Marketing Strategy For Polkadot

This is a High-Level strategy for Marketing, a plan of action and processes for a curator set. There is No defined Curator list in this strategy, Nor a request for Funds at this time. As a Product Strategist I am concerned that we are putting much needed funds into Marketing without a clear path forward.

My belief is we have good people that want to do right by Polkadot, however things have not been working and many are upset, including myself. This is a jump off point to hopefully unite and create a community to make Polkadot an unstoppable force globally by marketing strategically and with purpose to reach outside of our bubble.

In my old career my original company (before an acquisition), bought a commercial spot at the “super bowl” (American football) to express direct to consumers what we did for them. This commercial was called “Hearding the Cats.” This concept commercial is famous and, in many memes still today.

With Polkadot we are in a remarkably similar place, however one size does not fit all to get our message out. I would like the community to consider the following:

“Know Your Audience: Marketing Buckets:

1. Direct to Consumer- This bucket is to direct interest to Polkadot awareness of brand for trust and drive traffic to products that increase and drive liquidity.
2. Developers- Attracting Devs into the echo. This is the number 1 thing I hear in our community. This bucket will focus on messaging that speaks to and targets Developers.
3. VC and Businesses – Business Acumen targeted messaging
4. Mass Education- This is simple Terminology, when speaking direct to people they do not understand simple terms we take for granted “Decentralization,” “Blockspace” even “Cryptography” Simple mass education will go a long way as we onboard.
5. Partnerships- Businesses get into Partnerships because they have an untapped customer base that you want to speak to, and you align with intent to market. We need to consider the importance of this arena and be strategic. The above 4 buckets can all fit into this fifth bucket if constructed messages are done well.

All five buckets need to run in parallel of each other outside of just organic reach. There is no single target to focus on, all five are needed to win adoption!

When bringing breakthrough products to market, or even developing them, we need to think “outside the box” if we are looking to grab the attention of those who do not understand the technical nuances. Example: when delivering Apple Pay, tokenization was not advertised to the masses. Even now when I talk to RWA folks some did not know that Tokenization was introduced with Apple Pay.

Please comprehend that some, not all results are an overnight thing, but a momentum. When momentum fails, you pivot, when momentum raises you add more gas. This is determined by metrics of your singular outreach promotions.

Rules of Strategy:

1. Contracts are required for marketing services. So, it is clear the services rendered for the money provided.
2.  If you are funded for distribution of marketing materials, metrics are a required. Bi-weekly or Monthly metrics based on contract. a. Curators should have analysis skills to determine value prop.
3. We currently have two languages; English and Spanish message distribution will be appropriately evaluated by bounty to ensure consistent messaging, where appropriate. a. Brazil is Portuguese and seems to be an emerging area of education and sales, we need to consider Marketing outreach in Portuguese and do test metrics. b. Indonesia is also up and coming Polkadot support area, consideration for advertisements in Indonesian should be a test metric.
4. Approval to spend ratio:
   1.  Curator approval rate 5/8 on spend $30,000 or less.
   2. Curator approval rate $31,000 to $199,000 6/8
   3. Curator approval rate over $200,000 7/8
5. Independent Audit is done for the Marketing Bounty as a Quarterly Report.
6. Every advertisement must be to drive usage, education, sales, or trust to Polkadot. To ensure this occurs, “Powered by Polkadot, Secured or Sponsored by Polkadot” must be used in all marketing campaigns that are funded through the bounty.
7. Goals are not just cost, but efficiencies and effectiveness of outreach. Focus is on skilled Marketers, not just high or low costs. Passion for Polkadot and the ability to pivot with us!

Marketing Visionary Idea Concept Working Group

I understand WagMedia is an organic internal working group, we also have the DOTS, both teams put out good work. However, this concept is for Visionaries and pairing them with the talented artis in our Polkadot Family to create advertisements.

This is a HUGE issue for Polkadot currently, and one of the reasons we’re fragmented. In a traditional company, one of the strengths is the ability to tap into resources needed to produce work. The Polkadot community is filled with talented artists, in all forms, from images, video production, jingle writers and music choreographers.

I believe many of our Devs have ideas, and either do not have the time, or do not know the resources that will bring their idea to life, with high quality. Devs are best suited to attract other Devs, so this is an experiment area of the strategy. However, anyone with a great idea should be able to apply.

This creative structure can have the ability to change the game for Polkadot and foster more of a community effort to attract the people and Developers we desire.

1. A working list of talented artists and their fee structure withing the bounty.
2. A Visionary with an idea submits or funding.
   1. If approved the visionary gets a tip or gets funded. (distribution of advertisement is determined at submission process and worked out with curator set)
      1. If funded visionary works with the approved internal artist list to bring the vision to life.

I am a proud member of this community and want to see us thrive and attract others in the world to use and create on this amazing technology for Web3. Let us build a decentralized future together with a strategy that our community is aware of and can get behind!