6 things everyone in web3 should learn from Kaito

One of the perks that comes with executing a marketing strategy well is that your brand’s name becomes effortlessly fixated on everyone’s lips.

While I salute the genius behind the marketing playbook by Kaito, I also love to identify as a nonconformist who finds the usual conversations about yaps quite annoying, because the intention of creating good content or just sharing your authentic view has been skewed to earn rewards.

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This is one of the downsides of discovering a goldmine. But who cares about my opinion on yaps? The mere fact that I’m yapping about yaps is a testament to Kaito’s marketing prowess that I think we should all take lessons from.

1. Build for people

I scribbled a rant on why crypto projects don’t last and unknown to me it won a writing contest under “thought leadership”. One of the reasons I mentioned was the proliferation of projects that lack use cases but somehow launched tokens to gain short-lived ‘success’ from the hype of the tokens.

If your mind has been clouded by the many vague crypto projects, Kaito amongst others has shown that real problems exist that can be solved using blockchain technology. Kaito has at least helped redeem the perception that no substantial crypto AI project exists beyond highly speculative coins.

Before starting to build for people, identify a problem and figure out how to solve it. For Kaito, the problem was clear: there’s no streamlined and accurate information source for crypto, not even Google. So, they decided to build it.

By building for people, I mean have them in mind before making any decision. People want to feel seen. As much as you can, try to make this a reality for your users. Kaito’s leaderboard makes this possible.

2. Speak to people
As a founder, you need to accept that real humans will use your product. There’s no point in sounding official or technical if you can. Even Claude AI in an Ethereum roast said only five people understand Vitalik’s articles and tweets. But hey, you get the point right? Back to Kaito.

Imagine if Kaito decided to name: Yaps as pontificate, Mindshare as cognitive resonance, or created graphs that only technical experts could interpret.

Try as much as you can to break down the name of your product’s features such that a random person outside crypto can easily decipher what it’s all about. The fact that yaps resonates with most people, makes it a top awareness strategy to attract even more. Take note.

3. Show, don’t tell
To me, this is the ultimate marketing hack that Kaito is using. It’s much easier to show people how your product can help them when you’re genuinely building with them in mind.

Kaito has built a subscription based tool that charges almost $1k monthly for users to gain access to exclusive insights in the Web3 space.

Attention and trust are golden elements. To earn both, Kaito says “Hey we can show you for free what your shitposting on X is worth, fastest fingers only, before we shut the door for our beta version. We know you’ll spread the word because you’ll like what you see”.

That’s how Kaito got everyone of us yapping about yaps. There’s no need to second guess paying $1k monthly to Kaito, seeing that they have authority in using Web3 data to create valuable insights. Product-led marketing at its peak!

Start somewhere. Don’t just assume people will pay to use your tool.

I’ll say it this way:
If what you’re cooking will take time, let others taste the meat once it’s prepared, even before the whole dish is ready. This builds more appetite, it’s like having dessert before the main course.

4. Be exclusive
Be picky about the first users that test your product. Focus on attracting the top 1% and other high-quality users. Avoid opening the door to everyone, as this won’t create the desired sense of FOMO. Kaito successfully attracted some of the most talked about projects, such as Monad, Berachain, Story Protocol, and Pumpfun. You get the drift?

5. Create a culture
Do something that hasn’t been done before.

Kaito has made it almost impossible for anyone in the crypto space to create content without questioning whether it’s yap-worthy. That’s how to influence human behaviour, by giving them a tangible reason why they should make certain decisions.

The ecosystem is tired of projects launching tokens and leaving us waiting too long to see where a project is headed.

Kaito’s first on-chain activity was the Genesis NFT launch, which only took place after the project had secured a strong fan base. The benefit of this approach is that it makes it easier to determine the fully diluted valuation and be willing to stay long-term.

It’s high time founders start viewing blockchain as a tool for providing simple solutions rather than complicating people’s needs.

6. Start with ‘the one’
If your product already has a range of features but you’re unsure how to enter the market effectively, especially with other competitors, start with the sticky feature—the one that can easily grab people’s attention. Starting out with a paid model can be challenging, so focus on the principle of “show, don’t tell.”

One potential outcome of this is that people will easily remember your brand for its sticky feature, like yaps, and some may assume that’s all your brand represents. But then, it’s easier to sell to an already strong fan base when your brand is built around an unforgettable feature.

To wrap up my yapping, I believe Kaito will put an end to the long existent culture of paying random KOLs with little to no genuine engagement.

Yu, Kaito’s founder, believes yaps will eventually become a currency and I agree.

With yaps, you can accurately determine an influencer's value based on how many yaps they’ve earned. This is a credible strategy because yaps are earned through quality engagement from smart followers, not by spamming comment sections with "GM," , or .

So keep yapping 﫶

PS: I design and write web3 marketing playbooks. You can send me a dm on X @0xweb3diva or send me an email.

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