NDC Marketing Lead - Opportunities and Improvements (Marketing DAO)

Marketing DAO Marketing DAO
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Taylor AKA Klint here!

It looks like we’re heading towards a revamping of the marketing DAO along with many other DAO initiatives across the ecosystem.

I would like to pledge my involvement to the NDC and am seeking support from the community to cover a few things.

About Me:

  • Near Marketing DAO Advisor and Council Member [Jan 2022]
  • Near Nordic GP and Program Architect
  • 6x Startup Founder
  • 15 years of Digital Marketing / Growth Experience
  • Award-Winning International Marketing Agency Owner
  • 7500+ Online Course Graduates Globally
  • 12+ Global Accelerator Workshop Facilitator and Mentor Across Web3 and Saas
  • Working with small, medium, and large organizations in Web3.
  • First time venture fund builder :muscle:

There is a steep barrier to entry right now. We could do a much better job attracting and supporting brilliant people.

Without a more streamlined and standardized approach to the DAO, we run the risk of losing the right kinds of talent and involvement in the Near Ecosystem.

Plain and simple. I want to improve the processes and jumpstart new initiatives to encourage the growth of this community.

It starts with small process improvements, adding templates, and generating resources.

There is a lot to cover… so buckle up…

The following are ways in which I would like to work with the community and existing Marketing DAO council members to improve the current model of the Marketing DAO.

  • Updated Overview of Administrative Processes
  • Creation of Guides in Multiple Formats
  • More Resources and Guides
  • Standardization of Templates
  • Updated Overview of Administrative Processes
  • Geolocation Considerations
  • Detailed Proposal Guides
  • Clear Do’s and Don’ts
  • Defined Separate Categories of Verticals
  • Social Media Formats
  • Publishing Channels
  • Community Channels
  • Ads
  • PR:
  • Content
  • Event(s)

Unified Marketing DAO Focus and Mission

Set clear quarterly and yearly goals for the foundation and Near Protocol as a whole.

  • What does Near do?
  • How is Near Different?
  • What is the focus of Near?
  • What types of projects build on Near?

There’s all sorts of answers depending on who you ask.

When you clarify above, you’ll start to see a shift in the types of projects drawn into Near.

There doesn’t need to be 100% pure specialization but a breakdown of the focused efforts by the vertical would really help.

Creation of Guides in Multiple Formats:

Step-by-Step tutorials in various formats

  • Screen Capture and voiceover [Video]
  • Presentation Slides [Slides]
  • Infographic [PDF]
  • Detailed FAQ outline with screenshot [Doc]

More Resources and Guides:

  • Links for specific guides
  • Templates
  • Examples of great proposals and execution
  • Playbooks

Standardization of Templates

One of the biggest challenges with Web3 (in general) and also DAOs is the need for using consistent templates for each type of proposal.

Updated Overview of Administrative Processes

Submitting a proposal to the Marketing DAO requires that we provide clearer guides:

Creating a Post
Create a Post Guide [Gov URL]

  • Proper format in the governance portal
  • Clear identification of the type of proposal

Submit the proposal

  • Required fields
  • Clear KPIs / Deliverables
  • Examples
  • Respond to questions
  • Submit documentation to receive payment
  • Delivery

Council

  • Standardized proposal processing (based on Vertical)
  • Feedback timelines
  • Funding timelines and cut-offs
  • Simplified use of feedback codes (we write the same things over-and-over)
  • Opportunities for advisors via bounty / applications

Funding
Payment Process Guide [Gov URL]

  • 3 Positive Votes from Council
  • Upon Approval, Clear Steps for Submitting Astro Dao Vote
  • Submission of proposal (current process)

Reporting
Reporting Guide [Gov URL]

  • Project Name
  • Project Status
  • Project Accounting
  • Highlights
  • Metrics
  • Learnings
  • Next steps
  • Screen Shots
  • Additional Details

Geolocation Considerations

This can be a challenge but there needs to be some consideration taken to the types of projects and the amount they are being funded based on the region.

Without going into too much detail, we all need to be aligned on what a decent wage looks like depending on the cost of living.

Detailed Proposal Guides

Provide examples and more robust guidelines so proposals can be consistently reviewed across the same standards.

  • Project Overview

    • Summary
    • Goals / Expected impact / value

  • Team

    • Key people involved in the project
    • Links to previously funded projects
    • Country and City of Residence

  • Examples of Your Related Work

    • Portfolio Links
    • Content (Video, Design, Podcasts, Presentations, etc)

  • Metrics KPIs [Actionable vs Vanity Metrics]
    -Far more detailed outline for metrics to be created

  • Wallets created

  • Transactions

  • Conversions

  • New Partners

  • Followers

  • Engagement

  • Traffic

  • Attendees

  • Timeline of Specific Deliverables, Tasks, and Distribution by Channel(s) and Price

    • Number of Infographics
    • Number of Videos
    • Number of AMAs
    • Number of Posts per Channel
    • Number of Pages Launched

  • Funding scheme

    • Total requested amount in USD
    • NEAR Wallet ID
    • Wallet owner’s name

Clear Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

  • Keep track of number of posts you’re publishing
  • Plan to track important metrics and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)
  • Set realistic budgets
  • Plan to submit data for reporting

Don’ts

  • First-time projects only get funding for 1 month
  • Ongoing projects can only request funding for up to 3 Months in advance
  • Don’t charge for strategy
  • Don’t name every project after Near - it’s getting incredibly confusing
  • Don’t hire an agency to do all the work
  • Don’t load up fake comments for supporting your project
  • Don’t create fake accounts to attempt to receive funding for many projects at once

Defined Separate Categories of Verticals

We need to be sure there is a greater focus on distribution of marketing being done for the projects across the ecosystem.

This means perhaps there shouldn’t be an overwhelming amount of one type of project funded in a single month.

  • Creative

    • Visual Artist (Paint, Photography, Animation, etc)
    • Musicians and Music
    • Video
    • Other

  • DApps

    • Defi and Exchanges (Dex) [Liquidity Pools, Yield Farming, Staking, Market Making, Lending, etc]
    • Token Launches
    • Gaming
    • Gambling
    • NFT Marketplaces
    • Social
    • No Code Builders
    • Other

  • Education and Training [LMS (Learning Management Systems)]

    • Developers
    • Marketing
    • No Node Solutions

  • Events

    • Meetups
    • Networking
    • Hackathons
    • Attending Conferences
    • Sponsorships
    • Online Events [AMAs, Webinars, Live Streams, Spaces)

  • Infrastructure / Developer Tools

    • Wallets
    • Validators
    • Explorers
    • Bridges
    • Storage
    • Analytics

  • Online Community Engagement

    • Influencers
    • Memes
    • Contests / Lottery
    • Social Media Promotional Accounts
    • News

Marketing Projects (by type)

Branding:

  • Stylesheet (Colors, Fonts, Sizing, Accents, Stylization, Core Visual Assets)
  • Brand Identity
  • Logo (Light and Dark)
  • Identity (Persona, Identity Framework, or Character)
  • Copy - Mission, Visual, Tagline, Key Differentiators, and Core Offers

Social Media and Community Account Creation

  • Creation of Channels
  • Profile Images
  • Banners

Website

  • Website Architecture Outline:
  • Number of pages
  • Page Purpose
  • Sections

Social Media Formats

  • Posts (Written)
  • Visuals
  • Questions (All mediums)
  • Video
  • Slides
  • PDF (Powerpoint Presentation in PDF)
  • Multiple Pictures (Carousel)
  • Audio
  • Links
  • Gif

Social Media Content Pillars
Too Many to List

Publishing Channels

Mostly posting and responding to comments

  • Facebook (Page)
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • TikTok
  • Linkedin
  • Pinterest
  • Spotify

Community Channels

Mostly engaging with active community

  • Facebook (Group)
  • Telegram
  • Discord
  • Reddit

Some of the projects have gotten a little out of hand with the “community management” fees.

Ads

*You cannot run ads for Crypto, Tokens, Airdrops, and in most cases NFTs.

But most of the time you can promote events and meetups.

Facebook / Instagram Policy
NFT okay - everything else requires a lengthy approval depending on the country
https://www.facebook.com/policies_center/ads/restricted_content/cryptocurrency_products_and_services

Google Search Ads
Date: Updated July 7th - France, Germany, South Korea and the Philippines - Requires strict licensing and registration with government entities

Unless you are building adds for a SAAS product

Reddit
Requires strict licensing and approval through government entities
https://redditinc.force.com/helpcenter/s/article/Reddit-Advertising-Policy-Restricted-Advertisements

Quora:
Mostly prohibited
https://quoraadsupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026194051-Restricted-Financial-Services

Linkedin
All Crypto products are currently prohibited
LinkedIn Advertising Policies.

PR:

  • Average 400 words
  • Easy to get them published
  • Newswire = Expensive and EIN = Cheap

Content

Are writing original content or just translating someone else’s work from Medium?

  • Blogs
  • Page Copy
  • Social Posts

Event(s)

Using a standardized google sheet and/or event brief would help people build out their event overviews more efficiently and also allow the council to give better feedback.

Example of Full Event Brief

Example of Empty Event Brief

More to come:

Without a doubt, most people are probably not reading through this entire post.

More recently @satojandro has covered some interesting concepts within marketing and I definitely think its worth a read:

Having been involved with hundreds of marketing campaigns across dozens of channels, I’m confident I’ve got the right skill set to get things on track.

For those that have seen my comments in the past, you’ll know I’ve been stringent when voting and supporting proposals. The hope is to raise the collective standards of this community and scale up the growth across the ecosystem.

I apologize for any formatting issues as I transferred this directly from a google doc to get it out ASAP. Also, I know the level of detail isn’t ideal for most people but we have some opportunities to do this the right way if there is a plan for a transition.

Given the level of experience required to see this type of work through, I just wanted to submit this to get the ball rolling.

All the best,

Taylor AKA Klint

29 Likes
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Nicely done! A lot of substance there. Could you please identify what our immediate actions would be to create the mission, descriptor, pillars of the NDC, and communication strategies to syndicate? We need awareness, education, and recruiting at the heart of our early messaging.

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I was just discussing some marketing related questions with the council of a guild I’m part of, received an email notification about this post, read it first thinking that it was a marketing DAO direct related one but, after finished the reading, went to google what “NDC” meant.

I didn’t find any anwser that made sense on this context, so I clicked the tag and then I discovered a whole new discussion about changes that may impact our ecosystem as a whole!

So congratulations to your presentation, @Klint, It looks really well done (specially for an initial one). And thanks for, even without knowing or having the intention, made me aware of all that.

(And if you’re reading this and stumbled upon here as I did, I’m talking about this post: Formation of NEAR Digital Collective (NDC) and call for participation in the Community Working Group)

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Thank you, @Klint

This is a very thorough outline of the marketing focus, and I’d love to be of service to the process. Prior to some suggestions, here’s a bit about me:

Sarah Kornfeld: Executive Experience
I have 25 years in Silicon Valley, NY, and Europe as a senior marketing and communications strategist. I positioned Keyhole which was then acquired by Google as Google Earth, worked in the marketing team within Netflix, worked at Burson-Marsteller as a part of the team that ran Analyst Relations, and have done a dozen startups. I’m Co-CEO of Rising Partners based in SF and Rome (new site launching this month), co-founder of Rising DAO (focus on researching and amplifying artists and creatives on NEAR)

Creative Experience
I’ve also been at the fore of the art and tech space running one of the first agencies to support the integration of art and tech for The Kitchen, The Beal Center for Art and Technology, UC Berkeley, and other international sectors. Current clients include the Peggy Guggenheim Foundation (Venice) and others focused on the Creative Economy. I’m also a published author in the US and Europe, and I research and write about the Creative Economy (Los Angeles Review of Books) I recently was commissioned by the Creatives DAO to do a global project “Portrait of the Artists” profiling Creative DAOs on the NEAR Platform.

So, that’s all to say, I’m an integration of art and tech, and have the marketing experience to suggest the following in relation to your proposal:

In general, I suggest the plan include the POV of creatives and artists since the brand promise is to power the creativity intrinsic to the blockchain. NEAR is attracting artists and creatives, and that’s a good thing. NFTs are projected to value $231 billion USD by 2030 (source: Verified Market Research) So, having creatives developing DAOs and communities, markets and creative innovation is a GREAT thing. So, I really urge this new iteration of marketing to incorporate their reality, issues, and needs and to plan toward collaboration with them.

Therefore, I suggest:

  • Market Research of artist use of the chain (It’s what I am trying to do, but in a different way, with “portrait of the artists” – this might be its own bucket – but we don’t have an " insights" focus and we will also need it asap (at Netflix, we ramped up that team and it made a huge difference)

  • Communications TO the creatives/artists on the chain for increased collaboration for case studies. The marketing DAO should be collecting and distributing case studies for our shared learning and also to market outwards

  • The Geolocations Considerations are crucial because artists and creatives have enough trouble having to constantly prove their value without adding any bias around location (which happens all the time, a curator in Sao Paulo told me this weekend that they are consistently being told to ask for less because they live on less – not fair at all). I suggest this be a thoughtful, transparent process with polls and quantitative research – the outcome for this will be better pricing in proposals and a fair market value for standards

Finally, I strongly urge the community to ensure that the marketing DAO has people on it with the following experience (above and beyond the current deep tech and entrepreneurial experience):

  • Arts and Entertainment marketing experience (because content creators are coming)
  • Creative ideation experience (so the DAO “groks” the creative proposals more deeply – artists and creatives have different ways of viewing METRICS and that would be good to understand for alignment)
  • Arts and entertainment brand experience (For the savvy and better partnership as a DAO)
  • most critically, cultural programming in diverse markets and with diverse people (because we know diversity creates more innovation)
  • A better ratio of women and people of color in the Marketing DAO – currently, the old Marketing DAO has a reputation of being a bit behind in understanding our reality, and that is a barrier to trust.

Again, lovely to see your ideas, just want to be sure to raise my hand for feedback and to give insights into the process.

Best!
Sarah

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Clint hello! Very good idea to improve the work, I want to say in advance that everything has flaws. I have a question, do we really need NDC? Why can’t we improve the system of each DAO that allocates funding for projects. In general I like the idea and I support it ! As an active member of the Near community I would be happy to help in any way I can.

We have one goal - to make our community much more productive and better.

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@Klint nice combing through all the key elements of what marketing encompasses and how they could be implemented within NDC!

Good to finally see someone with a complete vision, including a strategic perspective and an operational one.

Happy to be of service somehow.

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I was checking your social media. Very less impression. Looking like very fake work.
Can i see your real students or customers?
I never would like to order help from your company for now. Not interested to be your customer.

Its NO from me.

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Great strategic overview of how we should be doing marketing. Happy to support :grin:

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Thanks for taking the time to put down in writing years of marketing training and experience combined with months of serving as Marketing DAO Council Member.

Beyond the solid content and analysis, which is always open to healthy debate and subsequent iterations, the one thing I would like to highlight is that it is easier to tear things down than to build them up. As we evolve into NDC and beyond, would be great to see more community members be proactive and insightful in the content they share on the forum. Poorly drafter, meaningless one liners and lame memes don’t add much to the conversation, don’t feel compelled to share them.

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Don’t see the promotional reach and use-case for this type of project. It’s a no from me.

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Hey, this isn’t a proposal for the MarketingDAO, it’s for a role in the NDC. It will be moving forward as it stands. Someone needs to fill that role.

Taylor, your plethora of experience in Marketing both inside and outside of the world of crypto makes you an ideal candidate for this IMO.

Would be thrilled to hear a response to these Qs whenever you have a moment!

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Hey @David_NEAR
Like he said, looking for support from community.
I don’t support people who, not interested to community to growth.

When i did proposal for creating Art near communnity for Near, he even didnt learn my activity before. Like with my effort was created community in Goa around 150-200 people. And without any explanation vote No for my proposal.
Its mean he not interested to know about community members and their value for Near.

I guess for this candidate we can find person , who really interested make Near community more creative and big with big organic traffic, who can share his experience with community and helpful for people to grow.

About his online courses i can say its only strange low quality video made without any correction, created only with one button - record. If u Check his YouTube and instagram its only 1-2 likes or views.
Looking like very Fake work

If u can share link with his best work i can check it out. Thank you.

But for me now its very less quality organic traffic marketing.

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i have been a long time researcher on this platform. I see that their are a lot of pseudo accounts claiming themselves as admin like @Klint

For example:

I have done a thorough research about these profiles and found that they haven’t done the work that they claim and also the foundation based for seeking funding is totally corrupted.

Neither do they have quoted followers on YouTube, Twitter, insta and discord nor do they intend to do any work still they keep receiving the funding.

We need to figure out these people on this platform, expose them in order to grow this community in the transparent manner.

What do you guys think?

i Can’t support this candidate. It’s NO

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Think its not right choice to choose someone.

With my vision its important role and person who will voted for this role have to be very good practical experience and helpful to community.

Do u support my point or u still feeling like choose someone?

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Hey all!

Actually, looking at the flags on your account, looks like this is a sock puppet for @dmitryne and @moon_selena - strong chance that those two accounts, and the one I’m replying to, are the same individual.

Whereas, there is no such flag for @Klint’s account.

I would warn you that this is against the rules when used to sway opinion:

I have worked, personally, with Taylor in the past. He’s an excellent marketer. I would try and view this matter objectively based on the information he’s provided.

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I’ll let @Klint comment on it further.

Here’s his website.

“He’s a regular lecturer at the University of Copenhagen, IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Business School, Talent Garden, and Google.”

You can see that in his videos. I don’t think you get to that point without being a Marketing Professional of his caliber. I don’t think he has any reason to lie, either.

This is not to say we shouldn’t hear other people’s proposals to fill the role. We absolutely should.

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@zuzzi
Hey fellow, I’d suggest you watch your choice of words, this is a very strong allegation against @David_NEAR @Dacha and @Klint. I suggest you investigate properly before bringing up such derogatory terms. If you have any personal issues with any of these members I suggest you seek how to resolve them than this.

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Very cogent and comprehensive overview here @Klint. Thanks for taking initiative in support of the community and posting this. I’ve seen your work and dedication to the ecosystem and am in support of you having a leadership role.

Just a few thoughts after reading through the thread:

  • There seems to be some question/confusion around the NDC itself and from what I understand, it’s happening, so I support finding a way forward under the new structure and working collaboratively – even if many of us have different perspectives and goals – to ensure a strong community and ecosystem in the future.
  • I think NEARCON will be a great opportunity for many people in the community to connect and talk in person, and I am hopeful that that opportunity will lead to a more collaborative and positive outcome for the community than a lot of the commentary we have seen lately and, for example, in this thread.
  • For the record, when the MarketingDAO closed or does not support a proposal, it is not personal or a judgment on the merit of your project. It is rather a majority decision that was made based on our collective opinion about the responsible use of community funds. We are all sincerely trying to do our best to fund great projects and grow the ecosystem. Sometimes there are issues understanding proposals, and in those cases, it is more productive and efficient to try to communicate and work things out vs. trolling and criticizing people on a personal level.
  • I also agree with @sarahkornfeld that we do need more diversity – and I would say across the board not just in specific DAOs or guilds, etc. It’s an ongoing need that I think is overlooked in web3, and to the extent that I can help facilitate more diversity, I am here for that and will continue to be an advocate for it.

None of us knows what the future holds, but I think we can all agree that we want to see a bright future ahead of NEAR. It will take many of us contributing and trying to build bridges in order to make that happen, and I am glad to see the enthusiasm and dedication displayed on this thread in the midst of a lot of different opinions and perspectives. That in itself is hugely motivating and makes me optimistic about what’s ahead.

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My only question is that would there a boot camp for people provided with the grants, something like orange dao (y combinator) does,they provide incubation,they mentor them or give them marketing knowledge and everything else they need to succeed,I think asac once recommended that and it should be implemented don’t you think?

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All you have said is good but I think you need to look at things more carefully before making a decision and closing or giving a vote of no on proposals without looking back!

You voted no on the shitzu proposal for accusations that had no proper proof.
There were conversations later on but you didn’t respond to them,you voted no immediately an accusation was made and that’s bad/not fair in my opinion.

I even said something but you didn’t reply to the message I sent.

I’m not against you or anything, I’m only against the way you make decisions without taking deep thoughts like you did on shtizu,I hope you change in that aspect.

1 Like