We've run marketing campaigns that burned $500K across multiple projects. Some worked. Most didn't. Here's what killed the failures and what actually converts in web3.
Campaign 1: The $100K Influencer Disaster
Project raised $2M. Allocated $100K to influencer marketing. Dead in 4 months.
The plan:
Hire 20 crypto Twitter influencers. Each with 50K-500K followers. Pay $2K-10K per post. Drive users to Discord.
The execution:
| Influencer Tier | Count | Cost Each | Total Spent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500K+ followers | 3 | $10K | $30K |
| 100K-500K | 8 | $5K | $40K |
| 50K-100K | 12 | $2.5K | $30K |
| Total | 23 | $100K |
The results:
| Metric | Number |
|---|---|
| Impressions | 5M |
| Clicks | 25K |
| Discord joins | 4,000 |
| Active after 7 days | 400 |
| Active after 30 days | 80 |
Cost per impression: $0.02 (okay) Cost per Discord join: $25 (high) Cost per retained user: $1,250 (disaster)
What went wrong:
Influencers posted once and moved on. No ongoing relationship. Their followers saw a paid ad, not genuine enthusiasm.
The followers were speculators. Joined Discord asking "wen token." Left when they realized launch was months away.
No product to retain them. Discord had announcements and speculation. Nothing to actually do.
Lessons:
Influencer posts are awareness, not conversion. You need a product that retains people after they arrive.
Speculators churn immediately. 90% of influencer-driven traffic leaves within 7 days.
One post isn't enough. Ongoing ambassadorships work better than one-time payments.
Campaign 2: Discord Growth Hacking That Worked
Different project. $15K budget. 8K retained users after 30 days.
The approach:
Instead of paid influencers, we focused on organic community growth with strategic incentives.
What we did:
- Built genuinely useful Discord bots
- Ran engaging events (not just AMAs)
- Created contributor program with real rewards
- Cross-promoted with complementary projects
Event breakdown:
| Event Type | Cost | Participants | Retained (30d) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trading competitions | $3K | 500 | 300 |
| Building challenges | $2K | 200 | 150 |
| Educational workshops | $1K | 800 | 400 |
| Meme contests | $500 | 1,000 | 200 |
Contributor program:
Paid top contributors in tokens/NFTs:
- Writers: $200-500 per article
- Moderators: $300/month + tokens
- Developers: $500-2K per tool
Total spend on contributors: $8K
Result: 15 power users who brought their networks.
Cross-promotion:
Partnered with 5 projects in same ecosystem. No payment, just mutual promotion.
Each partnership brought 200-500 new users.
Final numbers:
Total spend: $15K New users: 12,000 Retained 30 days: 8,000 Cost per retained user: $1.87
67% retention vs 2% from influencer campaign.
Campaign 3: The Airdrop Farming Failure
$50K allocated to quest-based airdrop campaign. 90% went to farmers.
The setup:
Used popular quest platform. Created 10 quests:
- Follow Twitter
- Join Discord
- Retweet posts
- Invite friends
- Complete form
Promised points convertible to tokens.
What happened:
| Day | New Signups | Quest Completions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2,000 | 8,000 |
| 7 | 15,000 | 100,000 |
| 30 | 50,000 | 500,000 |
Looked great on paper. 50K users, 500K quest completions.
Then we analyzed:
Wallet clustering showed 50K "users" came from 5,000 actual people.
Average accounts per person: 10.
Top farmer: 200 accounts.
The dump:
Tokens distributed. 60% dumped within 24 hours. Price crashed 85%.
Most users never returned after dump.
Lessons:
Quest platforms attract professional farmers. Your quests are their job.
Simple quests (follow, retweet) have zero friction for bots.
Points systems are exploited immediately.
Real CAC Numbers Across Channels
After $500K in campaigns, here's what channels actually cost.
Acquisition costs by channel:
| Channel | CAC (User) | CAC (Retained 30d) | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic Twitter | $1-3 | $3-8 | High |
| Content marketing | $3-5 | $5-15 | High |
| Community referrals | $0-2 | $0-5 | Very High |
| Discord partnerships | $2-5 | $8-15 | Medium |
| Quest platforms | $0.50-2 | $20-100 | Very Low |
| Twitter influencers | $10-30 | $100-500 | Low |
| Paid Twitter ads | $5-15 | $30-80 | Low |
| KOL campaigns | $15-50 | $200-1000 | Very Low |
The pattern:
Organic and community-driven channels have 10-50x better retention than paid channels.
The cheapest acquisition often has the worst retention.
What Channels Actually Convert
After all our failures and successes, here's what works.
Tier 1: High conversion, low cost
Product-led growth. Users come because product is useful.
Example: KOI Chrome extension. Users told friends because it helped them.
Cost: Development time. No marketing spend.
Conversion: 60% of signups became active users.
Tier 2: Medium conversion, medium cost
Educational content. Tutorials, guides, analysis that helps target audience.
Example: Twitter threads explaining complex topics. YouTube tutorials.
Cost: $3-5K/month for content creation.
Conversion: 20-30% of engaged readers become users.
Tier 3: Low conversion, high cost
Paid campaigns. Influencers, ads, sponsored content.
Cost: $10K-50K/month.
Conversion: 2-10% become active users.
When to use Tier 3:
When you have product-market fit and need to scale fast.
When retention is already proven and you need top-of-funnel.
When you have enough budget to test and optimize.
Never use Tier 3 for:
Pre-product marketing. You're paying for users who will churn.
Unproven retention. Fix the product first.
Limited budget. Spend on product instead.
KOL Campaigns vs Organic Growth
The debate that never ends. Here's the data.
KOL campaign (Project A):
Spent: $150K New users: 20K 30-day retained: 1K Cost per retained: $150 Token price impact: Initial pump, 80% dump
Organic growth (Project B):
Spent: $0 on KOLs, $50K on product and content New users: 15K (over 6 months) 30-day retained: 8K Cost per retained: $6.25 Token price impact: Steady growth, no dump
When KOLs make sense:
- Token already launched and stable
- Product has proven retention
- Goal is awareness, not conversion
- Budget is large enough to sustain campaigns
When KOLs fail:
- Pre-product phase
- Token hasn't launched
- Expecting users to stay
- Limited budget (one campaign isn't enough)
Building Marketing That Lasts
After $500K, here's the playbook that works.
Phase 1: Pre-launch (0-3 months)
Focus: Build in public. Grow organically. Create content.
Budget: $0-5K/month
Activities:
- Founder tweets about building
- Development updates
- Early community on Discord
- Educational content
Goal: 1-5K engaged followers.
Phase 2: Early product (3-6 months)
Focus: User feedback. Retention optimization. Ambassador program.
Budget: $5-15K/month
Activities:
- Contributor rewards
- User interviews
- Community events
- Partnership outreach
Goal: 5-20K users with 20%+ retention.
Phase 3: Growth (6-12 months)
Focus: Scale what works. Test paid channels.
Budget: $15-50K/month
Activities:
- Expand successful content
- Test influencer partnerships
- Paid campaigns (with tracking)
- Press and media
Goal: 50K+ users maintaining retention.
Phase 4: Scale (12+ months)
Focus: Optimize CAC. Build marketing team.
Budget: $50K+/month
Activities:
- Full marketing team
- Multi-channel campaigns
- Brand partnerships
- Community marketing at scale
Goal: Market leader in niche.
The mistake most make:
Starting at Phase 3 or 4 without Phase 1 and 2.
Spending on growth before retention is solved.
Expecting paid channels to do what product should do.
Resources
Analytics:
- Dune Analytics - On-chain analysis
- Nansen - Wallet intelligence
- Twitter Analytics - Social metrics
Quest Platforms:
Content Tools:
Community:
Development:
- AllThingsWeb3 - Case studies
- Token Cost Calculator - Budget planning
Learning:
- Twitter Web3 Marketing - Follow successful projects
- Mirror - Long-form content platform