How to market your crypto exchange app

A decade ago cryptocurrency may have been considered a disruptive force in the fintech world, but as it becomes increasingly mainstream, an ecosystem has emerged to serve the needs of crypto users. As of February 21, 2021, Bitcoin had a market capitalization of $1072.21 billion.

Crypto exchange apps are a big part of the growing ecosystem, allowing users to buy and sell their currency of choice from their mobile devices. These exchanges face the same challenges as other apps when it comes to user acquisition and retention, and require a thoughtful crypto marketing strategy.

In this article, we will explore the rising popularity of crypto, and how to market crypto exchange apps.

The rise of crypto exchanges

Cryptocurrency refers to a decentralized digital currency that uses an online ledger with strong cryptography to provide more secure online transactions. The most widely known crypto is bitcoin. Though these unregulated currencies can be used to trade for goods and services, much of the interest is to trade for profit.

For many years, cryptocurrencies were the purview of security-minded early adopters, but as popularity has grown, they have become more accessible — in part thanks to crypto exchange apps. You no longer need to understand the intricacies of mining crypto or blockchain technology. Now you can simply download popular fintech apps like Robinhood to buy and sell Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ether and more.

Competition in the crypto exchange space is fierce. Not only are established fintech apps like Robinhood and Square’s Cash App offering crypto services but there are also apps, like Coinbase, dedicated entirely to cryptocurrency. If you want to compete in this crowded space, you must have a crypto marketing strategy in place.

Marketing your crypto exchange is a lot like marketing a banking or stock-trading app, which often offer similar services and must address the same concerns. However, promoting a crypto offer is its own challenge. Cryptocurrency users are an enthusiastic but still relatively small group. Finding them and tailoring your message to their needs will require you to take a methodical approach to your crypto marketing, armed with the right data and tools to make informed marketing decisions.

Get to know your audience

Understanding your audience is one of the main challenges for every user acquisition marketer — but the questions you need to ask may differ based on your niche. What are your potential users looking for in an app? Is there a specific type of cryptocurrency they prefer? What features are most important to them? Convenience, control, and security are often primary concerns for banking app and crypto exchange users alike. Focusing your message on these points can help instill confidence in your app, but getting to know your users will tell you exactly what messaging they are most likely to respond to.

Find the right channels and ad formats

After you’ve spent some time getting to know your users, you’ll also have an idea of where they like to hang out on the web. Starting your UA efforts with Google and Facebook is a safe bet — but these channels are crowded and finding scalable alternatives that work for your audience is a great way to find a competitive advantage. From OEM placements to working with a DSP, there are many ways to reach new audiences.

When considering new channels, you should also understand the different ad formats each one supports and match your creative — and your audience’s preferences — to the right formats:

• Banner ads — A staple of digital advertising, banner ads tend to have low CTRs but can be a good fit for some. InMobi found that on Android, banner ads delivered the best conversions for lifestyle content (2.02%); on iOS, banner ads worked best for classified content (2.7%).
• Interstitial Ads — Interstitial ads are popular on mobile, taking up the whole screen at natural pauses during the on-screen action. One study found that ad viewers spent 22% of their time looking for the “X” button to close the ad, so it’s critical to ensure that interstitial ads show content that’s relevant to the user.
• Native Ads — Native ads mimic their environment to blend seamlessly with the content around them.
• In-app video ads — These ads are increasingly popular, in part because people actually like and engage with them

Track everything

Tracking your KPIs is key to understanding which of your user acquisition strategies are working, which ones need tweaking, and which ones may need to be retired. Understanding where your conversions are coming from can tell you where to allocate your budget and which new channels may be worth testing.

Optimize everything

An integral part of tracking what works is testing different variations of your ad. By A/B testing things like color schemes or calls-to-action, you can finetune your messaging to produce the best possible results. To get the granular data that can help you optimize everything in your campaign, you need to find the right partners.

The key to getting to know your users lies in finding the right mobile measurement partner (MMP) — a platform like Adjust “that works with app and game publishers to track campaign performance across multiple advertising channels. MMPs provide visibility for publishers to optimize their campaigns and understand conversions.” A good MMP is integral to understanding your users and providing you the insights you need to improve. A majority of marketers say that “attribution provides indispensable insight,” but  70% of marketers struggle to act on marketing insights in order to generate improvements. Attribution plays a key role in optimizing mobile marketing by giving users the data they need to make the right decisions.

Tracking your crypto marketing campaigns with the help of an MMP, not only allows you to understand where your users are coming from through user-level attribution, but can also tell you which channels are bringing you the most profitable users and boost LTV, how long you are retaining them for, and how to keep them engaged longer. Data drives mobile marketing. In order to truly understand your results and optimize your ROAS you’ll need the right tools in place before you begin marketing your crypto app. But with the right partner and a methodical approach, you can turn your app into the next big thing.

If you are interested in learning more about retention rates and how to improve yours, check out this blog post with 10 retention strategies.