Are you looking to be a part of the web3 space via NFTs? Do you want to make a difference while building a brand in this industry? Of course, you cannot walk two feet or scroll two screens without hearing about NFTs, web3, DAOs, and the DeFi industry.
Everyone starts by following their favorite influencers online and joining the relevant groups to get a taste of the action before they can even think of entering it officially. Now, these groups are often huge on gatekeeping, and it is very easy to feel intimidated enough to hold the questions in.
One thing that everyone keeps talking about in the web3 industry is the need for a community and how building one ensures success like nothing else. But, what does it really mean? Can a Facebook group like the one you are in really impact the outcome of your project, you wonder?
Well, you are asking the right questions, but NFT is an industry that you should only enter when you know you possibly can. Why risk it in an already volatile space?
You shouldn’t, and that is why we break down the role of community and other important factors in your NFT design.
Coindesk lists the need to build a community as one of the top five steps that you should follow before launching your NFT. This must be enough to show the significance of a community in the whole process, but let’s dig in a little more.
The Crypto news site is happy to report that when NFT design goes live, it is the community that gives it the hype and is the primary source for getting the word out.
And the people who have launched successful NFT projects agree. “Regardless of how low or high the market is, the community is so enthusiastic and constantly tagging our project in different things constantly talking about it,” said Maliha Abidi, whose Women Rise NFT collection launched in November 2021 and sold out in 50 days, generating 2,000 ETH of trading volume in the process.
“We have not put in even $1 in marketing so far, but we were just featured in Vanity Fair yesterday and today in Rolling Stone,” Abidi told CoinDesk on Jan. 19.
You can see the impact of building a community that has your back, right? But do you think that this can be successful if the give and take is a one-way street?
For your community to support your efforts, the design has to speak to them and be something they just don’t approve of but are excited about.
Geena Anderson, the CEO of Honey Badges, says that NFT design and community building have a strong intrinsic relationship. In her experience of building the Honey Badges community and minting several NFT pieces, she feels that the design serves as a tool of branding for the NFTs. The design must appeal to the community for them to endorse it wholeheartedly.
When your NFT project gets endorsed and hyped, it sells out faster. NFT collections that sell out faster are like candy to the kids out there. They exponentially increase the value in the secondary market.
And launching a community-led NFT has benefited popular creators like Gary Vee, and NFT clusters like Bored Ape Yacht Club, to name a few.
So let’s recap, shall we? We know NFT is a hard space, and we know it is in your best interests to have the design align with the community and its interests. Now, let’s see how to actually make that happen through your NFT design.
Community building is an integral part of any web3 project. But, what is a community? Is it the same as a social media audience wherein you post something, and some show up to express their opinion? No, it is a little bigger than that.
A community is a group of like-minded people with similar interests and goals, and their role in the NFT space is to be part of something unique and special.
So when you begin building a community, set your NFT goals and then begin.
Understand and define what the project means to you, what your NFT goals are, and what customers can expect so that you can attract the right people.
Defining this also makes it easy to :
Now that you know what the goals of the NFT are and the community is coming along well, it is time to take this one step ahead. NFTs come from a vision, a vision to serve a community, to send a message, or maybe to support a cause.
Sometimes, the vision may or may not include a particular design style, especially if you are not an artist or a designer. So how do you create something that will work and make your community happy?
We start just as we would for any other design project – by understanding the target audience which in this case is the community you have so painstakingly built. Envisioning a community-led NFT design has its advantages because you have a smaller customer base right in front of you to analyze and understand.
As mentioned in the previous section, knowing your audience can help you choose the right design style. This process is intensive, a little time-consuming but completely worth it.
NFT design is a way to engage your audience and give them something they will be proud of, right?
So take the data you have from your analysis and deliver a design that resonates with them. A few themes to experiment with include :
More often than not, we launch NFTs as large collections that have a similar theme but vary minutely. In such cases, bring designs that can be varied. For example, human faces, animal faces, doodles, nature sceneries, and so on work well here.
You can also do standalone drops as many popular NFTs have done to date. In those cases, ensure that the design you pick has the potential to wow and excite the community.
The NFT community does not like to be run in circles. They appreciate a brand that has a fair process, is genuine about its offerings, and will deliver what they promise.
Fairness and simplicity can take you a long way with your community-driven NFT initiatives. Especially when the community has been with you even before the collection was even ready.
Right from token releasing to the NFT design, the simpler and straightforward the approach, the easier it is to get people behind the project. Minting, collecting, reselling, and being a part of the NFT community must be as simple as it gets without gatekeeping those without intricate blockchain knowledge.
Brands around the world and from different industries are exploring the many ways to integrate NFT into their marketing efforts. Now is a great time for your brand to join the league. NFT design is perhaps the most difficult part of the whole process. And for this you have the option of working with a design service that helps create NFT designs from scratch. These can be designs created based on your company mascot, using your brand colors and other little details.
