The Polkadot ecosystem is moving faster than Conor Daly around the racetrack š š„ (if you donāt get the reference yet, keep reading). With so much happening across the ecosystem, it can be hard to keep track of everything unfolding. Thatās where we come in. At Distractive, we’re a driving force behind Polkadot marketing, championing initiatives, resources, and coordination for the community as a whole.
Our goal? To ensure that the ecosystem continues to grow and that all of the incredible ideas from the community and its partners get the love and attention they deserve. With so much enthusiasm around Polkadot, we’re racing forward and always looking for new ways to ensure everyoneās voice can be heard.
The Distractive team has expanded its crew to ensure Polkadotās marketing efforts hum like a well-oiled machine. This includes roles in digital marketing, communications, growth, advertising, and ecosystem relations.
Itās been a while since we posted a recap, so buckle up for a mega-update on the major projects in motion! š»
What Weāve Been Working On
Ecosystem Resource Center
The Ecosystem Resource Center is now live and ready to help everyone with all things Polkadot marketing! This hub unites the vibrant community of builders, teams, and enthusiasts within the Polkadot ecosystem, providing them with valuable resources and tools to meet their marketing goals. Itās essential for teams looking to promote their Polkadot projects and those aiming to market Polkadot itself.
What Will You Find in the Resource Center?
Co-marketing Collaboration
Access social media guidelines and co-marketing request forms to receive promotional support for your project. Distractiveās goal is to make it easy for you to get support for announcements as well as to seamlessly integrate with Polkadot’s ongoing marketing efforts.
By completing the co-marketing request form, your request will be reviewed by a Distractive team member who will activate and coordinate with other decentralized teams depending on the scenario. Support can include social media sharing, PR amplification, inclusion in campaigns, influencer collaboration, as well as integration with existing marketing projects like the upcoming new Polkadot website! Resources will vary depending on the type of announcement, but the more advance notice we receive, the better weāll be able to include more resources.
PLEASE NOTE that Distractiveās primary goal is to amplify the activity and vibrancy of the Polkadot ecosystem, and that we are positioned to market on behalf of Polkadot which means we are not usually going to be able to help you come up with a full go-to-market for your own project. At the end of the day, by raising awareness and visibility of Polkadot, we all win. But weāll go out of our way to share your news, pull you into projects weāre working on, and showcase the wonderful builders who keep us motivated every day!
Branding Resources
Harness the power of Polkadot’s brand assets, including branded slide decks and event branding guidelines, to enhance your projectās visibility and ensure consistent messaging across platforms. Weāll continue to expand this resource, providing materials that weāve inherited from Parity or creating our own for the community to use to amplify the Polkadot brand.
Event Planning Made Easy
Discover the Events-in-a-Box section, your ultimate resource for planning, organizing, securing funds, and promoting a successful event. From event branding guidelines to templates, past booth designs, and swag/merchandise designs, this section equips you to create memorable and impactful experiences that reflect Polkadot’s vision of a decentralized future. And if youāre wondering where to meet the community, stay updated on Polkadot’s events calendar ā your look at all the Polkadot events on our radar being planned by decentralized resources.
Master Messaging
Craft compelling narratives and messaging strategies that resonate with your target audience. Access the Polkadot booklet and a list of popular crypto narratives to fine-tune your messaging and effectively communicate your projectās value within the ecosystem. This content was actively workshopped further at Consensus and has been a long time in the making. We plan to roll it out alongside the website, and weāll make sure to keep this section up to date with the latest and greatest!
Media Relations
Amplify your PR efforts with PR amplification options and stay updated on press highlights. Establish your presence in the media landscape and build meaningful relationships with journalists and influencers to enhance your brand’s visibility and credibility.
Proposals and Treasury
Learn everything you need to know to submit a Treasury Proposal through Polkadot OpenGov on the Proposals-in-a-Box section. Find everything from proposal templates, reporting insights, open grants and step-by-step guides to navigate a decentralized funding system that empowers you to contribute, collaborate, and shape the future of the Polkadot ecosystem.
Transparency and Analytics
Gain insights into the effectiveness of your marketing efforts with transparency reports on events and campaigns. Track key metrics and analytics to measure your impact and optimize your strategies for maximum results. If you need help to start your own report, we’ve added various templates where you can discover how to create impactful post-event and post-campaign reports. Let these examples inspire and guide you.
The Resource Center isn’t just about providing resourcesāit’s about fostering a sense of community and collaboration that drives Polkadot toward its collective vision of a decentralized future. By giving everyone the tools and knowledge they need to thrive, we’re igniting a new era of innovation and progress within the ecosystem.
Branding and Website Overhaul
Polkadot is gearing up for an exciting transformation, centered around a relaunch of its website. The website is the front door for most polka-curious folks and is a crown jewel for any web3/crypto project. Weāve spent months painstakingly reviewing, ideating, and revamping the Polkadot.network site. This isnāt just going to be a new coat of paintāweāre entering a whole new car into the race (sorry, sorry, weāre done), and redefining the way we communicate about Polkadot to make sure the world understands what sets it apart.
Our team is creating a revamped website experience to showcase the vibrant projects, talented individuals, and innovative tools that define the Polkadot ecosystem. We’re simplifying our messaging to make it more accessible and engaging for developers, crypto communities, and newcomers alike.
With vendor support and funding approved by W3F, we’re on track for a soft launch in Q3. Stay tuned for a fresh design, new UX, enhanced content, and a whole new vibeāaimed at empowering our community and beyond to explore, learn, and engage with Polkadot like never before.
Campaigns & Socials
Polkadot Social Media is racing ahead. Since Decentralized Futuresā recipients Distractive and Evan Thomas teamed up, impressions are up 81% from 2.5 to 4.5 million, the engagement rate is up 3.8%, and total engagements have more than doubled to 175k! Expect strategic paid media to ramp up soon. Oh, and with the forthcoming launch of Polkadot Instagamāour Insta game will be strong.
New Marketing Campaigns Spinning Up
In Q2, Distractive will launch a number of campaigns showcasing the incredible work happening across the Polkadot ecosystem. These campaigns will highlight how Polkadot enables projects to push boundaries, create innovative solutions, and develop ideas that wouldnāt be possible anywhere else. The goal is to attract new developers, partners, and community members seeking a unique ecosystem within Web3. To reach potential users and collaborators, the campaigns will utilize platforms such as X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Reddit, and Google.
Funding for these campaigns comes from the community and the Decentralized Futures grant, which covers media spend, content creation, and marketing expenses. With no markups and funds solely allocated to campaign execution, we are focused on maximizing the impact of each initiative. Any unused funds will be carried forward to fuel future campaigns in Q3.
Details are included in the proposal, and overviewed below.
Putting Polkadot in the Center of Popular Crypto Narratives
In the Chain Reactions campaign, teams across the ecosystem, including The Kusamarian, Alpha Airdrop, and Polka Insider, collaborated to create engaging gaming content. This initiative aimed to produce digestible content that makes complex topics accessible and engaging for the audience. So far, the gaming component of the campaign is leveled up, and teams are now collaborating on upcoming topics, including AI, DePin, and RWA.
Detailed quarterly reports will be shared, but hereās a sneak peak of the success so far: on X, the organic content received over 1.2M impressions, resulting in over 2,000 retweets and an engagement rate of over 3%. This marks a 39% increase in month-over-month sentiment. The first part of Chain Reactions has relied largely on organic traffic.
Spotlight Series Highlighting Builders in Polkadot
The Spotlight series is designed to showcase the vibrant community and innovative projects within the Polkadot ecosystem. Through visually engaging content creation and repurposing existing video footage, we aim to spotlight the individuals and teams behind the remarkable work being done on Polkadot.
The series will highlight projects and people in the ecosystem to raise awareness among crypto enthusiasts and developers about the opportunities and potential of building on Polkadot. We seek to attract builders and developers, whether they are new to web3 or seasoned veterans, by showcasing the welcoming and collaborative environment of the Polkadot ecosystem. This includes providing resources and information for newcomers to easily get started on Polkadot.
Through visual storytelling, we aim to foster collaboration and partnership opportunities among enterprises, SMEs (subject matter experts), and developers. By showcasing the innovative solutions built on Polkadot, we will attract enterprises looking for solid technology to invest in or build upon while providing SMEs with a platform to showcase their proof of concept (PoC) projects.
Showcasing Polkadot as a Leader in Decentralization
The Polkadot ecosystem has always been defined by the strength of its decentralization. As this continues and Polkadot moves towards an even more distributed governance and development framework, we want to be sure to highlight how this sets the ecosystem apart from other projects. Weāll work with multiple teams for testimonials to produce and promote thought leadership and content.
Stakeholder Sentiment Campaign
The Stakeholder Sentiment Campaign aims to elevate Polkadot’s brand recognition and reputation among investors by featuring case studies, research reports, and industry examples using the Polkadot SDK. This campaign seeks to highlight how Polkadot stands apart in the crowded Web3 space.
Rolling out over the coming months, the campaign will showcase Polkadot’s technological strengths, scalability, decentralization, unique governance structure, dedicated developers, and growing ecosystem. These elements position Polkadot beyond typical Web3 conversations, presenting it as a platform for creators, innovators, free-thinkers, and individuals looking to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
By emphasizing these strengths, the campaign will help investors understand why Polkadot is a standout choice in the Web3 landscape.
New Positioning & Messaging
Someone once said that we all live in the stories we tell ourselves. If thatās true, we better be sure they are good ones. When it comes to the Polkadot story, thatās exactly what weāre working on.
Polkadot is unique among all Web3 projects in almost every sense. Itās quirky, exciting, innovative, and not afraid to go its own way. Just look at the colors. Polkadot is quite literally pink and purple polka dots in a bland landscape of blue and black stripes. But, its tone of voice, story, and messaging havenāt adequately reflected this. Itās time for this to change.
Weāve been developing new positioning and messaging over the past couple of months, and are making significant progress towards defining the who, what, where, when, and why of Polkadot. We want the story to resonate with everyone, whether they have been with the project from the beginning or are totally new to the ecosystem. Through this work, we want to create an emotional connection to the brand, story, and messaging that creates energy and excitement around what we are all building together.
Weāve collected community feedback, had countless conversations with folks across the ecosystem, tested initial ideas at ETHDenver, coordinated with Parity on roadmaps and technical details, and had conversations with W3F to ensure the voice and vision are all aligned. We are excited about the new direction and look forward to sharing it soon.
Townhall Meetings
The Polkadot messaging overhaul has been a priority for Distractive, involving the community at every step to ensure the new messaging resonates with a broader audience and reflects the diverse interests and priorities within the Polkadot ecosystem. The previous messaging, āthe blockspace ecosystem for boundless innovation,ā spoke to a highly technical audience and was not well-adopted after its rollout. To ensure community input and alignment, we hosted four feedback sessions with various ecosystem members and teams, aiming to gather insights and perspectives from a diverse range of stakeholders. Over 100 attendees participated in these sessions, offering invaluable feedback that will shape the final iteration of our messaging.This collaborative approach underscores our commitment to transparency, inclusivity, and shared decision-making, laying the foundation for a stronger and more vibrant Polkadot ecosystem.
The feedback collected during these sessions will be carefully analyzed and integrated into the final version of our messaging, ensuring that it accurately reflects the aspirations and values of the Polkadot community. As we prepare to unveil the new website with updated branding and messaging, we are confident that our collaborative efforts will pave the way for a more cohesive and compelling narrative that resonates with stakeholders across the ecosystem.
Events
In the wake of a super successful ETHDenver that brought the ecosystem a record-breaking number of new wallets, we set our sights on CoinDesk Consensus 2024. The community supported this one and the proposal got the checkered flag (sorry, we couldnāt let the opportunity for one more sneak by).
Spearheaded by Distractive in partnership with teams across the ecosystem, we were thrilled to bring the unique vibrancy and personality of Polkadot to Consensus this past week in Austin. With a revamped Polkadot booth, a mainstage fireside chat, and opportunity to build excitement among developers and the broader crypto community, we are riding high (they just donāt stop, do they?) from good vibes at one of the worldās largest cryptocurrency events.
The set-up featured ecosystem teams in a fresh structure that led booth visitors through an onboarding ājourneyā to engage them in on-chain activities right there on the floor. The list of teams participating onsite included Exiled Racers, Talisman, StellaSwap, SORA Card, OAK Network, Energy Web, Agrotoken, Learn Polkadot, Acurast, CESS, Unique Network, Phala Network, CESS and LAOS network.
Conor Daily at Consensus
Adding to the Consensus excitement, Indy 500 racer Conor Daly was onsite to champion Polkadot, bringing his newly-Polkadot-branded No. 24 race car for incredible photo ops. (See, told you those bad racing puns would make sense eventually!).
Keep your ears and eyes open for recap of Polkadot at the Indy 500 and Consensus 2024, as well as regularly scheduled updates (weāre going to get this into a monthly cadence, we swear). We are sure the next updates wonāt be as Messiā¦.see what we did there? š
Cheers – Distractive
