[MF] Peercoin Advertising on Reddit

Hibero 2014-07-27 03:03:01 UTC #1

Contact Information

I am Hibero on Peercointalk and Reddit. You can reach me by PM on either website.

Submission Date

July 27, 2014

Summary

From a previous small marketing campaign done a few months ago, it has been shown that marketing on Reddit in the cryptocurrency subreddits can bring attention and otherwise missed supporters to Peercoin. It is the goal of this campaign to create marketing ads for each of the main cryptocurrency subreddits.

Details

I propose that there is a large marketing campaign done through Reddit with marketing ads for each of the major crypto subreddits. The results of my last campaign done on /r/dogecoin (the Dogecoin subreddit) can be viewed here.
(http://www.reddit.com/r/peercoin/comments/1xa1cy/results_of_peercoin_advertisement_on_rdogecoin/)
I believe it to be a reasonable success for such a small amount of money. I believe a strong Reddit presence is necessary to a strong cryptocurrency marketing team.
In the direct aftermath of this campaign there will be a heavy need of support in the /r/Peercoin (the Peercoin subreddit) to handle all the new questions that will be asked by curious potential supporters.

Target Audience

The marketing will be mostly directed to pre-existing cryptocurrency supporters. If this marketing strategy goes well, I believe then we could start moving to a more generalized audience. A more generalized audience will bring less results and I think it is best to saturate the pre-existing cryptocurrency supporters first.

Budget

I will do the management of the Reddit ads. In doing so, I do not expect any compensation but I am open to volunteers and I will dreadfully need support on the Peercoin subreddit to answer questions. Due to this necessity, I feel that the best way to secure support is to have payment. So I suggest some sort of pool where for each (constructive) comment in the subreddit there will be payment. My thought on this is that it would be best to wait for the expiration of the ads and a following two days and give out tips to the comment gladiators in an even distribution.

Ads for five subreddits: $100
Money pool to split from: $25
Total: $125 or 90-100 PPC

I would like to see this as a weekly ordeal if the first campaign goes well. There could also be an increase in money for the ads for more visibility.

Deadline

I see no reason for a community deadline but if the community approves within the next week I can probably have the ads up within two days.

Metrics

I will post the results of all ads in this post. They should be in similar format as shown above.

Funds Management

Link for Peer4Commit: http://peer4commit.com/projects/126
Payment for this project can be sent to PUrqXmH4yq2ip48gUB9VEnzckLAw8vv3MF
Thank you for your consideration Peercoin supporters!

Results
Test on /r/Bitcoin: http://www.peercointalk.org/index.php?topic=3197.msg32489#msg32489

kschneezy 2014-07-27 05:50:47 UTC #2

I will help answer some questions on reddit. The results from the previous reddit advertising have proved cost effective. I agree with your proposal and will look to donate some funds for the cause. We need to spread the word about Peercoin

pillow 2014-07-27 06:11:14 UTC #3

I will help refuting the myths (nothing-at-stake etc) that will be brought up.

Sentinelrv 2014-07-27 07:24:11 UTC #4

Hibero, I'm highly for this, but at the same time I'm against it. Let me explain...

Ever since our new animated video was completed, I've been wanting to use it for advertising on places like coinmarketcap.com and Reddit. I believe it's the perfect advertising tool for people that are already familiar with cryptos. Once the video builds up Peercoin, at the end it dsplays peercointalk.org and peercoin.net. It also says "Take the next step" and links directly to the 38 minute video Chronos made to help seal the deal. The Chronos video shows off how well designed Peercoin is and I believe it can be very convincing. They would eventually find our other social media accounts like Reddit from here.

Why haven't I submitted any marketing proposals yet though? The reason is because our website isn't done getting redesigned yet. If you've noticed, I've been trying to push to get our website finished as soon as possible. peercoin.net is completely outdated and not a very good resource for people looking to learn about Peercoin. Just a quick look through shows that it contains old and incorrect information. Just as an example, the minting guide is still showing information from v0.3, which contains lots of extra steps that aren't even necessary anymore: http://www.peercoin.net/minting.

What's going to happen if we advertise is people are going to watch the animated video and maybe the Chronos one. Then they're going to go to peercoin.net to look around or download the wallet and they're going to be faced with inaccurate information and incorrect instructions. They're going to try setting up the wallet for minting, only to get confused and frustrated and eventually give up, giving them a bad impression about us. They might even consider us a dying coin because these simple things haven't been taken care of yet. So this is why I've been holding off on direct advertising efforts and trying to do what I can to get the website project back on track and completed.

Does anyone else share my concern?

pillow 2014-07-27 08:54:04 UTC #5

Yes. All information has to be accurate first - with newcomers you get one shot only.

Sentinelrv 2014-07-27 08:57:25 UTC #6

We're currently working on Super3 to approve our plan and funding for Chronos to produce the content. He's been very busy with Storj. He said today he will have more time to spend on this though.

Cybnate 2014-07-27 12:28:48 UTC #7

Agree that we need to have the right content available. Preferably that should be provided by the website, but if that takes too long there might be other ways of running with this.

BTW Hibero, I like your proposal, but I consider it as an informal submission as you have left out the date and the required header. Therefore I'm not setting any dates from my side.

Hibero 2014-07-27 15:30:08 UTC #8

That works. Sentinelrv, I agree with you completely. We need to make sure we have completely accurate information.
I made this proposal about 3 weeks ago and it looks like I missed some filler stuff that I put in at the time. I will go back and fix that.
Sorry guys, I've been out of commission for the last few months due to some major life changes.

I do not mind tabling this proposal and coming back to it after some inaccuracies have been fixed. I would like to say that I am still going to make some ads using my own funding. I agree that a full marketing campaign right now can be more hurtful than helpful but I do not agree that there should not be at least a small effort in this area.

Sentinelrv, I would be happy to let you manage the future proposal for this. I believe you have more of a name and I know that this is the area that you are usually leading in.

Cybnate 2014-07-27 20:11:38 UTC #9

I think -you- should run with this. Sentinelrv has already a lot of things on his plate, but it is up to him to reply of course.
It is more the timing of the execution. I think we need to make sure the required content is available, preferably on the website or with clear links to threads on peercointalk.org. Hopefully we know more in the next few days.

I agree with you that we should do something even modest and low profile. Maybe just have a few work in progress announcements on website (we used to do that in the old days and delete obsolete information or links) and some references where you can temporary find (some of) the required information (links to peercointalk.org threads) to support the execution of this proposal. The relevant links can also go with your post on reddit.

Given the proposal is now a formal submission (after your changes) it is appropriate to set a date. According to charter, I suggest to discuss this proposal for the next 7 days before voting commences.

BTW Welcome back to the forum.

Sentinelrv 2014-07-28 13:32:26 UTC #10

I would rather other community members like you start to take on projects like this. I'm at my limit as to what I can do in a day.

What you can do to make this idea still work is to make these text posts on Reddit, rather than link posts to the animated video. With text posts, we can add all sorts of links for people to click on for more information. We can link to our animated video, the 38 minute intro to Peercoin video Chronos made, our latest newsletter so they can see what's new in our community, minting guides from the forum, etc... We could design the ad here in this thread and then if enough people vote on it, we'll go ahead with it.

RobertLloyd 2014-07-29 09:38:59 UTC #11

I support the idea, but not the timing. I would prefer we at least remodel the website, before any advertising push.

Cybnate 2014-07-29 19:48:44 UTC #12

The problem which I struggle with is that it is unclear when website can be finished. Theoretically this can be months away. We can't afford to stop all advertising for such time. Wouldn't you support a proposal which comes with the relevant links?

RobertLloyd 2014-07-29 20:48:37 UTC #13

We need to advertise a "package", rather than the raw product. This includes our various messages, and the ability of Chronos to convey them on-screen, etc. If we don't have that package, I am concerned that the advertising will be compromised.

There is another consideration: it would be helpful if we had a point of reference by which we can decide whether we are moving "too slow" or are "too rushed"

I think this point of reference should be the launch of NuBits

If NuBits is not going to be released for another two months, what benefit exists in speeding the website in two weeks? Better to use the two months available to us

Ditto, without Nubits, how successful will advertising be? Surely, it is better to wait for the launch of NuBits before advertising Peercoin, because we will then know what role Peercoin will have, giving the advertising extra bite

I appreciate NuBits are cautious about releasing date details, etc. but a steer from them will allow us to calibrate our efforts

Yurizhai 2014-07-30 06:31:20 UTC #14

RobertLloyd:

We need to advertise a "package", rather than the raw product. This includes our various messages, and the ability of Chronos to convey them on-screen, etc. If we don't have that package, I am concerned that the advertising will be compromised.

There is another consideration: it would be helpful if we had a point of reference by which we can decide whether we are moving "too slow" or are "too rushed"

I think this point of reference should be the launch of NuBits

If NuBits is not going to be released for another two months, what benefit exists in speeding the website in two weeks? Better to use the two months available to us

Ditto, without Nubits, how successful will advertising be? Surely, it is better to wait for the launch of NuBits before advertising Peercoin, because we will then know what role Peercoin will have, giving the advertising extra bite

I appreciate NuBits are cautious about releasing date details, etc. but a steer from them will allow us to calibrate our efforts

You raise some really good points there. If we could have the site with NuBits on it ready to go soon after it's launch it would be amazing.

But as I mentioned in another thread, I would like to see something up there, the current site is pretty bad. Just something simple that replaces the outdated information.

Then again it might not make much of a difference before NuBits is released, and I agree advertising after it's release would make a much bigger difference.

mhps 2014-07-30 07:19:10 UTC #15

I am for advertising Peercoin according to its merits, mostly independent of other products. New products take time to prove themselves. Peercoin has been around for two years. We should get the Peercoin web site in order so most of the users will find most of their questions answered there, and start advertising.

Cybnate 2014-07-30 07:31:27 UTC #16

I think we put too much trust and reliance on Nubits.
1. I don't think they will sort Peercoin's marketing problems.
2. We don't know a date
It probably does provide some wind from the back, but Peercoin still needs to walk on its own feet.

I think it is still beneficial to spend ~100 PPC on Reddit to keep our name up out there as per this proposal. We have two brand new videos and a vibrant forum with a lot of information. It is not great without the website completely ready, but I think it is good enough. There will always be something which is not great. The world isn't perfect. When the website is ready we could run this proposal again. I don't like to waste opportunities, marketing is our weakness so let's start do something about it now, even if it is not perfect yet. Doing nothing and wait is worse in my opinion. That's what we have been doing for a long time.

Just my 2 cents.

Yurizhai 2014-07-30 08:14:42 UTC #17

Cybnate:

I think we put too much trust and reliance on Nubits.
1. I don't think they will sort Peercoin's marketing problems.
2. We don't know a date
It probably does provide some wind from the back, but Peercoin still needs to walk on its own feet.

I think it is still beneficial to spend ~100 PPC on Reddit to keep our name up out there as per this proposal. We have two brand new videos and a vibrant forum with a lot of information. It is not great without the website completely ready, but I think it is good enough. There will always be something which is not great. The world isn't perfect. When the website is ready we could run this proposal again. I don't like to waste opportunities, marketing is our weakness so let's start do something about it now, even if it is not perfect yet. Doing nothing and wait is worse in my opinion. That's what we have been doing for a long time.

Just my 2 cents.

I understand what you guys are saying with Peercoin needing to stand on it's own and the over-reliance on NuBits talk. It's important that Peercoin is it's own entity. It's that with the current state of things I see it bringing the most attention to Peercoin anytime soon, so it just might be something to consider with marketing and timing.

I think you're right, 100 PPC is so cheap that we might as well do it, but damn I'd like to see the site updated before hand personally. ANYTHING. Why get a bunch of people to go to the site when the minting guide is completely outdated for example?

"I don't understand any of this." /exit

RobertLloyd 2014-07-30 21:28:02 UTC #18

I want to clarify my previous post: I don't think that NuBits should determine Peercoin's timing on advertising, or that Peercoin advertising should necessarily even refer to NuBits (although it might, depending on what NuBits is, etc.).

I just think we need a means by which we can pace ourselves, and NuBits is a relevant consideration

In any event, Chronos is keen to push ahead with the website, so I feel that, as long as we are willing to hold off a month or so on the Reddit advertising, we should be able to revisit Hibero's proposal in September, and be in a stronger position

Does Hibero have any comments?

river 2014-07-30 21:46:34 UTC #19

I think if we can just update the minting guide, then the website will be good enough for a small advertising push. I'm not really sure why it can't just be changed now, even if Chronos' proposal goes ahead. It should be a high priority item; it would even be better if the page was just deleted now, rather than constantly giving people incorrect information. I raised the issue on github a couple of months ago: https://github.com/super3/peercoin.net/issues/123 and gave a quick sample guide that would still be considerably better than what we have now.

All it needs is for someone to submit a pull request and super3 to accept it. It's getting to the stage where I would personally pay someone to do this, if they can't be paid out of the peer4commit funds.

Hibero 2014-07-31 22:10:17 UTC #20

I'm just reading. I do plan on doing a small campaign that was exactly like the last one I hosted a couple of months ago, which ever way the voting goes. I think it is important to be constantly advertising. It doesn't matter if everything is "perfect." Yes, some new people might get lost and we might get some flak but there is also a possibility of people seeing the value in the coin despite some outdated documentation. I think most of us came from those times. More people = more volunteers.