NFTs change the game for artists. Previously, you had to tirelessly promote your work to folks within your network, hoping for a few collectors to like your work and buy pieces.

Digital art was incredibly hard to monetize. Rent-seeking platforms like Getty Images made it easier, but were costly and didn’t promote your individual work well.

Selling digital work also opened up the door for unlimited copyright infringement and limited future royalties.

Enter NFTs. Artists can deploy any collection their heart desires. Reach millions, instead of dozens. And collect royalties on future sales!

But, marketing your collection isn’t as simple as creating your collection and expecting the masses to come. Let’s walk through the best ways to promote your collection for maximum positive exposure.

If you’re launching your collection and want to enable your users to mint using any token from any chain, check us out at Brydge!

First, what not to do

Anything remotely spammy. This includes tossing your collection’s URL around on subreddits, Twitter comments, and hiring reply-guys.

Your collection’s worth is directly tied to your brand. If your brand is spammy, your collection will be deemed so too.

Plus, have you ever seen a bot-promoted link and thought “Wow, this seems like something I should buy?”

What else not to do:
Wait until collection launch to start marketing
Send automated Discord DMs
Tag non-targeted people on Twitter

Hone in on your target customer + market segment

Find a niche and stick to it. Who are you targeting? 22 year old programmers? Live generative art collectors? NBA fans? The more specific, the better.

Decide on a realistic mint price. Is 0.5 ETH really feasible for your Happy Ape Yacht Club collection?

Figure out a reasonable collection size and release timeline. NFT mints (like any fundraise) rely on hive mentality. If your 10,000 unit collection has 9,800 units unminted on day 3, the road forward will be tough.

Striking visuals. Again, your collection’s worth is directly tied to your brand. When your brand is visually appealing, folks will take note

Optimize your landing page

How is your collection different? Hammer that point in. Use similar (successful) comparable launches as a guide.

Your page should be mobile responsive, quick, and simple to understand. If you’re not good at this yourself, hire someone off Upwork / Fiverr to help you out.

Consider doxxing your team

NFT land is rife with scams and teams vacating projects after mint (rug pull). Separate yourself from the crowd and bring some credibility to your project by featuring your team on your site and linking your social media accounts / prior work.

This is especially true for niche collections. Example: if you’re launching a genesis collection meant to be a playable character in your prelaunch game, your users will feel much more comfortable knowing you’re (1) real and (2) have developed a game at xyz company before.

Accountability = credibility.

Promote on NFTCalendar.io

This is easy potatoes (and free!). Collectors sift through upcoming projects here to see what catches their eye. Make sure to fill out all fields properly. Your main image should be striking.

Spin up your Discord

Crypto lives on Discord. Kick off your public server. Make sure the invite is set to never expire. Then backlink this to your site and Twitter bio..

Next, Twitter

Crypto’s second home is Twitter. Start a public account. Follow your core team members (if you’re doxxed). Also link this to your site.

Kick off your Reddit presence

r/NFT allows tasteful promotion. Take advantage of it and its 430k+ members. This post that Brydge launched in the subreddit hit 80k views, 350+ shares, and 250+ upvotes in 21 days.

Other great subreddits to promote (tastefully in):

r/ethdev
r/art
r/artstore

The key is to provide more value to the community than you take away. Show how you’re helping folks. Everyone hates being sold to, but loves to learn. Teach people something they don’t know / add some value, and your brand’s value increases correspondingly.

Ask your friends for help

Everyone you know knows people you don’t. Leverage them and their networks. Explain what you’re working on and ask if they’d be willing to write up a quick tweet or pass it along to their friends?

Give them a whitelist spot / pre-minted NFT as a thank you!

When to start promotion

2-4 weeks before launch. Any longer and you’ll lose your momentum. Later, and you’ll be scrambling last minute.

What content to write

Cater to your customer. What do they enjoy?

Nature-focused photography collection? Your content should reflect the unbelievable scenes you’re about to launch in your collection, camping memes, and travel experiences.

Genesis collection for a play-to-earn game? Tease in-game scenes, sick renderings, and all the progress you’re making.

Be consistent. Don’t flip-flop between whimsical memes and serious content. Build your brand.