You Can’t Think Enough About Marketing

When it comes to launching an NFT collection, one of the biggest mistakes teams make is underestimating the importance of marketing. It doesn’t matter how strong your art, tech, or community vision is; if people don’t know about it, they won’t show up on mint day.

Marketing in Web3 isn’t about hype for hype’s sake. It’s about building trust, telling your story, and creating genuine excitement around what you’re building. And yet, time and again, projects stumble by repeating the same avoidable mistakes.

Here are some of the most common pitfalls, and how you can avoid them.

1. Thinking "Mint Day Sells Itself"

Unless you hit an incredible stroke of luck, mint day won’t magically solve your problems. If people don’t know about your project, they won’t buy into it.

Minting out requires weeks (or months) of building awareness, connecting with communities, and telling your story long before the mint button goes live. The projects that succeed understand this: mint day is a culmination of work, not the starting line.

2. Not Putting in the Work

Launching anything, a business, a band, an NFT project, requires hard work upfront. There’s no shortcut. You have to be willing to get in the trenches: answering questions, showing up to Spaces, sending DM, engaging with communities, and getting creative in how you tell your story.

The good news? Once you build that foundation, it does get easier. Momentum compounds. But you have to earn it first.

3. Lacking a Clear Vision

Even if you put in the elbow grease, you need a vision that people can rally around. Why should someone care about your project? What makes it meaningful, fun, or worth being part of?

A clear vision gives your community a reason to be excited, not just about mint day, but about where you’re going together.

4. Trying to Do It Alone

Being a one-person show is exhausting. In Web3 especially, collaboration is everything. Don’t be afraid to reach out to others in the ecosystem, whether that’s creators, collectors, or other teams, and bring them into your vision.

Consider enlisting a community manager, even part-time. If you structure it around mint success (e.g., a % of funds), it can be well worth the investment.

5. Neglecting the Community You Already Have

Web3 runs on trust. The fastest way to earn that trust is to show up consistently. Respond to your holders. Keep people updated. Host conversations, even when things feel quiet.

Too many teams chase new audiences while neglecting the ones they’ve already onboarded. Your existing community is your foundation; don’t take them for granted.

6. Over-Promising

Ambition is great. Web3 is built on audacious ideas, and we love to see them. But there’s a difference between sharing a bold vision and over-promising things you can’t deliver.

When you set expectations, your community will hold you to them. It’s far better to under-promise and over-deliver than the reverse.

Final Thoughts

Launching an NFT project isn’t easy, but that’s the point. The teams that succeed put in the effort, articulate a clear vision, and consistently show up for their communities.

Marketing isn’t an afterthought. Instead, it’s the lifeblood of your project. If you are serious about your project and are willing to put in the work, reach out to the TradePort Team on Twitter and share what you're building. We're happy to discuss a launch plan with your team.