Is there a point to crypto community management? This is a question we are asking ourselves October 2018 in the crypto world. Six months ago it seemed like a white paper, a cheap website, and a telegram channel with over 30,000 bots plus a little crypto community management and that was all you needed to launch an ICO.
The crypto market has changed and I think for the better! So in this new age where investors want more accountability, trust, proof or work and plans -do they also want a telegram channel?
Crypto Community Management in the ‘Old Days’
I think we should first discuss the purpose of a telegram channel. For early crypto investors, the element of anonymity within telegram was highly valuable and very much aided to it becoming THE space to talk about crypto. Next was the way in which users could communicate directly and ask important questions about the white paper, token economics, structure, etc. Lastly, if something was not working users could have an around the clock help chat available to them.
Unfortunately, Telegram for the crypto community turned into was a paid bot bonanza! The element of community, engagement, and usefulness of questions eventually began to fall apart. Another important point is it was not just the users but also the quality of help also declined rapidly.
What now?
In my opinion, the only way to make Telegram valid is to revert back to what it was originally used for. Namely, to build a community of future token users, instilling confidence and delivering quality answers to user’s questions.
For this, we need the focus to be placed on the quality of users for Telegram to work. That means letting go of being able to boast about a community of 175,000.
Secondly, do we still need Telegram for crypto community management? Here at Paranoid Internet, we have been experimenting with a few platforms and have found promising results. For example, Discord a platform originally used for gamers has worked well for some clients. One can even harken back to tried and true CRM services like MailChimp or Freshdesk.
To decide what you need for your crypto community management strategy, it is important to first decide what your channel is going to be used for:
Announcements:
Telegram is great for this. You can even have a view only channel. In this way, you will not have to hire community managers to attend to questions. Your only downfall here is that there is not a channel to get help or technical advice. You can direct people to a help email or ‘supplement’ with some other type of CRM service. Just a word of advice, I would not recommend ignoring your community. This can abruptly lead to potential investors viewing your project as a scam.
Discord is also good for announcements. There is a somewhat unexpected pro for discord as well. Since the platform for the crypto community is relatively new people are less focused on the number of people in a channel. On Telegram, you have to make disconnected channels for specific topics like token sale or FAQ. But with Discord, you can align all your separate channels into one dashboard. I think this makes the platform more user-friendly. The flow of information is not bogged down by users seeking vastly different information.
Any CRM tool is great for announcements. Newsletters are a very viable way to keep potential investors and users informed. I would say the only pitfall is that some people are wary of giving out their email when they may be more inclined to simply join a channel.
Community Building:
Telegram CAN be great for community building. Users can cultivate inside jokes and sometimes members can do some of the heavy lifting and offer to become admins on projects they care about.
Discord is still new to the crypto world. I have noticed with some client’s discord accounts the generally smaller communities and more focused channels actually aid in conversations between members.
Obviously, a CRM tool is difficult for community building. You can, however, direct people to your social media channels. Although the click-through-rate from a newsletter to a social channel (in my experience) is very low unless you have a great call to action or a very specific reason for looking at the channel.
Technical Help / Questions:
With telegram, can be a great place for future users and potential investors to ask questions or receive technical help. Unfortunately, big channels can get clogged and users and not likely to scroll up to see if their question is already asked. To alleviate this problem you can create separate channels and direct users to them from the main channel. It is important to have well-informed CMs and admins especially if they are answering technical questions.
Discord, similarly, to telegram also works well for technical help or general FAQs. As mentioned before, you can make subchannels for specific topics.
A CRM tool will also work well. Unfortunately, the user will have less access to be able to answer the question on their own accord.
Whats Next?
Paranoid Internet as an interactive agency specializes in services for the crypto and blockchain world. Contact us to see how we will get you Ready to Market in 24 hours.
We will work with you to find best possible crypto community management strategy for your project.
Click here if you are ready to take your project to the next level.