What will happen to ICO’s after AdWords!!

source: google images

Is this the end for ICO’s? Have the advertising God’s really spoken!! What are we to do now.

Your whitepaper is ready, your strategy is in place, your website is optimized, but now Google Ad-words’ that makes up nearly 50% of total online audience is shutting down ICO ads. Following in the footsteps of Facebook and Mail-chimp. Twitter and Snapchat to follow soon as well.

source: Google images

source: Google images

June deadline, what happens next!!!

You still have a 2-month window to launch your ICO with access to AdWords. From Search to Display, Google AdWords is still one of the largest traffic sources. Its dashboard is a one stop platform for building ads and targeting geographic areas.

Now post June, your marketing strategy and approach are more important:

SEO: Crawlable URL’s should clearly describe what the ICO is all about. Carefully draft your headings keeping it under 100 characters.

Website design, user experience, and functionality: Your landing page is your prime real estate. Make full use of it. Clearly state what your product is all about and how are you solving a real-world problem. Make it precise and short. It shouldn’t have to take to read a 30-page whitepaper to understand what you are building and why.

Digital Marketing: How do you drive impactful conversions. Your digital strategy shifts to display ads on top crypto sites and mobile using DSP’s (display service platforms) which are linked to ad-exchanges globally and offer various types of ad formats. DSP’s reduce ad spend wastage by segmenting audience based on interactions with similar brands. (I will post a second blog discussing how DSP’s function and how to structure a campaign using them)

Blockchain Forums: It was always important to have presence on Reddit and Bitcointalk, but now and after the Google ban its become super important. Start building the community once you project starts breaking ground.

Team members and advisers: Everyone involved in the project should have updated LinkedIn profiles and be active on other online communities. Advisers should be carefully selected, credible, but above all believe, promote, and constantly advocate about the project. Many times, advisers are just paid but never promote the project they advise on.

In conclusion I honestly don’t feel the Google ban is the end of the world for ICO’s. The ICO online digital space was already getting too crowded and more competitive. But fortunately, investors are becoming more savvy in distinguishing good projects from bad ones. So, if you are able to identify what sets you apart from the rest, and what real-world problems you are solving, you audience will react positively to your communication.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to your comments.