IN BRIEF

A product without any direct competition is a challenge for marketers.

That's why interviews are key to finding out what they cryptocurrency market wants.

This understanding lays the foundation for future work on this fast-paced sector.

A product without any direct competition is a challenge for marketers. This is specifically an issue for those building in the cryptocurrency world.

How do you know if the audience needs it? Which doubts and concerns can stop potential users from switching to the product? In-depth interviews can provide the necessary answers.

Promoting a unique product is harder than you think

Startup founders often think that selling something unique is easy. It does seem logical. Simply, offer the market something it doesn’t yet have, and customers should immediately realize they need it, right?

The reality is that marketing something new and disruptive can be more complex than a product that simply improves on existing services. This occurs for three reasons:

• Target audience size and segmentation are unknown.
• Positioning and messaging have to be developed from scratch.
• Potential users can have doubts and concerns, especially if the product’s features seem a bit too attractive.

Working with a unique product is a sort of an adventure quest. However, there are solutions. These will be outlined using a recent example: a multicurrency-cryptocurrency wallet.

The wallet in question was designed for a specific country where fiat-cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase and bank cards like Crypto.com aren’t available. Residents have to convert crypto into fiat from dubious unlicensed exchangers that charge a high commission and often take hours to process an order.

Our client decided to change the rules of the game, introducing a wallet and a stablecoin. This allows users to withdraw crypto to a bank card without fees, withdraw crypto in ATMs (i.e., instantly convert it into fiat), and shop online and at brick-and-mortar stores throughout the country.

We could clearly see the project’s potential, but would the target users see it? And what was the best way to market the wallet to make users switch from better-known brands?

Instead of launching an advertising campaign at once, we used the tried-and-true technique: target audience research.

Why interviews?

An in-depth interview allows the project to find out which competing products a potential customer already uses. Which of their pain points remain unsolved, and – very importantly – which doubts and fears they feel towards the proposed product.

As a result of a set of interviews, we get a precise audience segmentation and an understanding of what customers really need. Next, we can proceed to develop effective messaging that deals with the relevant concerns and fears. Finally, we launched a test campaign on a low budget to test the hypotheses in action.

Segmenting the target audience

In this case study, we focused on active users who buy, exchange, or withdraw cryptocurrency at least once a week. The key segments were users with superficial to a good understanding of cryptocurrency and up to $1,000 stored in a wallet.

After more than 30 interviews, we found that:

1) Users were enthusiastic about the idea of withdrawing cryptocurrency from ATMs as fiat, paying with cryptocurrency in a store. However, they doubted that such functionality could be implemented in their country.

2) The main concern was that banks wouldn’t want to collaborate with the wallet project. This is crucial for converting cryptocurrency into fiat.

3) Withdrawing crypto from ATMs was the:”killer feature” that could make users switch to the new wallet. As such, there was no point in launching the product without that feature.

4) The key criteria when choosing a crypto wallet included security, reliability, positive reviews, intuitive interface, low fees, fast processing, and support for many different cryptocurrencies.

5) Users mostly consumed crypto-related content on Telegram and on specialized forums (30%), less frequently on YouTube.

Product positioning and working through doubts

Based on the interview results, we worked out a simple and attractive message. It was: The wallet would eliminate the barrier between crypto and fiat.

We wanted to accentuate the wallet’s utility for the residents of that specific country, including deposits and withdrawals in local fiat currency through ATMs and payment terminals, withdrawals to locally issued cards without fees, paying for purchases, and the fact that one wouldn’t have to use shady and expensive online exchangers anymore.

Next, we worked out a strategy for dealing with the key concerns. To neutralize the fear that the wallet couldn’t be implemented because of the local specifics, we planned a series of tutorials.

They were to explain in detail how the wallet would work – not just say what it would do but how it would do it. We also planned to collaborate with local influencers who would go out and test the wallet in actual stores, ATMs.

As for the concern about banks, we wanted to secure a few partnerships and promote them in the media and the project’s own channels. Testimonials by bank specialists and the logos of partner banks were to be published on the website, too. Finally, we planned to demonstrate that the wallet complied with the country’s financial regulations.

To lay a successful foundation for future campaigns, it’s essential to understand what the target audience wants. Cryptocurrency and blockchain products are growing at a fantastic rate. As a result, understanding the market these products will enter into is critical.