The third installment of our series of interviews with ETHSofia speakers brings to you Vanina Ivanova, an OG crypto communicator and Marketing Director at Serotonin. Vanina has an extensive experience in navigating the ever-evolving Web3 landscape, and we can’t wait to hear what she’ll have to share at ETHSofia!

Can you tell us more about the latest trends in crypto marketing and the way they have evolved during the past few years?

To address the latest marketing trends, we need to take a look at the latest trends in crypto first. What we’re seeing recently is the evolution of L2s and appchains in terms of interoperability, superchains, hyperchains, etc. For marketers, this means helping these L2 and all adjacent projects with market and brand positioning, identifying their USPs and differentiators, and shaping brand narratives in a way that is easily adopted by users.  

We are also seeing an uptick in DePIN and RWAs. With the interest in that vertical, marketers need to turn their eyes to a brand new audience of tech-savvy non-crypto users and tailor projects’ messaging towards them.

With account abstraction allowing us to build more experiential Web3 products, marketers have the opportunity to do a lot more with user data and lead the way to user-centric building. 

I can speak about this for days, but to keep things simple, I’ll mention one last positive change in crypto marketing in the past years: we now have a lot more access to data analytics and tools that help us make informed, data-driven decisions rather than working with black boxes.

Building and maintaining a healthy community is paramount in Web3. What is your opinion on community-expanding tools like Galxe and Zealy? What other methods to foster stronger communities would you recommend? Are gamification, NFTs, and the metaverse effective in boosting long-term user retention?

Tools like Galxe and Zealy can help a good community manager engage the audience, but at the end of the day, they’re just that: tools. To have a sustainable, growing community, you need to provide value to its members. With the average attention span growing shorter and shorter, community members need a reason to come back to you - whether that’s educational content, project alpha, facilitating relationships between community members, or engaging them in gamified activities, you can’t just rely on posting a simple GM and expecting people to keep coming back.

Do you consider decentralized social media an efficient tool for reaching a broader audience? Do you integrate Farcaster and Lens into your marketing strategy, or is it too early to spend resources on these channels?

Crypto-specific social channels have their pros and cons. Platforms like Lens seem to have missed their moment, and Farcaster is delivering results to people and companies willing to put in the time and create the playbook for everyone else to follow. I don’t think it’s too early to invest resources in such channels, on the contrary: the early adopters have an advantage and the chance to reach a focused audience quicker and easier.

Serotonin is working with many Web2 companies to help them smoothly transition and adopt Web3 approaches into their marketing strategies. Tell us more about your experience in that role.

At Serotonin, it is our mission to bring the world’s breakthrough technologies to market. Part of this is lending our monstrous expertise to Web2 companies looking to branch out into Web3 as early adopters of the technology and everything it has to offer. Our understanding of traditional business models and our in-depth knowledge of everything blockchain is what makes us an excellent partner in navigating and leading our clients into the world of Web3.

What are the most common challenges Web3 founders are facing when it comes to promoting their product both within crypto communities and among a more traditional audience? What advice would you give them?

Most projects come with their peculiar sets of challenges for founders to solve, so I wouldn’t want to give generalized advice.

One thing to note is that at this stage of market maturity and saturation, cutting through the noise is one of the biggest obstacles to overcome. A lot of crypto founders tend to focus on technology and GTM, and often neglect brand building and making sure they not only have a competitive advantage, but also have the brand voice to share it.

You'll be participating in a panel discussion focused on crypto marketing during ETHSofia. What inspired you to take part in the inaugural edition and what do you expect from the event?

Bulgaria and Sofia in particular have a vibrant crypto community and as one of its members, there was no way I wouldn’t get involved! An event like this is long overdue, and I am happy to be a part of it!