricate rewards system.
- That way, we ensured that the airdrop gets enough exposure and drives not just sign-ups for the waitlist but also first adopters who are excited about the product launch.
- We overachieved our KPIs, crossing the target of 30K neobank sign-ups, 77.7K Twitter followers upon launch, and achieving 50K registrations.
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