In the modern era, there is no single brand that can tackle the competition in their respective industry without PR. The concepts like “brand recognition”, “reputation” and “credibility” are touted as the holy grail for any emerging company seeking to outperform competitors and retain its market share. This is especially true for the Web3 space which is still in its infancy, with many hurdles to overcome in the next few years.
The narratives, which this new iteration of the internet has brought with it, have completely changed the methods PR specialists use to promote crypto, blockchain, and other Web3-related projects. Today we’ll have a look into how they adapt to the fast-paced development of the decentralized Web’s technologies together with Mike Ermolaev, an acclaimed PR and content adept with longstanding experience in crypto and Web3.
In this piece, Mike reflects on how PR 3.0 is different from Web2 PR, speaking exclusively on behalf of his new Web3-focused public relations agency.
A Brief Note About Mike Ermolaev
Mike began his journey into crypto public relations in 2017, the year when cryptocurrencies boomed due to the influx of retail investors. As a professional PR lead, he had long-term cooperation with crypto and blockchain tech corporations like FutureComes and ChangeNOW, while also helping multiple digital companies with personal PR support.
In 2020, Mike co-founded TOPOS Digital Communications agency where he held the position of head of content before shifting to fulfilling representative functions.
Living through the mass wave of ICOs, regulatory changes to the blockchain landscape, and the finest hours of DeFi and NFTs, Mike has gained the wealth of experience in almost all cutting-edge industries that fuel the Web3 revolution. This laid foundations for the launch of his own Outset PR agency that now amplifies the results of both companies and individuals who are building our common future.
Web3 PR Is Community-Centric with a Big Emphasis on Building Trust
At the start of our conversation, Mike drew my attention to the ever-changing nature of public relations itself. He first noted that alongside the growth of the internet, a one-way communication structure gave way to participative forms of interaction between brands and their audiences.
“Some modern entrepreneurs think that PR is almost dead, attributing this to the outdated role of press releases. Yes, traditional public relations relied heavily on this tool, creating a positive image of a company in the eyes of consumers without regard for their opinions. But Web2 came with the emergence of social networks and other platforms for content creation, making user participation in PR campaigns extremely important,” Mike detailed.
“With decentralization stepping up, digital business is becoming even more people-oriented. There was a time when money and control of information sources ran the show, having a huge influence on PR in general. In Web3 this is no longer relevant, since the power is put back in the hands of users. So Web3 PR focuses on building a dialog between brands and consumers, using tools tailored to community creation and management,” Mike said before moving on to discussing PR tactics and approaches in Web3.
“Ideologically, Web3 is all about communities. They are not only your potential consumers. They are the most loyal supporters of your product who can even co-create it together with you. That’s why one of the major goals of Web3 PR is to show that a company appreciates users’ needs. One way this can be done is by inviting people to contribute to the development of your product through the participation in trials or DAOs so that they can feel that their opinions are heard and really matter.”
When asked about how companies can achieve their business goals with the help of community-first Web3 PR, Mike chuckled and claimed that once your product wins its primary users, unprecedented opportunities open up before it.
“Having a solid community improves the reputation of your Web3 brand and enhances overall customer trust. A set of users, who have seen that their experiences are your top priority, will help you generate new prospects through the so-called “word-of-mouth” marketing, which is the ideal strategy for increasing brand awareness and user acquisition. Moreover, in the event of a reputational crisis, communities will also come in handy, mitigating the dissemination of negative information and thus leveraging the effect of your anti-crisis PR efforts.”
Among the PR tools that can help Web3 brands connect with their target audiences Mike highlighted well-thought-out media coverage. The idea behind it is that you should do a thorough research of communication channels before using them to gain the community’s attention.
“You have to make sure that the media platform you choose targets the right users. Otherwise, you’re under the risk of wasting your budget on irrelevant publications. Not to mention that getting featured in different media outlets has different ins and outs which should be considered when crafting impactful PR campaigns. For example, if your brand is looking to scale up and catch new prospects, you should opt for reaching out to the media that have good SERP positioning and often trigger an organic wave of republications. Even a Cointelegraph feature may be inefficient if you expect the results it simply can’t deliver.”
“That’s why it can be a savvy move to use the services of Web3 PR agencies as they have their eyes on the ball, knowing exactly what works and what doesn’t,” Mike suggested.
Outset PR – a New Star Agency That Reinforces Web3 Brands Worldwide
One such public relations service provider is Outset PR founded by Mike in November 2022. The agency has become a logical extension of his experience, gathering together the most brilliant PR talents and managers Mike has ever worked with. Outset PR adheres to a goal-driven and result-focused approach to public relations, fully immersing itself into a product in order to learn all the nuances and understand a client’s vision.
“We start from carefully examining your business needs by working hand in glove with your team. This helps us deliver the most comprehensive PR strategies that bring companies at any development stage to where they want to be right now. But of course, if you have an in-house PR team in search of contractors, you can also turn to us as we offer a suite of services from consulting and outreach to content writing and personal brand promotion.”
“When it comes to interaction with a client, we are transparent, open, and always ready to explain the steps we take as part of our promo campaigns. On top of that, we respect your time, ensuring frictionless workflow, high speed of communication and PR quality,” Mike commented.
According to him, Outset PR was initiated to assist Web3-related projects in improving visibility to the most important communities, investors, and potential partners. Whether you want to raise investment and grow the user base as a startup or enhance brand awareness and develop thought leadership as a scaleup, the agency is here to help. Even if you plan to expand into new markets, Outset PR is all set to provide you with PR support available in 20+ languages.
“In case you’re seeking to broaden your business beyond the current region, it’s of vital importance to create a new PR and communication strategy in advance. It’s not enough to translate your website and a few articles into another language. You need to fully localize your narrative based on national realities and customers purchasing habits. We cover multiple GEOs – including the captive markets like USA and Europe as well as less solvent, but more responsive markets such as Latin America and India – and can easily navigate you through all the existing pitfalls when it comes to regulations and engaging communities,” Mike explained.
Apart from Web3, Mike and his team have persuasive expertise in over 10 industries, including but not limited to crypto, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, GameFi, and the metaverse. For all the time working in the aforementioned niches, he has built a broad network of 2400+ partner media platforms, which ranks him alongside the most influential PR specialists. Combined with vast experience, this gave a notable boost to the agency itself. Within 6 months, Outset PR has grown four-fold and has contributed to the rise of dozens of clients.
“We demonstrate a vibrant development, having worked with more than 40 companies, so far. Among them are both established crypto brands such as Dash and Coinloan and some promising Web3’s game-changers like Münzen and Pixpowder. The agency’s team now consists of 20+ PR pros, chief editors, copywriters, native speaking proofreaders, translators, as well as business development, account, and regional managers. The results are truly impressive, and we are hungry for even more accomplishments, the closest of which is putting up our official website as the main source of information about Outset PR.”
“In this rapidly evolving world, it’s essential to keep pace and grow alongside the ecosystem you work with. Web3 has extraordinarily expanded the realm of possibility. Similarly, we transcended all boundaries to make you thrive in this fascinating brand-new industry!” Mike concluded.
