How Can Crypto Platforms Appeal to a Mainstream Audience?
Feb 11, 2021Share this article:
Will blockchain and crypto platforms ever be truly mainstream? Until very recently, the entire space has been defined by its alternative nature, confined to groups of enthusiasts and generally shunned by the media and public.
Those of us who live and work in the blockchain economy believe strongly in the potential of this technology to change the world. But for that to happen, it has to appeal to a broader audience and not just small groups of crypto natives.
So how do we make this tech available and accessible to the masses and bring in new users? In this article, we’ll look at some of the barriers to entry and how to tear them down.
The importance of UX design in crypto
Haider Rafique, Global Chief Marketing Officer at OKCoin, believes that a big part of making blockchain more accessible to the world involves user experience.
UX has been a problem for crypto since its inception. Too many platforms are characterized by user-unfriendly interfaces and off-puttingly difficult UX. But why is this?
Rafique thinks it’s largely due to the engineer-driven nature of most crypto projects. Many early platforms didn’t even have a product team, meaning things like UX were often completely overlooked in favor of more technical goals.
Over time, as teams became bigger, there were clashes between engineers and those focused on marketing and sales. This kind of thing happens in every industry, but it was especially prominent in the highly technical arena of crypto.
Marketing is often sidelined or even scoffed at in the blockchain world. But, as Rafique insists, it’s absolutely crucial if crypto projects want to appeal to a mainstream audience.
Marketing crypto to the masses
Rafique believes that companies in the crypto space have to study marketing if they want to make an impact on the larger community beyond just hardcore crypto enthusiasts.
He suggests studying the work of big marketing firms and ad agencies, as well as smaller shops and individual marketers. Sharp, compelling storytelling driven by cutting-edge techniques and technologies is essential if you want to spread the word about your platform.
And this marketing has to be accessible to everyone — not just crypto natives. It’s easy to fall into the trap of appealing only to crypto natives, as this has been second nature for years.
Transitioning your marketing to a more mainstream audience runs the risk of alienating and annoying these hardcore crypto devotees. You need to find the right balance and use language that draws in new users without making your original followers think you’ve forgotten them.
The importance of education
One final point that Rafique makes about drawing mainstream users into crypto is the importance of good education.
Many crypto platforms are now investing heavily in education and content. It’s all about simplifying the education process and seeding the right information in the right places.
The learning process shouldn’t stop when prospects become customers — instead, it’s important to make sure your users have access to the information they need when they’re in the flow of tasks, without being forced to click off and find the answers themselves.
This links back to the importance of UX — we need to simplify actions post-onboarding and make actually using the platform and gaining the benefits as easy as possible.
By focusing on UX, making marketing more inclusive, and treating education as a priority, crypto platforms can appeal to a wider audience without driving away their existing users.
This is the only way to propel crypto and blockchain from the alternative to the mainstream and allow the whole world to reap the exciting rewards this technology offers.
To hear more about all topics related to blockchain, crypto, and decentralized technology, tune into The Unstoppable Podcast. We host regular discussions with people from all corners of the space and discuss a wide range of ideas. Inclusivity is our game, so people of all experience levels are welcome.