The future of Web3 communities: What’s next after the NFT community craze?

NFT communities are dying. But they paved the way for Web3 communities to hypergrow for the past two years, and Web3 marketing and community building tactics are heavily influenced by the marketing META that NFT communities introduced in the space.

But NFT communities aren’t exactly dying. They’re hibernating, and they’re hibernating because the growth of NFT communities are a function of the state of the market. In the long awaited 2021 bull run, NFT sales climbed to an all time high of US$11.6 billion in Q4.

By the end of the year NFT sales had already exceeded US$17 billion, which was 21354.5 per cent more than 2020’s figure of US$82.5 million, a whopping 200x industry explosion.

In bull runs, NFT communities explode. In bear runs, NFT communities wither. That’s just the way it is because the value of NFTs are inherently driven by crypto.

NFT communities paved the way to accelerate Web3 adoption. But NFTs did more than just that; NFTs laid the foundation of Web3 marketing and community building as the forefront of Web3 culture, storytelling, and community building. NFTs basically standardised the way Web3 projects, companies, communities, and builders marketed and grew communities in Web3, it was all about hype, culture, momentum, and exchange of value.

NFT and Web3 marketing in a nutshell

Web3 marketing is different. Marketing in Web2 is defined as the “action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.”

But in Web3, marketing isn’t meant to promote a product or a service. It’s meant to promote a community (i.e., projects first have to be community backed, creator backed, and investor backed, before people can legitimately trust their product).

NFT marketing is a subset of Web3 marketing, and NFT marketing takes “community promotion” to a whole new level through events, activities, and giveaways.

Also Read: 6 NFT mistakes to avoid for newbies

As a community builder, its also important to note that events, activities, and giveaways aren’t authentic “community building” tactics because they don’t provide inherent value, more than just the hype and momentum.

Contrary to popular belief, a discord server or a Facebook group doesn’t make a community. Just because you have a group of people in a platform doesn’t mean you have a community.

A group of people in a platform only evolves to a community when exchange of value happens on all levels of the organisation, from new comers to the OG’s. In other words, a server or a group is only a community when the members of the platform are contributing or helping each other.

Which is why NFT and Web3 marketing is divided into two approaches: short term and long term marketing.

Short term marketing strategies and campaigns revolve around events, launches, and giveaways that “blow up” the community metrics. These campaigns are meant to give the project a burst or increase in community members and let people in the space know that the project exists. For Web2 marketers and advertisers, think of these as “brand awareness” campaigns.

Long term marketing strategies and campaigns on the other hand, involve weekly development updates, content marketing, and genuine community building events and activities from forums, AMA’s, and conferences that facilitate exchange of value to community members, more than just giveaways.

To simplify, short-term campaigns are the reason why people ape in the project’s ecosystem, while long-term campaigns are the reason why people actually stay, contribute and not just lurk.

How NFT communities play out in Web3 projects

Web3 projects from de-fi, layer 0 platforms, and other projects in the Web3 ecosystem that aren’t part of the NFT craze also adhere to the short term and long term formula which were laid by NFT marketing.

However, these Web3 communities have to focus on the long term approach more than the short term approach, as they have to facilitate real value upfront.

However, NFT communities will play a vital role in the growth of upcoming Web3 projects through collaborations. As such, Web3 founders should actively look for already established NFT communities that fit the vision that they’re building for a long-term collaboration that will grow both communities.

Also Read: Busan Blockchain Week 2022: Trends shaping the future of NFT

Web3 communities will change in the following years as the space will realise that NFT communities aren’t what defines the Web3 space. Though NFT projects will always play a massive role in Web3, in the next three to five years, NFT projects will not anymore be the defining factor of Web3, especially with more Web3 technologies, such as layer 0 projects joining the ecosystem.

The future of Web3 Communities

The future of Web3 communities will revert back to where the space was circa 2018, projects focused on building the grassroots with real communities and builders who are in the space more than just the exclusivity and the flip.

As such, the momentum will swing back from NFT communities to communities of Web3 tech, education, and projects that have real use cases and utilities other than just culture, community, and art.

However, these Web3 communities will be partnering and collaborating with already established NFT communities to reshape the space back to a long term mindset. Which begs the question: Will NFT’s come back again soon?

According to Jiro Reyes, the CEO of Web3 edutech startup Bitskwela, NFT communities are hybernating now, but we’re expecting to see the rise of the billion dollar industry again in the next bull run.

As for when the next bull run will happen again? I’d leave the TA to the technical people in the community. But the good news is, real exchange of value is coming to the space again soon, value that’s above hype, culture, and momentum.

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