In a world where companies increasingly seek to engage with traditional media and journalists aim to deepen their understanding of emerging technologies like cryptocurrencies and blockchain, a unique opportunity arises to construct and amplify the voice of crypto brands from scratch. However, a significant challenge remains: capturing the attention of major global and traditional media outlets for these advanced topics still needs to be solved. Everyone aspires to be featured in prestigious publications like The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal. Still, it’s not easy –it takes time to build a name in the industry, media train the company’s spokespersons, and be trusted by journalists as a top voice.

At W3G, we've learned that the key to success is crafting narratives that educate and inform and are compelling enough for journalists to want to cover them, interact with our clients, and recognize our clients' brands as influential voices in the sector. On this line, this article will discuss strategy, how we handle press, why narratives are important, and whether a crypto project must engage with the media.

Is Press Worthwhile for Crypto Projects?

First, we must address a question that, while evident to us, still needs to be clarified to many in the ecosystem: Is press worthwhile for a crypto project or protocol? Why? 

Before deep diving, I will answer this question with a clear example: for one of our major clients, MakerDAO, strategic PR communication was crucial for its growth. DAI reached markets like Latin America, where it was vital for millions to save in dollars and combat inflation and a real need for a product like the stablecoin. 

Strategic communication is vital in educating journalists and the general public about emerging technologies, improving understanding, and fostering adoption. If we want new people to enter the crypto ecosystem and encourage widespread adoption, we need to educate journalists, and they will be in charge of educating their audiences. This is incredibly valuable because we can inform millions of people through media outlets with accurate, curated information and powerful narratives. 

As brands in emerging technologies, we need journalists to translate the impact of our sector to their large audiences.

However, it’s crucial to highlight one point: stop doing paid crypto media. Instead, invest your resources in crafting newsworthy stories and distributing them to a curated media list for organic reach. Let’s clarify this point right now.

Setting a Strategy Before Execution

Our strategy's success hinges on the premise that careful planning precedes action. Before any campaign execution, it’s crucial to establish a solid communication strategy. This strategy coordinates resources, defines objectives, and specifies exactly what we expect from our content teams before they begin writing. This approach ensures that each piece of communication not only meets the established objectives but also resonates with the needs and expectations of our audience. Once the communication strategy is defined and shared with the team, the next step is communicating it with the whole marketing team and executing it.

Crafting Engaging and Educational Narratives

Once the strategy is in place, we move into the production phase. Here, we select future announcements based on their newsworthiness and relevance. We determine the narrative's focus and define which specific audience we aim to reach with each announcement. 

This meticulous process ensures that each message is relevant, appealing, and educational. For example, if we want an announcement from one of our spokespersons, we ensure it has an executive and trustworthy tone, prepared with media training to handle any questions.

Careful planning precedes action.

On the other hand, when crafting narratives, we consider which industry terms to use and which to avoid. Recently, we realized that many of our clients wanted to move away from the industry-specific jargon of the Web3 audience and preferred narratives focused on newcomers to the space.

Content Distribution

Our understanding of our audience (thanks to the strategy) and the chosen focus for each press release allow us to effectively curate and distribute our press releases to hand-picked journalists and media outlets. 

Sentiment Analysis and Impact Measurement

Finally, we dedicate ourselves to understanding how the public receives our messages. Through sentiment analysis, we assess whether the perception is neutral, positive, or negative and how our strategy and narrative translate across different articles, including those resulting from distribution not directly pitched by us.