Komodo Marketing Report

Komodo Marketing Strategy 2021
With Q1 Results and Achievements

Read our report to maintain a high-level overview about our plans and perhaps even get inspired to take action and get involved with Komodo marketing.

KMD_Logo_A

Macro Strategy For 2021

Komodo is on a course to become a major technology provider, general educator, and content hub in the crypto space. Our background, values, and unique know-how have set us on a path and it is time to accomplish what we came here to do. Let’s finish what we started and put Komodo back on track to becoming one of the key blockchain industry players.

The Analysis

An important aspect of a good strategy is to spend time analyzing the situation on where we came from, and what our existing roadblocks are. After that, we can set a general course for ourselves and plan our immediate actions to get where we want to go.

Over the years the Komodo team has had multiple pivots and a rebrand that have led to a diverse understanding of what Komodo is all about. Some may still think KMD is a privacy coin, but this hasn’t been the case since February 2019. Others are unsure what Komodo is offering in the first place. In a fast-evolving industry, this is a prevailing problem many projects have had to face.

One of the major narratives surrounding Komodo is that we have built a multi-chain platform that allows anyone to launch an independent blockchain – a Komodo Smart Chain. While that is correct, we also have another narrative that has partly stayed in the shadows. AtomicDEX (Komodo DeFi Framework) has a business component – the underlying engine – which can be used to launch DEX and DeFi products. AtomicDEX (Komodo DeFi Framework) greatly enhances the overall multi-chain offering and solutions suite that Komodo Platform offers.

The achievements of AtomicDEX are widely understood throughout our community and even the blockchain industry - but there is so much more to that story than what is currently known. We are quite excited about the full potential of Komodo AtomicDEX as it is something we have been working on for years, and believe it will lead the way for Komodo in 2021 and beyond.

The crucial objective for Komodo marketing is to uncover the full story of AtomicDEX and its underlying engine. The potential for this opportunity is massive - leading to the adoption of Komodo DEX technologies both by users and project teams alike.

The previous bear market combined with shifts in Komodo’s marketing message has created mixed feelings within the Komodo community - and as a result, it has been crumbling. However, a clear change has been notified by our community since last September as we have re-orientated our marketing to focus on fundamentals and put emphasis on the long-term marketing structure. Furthermore, the ongoing bull run has got a lot of oldtimers to check out Komodo again - and a lot of new members are entering our community.

Looking back on a multi-year horizon we could conclude that Komodo – like many crypto communities – has been operating in an echo chamber. We have developed and published groundbreaking technology and expected the world to come to us by talking about what we have done. Indeed, over the past years our marketing message has had a hard time reaching a new audience and we have only succeeded in engaging with our existing community of passionate supporters.

Most will not pay attention to a challenger until the project sees massive success through customer adoption. What we have to do is maintain our steady course and keep building our technology and products so that one day we reach the tipping point with adoption. We also have to change our perspective and start thinking about how we can build value for other crypto enthusiasts, projects, and their communities. When we do that they will come to us, and our Komodo community and brand recognition will grow.

What is important for us as the Komodo marketing team and community is to understand the situation and to apply strategies that work in our particular position. In recent months, we have begun to slowly make progress and new people are starting to discover what we have been working on all along.

Key Takeaway

The fundamental issue Komodo marketing faces is to clearly position and explain what Komodo is in 2021 and get alignment with the community so that we all work towards the same objectives. Historically Komodo has been unable to reach people that aren’t aware of Komodo, and instead, our latest news and announcements have reached our existing audience only.

"The entire Komodo team has been on a long journey - and we keep going milestone after milestone."

- Audo Kowitz, Komodo CMO

The Direction

We have to start leveraging our greatest asset: our community. To do that we must clear pathways for community involvement. The result is a dedicated and distributed team that will allow us to scale up. To be successful we have to be brave and think out outside the box.

We also have to start applying an agile mindset in the way we operate and take the challenges through a series of marketing sprints. The Komodo marketing team has been developing our sprint structure over the past months and has found it to be extremely successful. We are seeing the benefits as we have a laser focus on a few issues and deliver them on time, which then naturally leads to the question about the “lowest hanging fruit.” In other words, the agile mindset forces us to think strategically.

As a global team and community, we have to foster horizontal structures and management practices that empower individuals with a self-starter mindset. Our vision is to create community programs and pathways that produce community leaders, technical experts, and creative professionals.

Let us focus on the future, embrace failure, and move forward in small steps through trial and error. If you have what it takes, reach out and get involved with Komodo.

Impactful Stories

Impactful Stories

The story of Komodo is inspiring and we have to sharpen it to be well understood through our visual brand and marketing messages. We have to focus on video content and show the faces of Komodo with its dedicated team and passionate community.

Impactful Stories

Empower Individuals

We are passionate about crypto because it empowers us. As the Komodo project, we have to find ways to empower everyone from our team to the community. We must focus on community building and build strong relationships.

Impactful Stories

Value Delivery Mindset

For decisive outcomes, we have to find ways to provide value internally and externally. Our marketing campaigns and programs need to provide value for other people or communities or else they are already destined for failure.

Over the past months, our marketing team has been closely working with the rest of the Komodo team to understand where we are headed. We are now in a place to stabilize Komodo's story with its rich history. In fact, the work has already started over the past months, and we will continue on that course for the rest of the year.

Key Takeaway

We must focus on telling an inspiring and impactful story that gets us all on the same page about what Komodo is here to do. We must work closely with our community and find ways to clear pathways for them to get involved. Ultimately, Komodo must provide value for others to get recognition and grow our audience. Through our actions, a new and stronger Komodo will emerge.

The Plan

Now that we have a basic understanding of the situation and the general direction we’re headed, let’s talk about the specific programs and actions we have been running, are currently running, or will be running in Q1 through Q4 2021.

Crystalize The Komodo Story

Crystalize The Komodo Story

We have to review all existing content and think of ways to improve how we explain and talk about Komodo. This involves how we explain Komodo in a casual conversation to how we outline our developer documentation. In addition, we will maintain a ‘community handbook’ that provides an entry point for anyone interested in learning about Komodo.

Educational Content

Educational Content

We have to create content for inbound marketing. We add value for the new people who find crypto and blockchain, and to them, we clarify what Komodo is doing. Our tools are content marketing, social media, and email marketing.

Empower Individuals

Empower Individuals

We will enhance our community structure and develop a community journey that adds value and empowers members. These enhancements would allow them to get involved, and they will then refer other people, and we grow through word-of-mouth marketing.

Events

Events

There’s nothing more rewarding than joining an event and learning about the latest news and updates on the very second everyone else does too. We have found live-streamed events to be a powerful tool that lets us collaborate and work with other communities and work towards our common goals and interests.

Cross-Community Collaboration

Cross-Community Collaboration

All communities need a wallet - and soon they will need a DEX too. Komodo is in a unique position to collaborate with other projects and unify the blockchain space. What better way to inform a new community about the Komodo technology than to empower them with the technology and demonstrate how it all brings more value to them and their project.

Referral Programs

Referral Programs

We have been researching the possibilities of a referral program that will empower passionate members and users to spread our story through which they would discover Komodo and AtomicDEX as well.

Video As A Medium

Video As A Medium

Let’s show our team and community more and use video as the medium for communication and engagement. Everyone loves video content, and it’s a powerful way to drop big updates and educate people in general.

Q1 Review

Now that we have a general understanding of our goals, let’s take a moment to reflect on what we have achieved so far in 2021.In the post-mortem where we made a general assessment of our results and performance for Q1 2021.

Marketing Sprint Structure

Marketing Sprint Structure

We found a work balance, better sprint structure, and general rhythm for delivery

Marketing Sprint Structure

We're Too Busy

When we give ourselves too many tasks we may lose sight of the bigger picture and get tunnel vision.

Marketing Sprint Structure

Repeatable Processes

We spent time nourishing our workflow to scale up our output for the long run.

Marketing Sprint Structure

Improve Internal Communication

We want to improve our internal processes and communication to become more efficient and decisive.

Marketing Sprint Structure

Community Involvement

We worked very openly with our community which resulted in the creation of new relationships.

Marketing Sprint Structure

More Efficient Meetings

Sometimes our meetings ran long and to overcome that we brainstormed a set of improvements for Q2.

Key Achievements

Komodo marketing built a solid foundation in many key areas during Q1 2021. Our achievements put us in a better position for success moving into Q2 and beyond. We made major improvements in product marketing, content marketing, and community building.

New Website

New Website

A solid foundation to expand on throughout the year.

AtomicDEX v0.4 Launch

AtomicDEX v0.4 Launch

We had an event and onboarded new users.

SEO Foundation

SEO Foundation

A new effort to optimize and expand our SEO.

Live Streaming Setup

Live Streaming Setup

We upgraded our live-streaming setup to 1080p

Content Expansion

Content Expansion

We developed a content strategy linked with our SEO efforts.

Community Program

Community Program

We took our first step towards full community involvement.

Statistics & Data

Now that we have presented our key achievements and vision for Komodo marketing, let’s review some of the most crucial statistics & data.

Discord

We had a steady flow of Discord visitors. There was an uptick in visitors from February 22 to March 8. This timeframe coincided with the release of AtomicDEX Stable Beta Launch Party. The key takeaway is that we can host release parties & activities to generate more community interest.

Youtube

The combination of Thursday Townhalls and livestreaming of our Komodo event series led to a significant increase in views and watchtime on YouTube compared to 2020. Week 8 - which included the AtomicDEX Stable Beta Launch Party livestreams - was the standout week in Q1. with a 16x increase in views and 40x increase in watchtime.

Komodo Platform Twitter

At the beginning of 2021, we set a few Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) for Twitter. Our main objectives are to increase reach and engagement.

Reach - Q1 2020 vs. Q1 2021

For @komodoplatform, this year we have a goal of delivering 300 tweets per quarter and reaching 125,000 followers. It should be noted that we take our follower count seriously and now regularly remove fake followers, so the numbers you see accurately reflect our follower count.

Engagement - Q1 2020 vs. Q1 2021

We also set several engagement goals for 2021. We want to maintain a 3% engagement rate. Each quarter we aim to generate 100,000 profile visits, earn 1k replies, and deliver 10,000 link clicks.

AtomicDEX Twitter - Q1 2020 vs. Q1 2021

A big focus of Q1 was to create synergy between @komodoplatform and @AtomicDEX Twitter accounts. By creating threads that cross-reference each other, we've been able to grow both accounts and increase engagement.

Komodo Newsletter

Beginning in Q1 2021, we established a new email strategy. In addition to improving the formatting of our existing monthly recap newsletter, we have expanded our newsletter coverage while maintaining a consistent open rate. We have started sending monthly preview newsletters that correspond with the Komodo event series. We’ve also been sending invitations with details about special events that anyone in the community can participate in.

We started sending more newsletters than in 2020 (also monthly recaps).

Reddit

The number of posts and comments on Reddit increased sharply beginning in January 2021. This can be attributed to the hiring of Churro as our new Reddit manager. Since onboarding Churro, we have been more responsive on Reddit in terms of creating new threads and responding to user questions.

Website

At the end of January 2021, we launched the new komodoplatform.com website and begun making incremental SEO improvements to bring new organic traffic to the website. As a result, we reached a yearly high for total website traffic for the root domain. In Q2, we will begin migrating content on the subdomains, including the Komodo blog, to the root domain and creating more key landing pages. We anticipate this will give us an added traffic boost next quarter.

Media

In Q1 2021, we onboarded a new PR agency. This led to more commentary opportunities around major industry news on both crypto and mainstream news sites. There were also many news articles featuring the AtomicDEX Stable Beta release. Coindesk published an article about DogeDEX - a branded DEX built with Komodo technology - that was then syndicated by Yahoo Finance, Nasdaq, and other publications.

Marketing Focus in Q2

There are many things we have wanted to get done over the months, but they have remained in our backlog. Q2 is a time for us to clear the table and set the stage for the second half of the year. Yet, that doesn’t mean that there will be less going on for Komodo. On the contrary, the groundwork we have done allows us to keep going with a high delivery rate, and our goals for Q2 are set high.

The Komodo Blockchain Summer Conference will kick off the second half of the year. This is a big deal to us as we get to showcase everything we have worked hard towards as the entire Komodo team. We are preparing to livestream a multi-day event in collaboration with other projects where we talk about hard-hitting topics and showcase the latest technology our industry has to offer. Whether you are a business or crypto enthusiast, you ought to hold onto your seat and mark the date in your schedule.

What you can expect for us is a steady stream of content releases during Q2 from website expansion to brochures and pitch decks. Even the creation of this report was a new trial for us to explore how to produce HTML reports – which are now easier for us to do going forward.

#1 Tell the story of Komodo

Now that the story of Komodo is crystallized we can work on our messaging campaign - this includes creating digital marketing content that contains our message about what is Komodo,what we do, and how our value can be understood in this space - with the highest importance on why we exist at all.

What we have to put emphasis on is visual content, and the backbone of visual content clear messaging that is punchy, bold, and understandable. To be able to do that requires a deep understanding of Komodo and the blockchain space - and we feel we are there. We also have to master online content from HTML to web stories to data visualization – and find ways to make our story easily shareable in the age of social media.

#2 Scale Up Our Bandwidth

We have placed emphasis on making what we do repeatable - and many resources have used to discover how certain things can be done. Once we know the ins and outs of something it is easy to do again in the future. In Q2 we are in a much better position to work with additional hires as well as with our numerous community contributors to scale up what we are able to produce.

#3 Strengthen Our Relationship With Community

Find ways to build new relationships and strengthen the existing ones by working together with our community and finding ways to empower us all. We will hire a dedicated community manager to ensure we stay connected to all parts of the great Komodo community.

#4 Website and Traffic Improvements

We will continue to work towards the vision we have about komodoplatform.com domain. It will be a hub of content with a lot of emphasis placed on simplicity, usability, and SEO. We will continue to plan how we structure the website and ensure information is easy to find.

#5 Live Streaming & Video

Enhance our livestream setup and the way we operate and run events. We have a vision to make professional webinars and other events - and slowly and steadily we are discovering all the tools and tricks that will make us successful. We will continue to streamline our video production pipeline and discover how we can use video as a medium even more.

#6 Educate and Empower

We're blockchain tech experts that spend all of our time buried in the financial renaissance period of the crypto era - and all members of our community have unique standpoints and thoughts. Together with the komodo team we are looking to spread awareness about why crypto matters and empower newcomers and students with knowledge. To start on that journey we will launch a Komodo Developer Academy to streamline technical education that leads to open-source contributions.

Farewell

Blockchain is literally the printing press for money and exchange of value and we're spending all our time exploring the philosophy of it. Those that spend their time in the community with Komodo should walk away knowing the language of blockchain and why the financial revolution is important.

As the marketing team, we want to thank the entire Komodo team and our dedicated community for getting us as far as we have come since the project was launched many years ago. We are certain that the story of Komodo is just beginning and the hard work and dedication will carry us far over the coming years.

If you got inspired and want to get involved with Komodo please reach out to us through Komodo Discord.

Team Reflections

Finally, let's hear a few thoughts from several Komodo team members.

Team Reflections

Back To Our Roots

Creating the foundation for a robust marketing team

Audo Kowitz - Chief Marketing
                            Officer
Audo Kowitz - Chief Marketing Officer

When I became Komodo CMO last year, I had one major theme in my mind: “Put the Komodo community at the center of our marketing.” The idea was to go back to our roots and leverage our community as our greatest asset - but it wasn’t as simple as I had thought. A lot of groundwork was done in the early days to steer the ship on the right course. Through planning and working through a sprint format with clear goals and outcomes, the Komodo marketing team has become more focused and agile.

Now that we have a solid foundation, it’s time to build! As we continue to grow the Komodo community, we’re also refining our craft and expanding our sights to tackle new opportunities that didn’t even exist just a couple of months ago. In my opinion, Komodo marketing is ahead of the game for the first time in a while. We have a more proactive mindset but also can adapt to essentially any circumstance on the fly. We’re able to align with the development team on getting the word out about project updates and major messaging points. We’re also more capable of working autonomously. Even as individuals within the marketing team, everyone has established a really smooth workflow.

As you can see from the points above, the marketing team still has many areas that can be improved upon. However, I think that acknowledging this is an achievement in itself. If we are more aware of our challenges, it’s much easier to set realistic goals for making incremental improvements. Komodo is going through a great revival, whether it be the development team with amazing breakthroughs in atomic swap technology, the business team with the launch of branded DEXs, or the marketing team with event organizing as well as community collaboration. I’m excited to continue on this journey full speed ahead and pave the way for an even brighter future.

Content Expansion

Ramping up organic content production and garnering media recognition

Delton Rhodes - Head of
                            Content
Delton Rhodes - Head of Content

In Q1 2021, the quantity and quality of Komodo’s content production took a major stride forward. This was truly a great effort by the entire Komodo marketing team and our community. We are now in an excellent position to build upon Komodo’s reputation as a blockchain and crypto educator. We recently onboarded a new freelance writer and SEO specialist. Along with this, we have expanded the focus of our ongoing blockchain fundamentals series and begun a new blockchain project overview series on the Komodo blog. We’ve also optimized the formatting of our newsletter which has brought increased engagement.

Video content has expanded with the introduction of Thursday Townhalls and livestreams of monthly events. More than anything else, we now have a clear process for how we produce video content - from planning content structure to post-event editing.

Beginning in January, Komodo started working with a new PR firm. We worked with our PR partners to establish a clearer brand messaging around Komodo and how our team is in a unique position to be a part of the important conversations happening now in the crypto sector. Throughout Q1, Komodo team members have been featured in top crypto and finance publications and provide insights on a wide range of topics. I would say the highlight of Q1 was definitely the coverage surrounding the launch of DogeDEX in Coindesk, Nasdaq, Yahoo Finance, and several other places.

In Q2, I want Komodo to continue building momentum and generating content that is fun, engaging, and relevant to what’s going on in our sector.

A few things that I’m looking forward to...

  • More video content & explainer pieces that succinctly explain Komodo’s vision
  • Adding a video component to go along with project updates & major announcements
  • Starting an interview series where we can showcase the wonderful people helping to build Komodo’s innovative tech
  • Adding new guest contributors to the Komodo blog - let me know if you are interested!
  • Working with community contributors to spread content to new social media platforms and to create platform-native content
  • Expanding blog translations to new languages & empowering regional community building through content

Organization & Community Building

Scaling up the team through open-source contributions

Jcharming - Operations Manager
Jcharming - Operations Manager

When I joined the Komodo team in September 2020, the marketing department lacked a proper organizational structure. In Q4 2020 much of my work focused on getting the fundamentals in place. My goal as the Operations Manager is simple: improve the efficiency of the team and build a true marketing engine that enables Komodo to scale up.

Beginning in January 2021, I championed an initiative to create more community events that followed up on the success of the 2020 AtomicDEX Stress Test. Events surrounding the launch of the new Komodo website, AtomicDEX Stable Beta, and social media engagement led to a significant increase in community interaction on Discord and YouTube. One of the biggest highlights in Q1 was empowering the community to shift from a more passive state to a more active state. Our Nakomodo Knights group emerged spontaneously as an enthusiastic group of community supporters who now champion Komodo on social media.

In March, I began to host weekly meetings for community contributors as a way for more people to get involved and become a real part of our marketing team. These meetings will continue to be a major focus in Q2 and beyond as Komodo expands its community-building efforts.

A few things I’m looking forward to in Q2…

  • Leading community contributor meetings and onboarding new contributors
  • Helping to plan more Komodo events, including the Komodo Blockchain Summer Conference
  • Working to establish a Komodo merchandise store
  • Collaborating together with VK to launch an AtomicDEX referral program
  • Researching and selecting project management tools that can help marketing workflow

Creating The Best Account On Crypto Twitter

Building the metaverse and delivering the gospel of Komodo

VK - Growth Hacker
VK - Growth Hacker

When I joined the marketing team in Q3 2020, I was tasked with reviving Komodo’s Twitter account. Before taking on my role as a growth hacker, I noticed that our Twitter lacked genuine community engagement. We didn’t have clear messaging, and the benefits of our technology weren’t really resonating with anyone. My goal was to change this by bringing the fun back to Komodo, while also finding creative ways to explain everything the project has to offer.

Since that time, I’ve been experimenting with memetics to find what people relate to and engage with. For example, I recently came up with the idea of describing Komodo’s cross-chain, cross-protocol DEX technology as “the metaverse.“ I also established a clear funnel: reach -> retention -> referral. This funnel is much more effective when highly relevant. It's relevancy that we've focused on with the community (small groups and individuals rather than audience and segments). Because of this, despite having fewer impressions compared to last year, our engagement has been so much better recently. It’s all about reaching the right people.

Another important strategy change was to stop treating Twitter as a place owned by a gatekeeper - and instead turn it into a place owned by the entire community. I think of the Komodo Twitter account as a piece of real estate that is shared by everyone - the Komodo team, open-source contributors, enthusiasts, developers, and anyone interested in self-sovereignty. So while Komodo technology is like a literal metaverse for blockchains, our social media is like a metaphorical metaverse for ideas. It’s a place where people from different groups all find common ground.

In Q2 2021, with the introduction of the Komodo community contributors, I hope that more channels will follow the growth blueprint we’re creating on Twitter. I know this will help Komodo to reach new segments of people, from those who may have barely even heard of blockchain to those who are experts but not fully aware of what Komodo is or where we’re going.

Objectives For 2021

  • 👉 Increase reach
  • 👉 Increase engagement

Key Results For 2021

  • 🎯 Reach: deliver 300 tweets p/quarter
  • 🎯 Reach: reach 125K total followers
  • 🎯 Engagement: maintain a 3% engagement rate
  • 🎯 Engagement: generate 100K profile visits p/quarter
  • 🎯 Engagement: earn 1K replies p/quarter
  • 🎯 Engagement: deliver 10K link clicks p/quarter