For brands looking to foster meaningful relationships with their customers, communities are the key. In today’s omnichannel world, leveraging engaged customer networks is an effective way for a business to access valuable feedback and insights that can be used to personalize experiences – resulting in higher ROI up over 500%. However, building a strong community takes effort and dedication; many organizations don’t get far enough before dropping off due to time constraints and intensive costs of traditional methods.
This is where token-gated communities come in.
Token-gated communities provide a valuable means of securing customer engagement in an exclusive setting. They enable swift and effortless creation of committed fanbases, providing immense value to brands worldwide.
How to leverage token-gating to increase customer retention and brand loyalty?
Token gating is a verification method whereby communities can provide exclusive access to spaces, events, content, and communities to people who own specific digital assets in their wallet.
Token gating is essential to the success of any web3 marketing strategy because it is one of the most effective ways to strengthen a community among token holders. Some benefits of token gating include:
1. Creates Exclusivity
Token gating generates exclusivity for token holders, and allows project creators to grant access to content, events, and merch exclusively to token holders.
Token gating benefits both creators and token holders:
- Creators have greater control over who can access their community’s products and content
- Token holders benefit by getting preferential access based on their level of support
To build a strong, loyal community, it is vital to offer members an exclusive experience. Recent surveys have revealed that people are willing to switch brands in exchange for incentives like loyalty points or cash back- 97% and 75%, respectively. Crafting personalized programs is key to fostering a sense of exclusivity amongst members.
Crypto media company The Block launched a tokenized paywall concept to make some of its exclusive content only accessible with crypto.
The Block is using a framework called the Access Protocol, and issuing Access Tokens to crypto marketplaces for consumers to purchase. These tokens can then be used to access The Block’s exclusive subscriptions. When users hit a paywall on the media company’s website, they can temporarily commit their Access tokens to access the content. The Block is the first media company to create a robust token-gated system like this.
2. Strengthens Community
Token gating builds community among token holders. By providing access to token holders-only communication channels like Discord and private content, token gating allows holders to congregate and develop a sense of community.
An example of effective community-building with token gating is VeeCon.
VeeCon is a multi-day mega-conference hosted by GaryVee, which is only accessible to VeeFriends token holders. Every VeeFriend holder is airdropped a unique VeeCon ticket that they can use to visit the conference or sell on the open market.
3. Rewards Holders
Token gating allows token holders to access special rewards. For instance, token holders can receive exclusive merch or acquire entrance into special festivals and events.
An example of token holders rewards, is Tomorrowland, a Belgium-based music festival. By owning Tomorroland’s tokens, token-holders get exclusive lifetime access to the festival’s tickets pre-sale. This strategy guarantees holders that they will be able to get their hands on the tickets no matter what, without going through the hassle of buying tickets during the regular sale date and potentially ending up with a sold out message and having to pay more in a secondary market sale.
Closing thoughts
With token gating, brands now have the power to offer an exclusive experience that instills loyalty and belonging in customers. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) provide access to events, discounts on products/services and even points redeemable at any point of sale – giving customers a reward for their continued engagement. Additionally, blockchain’s distributed ledger technology allows companies unprecedented transparency into customer behaviour analytics – helping them better understand what drives preferences over time.
Book a free strategy call now to learn how token gating can benefit your business.