Original Title: There Are No Good Marketing Agencies
Original author: Damian, Head of Communications at aori_io Original translation: Ashley, BlockBeats
Editor’s note: Marketing agencies in the cryptocurrency industry are often seen as a shortcut to enhancing brand influence, but the reality is not so. This article points out that most agencies find it difficult to truly understand the core of the project, suitable for short-term execution rather than brand building. In contrast, excellent internal marketing talents have more long-term value, can delve into the industry, actively learn, and establish genuine industry connections. Ultimately, the success or failure of marketing depends on the proactivity of the project itself, rather than the promises of agencies.
The following is the original content (slightly reorganized for better readability):
Recently, I had dinner with a friend in a small town in Hungary and we talked about marketing in the cryptocurrency industry. When talking to peers, it’s hard not to talk about crypto, because my family and old friends simply don’t understand this industry - I believe many people can relate to this.
This friend told me about his painful experience working with a native cryptocurrency marketing agency (I won’t mention the name). I smiled bitterly on one hand and listened seriously to his troubles on the other, because after all, he is not a marketer. I felt sorry for his team wasting time and money, so I reminded him: ‘I told you earlier, don’t hire marketing agencies, because there are no ‘good’ marketing agencies at all.’
I continued to explain to him that expecting marketing agencies to proactively produce high-quality content for you is a mistake in itself. They will not help define your brand, understand the uniqueness of your project, or have enough creative drive - after all, their energy is divided among multiple clients.
As a startup, the harsh reality is that the priority of your project is likely lower than those of large customers because they are more valuable to marketing agencies, not only because of long-term cooperation agreements. In the crypto industry, the logo on the website and industry influence are a universal currency, retaining the most valuable customers is one of the core strategies for marketing agencies to maintain their business operations.
Are marketing agencies really useless?
Actually, no. I know that most marketing agency employees work full 8-10 hour days, delivering for multiple clients. Their clients benefit because they already have a clear narrative direction or at least know the brand image they want to shape. The role of marketing agencies should be limited to increasing short-term or medium-term output capacity only when large-scale content production or specific marketing activities are needed.
The ‘McDonald’s-style’ Marketing Dilemma
Marketing agencies are just tools, they are just means to help achieve goals, not the “X factor” that can magically make your marketing outstanding. Marketing agencies often promote their expertise in brand building and technical concepts, giving small projects the illusion that they can help you stand firm. But don’t be fooled by the “LOGO x LOGO” collaboration cases on the marketing agency’s website - how do you know if they terminated the agreement after only one month?
A truly outstanding ‘marketing person’ in the cryptocurrency industry should have a technical understanding slightly inferior to DevRel (developer relations) at the very least. However, it is difficult for employees of these marketing agencies to have the motivation to delve into blockchain technology beyond the already low-paying 8-hour workday.
Imagine if you were paid the salary of a McDonald’s store manager, but had to master concepts like oracles, databases, zero-knowledge proofs, MEV, AI, lending, staking, restaking, etc. Would you be willing to do this job?
In the hierarchy of marketing agencies, there may be some excellent senior managers, but most of the time they do not directly interact with clients. Instead, they are busy with team management and developing strategies based on client feedback. Some managers may even be responsible for 7-8 client accounts at the same time. And what about bad managers? They may not do anything all day and spend their time in endless conference calls.
On the other hand, junior staff within the organization, despite their meager salaries, may be enthusiastic about the industry and willing to invest their energy in understanding clients’ projects and constructing truly valuable narratives. However, they are often blocked by middle managers—those managers are more concerned about KPIs and value quantity over quality. If every client requires a comprehensive marketing strategy, the organization must make trade-offs in time investment, and these trade-offs are often not based on market demand, but on the organization’s own commercial interests.
This does not mean that the marketing agency model itself is a complete failure, the problem lies in the lack of responsibility on the part of the managers, who are unable to set reasonable expectations for the clients.
Senior management certainly does not want to lose customers, nor do they want to conflict with customers. However, in the long run, for the survival of the organization and for the benefit of the customers themselves, managers must learn to say “no” to customers. At the same time, project parties also need to realize that no marketing agency can replace an excellent internal marketing staff.
Internal marketing is the only way
Those marketing professionals who are truly powerful in the crypto industry have grown through proactive learning, active participation, and industry connections. They eventually became excellent community managers (@thisisfin_), growth leads (@0x Mista), marketing directors (@lou 3 ee), and narrative leads (@kramnotmark). The reason they are stronger than marketing agencies is that they have truly integrated into this industry.
My point of view is that either you delve deep into the industry, or you can only hover on the periphery. If you don’t understand this field, don’t communicate with your audience, then it’s hard for you to find marketing creativity. In other words - Marketing and Market Research should be your basic skills.
The “extractable value” (MEV) of marketing
If your project is considering hiring marketing support, just hire a marketing person directly. Employing your first outstanding marketing person is like appointing a chief general of a new legion. He will be responsible for leading the entire marketing front, deciding whether to continue expanding the team or to leverage external marketing agencies.
If you must hire a marketing agency, make sure your internal marketing manager has a clear strategy. They should be able to develop clear tasks and communicate them to the marketing agency to maximize the agency’s execution capabilities.
For example, your marketing manager needs to publish four blog articles every month. He can have the marketing agency help write half, or even all, of the content - provided that he must provide all necessary resources and guidance. If the marketing manager can develop excellent strategies, allocate tasks reasonably, and ultimately drive business growth, then he is an excellent marketer. And if the marketing agency can efficiently execute these tasks, then they are considered a “qualified” agency.
But fundamentally, the value of marketing agencies depends on the quality of the customers themselves. If your project itself has no highlights and has not found product-market fit (PMF), even the best marketing agency can’t save you. If your project has many stories worth telling but you don’t know how to express them, then a marketing agency can’t help either.
The truth about marketing of encryption projects: don’t be fooled by institutions, real Marketing depends on yourself(https://img.gateio.im/social/moments-a1d974c38a440ecf437bd29a58f6c7d1)
However, if your project knows clearly what goals it wants to achieve, and only needs executors, then a marketing agency might be a good choice - provided that you can manage them like managing an internal team, providing regular updates, guidance, and feedback. Therefore, a rule of thumb is: never let a marketing agency be your first marketing employee.
Marketing agencies that promise to be 4 times better than internal marketing personnel are simply nonsense - this can even be considered a ‘poor marketing case’ for marketing agencies themselves. In fact, the value they can provide is quite simple (even a bit boring): if you need extra manpower and they have certain industry connections, then they may be suitable for you. But in comparison, the internal team is better because you can give employees enough time to learn and grow, and when they truly integrate into the industry, there is no reason they cannot do a good marketing job.
Communication Failure
In the end, both marketing agencies and project teams have a common problem: their communication skills are terrible, or even at a “dog crap” level.
The essence of marketing agencies’ work is essentially communication, but they often exaggerate, causing customers’ expectations to be infinitely magnified. The project party accepts these false promises, expecting agencies to provide value far beyond reality, yet they fail to actively manage external teams. This often leads to a lose-lose situation.
There are no born winners, and there are no “good” marketing agencies. Whether you choose a marketing agency or not, the ultimate decision of marketing success or failure lies with you.
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