Putting the Intangible into Your NFT Project Non-fungible tokens will soon become an intricate tool for branding, but there are some must-dos before you jump into your first foray.
By Nick Brucker
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Thousands of buyers are investing millions of dollars into non-fungible tokens (NFTs). While skeptics claim it's a fad, the vast volume of sales and experts say otherwise.
In the most basic terms, an NFT is a digital asset that isn't easily replaceable. They are digital commodities minted by the blockchain. In most cases, there's an air of exclusivity and a well-planned token has a buzz of pop culture as well.
In many cases, NFTs are pieces of artwork that are sold on blockchain. You're not spending all of this money just to own a JPG, but that's what many still think.
People are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy digital art, but it's not just about the work itself, but the utility of the asset and what the project plans to become.
"Thinking NFTs are just about Bored Apes is like thinking the internet is just cat videos," concurs Lauren Sivan, host of Beond The Blockchain on Beond.TV. "They are about to change the way we do business in almost every conceivable way from buying art to homes to cars to betting on the success of your favorite athlete."
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Bringing marketing to NFTs
The three keys to making your NFT successful, like marketing itself, is a strong roadmap, a strategic marketing plan and a loyal community.
Investment requires the promise of reward. And the easiest way for someone considering your project is to know what the pot of gold is at the end of the digital rainbow is a clear roadmap.
(It is telling that in a recent poll conducted by StarkNet, 42% of those surveyed said they would invest in crypto apps if they knew more about NFTs.)
Think of the roadmap as a strategic plan. When you launch your NFT, there needs to be a clear strategy of what will be done with the funds generated by the sales and a return of value to the community.
It's somewhat like a Kickstarter, but on a massive scale. The NFTs are your means to an end. And if that end is a killer project that people see tangible value in, encourages investment all the more.
Related: What You Can Learn About NFTs From Coca-Cola, Acura and Gucci
Exclusivity breeds hype, hype breeds demand
The next step is building a foundational team and marketing plan to build hype around the token and the project.
The assembly of this team is critical, their creative genius can make a solid marketing plan to create that all-important urgency. The ability to market the founding team behind the project adds a layer of transparency that says to the community by saying, without saying: "we are in this for the long run".
It takes a community
Know your community. Know what they want, know what makes them tick and know how to leverage that to get them to increase their loyalty. Unexpectedly incentivizing your demo is a tactic that I've seen work very well. Everyone loves surprises, this is what garners a deeper loyalty to your project.
Your community is, quite literally, buying into your vision. It's your job to make sure those intangibles are what keeps them around.
Related: An NFT from the Moonbirds collection is sold for more than $1 million
