gm. 

You’ve fleshed out your project, believe you have product-market-fit, engaged top-notch marketing support, but ‘em people ain’t coming and those numbers ain’t pamping. Is it time to engage influencers? If you’re here for the short answer, then here you go: it depends. 

Yeah, I know this isn’t what your heart seeks, but there’s a shitton of nuance when it comes down to working with influencers in web3. So, let’s dive deep. To any “influencoors” reading - I’m sorry, please don’t wrench attack me. Doing this for the best of everyone. Ya know, a rising tide lifts all boats, yada-yada. 

First off - no influencer is the same. 

We mainly see four types of key opinion leaders (KOLs) in the space, and before you ask, no, you won’t be able to work with all of them. Sometimes there’s overlap, and we’ll get to that. 

1. Thought Leaders

The founders, the retirees, the VCs, the researchers, the community leaders, the journalists, or those who made it big and have something to share - aka, if you DM them “yo, can you post about my shitcoin? i’ll give you eth”, you’ll never get a reply. 

Why? You’re not worth their time. They’re busy building, researching, or shitposting and couldn’t give two gwei about your offer. Even if what you’re building is cool, a “let’s collab” DM likely won’t work, unless there’s significant value for their own interest and the wider market’s to reap. 

Unfortunately for us marketers & builders, thought leaders truly make shit happen. They rally communities, spark interest, and define trends. But thought leaders like these aren’t, can’t, and shouldn’t be part of your marketing strategy. Instead, they should be part of your BD. You don’t engage a thought leader hoping he’ll RT you, but because you have a non-marketing collab in mind, which can naturally turn into a co-marketing opportunity. 

Key to remember when engaging thought leaders is that marketing is not their work. Building is. ‍

2. Private Sale KOLs

Now, don’t get me wrong - while we’ve separated thought leaders into their own category, that doesn’t mean the marketing influencoor world doesn’t have its own thought leaders. They do. And they’re plenty. And they offer marketing support services - in exchange for a chance to invest in your coin or for advisory tokens. 

I like referring to these bois and gals as private sale KOLs, but the other term you may be familiar with is moonbois. I think it’s derogatory though, as not all private sale KOLs are moonbois shoving shitcoins down their audiences’ throats. Some do have sufficient brain power to actually provide useful information, conduct due diligence, engage with communities, and share coins with potential. 

Now - whether that coin does well or doesn’t, it’s not on them. It’s on the buyers. The ethics of private sale KOLs have always been controversial. Many call for transparency on whether an influencer is an investor/advisor, and I think that’s fair - but I also know psychology, and most people shy away from investments shilled by an existing stakeholder. Equally fair. The ethics do get very greasy if we’re talking liquid tokens, post-listings, and said influencers proceed to use their community as exit liquidity. That’s a no-no, and if you do it, shame on you.

IMO - a private sale KOL who mainly talks about token price is a no-go and will dilute your brand. On the other hand, a private sale influencer who RTs your stuff, maybe makes a fundamentals thread or interviews you, as a founder? Different story. That brings awareness, not buys. And if your product’s solid, it translates to buys. bUt yOu’Re A utIlItY ToKeN, y cARe aBoUt bUYs?

For communities though - the rule of thumb stays unfazed. DYOR. Don’t be gullible. Take anything you read with a grain of salt. 

Private sale KOLs are somewhat more approachable than thought leaders (as defined above), despite them being, in a way, thought leaders themselves. They fall under a different category - angels & advisors, depending on whether they give you money or you give them tokens. To prove their strategic worth, they may introduce projects to other influencers, VCs, exchanges, or simply share/post about recent developments. 

3. Content Creators 

Also, thought leaders. But in a different way. Content creators make it a job to bring interesting projects/developments/trends/research to their audience’s attention. Oftentimes, they don’t seek or accept cash for their work. So, no - you can’t message the largest creators to shill your coin or add it to a “top coins to keep an eye on IMO” list. 

You have to engage them differently, or better said, they often engage themselves. They take the pulse of the market, see what others are talking about, and share their thoughts as they are - good or bad. 

Content creators do accept sponsorship deals, oftentimes. Think - newsletter ads, or “brought to you by X”, or affiliate/referral deals. Clear disclosures. They won’t shill you as an investment. But they’ll feature you under a very specific format. 

4. Pay-Per-Post KOLs

Honestly? In 90% of the cases, you shouldn’t bother. It’s a waste of project resources, granted that if an influencer shills too much, they lose their credibility. To put it frankly - would you spend time watching a TV channel if all it aired was ads? Oftentimes, they start as content creators, but then get a taste for the muni, and start taking paid posts, whether disclosed or not. What’s the saying? Started as a hero but lived long enough to become the villain? 

Now - this isn’t to say that sometimes paying for a post isn’t wise or that all pay-per-post influencers are bad. If you need to cut through the noise, it’s worth the gamble. However, you gotta do your DD too. 

From our findings, 80% of pay-per-post KOLs have heavily-botted engagement. Don’t pay $500 to be heard by an army of bots. But do pay more for peeps with an actual following, whose feed doesn’t look like a teleshopping programme or moonboi delirium. 

Exhibit A: has 50K followers, hosts interviews with founders, publishes their own research, and sometimes RTs client posts or puts up fundamentals analyses. They get 5K+ views on posts, double-digit likes & RTs, as well as thoughtful comments. Oh, and they’re also followed by people you follow. 

‍Exhibit B: has 150K followers you’ve never heard of, only posts giveaway crap, and regularly gets 200K views & 500 likes per post. All comments are variants of “$SHITCOIN LFG”. 

See the difference? Big numbers don’t mean good engagement or ROI. 

GM Factory Influencoors? 

None, nada, nope. Why? Because if we did have an influencer service, it’d be pay-per-post KOLs. We can’t account for impact, the margins are low, and it’s high-maintenance too. Yes, we’re transparent.. But these aren’t the main reasons. It’s because we cannot guarantee whether a legit influencer who takes on pay-per-post will think you’re a fit to their audience. Exactly! Because legit pay-per-posts must conduct their own DD. If you try and find it too easy, it’s because they post anything at all and their credibility has died 3 cycles ago. 

But here’s an offer - found an influencer you want to work with, but unsure whether it’s worth the spend? Message @gmfactory on Telegram for a quick DD, no strings attached, no pay needed. We’ve got all deets @ pricing and bot-detection so you don’t waste coin. Oh - also, you get full access to our thought leader, content creator, and private sale KOL network if you sign with us. For free. But we can’t vouch for you or replace our network’s DD. It’s on you to impress. 

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