MARKETING with

NFTs
YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT THE METAVERSE
All jargon aside, you need to know what the
metaverse is because all your future
marketing is there. That’s not just our
opinion, but influential people like Garyvee
also believe so… “NFTs, digital avatars and
clothing are all about the same sh*t. We’ve
been doing all these same things; digital is
just exposing truths and scaling truths, and
I think the new frontier of 3.0 Metaverse is
gonna take us to a completely different
place that Web2 gave us a slight preview
to.” – [Link]

That’s why Mark Zuckerberg changed

Facebook to Meta; “The metaverse to me
today feels like the next frontier in social
connection in much the same way that
social networking did when I was getting
started back in 2004. That’s a big reason
why we wanted to change the brand of the
company”

That’s why brands like Adidas are investing

tens of millions of dollars in the metaverse.
“Adidas Launches NFT Line, Joins Footwear
Rivals’ Expansion Into Metaverse….. Adidas
Originals had announced Thursday (Dec. 16)
that it would soon launch the NFT line titled
“Into the Metaverse” – [Link]

[Link]
Anyway,

This is what you need to know about the

metaverse.

The metaverse, a term first coined in Neal

Stephenson’s 1992 sci-fi novel Snow Crash,
is a blending of digital and physical
existence. Almost 30 years later, that
definition is taking shape before our eyes.
Digital-twin stores and augmented
shopping experiences are paving the way
for the next retail frontier—one that is
intuitive, immersive and engaging. The
rapidly evolving digital space is radically
affecting all industries and retail is at the
forefront of this change.

According to IBM’s 2020 US Retail Index,

the pandemic has accelerated the shift
away from physical stores to digital
shopping by approximately five years.
Ecommerce is having to step up its game
quickly.
Although they are used to mimic physical
stores, digital spaces are borderless, which
opens an abundance of creative
opportunities. “Brands can push the
boundaries of creativity in the metaverse
and offer experiences that are unrepeatable
in real life,” Christina Wooton, vice
president of brand partnerships at Roblox.

[Link]
People aren’t just socializing in digital
spaces—they’re working, shopping and
discovering products there, too. The
metaverse is thus the answer to this
growing digitization of our daily life. A
virtual space that allows for life to happen
digitally. Everything from shopping, to
connection, is now translated into a virtual
experience through the metaverse.
Long story short, you have an avatar that is
a digital representation of you, that goes
shopping in an Adidas store in the
metaverse. And guess what, just like in real
life, Adidas and other brands will market
themselves on the metaverse.

[Link]
 OK, NOW…
NFTs IN SHORT
CHAPTER 1
Adidas Originals has launched its first NFTs
as it dives into Web3 and the metaverse,
offering exclusive access to Adidas
Originals experiences and products,
including virtual wearables for blockchain-
based gaming world The Sandbox and other
platforms, plus physical products to match.
They are laying a foundation built with
Web3 that will lead to new creative
opportunities for partnerships, engagement
through digital goods, and a path towards a
more inclusive future.
NFTs are non-fungible tokens, which means
that they are unique digital items, and their
uniqueness is verifiable through the code
that is embedded in them on the
blockchain.

So, relating this to what adidas did in the

above example, adidas launched unique
digital items that can be owned with proof,
to their existing customer base. Therefore,
their customers who will be active in the
metaverse, which will be represented as
avatars, will be wearing these exclusive
adidas items that no one else would own in
the digital world.

For brands like Rebecca Minkoff, NFTs offer

a unique way of experimenting with avatars,
developing brand engagement with a
younger generation and committing to
charities close to the brand, like The Female
Founder Collective. After her physical
presentation during New York Fashion
Week, Rebecca Minkoff said, “We have
always been at the intersection of fashion
and technology. So, for us, NFTs were the
next logical step in that progression. We
wanted to test the idea of not just a 2D
image, but also digital merchandise, as
people begin to experiment with dressing
themselves and their avatars and having
more experiences online.”
Just like the real world, they will own
designer items that will represent status,
wealth, personality and style.
These items are NFTs.

Capiche? Great!
 NOW... FOR THE
IMPORTANT PART,
WHAT NFTs MEAN
TO YOU AS A
MARKETER
CHAPTER 2
Anything: From digital art to sports,
gaming and finance, fashion and luxury
goods, music and entertainment, academic
credentials, and fast-moving consumer
goods can become an NFT. NFTs have a
vast application in all these industries and
that is why a lot of businesses today are
eyeing this innovative technology as an
important revenue stream. Coca-Cola,
Nike, Mcdonald's, Pizza Hut and other
major brands have already utilized NFTs in
their marketing campaigns. Whether it be
celebrities, big brands or corporations,
more eyes will turn to the NFT space,
leading it to mass adoption.

One of the most successful drops

performed by a brand was, in our opinion,
the Coca-Cola Friendship Box, dropped on
International Friendship Day.

The reasoning behind the drop of the NFT

was not just to make an NFT, but to inject
the core principles of Coca-Cola and
celebrate both its heritage and ties to
friendship, while also doing something to
support a good cause as proceeds from
the auction went to the Special Olympics
International Organization. In other words,
these NFTs were highlighting the brand
values and brand experience that ties loyal
customers to Coca-Cola.
It was important for them to stay true to
the brand by bringing people together
through unique “surprise-and-delight”
moments of connection that feel right for
Coke. “And because NFTs are inherently
built to be permanent and not transitory,
they intentionally developed dynamic,
‘living’ NFTs that can be enjoyed again and
again over time—just like Coca-Cola.”
stated Josh Schwarber, global digital
design senior director for Coca-Cola, also
adding that:

“the borderless and “geo-less” metaverse

creates opportunities for the company to
connect with consumers in new ways.”

What does this mean for you as a

marketer? It means that you should know
and excel in your abilities to market NFTs,
and that will set you apart from the
marketers who haven’t caught up, as the
marketer and marketing agency that will
lead the way and succeed in the future. It
also means that NFTs can be used for so
many marketing principles, such as raising
brand awareness, building customer loyalty
and satisfaction, and most importantly,
engaging their audience in so many new
ways.

Agencies are looking at NFTs as a

specialized service area. Last week,
Vaynermedia announced the creation of an
in-house team dedicated to NFTs called
VaynerNFT, with AB InBev as its first
client, as reported in Ad Age.
VMLY&R, Huge and Digitas, all three being
reputable marketing agencies, are also
excited about the latest crypto craze –
marketing [Link]

The opportunity that NFTs bring you in

conjunction with marketing provides a new
ground to explore interactions with
consumers. Because of blockchain
technology and NFTs, the principle of
‘scarcity’ now also exists in the digital
world. This is because each NFT is rare and
unique. And therefore it is sellable and
marketable.

NFTs are trendy, fun, and cutting-edge

technology that actually have the potential
to redefine the way brands do business
and engage with their consumers. At the
same time, NFTs are a new revenue stream
and an engagement tool for brands
wishing to build on customer loyalty and
their willingness to buy a part of the
brand’s history.

There’s also great potential for recurring

royalties with branded NFTs. The recurring
royalty component is basically embedded
in the digital code or “smart contract” of
each “minted” NFT, allowing brands to set
the expected royalty rate for resale.
Brands will benefit from recurring
transactions each time one of their NFTs is
sold, plus, they’ll instantly know to whom
it’s been sold, and for how much. Thus, a
marketing tool that itself can generate
revenue, rather than lead to revenues in
the bottom line.
But, here’s the problem. Jay Pattisall, a principal
analyst at Forrester, illustrated one issue
perfectly. “This situation feels familiar to what
social was in 2009-10. Every time you brought it
up, the brand was excited but not really sure
what to do with it…. This feels like it could have
a similar trajectory where it is a technology in
search of a strategy."

So, let’s get rid of the confusion, and master the

art of NFT Marketing.
LET’S START
MARKETING
WITH NFTs
CHAPTER 3
The main goal of NFTs, from a marketing
perspective, was community engagement.
So, brands are currently using NFTs so that
they can enhance the customer experience.

Brands have always searched for different

tools to maximize the brand experience,
through different channels, to create a
lasting impression that remains after
someone encounters or engages with a
brand in any environment.

This new environment is the Metaverse.

And NFTs are the tool to maximize the
brand experience in the metaverse.
Even outside the metaverse, NFTs have
currently become a new tool in a
marketing department’s arsenal.
Remember that NFTs are a one-of-a-kind
digital asset that can’t be replicated. This
means that having an NFT offered to you
by a brand is something that only you
would have which a lot of other people
wanted and saw value in. They can digitize
and give ownership to unique assets such
as moments in time, collectibles, and
almost anything that can be represented in
a digital file that has value to a certain
audience.

So, with this new tool called NFTs,

marketers can now create unique brand
experiences, increase brand awareness,
and generate greater customer
interactions.

How, you may ask?

The marketing team at NBA, in its efforts

to engage with their audience and give
them a unique brand experience, started
“Top Shot”, were they sell highlight
moments of their customer’s favorite
player, making the person who bought this
highlight the sole owner of this unique
moment in time in NBA history. What this
means is that the person who bought this
highlight, values this moment in time, and
now owns this experience. That’s pretty
unique.

“Lebron James lakers highlight sells for

record $208k on NBA top shot” – Bleacher
Report

Long story short, the things that people

value are things that they are willing to
pay for. NFTs make that digitally possible,
to make that person a sole owner of that
unique product, moment, etc…

NFTs are the new marketing tool that

enhances the brand experience!
SO THEN, HOW
WOULD
MARKETERS GO
ABOUT USING
NFTs?
CHAPTER 4
The first thing that you should start with is
this question:

What “thing” does this brand have that

their audience sees value in, so that I as a
marketer can:

Digitize it, (Digitize)

Market its perceived value with
existing tools, (Strategize)
And sell it as an NFT to that customer?
(Mint)

That is the main marketing strategy

brands are currently using. And this
strategy is very contextual! We call this
the DSM framework.

For the NBA, it was videos of players

doing awesome plays that would be
remembered by fans for ages to come. For
Coca-Cola NFT, it was that recurring
enjoyment feeling based on their
permanence, just like when consuming the
drink.

What does each mean?

Digitizing it: This part is fairly simple.

Create a high-quality digital asset of the
“thing” that you decided was of value to
the target audience. Whether it be an
image, video, etc.. invest in making this
digital asset as good as possible.
Market its perceived value: exactly as
marketers are doing right now, and have
been doing for the past years online.
Create a Buyer Persona, then create an
online [and offline] sales funnel for that
persona, with the final conversion goal
being the sales of the NFT. This could be
something like Justin Bieber’s marketing
team pushing NFT concert ticket Ads on
Instagram to loyal and ready-to-buy fans,
to watch him on the metaverse.

Justin Bieber is going into the metaverse

for a live virtual concert… Last week the
pop star announced he was partnering
with the virtual entertainment company
Wave to bring fans inside his world with
Justin Bieber — An Interactive Virtual
Experience. During the event, which will
merge gaming, real-time motion capture,
and live musical performance, the Biebs
will transform into a digital avatar and
deliver a full live show. As previewed in the
trailer, Bieber will perform songs from his
No. 1 album Justice in advance of his 2022
world tour. Wave's technology will also
enable audiences to engage with the
Bieber experience by giving them the
chance to appear live on stage alongside
the singer during dedicated fan moments
and influence his performance and
environments in real-time. – [Link]
What we’ve noticed working the most
when it comes to NFT marketing are the
following:

-Branding
-Storytelling
-Twitter and Discord accounts are a must
-Community engagement is the most
effective strategy
-Pre-launch strategy, building hype is
highly effective and leads to large
conversions
-Building trust
-Finding the right partnerships that would
really be aligned with the brand’s story and
NFT launch, not just regular influencers.

When it comes to Branding, brand

presence in the NFT space is crucial for
credibility and getting the NFT community
to trust your story. How people perceive
the brand is how people will buy into it. So,
make sure the brand is related to the NFT
audience and the brand experience is
directly aligned with the story. Again,
Coca-Cola did a great job here.

“The metaverse—which is borderless and

‘geo-less’—creates opportunities to
connect with others like never before,” said
Josh Schwarber, global digital design
senior director for Coca-Cola. “We didn’t
want to do this just to make an NFT. We
wanted to inject the core principles of
Coca-Cola and celebrate both our heritage
and ties to friendship, while also doing
something that hasn’t been done before. It
was important to stay true to the brand by
bringing people together through unique,
surprise-and-delight moments of
connection that feel right for Coke.” – Coca
Cola to offer first-ever NFT collectibles in
international friendship day Charity
Auction

This brings us to the topic of storytelling.

When it comes to NFTs, the saying “people
don’t buy what you do, people buy why
you do it” is spot on. As we’ve seen
multiple times, artworks don’t have to be
great pieces of art made by a prodigy like
Andy Warhol. Still, a lot are selling out.

Just check out the Bored Ape NFTs on the

next page which are being sold.

People aren’t buying these NFTs because

of them being such stunning works of art,
rather it’s because of the story behind
them. In addition, investors in Bored Ape
see the potential of selling these NFTs in
the future for way more than they bought
it.
“Eminem has just joined the exclusive club
of celebrity investors willing to pay heaps
of cryptocurrency for NFTs that are
nothing more than derivative monkey
cartoons…. The Bored Ape boom.. puts the
consumer experience first and has
absolutely nothing to do with empowering
artists. It’s all about the collector’s ego.
Purchasers of an NFT from the Bored Ape
collection also become members of the
Bored Ape Yacht Club, a “swamp club for
apes” where the cool dudes who fork out
heaps of cryptocurrency for a monkey
cartoon can hang out together.” - The
Bored Ape NFT craze is all about ego and
money, not art, Jonathan Jones, The
Guardian

The next most important thing is

community building in the NFT space. As
long as you have a community that is up to
speed, they can engage in the story behind
what this NFT is about. So, going back to
the story of the brand, if it’s good enough,
people would want to know more. In this
space specifically, communities are
everything, because as we’ve mentioned
before, they are the ones creating the
value of the NFT. And, there have been
multiple instances in which anonymous
people that instantly created brand
profiles on Twitter with a good story
behind the brand’s NFT launch, got
thousands of followers in an hour and sold
their NFT collection in like half an hour. For
example, an NFT launch by HolyCows sold
out in 5 minutes, “HolyCows: How A New
NFT Sold Out In Five Minutes - Shazir
Mucklai, [Link]”
And what better way to build, inform, and
engage your online community than social
media! Especially these 2 channels: Twitter
+ Discord. Why? Because that’s where all
the people interested in NFTs are, and they
adopted these platforms as the go-to
channels for NFT marketing. As a marketer,
you already know how to engage on
Twitter, but we would highly stress that
you engage on Discord as well. Discord has
a lot of good channels in which you can
find the right conversations and engage
with NFT communities. Even large
companies like VISA are on Discord,
engaging with the community on different
NFT channels.

Just to be clear. This doesn’t mean you

can’t use Instagram or Facebook for
example. Wherever your audience is,
always engage. But it seems that so far,
using Twitter and Discord is a must when it
comes to NFT marketing. Here are some
handy tips when it comes to using Discord:
-Follow NFT chats/channels
-Follow community servers
-Participate in discussions
-Make connections

And, here are some Instagram tips:

-Use hashtags that are related to NFTs, not

just general hashtags. Also, try using ones
that hit 100k or below.
-Engage with your community the same
way as you’d do with any product launch
-Use stories and reels, as these are proving
great for engagement

This brings us to the next great thing you

can do on social media: hype building.
These have proven very successful in the
NFT space. Think of it as a prelaunch
marketing campaign that you’ve done
before. If you want to create buzz around
the NFT you will launch with different
tactics such as storytelling, sneak peeks,
and partnerships with the right influencers
in the space. And a really cool thing to
notice about creating hype is that, rather
than companies doing it alone, it’s the
people! If people come together and say
“yes, this is valuable to us”, bingo! This
means that the NFT launch would depend
highly on the community, and the
marketing made to that community to
raise the perceived value of that NFT.

The key takeaway is this: if you want to be

a great NFT marketer, then being a great
online community manager will come in
very handy.
Last but not least, Partnerships. You’ve
already worked with influencers and
influencer marketing before for sure. Well,
that’s good because thought authorities in
the NFT space have an amazing power of
shifting communities. So, consider
partnerships as a key tool in your
marketing activities for NFT marketing.

Selling it as an NFT:

Here’s where you’ll need the help of tools.

Now, there are a lot of tools out there that
can help brands transition into the
Metaverse, or simply create NFTs for the
time being.

However, one thing has to be kept in mind.

The simpler the tool, the more time you’d
have focusing on your marketing efforts,
and the greater the value you can give to
the customer. The more complex the tool,
the more time you’ll have to spend
learning technical skills and how that
ecosystem works when it comes to
cryptocurrencies, digital wallets, NFT
creation, etc.… At the same time, the
simpler the tools and the technical/crypto
knowledge expected from your audience,
the higher the likelihood of their
engagement with your NFT offering will
be.

So, keep it simple, for yourself, and for

your audience.
Here's a list of tools that we recommend to
start your NFT marketing journey:

[Link]

If you’re looking for the simplest way to

mint NFTs and email them to your clients,
[Link] is the go-to for simplicity. They
have been in the NFT space for a while and
they’re directly affiliated with the UNIC
(University of Nicosia) that has been
engaged in the blockchain space from the
outset and is now leading the way into the
Metaverse through its Open Metaverse
Initiative. Their NFT minting platform is
built with features and functionality that
focus on supporting brands to make the
transition through better engagement with
their audiences. All you do is drag and
drop the image, audio, or video file and
mint it with a press of a button without
any specialized knowledge. Then, through
the platform, you could email this NFT, or
multiple NFTs to your clients, without the
need for either the brand or the end
recipient to engage with crypto wallets or
crypto in general.

Step 1: Drag and Drop asset

Step 2: Fill in some metadata, import list of
client emails that the NFTs will be sent to

Step 3: Mint, and dispatch

GET COMPLIMENTARY FIRST

ISSUANCE AND FREE NFTs

By using [Link]’s platform, brands could

sell the digital assets to their customers
through their online shop and have it
delivered with an email directly to the
client’s inbox.
Mojito

If you want to build your own NFT

marketplace, then mojito is a good place
to look as it’s an NFT commerce suite, that
handles the end-to-end experience of
selling NFTs. They provide an
administrative dashboard and suite of APIs
to customers hoping to build their own
NFT marketplace. They also provide other
services such as being a marketing partner
and tech advisor, helping brands
conceptualize, design and develop
marketplaces on top of its platform. Their
goal is to help brands transition into the
metaverse and discover new Web3-
enabled ways to align with the crypto and
NFT communities.

Niftmint

Niftmint lets brands create NFTs and sell

directly on their eCommerce websites and
channels, without cryptocurrency or crypto
wallets. So, if you’re a brand owner that
has their own eCommerce for example,
Niftmint helps you create NFTs and then
sell them on your own e-commerce
website without the need for crypto
wallets, making purchasing and selling
similar to how people are used to doing it
on existing e-commerce sites.

Uniquely

If your client is a brand, project, artist, or

creator looking for a unique and innovative
way to launch their fashion line, art, or
other physical products, this platform is
great. It helps create your own customized
and scalable storefront where you can list
your products in the form of NFTs. And
their cross-chain stores let you take your
client’s collection one step further, where
each NFT can be redeemed for physical
items with full Proof of Authenticity on the
blockchain, metaverse wearables for digital
avatars, and virtual objects in AR, elevating
your brand to the next level.
NFT Marketplaces

Listing your client’s NFTs on popular

marketplaces is what the industry is doing,
and marketplaces such as the ones listed
below are sure to get eyes on that NFT:

OpenSea
LooksRare
SuperRare
Foundation
Rarible
CryptoPunks
Nifty Gateway
NFT Calendar: It’s a calendar for NFT
events. It covers; NFT drops and
exciting events across different
industries.

What about Crypto Spaces? Well, you can

take advantage of the growing popularity
of the Metaverse to promote your NFT
project. Decentraland is one of the best
crypto spaces at the moment. Collectors
showcase their NFT collections, socialize,
create virtual venues, and assemble for
exhibitions.
 THE KEY
TAKEAWAYS
We do believe that NFTs are just starting
to blow up, and the buzz around it isn’t
just hype. Some of you out there will
probably wonder if this is just another
trend that will simply fizzle away. But,
when a colossal tech company like FB is
prepared to change its name to something
that epitomizes what the digital future is
likely to be, the possibilities of it fading
away are close to zero. And like companies
that engaged with the internet at the early
stages were the ones that stood to gain
the most, the same stands with the
Metaverse and NFTs. The sooner the brand
makes that transition, the more it will
stand to gain.

We also believe that NFTs in themselves

are a marketing tool that can be utilized
for so many marketing objectives. We’re
seeing so many brands getting creative
with NFTs for community engagement,
brand loyalty, direct sales, and the list
goes on.

Using the DSM Framework and the tools

listed, your NFT marketing efforts should
become way clearer to develop. Follow
this sequence to build your NFT marketing
plan:

1. What “thing” does this brand have that

their audience sees value in

2. Digitize it
3. Strategize by considering:

Storytelling
Branding
Choosing the right channels
Definitely including Twitter and Discord
Engaging with communities, develop,
and manage your own
Build a pre-launch plan, get the hype
around the launch
Find the right partnerships

4. Mint, using any of the tools mentioned

above. [remember, the simpler, the better]

5. Use NFT marketplaces and crypto

spaces to your advantage

Using the above framework, developing

NFT marketing strategies will become way
easier. And using any of the tools we
listed, you can streamline the process and
deliver high-quality NFTs and NFT
marketing services to your clients. Your
clients will love you for doing this.

If you’re ready to start your journey into

NFT marketing and want to know exactly
how to do it, or you are just curious to
learn a bit more, then click below.

LEARN MORE ABOUT NFTs