The Wheel of Goals: Setting Goals for NFT Strategies
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In one of my previous articles, I talked about The 7 Sins of Companies entering the world of NFTs. One of them was Not having clear goals. This mistake has to do with a mix of hype, FOMO, and lack of a clear why.
Let’s talk about it.
Entering and staying because of the hype, making decisions based on Fear of Missing Out and not having a clear why are linked to the lack of clarity of goals many creators and brands have when creating a strategy for NFTs.
If you don't know where you want to go, how do you know which metrics are more or less important? Or how to engage different professionals, teams and stakeholders to build in the same direction?
It's like driving without a destination in mind. You might end up somewhere, but it's unlikely to be where you wanted to go. Or it's like going on a hike without a map. You might have an adventure, but you'll likely get lost.
It's important to have clear goals when embarking on any new venture, so that you know what you're working towards and can make decisions accordingly.
Without clear goals, it's easy to get sidetracked and end up somewhere you didn't want to be.
There are different types of objectives for each company moment and type of strategy. Here we list some of them in the Wheel of Goals:
Reach New Audiences;
New Products and Experiences;
Financial ROI;
Philanthropy;
Community Building
Experimentation and Learning
Awareness and Signaling
Let’s explore each one of these.
1) Reach New Audiences
One of the most sought-after goals by companies entering the world of NFTs is to Reach New Audiences.
That's because by focusing on an audience native to this world, the company can reach crypto users and potential customers much more open to new products and innovations.
This is what happened in the cases of Nascar and Fidelity, for example. In the case of Nascar, the company announced, through a partnership with Zed Run, that it wanted to reach out to younger audiences.
This was also the objective of Fidelity, when the company announced the opening of an office and experiences in Decentraland. According to the company itself: "We're trying to make sure we're staying current for the next generation".
2) Awareness and Signaling
Other companies seek to create Awareness and Signaling for their stakeholders and choose NFTs as a channel to do so. Here, the objective is to show the market, customers, partners, and others, that the company is part of that universe, so that it brings media, partnerships and, of course, financial returns over time.
MoonPay, for example, a payment solutions company for crypto, bought several famous NFTs, always using these purchases as an opportunity to show the market that the company has products and services for companies and users who want, for example, to buy crypto or NFTs using a credit card. Within this objective, NFTs can be seen as a powerful marketing and communication tool.
3) Experimentation & Learning
A third objective, and this one can be used a lot by companies that are still exploring this world, is Experimentation & Learning.
There's no better way to learn about the NFT universe than to get your hands dirty. And we're not talking here about necessarily launching a collection or spending millions of dollars on an NFT. This will, of course, depend on the company's resources and the type of industry in which it operates.
This was the goal of two giants when they acquired NFTs: KPMG Canada and Visa. KPMG announced that the purchase of an NFT from the World of Women collection made the company better understand the processes of buying this kind of asset, so that it can be better prepared to serve its customers who want to enter this universe.
"NFTs unlock a new channel for organizations to engage with their customers, while also underpinning innovation through the secure digitization of assets," says Benjie Thomas, Managing Partner, Advisory Services, KPMG in Canada. "This acquisition reflects our belief not only in the continued growth of NFTs, but in the value of WoW and its mission. Having now gone through the process, we are well-positioned to guide our clients around building a corporate NFT strategy, including, acquiring, and safeguarding NFTs."
Visa purchased an NFT from CryptoPunks to get a closer look at how the whole process works so it can advise its customers.
“We think NFTs will play an important role in the future of retail, social media, entertainment, and commerce,” Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa, said in a blogpost Monday. “To help our clients and partners participate, we need a firsthand understanding of the infrastructure requirements for a global brand to purchase, store, and leverage an NFT.” Sheffield said CryptoPunks have become a “cultural icon for the crypto community.” “With our CryptoPunk purchase, we’re jumping in feet first,” he said. “This is just the beginning of our work in this space.”
Here, the main idea is for the company's staff to learn in practice about NFTs, so that the company can build products, services and other strategies for its customers. Within this objective, NFTs can be seen as a powerful learning tool, so that the company can develop its expertise in this field in practice.
4) Community Building
Communities are at the heart of NFTs and it's only fair that Community Building can be one of the main objectives of a company's venture in this space. In fact, Community Building will probably be part of any strategy for a company that wants to enter and stay in the world of NFTs. But this objective may have more or less relevance within the company's strategy.
Community Building is a powerful way to build Brand Loyalty, so this goal can always have a special place in your strategy, whatever it may be.
5) New Products and Experiences
Another possible goal - and this one is quite powerful if executed well - is building new products or experiences. Here, there should be a clear roadmap vision of where these products and experiences fit within the company's current product suite. Nike, for example, bought RTFKT Studios to push even harder into digital and to gain more execution capability in the areas of gaming and blockchain.
“This acquisition is another step that accelerates Nike’s digital transformation and allows us to serve athletes and creators at the intersection of sport, creativity, gaming and culture,” says John Donahoe, President and CEO of NIKE, Inc. “We’re acquiring a very talented team of creators with an authentic and connected brand. Our plan is to invest in the RTFKT brand, serve and grow their innovative and creative community and extend Nike’s digital footprint and capabilities.”
This objective makes much more sense for companies that already want to incorporate NFTs into their macrostructure, such as new business units, as the investments are significantly higher.
6) Philanthropy
Another possible objective is to have a strong philanthropic approach. Some collections are created to raise funds for philanthropic institutions or for specific causes, such as those created at the beginning of the war between Ukraine and Russia, in 2022.
Other collections have a certain philanthropic aspect, allocating part of their resources to certain causes. Philanthropy as a major goal was the strategy behind drops of consumer giants like Coca-Cola and Nestlé.
7) Financial ROI
And of course, last but not least, one of the big goals of an NFT strategy can ultimately be financial return. It is obvious that Financial ROI, at the end of the day, is present in all other objectives.
As creators or as brands, we are always looking for a return on our investments. The difference is that there are different ways of doing this and this return can be more or less important, depending on the moment of the company.
Now, it's worth talking about some important points about the Wheel of Goals.
Another important point is: These objectives are not isolated and not mutually exclusive. An NFTs collection can, for example, encompass Financial ROI, Reach New Audiences, and Build New Products and Experiences objectives.
In fact, it's healthy for your strategy to ultimately have at least 1 and until 3 goals. Launching a free NFT collection, for example, might have Experimentation and Learning as its primary objective and have Community Building and Awareness and Signaling as secondary objectives.
Also, it’s important to remember that the most important goal can change over time. A company can start with Experimentation and Learning, but then, at a certain point, see that the main goal now should be Community Building and, later on, Financial ROI or Build New Products and Experiences. This shows that the company is evolving through this new market.
When building your strategy, don't skip the goal-setting step. And be sure to align these goals with the entire team and partners and repeat these goals continuously, so that everyone is aligned in the same direction.