What Web3 Marketers Can Learn From Global Retail Brands: Interview with Bryan Nee

We sat down with Bryan Nee, Head of Communications for global retail brand LOJEL, to talk about the role that purpose, in the form of an overall brand narrative, plays in content marketing tactics and moving customers down the sales funnel. Currently based in Hong Kong, Bryan got his start as a digital marketer for e-commerce brand Casual Home in New York and previously worked in Lisbon as CMO of Cropper, an automated market maker (AMM) built on the Solana blockchain. He also co-founded Bermuda, honorable mention in the DeFi Track of the 2022 Solana Summer Camp Hackathon, and was Head of Marketing for Winerz. To Bryan, storytelling is more than just a job – When he’s not sitting in global comms strategy sessions or on location at campaign photo shoots, Bryan’s also an actor, songwriter and stand-up comedian. We discussed:

1. The ever-evolving content landscape and the marketing funnel
2. Content marketing in the uncharted world of Web3
3. Why taking a community-centric approach is always the answer

Despite an Ever-Changing Landscape, the Funnel Remains a Constant

“One of the biggest challenges with content is that it’s always changing,” said Bryan. “When we look at the way that lifestyle content looked five years ago versus the way it looks today with the advent of TikTok and then Instagram, Facebook, YouTube – all short-form, portrait video – it's changed rapidly. Content today is a moving dial.”

What hasn’t changed, he said, is the marketing funnel and its role in helping content marketers develop a long-term strategy to meet their business goals.

According to Bryan, a solid content marketing strategy combines organic content such as blogs and whitepapers with paid media to help move customers down the marketing funnel. Content should be tailored to each stage, according to where the customer’s at in terms of their decision to purchase:

1. TOP OF FUNNEL (TOFU)

At this stage of the buying process, content should make potential customers aware of a problem that they may or may not yet be aware of by speaking to specific pain points.

2. MIDDLE OF FUNNEL (MOFU)

MoFu content introduces a solution to potential customers who are problem-aware but may not yet be up to speed with which possible solutions are on hand.

3. BOTTOM OF FUNNEL (BOFU)

Content at this stage in the buyer’s journey should focus entirely on sales enablement and converting soon-to-be loyal customers who will advocate for the brand to fellow stakeholders in a buying committee.

After developing long and short-form content tailored to the funnel, content marketers should use paid media to move their target audience from the awareness stage through to the conversion stage. Today, sponsored content has evolved to include sophisticated targeting that will ensure a particular post reaches the right audience segment regardless of which stage in the buyer’s journey they’re at, said Bryan.

For Content Marketers, the World of Web3 Is Still the Wild (Albeit Decentralized) West

“It’s a totally different ballgame [in crypto and Web3] when you’re trying to approach the funnel because paid media doesn’t really exist,” said Bryan. “It’s so uncharted and there’s so much value being created, but there are also so many people capitalizing on that value because they’re there to make money themselves. You’re juggling all these variables that don’t exist in traditional marketing.”

The best way for content marketers to navigate the Web3 world, he said, is to embrace the dynamics of how users interact in that space and try to operate within those parameters. For example, Bryan suggests getting intel from developers instead of turning to traditional marketing practices and industry publications. Once they get the lay of the land, said Bryan, then it becomes a lot easier to structure a content marketing approach parallel to the good ol’ funnel, for example:

1. TOP OF FUNNEL (TOFU)

Crypto airdop to distribute free tokens, or any kind of giveaway to increase brand awareness

2. MIDDLE OF FUNNEL (MOFU)

Add value in a more comprehensive way, such as through partnerships between like-minded, ecosystem-connected communities or any kind of giveaway to onboard their service and get exposure to their audience 

3. BOTTOM OF FUNNEL (BOFU)
   

Facilitating community conversations on Twitter or Discord to foster advocacy for your project, or free demos.

But don’t be mistaken — conversion doesn’t stop at a user event. Companies should always be building their product thinking about retention, especially in Web3 where users are initially captured via financial incentives.

It Always Comes Down to Community

It’s imperative for products in the Web3 space, said Bryan, to exist for a purpose that people feel connected to and can rally behind. However, the most successful companies not only create hype through engineering scarcity and intrinsic inclusion, but also engineering PR activations within the launch. 

“The biggest growth driver in Web3 marketing is community,” He said. “It’s all about linking with other projects to connect those communities, and introducing your token or product to new circles in a way that adds value.”

Word of mouth is gospel when it comes to Web3 marketing. Based on his experience with Cropper, Bryan identified the strongest communities as those united by their status as early adopters, and their journey together ultimately pumps up the intrinsic value of an NFT.

In the immersive world of Web3, storytelling must transcend the ordinary, evolving into a multi-dimensional narrative. The conventional "what we do and why we do it" approach is inadequate. Instead, leveraging social proof to cultivate a sense of shared ownership and camaraderie is crucial. It should feel like a united front, your project, product, or company against the world. 

That said, he believes that there’s still work to be done in terms of making Web3 adoption more widespread. While it’s a new space for marketers to play in, content still plays a vital role at every stage of the buyer’s journey.

“People should stop trying to make Web3 sound like it’s from another universe,” said Bryan. “Bring it back down to earth. It’s more important that you get people to clearly understand your concept and the value you provide.”