Proposal to advertise Bisq on the bitcoin forum

[DireWolfM14]

Proposal to advertise Bisq on the bitcoin forum.pdf

Abstract:

Proposal to advertise Bisq on the bitcoin forum, bitcointalk.org.

The bitcoin forum was started by the creator of bitcoin, the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, and continues to be most frequently visited discussion platform dedicated to cryptocurrency, and more specifically bitcoin. Many new users find it a great way to learn about and start using bitcoin. Forum administration espouses a free economy, and one has been allowed to develop on the forum. Among the goods and services available, advertising has been a significant part of the forum s economic landscape.

Many crypto startups have turned to the forum to draw attention to their projects, and many have enjoyed success for doing so. Among the many services that have grown their brand by initially advertising on the forum are two notable cryptocurrency casinos who ve grown to also sponsor English Premier League football clubs, and a notorious bitcoin mixer which grew to be the largest and most widely used mixing service in history by advertising solely on the bitcoin forum.

 

Forum Statistics:

         Total Members: 3,526,175

         Total Posts: 61,895,606

         Total Topics: 1,348,226

         Average registrations per day: 293

         Average posts per day: 5386

         Average topics per day: 217

         Average online users: 124

         Average page views per day: 984,622

Forum administration doesn t facilitate advertising on the forum, but rather the advertiser contracts with members of the forum directly or through a campaign manager to rent the participants avatar and signature space. The user s profile is used to display a logo in the avatar space, and advertisement in the signature space which can include hyperlinks, text, and line art. As an example:

Ideally, prominent members are chosen to participate due to their post quality, activity factors, and notoriety. Essentially, the campaign participants are chosen for their prior and future contributions the forum community. Typically, a member of the forum with campaign management experience is chosen to orchestrate the initialization and management of the campaign. The campaign manager selects participants, confirms participants are adhering the campaign requirements, and evaluates and qualifies posts for payments. Often the CM will also hold the campaign funds in escrow, and remits payments to participants on a weekly basis. Although I have no experience managing campaigns, I have had coaching from a couple of highly reputable managers in recent weeks. I ve also participated in several campaigns and know the workings well enough to be confident in undertaking the responsibilities. To facilitate the campaign, I have chosen to employ my own funds with the understanding that approval of my proposal will allow me to submit my expenses for reimbursement. Proposal: A twelve-week long trial campaign with 12 participants, cost metrics as follows:

Proposed payment per post in USD value
Weekly limit of 25 qualifying posts will be paid
Roll	Cost	Qty	Total
Participant, Legendary	$4.00	25	$100.00
Participant, Hero	$3.60	25	$90.00
Participant, Senior	$3.20	25	$80.00
Campaign Management
Roll	Cost/Part.	Qty Part.	Total
Campaign Management	$10.00	12	$120.00
Initial Expenses
Roll	Cost/Part.	Qty Part.	Total
Signature Design	$100.00	2	$200.00
Recuring expenses, weekly
Roll	Cost	Qty	Total
Campaign Management	$120.00	1	$120.00
Participant, Legendary	$100.00	3	$300.00
Participant, Hero	$90.00	3	$270.00
Participant, Senior	$80.00	6	$480.00
Summary of expenses
Weekly Costs			$1,170.00
Number of weeks for trial			12
Total Campaign period cost			$14,040.00
One time fee to create 2 signatures			$200.00
Total costs as proposed			$14,240.00

 

Definition of qualifications for payment:

Up to 25 constructive posts per week will qualify for payment.

Posts must have been posted during the weekly period to qualify and cannot be a repeated post from a previous week.

Posts in certain threads or sections of the forum that do not lend value to the promotion of Bisq do not qualify for payment.

The approved and unaltered signature must remain in the participant s profile for the entire weekly period to qualify for payment.

 

Timeline:

I propose to conduct the experimental trial-period phase of the campaign during the northern hemisphere s winter months since that tends to be when the forum experiences most of its usage.  This may lead to anomalous results, however this means that the trial period will be most effective, even if campaign does not continue.

         Commencement of trial period: November 12, 2023

         Conclusion of trial period: February 3, 2024

 

Effectiveness:

Assessment of the effectiveness of the advertising campaign can be made by using metrics such as:

Increase in revenue.

Increase in volume of trades on Bisq.

Increase in unique visits to Bisq.network.

An increase in revenue is the most critical assessment metric. To be effective, the campaign must demonstrate an increase in revenue at least 10% greater than the cost of the campaign.

[MwithM]

I have no knowledge in digital marketing, but it seems too expensive.
Also, particularly, since they gave too much space for altcoins and even blatant scams, I haven't used the forum in years.
I don't think it's the best place to announce Bisq, specially given that Bisq is not spending a lot on marketing. If any campaign is done, it needs to be selected very carefully.

[HenrikJannsen]

We had a similar proposal recently and it got negative feedback as well. #424 is much better aligned to the values of Bisq and likely much more efficient to spread the word.

[DireWolfM14]

@MwithM, I tend to agree that it appears expensive, but it's in line with other advertising campaigns on the forum. I set the pay structure so it's about 70% to 80% of the highest paid campaigns currently operating. The higher paying campaigns tend to attract more reputable members.

There have indeed been scams advertised on the forum in the past, and almost certain to be more in the future. The forum administration doesn't moderate scams, so the members are left to police scams themselves. Having spent the last 5 years as a member of the forum and observing its various communities, it's been my observation that the more reputable and trusted members have been very careful to avoid participating in suspicious advertising campaigns. It's also fair to point out that reputable campaign managers are very careful to avoid contracting with suspicious services. As such, it's been my observation that advertisers garner more attention and reciprocal trust based on the reputation of the campaign participants.

I would like to believe that I have developed a trustworthy reputation on the forum myself, and since I've never managed an advertising campaign, it's safe to assume I've never promoted a scam, lol. I'm also very selective about the campaigns I join. I would also like to point out that managing campaigns is not a career I wish to pursue regularly, I'm only volunteering to manage this promotion because I use, recommend, and believe in Bisq.

@HenrikJannsen, agreed that proposition #424 is a good effort to promote Bisq and educate new users, but I don't think these proposals are mutually exclusive. Budgetary concerns may demand only one or the other be employed, and that is certainly understandable. I will say that traditional advertising avenues are likely to gain more attention, and therefor be more fruitful than promoting Bisq through meetups. I'm basing this comment on my experience with meetups in the USA, which typically attract a dozen participants or fewer. I may be underestimating participation in meetups elsewhere in the world.

[DireWolfM14]

I'm closing this issue due to lack of support. Thanks for your consideration and comments.