Why Lever.io is Your Best Alternative to Crypto Marketing Agencies in 2024

This article provides a straightforward comparison of classic crypto marketing agencies versus the innovative approach of Lever.io. We'll underscore the unique advantages of Lever.io's influencer marketplace compared with the drawbacks commonly associated with traditional marketing agencies.

Key Takeaways

• Lever.io addresses the shortcomings of traditional crypto marketing agencies by providing a platform for direct influencer engagement, which is more aligned with the specific needs of the crypto industry, allowing for in-house tailored marketing strategies.
• Compared to traditional marketing agency fee structures, Lever.io offers a cost-effective and transparent approach, focusing on pay-per-engagement while avoiding hidden fees and long-term commitments, resulting in potential higher ROI for clients.
• Interest in Lever.io from major crypto projects demonstrates the need for delivering more targeted, customer-centric marketing strategies without the bloat of a marketing agency overhead.

What's the Problem with Crypto Marketing Agencies in Web3?

The rise of Web3 as the value layer of the internet will disrupt the way the world does business. By cutting out numerous middlemen and creating direct connections through decentralized applications (dApps) built on blockchain technology, Web3 startups are creating value future for their users.

At the same time, however, Web3 startups are still heavily relying on the inefficiencies of middlemen and their overhead for crypto marketing solutions.

While Web3 startups create value for users, crypto marketing agencies are sapping value from their users, the Web3 projects that pay tens of thousands of dollars a month for so-so results.

Lever.io is here to flip this paradigm and give value back to Web3 and crypto projects. We're providing access to the most powerful tools in marketing today: social media influencers and content creators, and we're creating a layer of trust between brands and influencers that does not exist today.

Dissecting the Costs: Traditional Agency Fees vs. Direct Engagement

Every crypto startup worries about successfully budgeting their marketing spend. Taking that into account, relying on the "crypto marketing experts" of marketing agencies can seem like a good idea, especially when project founders are holding calls with early investors who ask about the project's progress on a weekly basis.

However, traditional marketing agencies often charge high upfront fees, resulting in higher overall costs. Then, these agencies sometimes include lengthy contract commitments that can ultimately increase the overall marketing spend for crypto projects without delivering significant ROI.

With all these costs paid and a contract signed, crypto projects have very little recourse when a crypto marketing firm's deliverables are undesirable and subpar. Content marketing on social media shouldn't be this difficult.

Analyzing Crypto Marketing Agency Fee Structures

Working with crypto marketing agencies is not only expensive, but complicated. Traditional crypto marketing agencies often utilize diverse billing methods such as:

• Hourly rates
• Monthly retainers
• Project-specific fees
• Compensation through token allocations

Whichever payment package your project is offered, you can rest assured that an agency will milk as much value out of your fundraising as possible. What's more, projects rarely, if ever, take part in the creation process when dealing and negotiating with influencers.

Getting Billed for Bad Content by Contract

Unfortunately, it can be the case that you don't get what you pay for with a marketing agency—you get what you get. If the agency says it will deliver four influencer shoutouts a month to meet the demands of a $20,000/month package, don't be surprised if those four influencers have 500 followers, comment sections filled with bots, or zero organic engagement.

Imagine a scenario where:

• You don't like the caliber of the influencers and content a marketing agency gives you to review. It's terrible.
• You ask for exposure with a crypto YouTuber more aligned with your DeFi project, instead of the GameFi/NFT influencer your agency has provided.
• The agency tells you the max spend for the month has already been reached, and this is the best that can be done under the circumstances.
• You have the choice to either syndicate poorly made content or foot the bill and eat the costs for something you'll never use.

This happens far too frequently. That's why Lever.io is designed to put your project in the driver's seat, allowing you to maximize your marketing spend on influencers who create quality content at competitive costs to reach your specific audience.

Paying for Direct Engagement with Lever.io

On Lever.io, your Web3 project doesn't have to give up precious tokens or sign lengthy and confusing contracts for crypto advertising. There are no retainers required, and Lever.io doesn't charge a monthly fee to provide you access to our influencer marketplace.

By accessing the Lever.io marketplace, your crypto project has 100% control of where its marketing spend goes. You choose an influencer that fits your needs; you choose from a menu of services with a set price, and you get what you need within a turnaround time that meets your schedule.

You also have the ability to choose "Not Yet" instead of "Accept" when receiving your deliverables from an influencer on Lever.io. You can then provide feedback that will be immediately delivered to your influencer.

Work Directly with Influencers on Lever.io

You'll find that each influencer on Lever.io provides a menu of their services, and if they accept your request for a shoutout, short product review, or full-length video, you only need to pay for the content you requested. We make it incredibly easy to hire influencers whether they be crypto YouTubers, Insta influencers, or Twitter thread mavens.

Also, when influencers accept your requests for content, you can immediately begin chatting with them through Lever's in-app chat. This puts you in full control of your content request, allowing you to share exactly what you want to see from your influencer marketing campaign directly with the content creator himself.

Working with a crypto marketing firm means you're playing a game of telephone to make sure your point of contact relays the correct information to the influencers they choose for content creation.

Why would you do that when you can work with an influencer directly through Lever.io?

Looking at Crypto Marketing Agency Pricing Examples

Let's take a peek at the kinds of fees crypto marketing agencies ask from Web3 startups. These examples are taken from past quotes offered by real full service agencies. The firms will be referred to as Agency A-C, and these prices are generally standard across top crypto marketing agencies.

Agency A

Agency A asks for six months of payment in advance:

The total recommended period of engagement to deliver optimum results is 6 months. The total investment required in order to achieve objectives within that specified time frame is $120,000.

Agency B

Agency B offers packages ranging from $19.5k-$34.5k per month. It also offers an "influencer marketing bundle." Here is the breakdown:

Pre-packaged Influencer bundle:
● 2 AMA’s (over 20k community members)
● 4 YouTubers (over 10k subscribers)
● 4-6 Twitter influencers with 2 tweets each (over 20k followers)
$20,000 USD for all the above

Agency C

Agency C offers four options, and their fees reach as high as €100,000 a month.

Deliverables

As you can see from the above examples, the costs of working with a top crypto marketing agency can be extremely high. In addition, these offers provide few details about exactly which kinds of influencers your project will be hiring, indirectly, through the agency.

The difference with Lever.io is that you know exactly where your marketing spend is budgeted, since you only pay for the content you order yourself. Lever.io puts you in charge of your influencer marketing campaign at every step of the process.

Even the best crypto marketing agencies will add bloat to their costs with overhead. However, creative content marketing doesn't need to drain crypto companies of their funding for organic traffic.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Direct Engagement with Lever.io

Lever.io's influencer marketplace puts you directly in touch with influencers who list upfront pricing for their work. The direct influencer engagement model offered by Lever.io provides your crypto startup with:

• More focused audiences that are likely to generate higher ROI compared to traditional agency models
• The ability to experiment with influencer marketing at a lower initial investment and at your own pace
• The potential for a more substantial return on ad spend when setting specific goals with influencers reaching your niche audience

Compared to a traditional agency's monthly rates, Lever.io offers more cost-effective growth with a focus on achieving long-term return on investment. By facilitating direct engagement with influencers, Lever.io can result in better outcomes than intermediary agencies, suggesting a higher ROI.

Big Names in Crypto and Web3 are Choosing Lever.io

Lever.io stands as a prime example of projects helping reduce friction in the Web3 space. By enabling direct connections between crypto projects and influencers, it eliminates the need for middlemen in crypto marketing. Our platform is designed to disrupt the conventional marketing model, thereby aligning with the core principle of Web3 and decentralized finance (DeFi) – cutting out the middleman.

The platform has already received commits from massive projects including Sui, Avalanche, and Telegram, which demonstrates the trust and confidence that major crypto projects have in the Lever.io influencer marketplace. These commitments from leading crypto projects underscore the fact that Lever.io’s services are tailored to meet the specific needs of the crypto market.

To sum up, Lever.io’s direct engagement model presents a significant advantage over traditional crypto marketing agency models in terms of cost-effectiveness, transparency, and potential for ROI. These benefits make Lever.io an attractive choice for Web3 projects seeking effective and efficient marketing solutions.