Letter to the Web3 team: KOL marketing is a "double-edged edge", how to use it correctly?

KOL: Use it well, you take the initiative; use it badly, they take over. This article is from the article written by Esty, compiled, translated, and written by Deep Tide TechFlow. (Background: How to track Satoshi's bright money? Three tools to help you monitor encryption KOL WalletAddress) After working with many KOLs, including well-known figures like @Flowslikeosmo, I have summarized some practical KOL marketing experiences for reference. 1. Choosing the wrong person will easily deviate from the project direction. In every market cycle, there are always projects that invest a lot of money in KOLs, but almost every time it backfires. Many project parties misunderstand: Thinking that having KOLs can bring traffic; Thinking that once there is "viral spread", it is considered successful; Treating interaction volume as actual conversion. However, the reality is: In 95% of cases, these investments do not really translate into project results— they just make the surface data look better. For example, did your post get 200,000 views and 200 bot comments? It looks cool, but did these really drive your Token Generation Event (TGE) or Total Value Locked (TVL)? Many project parties are chasing short-term "explosive moments". As @madladshad said, this is a kind of "short-term hype marketing". They often overlook user retention and the optimization of key indicators, which is the key to the long-term development of the project. 2. Classification of KOLs and the problems behind them. KOLs may show interest in your project, but this interest often only lasts until the funds stop flowing in. After that, they may not even remember the name of your project. Overall, KOLs can be divided into several categories: Speculative (90%): They chase any hot spots and post any content. Their goal is to maximize their benefits. They use tools similar to Socialplug to inflate data, or form networks with other KOLs to fake interaction volume to deceive project parties. These KOLs usually quickly promote and dump project tokens. Semi-speculative (5%): Usually have a specific field or point of interest, mainly discussing related content. Their fans and interaction volume are mostly real, and their attitude is more sincere, but when faced with some high-value cooperation, it may be difficult to resist temptation. Sincere (5%): These KOLs do not grow their accounts through wash trading, but attract fans through professional content. They have in-depth knowledge in a certain field, rarely accept advertising cooperation, and even if they do, they will prioritize the interests of their fans. These KOLs are the real cooperative partners who can bring market influence and conversion rate, such as the core members of Kaito's circle. It needs to be clarified that I do not blame any type of KOL. In fact, these behaviors of KOLs are just a response to the current state of the industry. The real problem lies in the capital forces behind it— the greed and speculation of large capital, VC companies, and project teams are the root of this phenomenon. 3. Constants and variables: The art of controlling the narrative. If you don't control your own narrative, the market will define it for you, and the result may not be as desired. You need to realize that KOL is just an amplifier. Before considering using them, be sure to lay a solid foundation: Build a product that can solve actual problems; Clarify your narrative, branding positioning, and market differentiation; Reach internal consensus within the team and define core principles; Clarify your distribution channels and communication methods; Determine the importance of community building to you; Establish contact with partners of actual value. Sadly, most projects lack clear identity, clear goals, effective solutions, ethical values, and long-term vision. 4. Our choices determine our future. Learn to use the profit-seeking nature of human beings. After laying a solid foundation, how do you translate these into actual actions? Ideally: Your product has already reached the Product-Market Fit (PMF), and users and KOLs spontaneously talk about it because it can bring them profits, and also create high-quality content for them, attracting more followers. But in reality, this is a "chicken or egg" problem. Many people believe that you need to have "influence" before you can achieve PMF. This view is partly correct, but the key is that "influence" does not necessarily have to rely on KOLs, such as achieving it through partnerships and word-of-mouth communication. A more realistic path: When you have clearly defined your niche market and target audience, you can start looking for suitable KOLs. You can use tools like @_kaitoai to analyze their audience coverage and real fan numbers (if any). Building a strong network is also crucial, as recommendations through contacts often yield twice the result with half the effort. Another method is to use @Tunnl_io to find suitable KOLs through filtering. Actively interact with target KOLs on Twitter. Seriously respond to their content, communicate privately, and provide support. You need to build relationships at a personal level, rather than just business transactions. Although this approach is beneficial for the brand, it is often more effective to start from a personal account. Do not expect results within a week— long-term interaction and accumulation will bring results, so start as early as possible and make it part of your core marketing strategy. As relationships are established, discussions will gradually focus on the product you are developing. At this point, you can promote the product at the right time and demonstrate how it can bring actual benefits to KOLs. The goal here is still to build long-term relationships and networks, rather than short-term profit exchanges. If your product can bring actual economic benefits to KOLs, while also aligning with their branding, the likelihood of them actively promoting you will greatly increase, as your success will bring them more profits. In addition, you can also ask them to recommend other KOLs for you, so you don't have to start from scratch. Relationships established through recommendations are often more efficient and easier to succeed than cold starts. Even if your product can make KOLs money, they will still want additional compensation. Giving away tokens may seem like a simple solution, but in the long run, this may be detrimental to the project, as many people may choose to dump tokens for profit (which is understandable in itself). In addition, most truly influential KOLs tend to prefer direct cash payments, such as USDC. So how do you deal with this situation? When negotiating cooperation with KOLs, long-term cooperation should be given priority over just releasing promotional content once. Why? One-time releases are difficult to reach the main audience of KOLs, while multiple releases can significantly expand coverage. When a KOL continues to release content related to you, the audience's perception of the project will gradually shift from "simple paid promotion" to "real trust". The audience's perception will influence their actual judgment of the project. At the same time, other KOLs may notice your cooperation with a certain KOL and proactively contact you, which will give you more advantages in future negotiations. In addition, don't just focus on "large" KOLs. Cooperation with "micro KOLs" (MicroKOL) is often more valuable, as their audience is usually more real, and interaction is more sticky. 5. There are no gods or kings, only effective marketing funnels. The effect of viral spread is often short-lived, while a well-designed marketing funnel can bring long-term...