5 examples of promoting NFTs that worked

If you were aware of NFTs a few years ago, you might’ve not seen the point of them and/or not really understood them at all, shooing them away as a waste of time.

But now, there’s absolutely no denying that they’re well-deserving of your attention. It’s quickly grown into a multibillion-dollar industry, with total sales reaching USD$17.7 billion in 2021 – up from USD$82.5 million the year prior.

Indeed, NFTs are most definitely here to stay. And if you’re thinking about getting into the market and seeing how big a slice of the pie you can cut, you might be wondering how to promote your NFTs. On OpenSea and many other marketplaces there are currently no advertising functions, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done!

First, though, let’s take a look at some first-class examples of brands promoting NFTs to provide you with a little bit of inspiration.

How 5 of the world’s top brands promoted their NFTs like pros

Here are some well-known brands from different categories that have seen success in the way they promoted their NFT projects.

McDonald’s

Realising a huge chunk of their customers were die-hard fans of the McRib burger, which is released for a limited time only intermittently, McDonald’s decided to leverage this by creating a collection of 10 McRib NFTs to commemorate its latest return and 40th anniversary. 

Digital art pieces, these McNFTs were promoted through Maccas’ socials (extensively) and had its own dedicated microsite. There was also substantial PR supporting the campaign across multiple news outlets. The giveaway, held on Twitter, generated more than 80,000 retweets, too.

Coca-Cola

To celebrate International Friendship Day and raise money for a charity supporting Special Olympics International, Coca-Cola held an auction for a ‘loot box’ in 2021 on OpenSea. Inside what they called the ‘Friendship Box’ (dynamic digital art of a reimagined vintage Coca-Cola cooler) which is itself an NFT were a branded bubble jacket which can be worn in the Decentraland metaverse, sound visualiser and friendship card. The winner (with a USD$575k bid) also received a real-life Coca-Cola branded refrigerator.

To promote this, Coca-Cola utilised their social media campaigns to garner the expected attention of various news outlets who generated a ton of free PR around the project. They also held a party in Decentraland which included giveaways, music and a sneak peek at the loot box being auctioned, and hosted an AMA on Decentraland’s Discord channel.

Taco Bell

Another brand who realised the opportunities that NFTs offered early on is Taco Bell. In order to support the Live Mas Scholarship (via their Taco Bell Foundation), they auctioned off a collection of five NFTs, each with five copies. They sold out in just 30 minutes. 

Social media was used to generate the overwhelming interest the campaign experienced – most specifically theTaco Bell Twitter account – with thousands of online conversations occurring about the project not just in the US but around the world. 

Nike

Earlier this year, the Vice President of Design and Special Projects at Nike, Tinker Hatfield, led a team to create a truly unique NFT/sneaker project titled ‘Ducks of a Feather’. Hatfield collaborated with University of Oregon alumni to design an Air Max 1 sneaker and accompanying NFTs (120 total), the latter going to auction in February 2022. Purchasers of these NFTs also received their own pair of real-life sneakers.

Supporting this NFT drop was a strong social marketing campaign across Twitter and Instagram as well as a dedicated Discord channel. There was also a microsite built which offered all of the background information about the project. And of course, because it was Nike, plenty of PR also surrounded the drop.

Ray-Ban

The very first eyewear brand to launch NFTs, Ray-Ban understood that tapping into Web3 provided their brand with a huge amount of brand buzz and overall consumer engagement. Designed by German artist Oliver Latta, the NFTs feature the signature aviator frames in a 3D motion design. 

Ray-Ban promoted their NFTs on OpenSea through a variety of social media posts on both their and the artist’s Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. They also created a microsite and ran a widespread PR campaign.

How to promote your NFTs effectively

While you can definitely do the bare minimum to promote your NFT collection, you’ll end up swimming in a pool of your own tears due to the disappointment you experience from the results. 

Promoting NFTs should include a multi-channel strategy if you want it to be as effective as possible. Here are some of our top tips to promote NFTs that’ll gauge people’s interest:

• Create a posting schedule on all relevant social media channels
• Start a Quora/Reddit/Bitcointalk thread about your project
• Make a Discord channel (and be active on there)
• Engage with influencers
• Develop a press release and send it out to all relevant media outlets
• Build a microsite which offers all of the information about the project and drop
• Create an attention-grabbing teaser to share on socials
• Collab with Mooning – the best NFT promoters in the business

Chat with the expert NFT promoters and marketers at Mooning

Sure, all the examples of NFT promotions we listed are from global brands with endless coin to throw at their campaigns. But you really don’t need a crazy-high budget to see some seriously incredible outcomes – as long as you know the delicate intricacies of building a killer NFT marketing strategy!

If not, no worries – Mooning is here to take care of everything for you and make sure you see the most amazing ROI you’ve ever seen before. Our team has the knowledge and experience to promote your NFTs in order to deliver maximum awareness and interest, driving the sales prices up sky-high and beyond.

We provide a full suite of expert NFT marketing services and go above and beyond for every one of our clients to ensure only the best results. Our team will help with everything from minting, listing and selling, NFT creator sourcing, community management and campaign conceptualisation. 

So get in touch with us now on 1300 818 435 or message us online.