How to become a successful an NFT project?

Over the past year, many NFT projects have been released, the authors of which were both large companies and organizations, and individuals. If you analyze them, it becomes clear that successful NFT project have an original and unique idea, transparent and understandable positioning, as well as a limited offer.

We studied the stories of famous NFT collections and compiled a checklist based on them for launching our own successful NFT project.

Checklist for launching an NFT project

1. Study the market and trends;
2. Find a topic that is close to you personally;
3. Tell an exciting story;
4. Select the basic characteristics of the project (blockchain, platform, etc.);
5. Choose the right blockchain;
6. Decide on the NFT file format;
7. Minify NFT or create a smart contract;
8. Get promoted;
9. Find your audience, create a community and hype around the project;
10. Get to know your customers better to tailor the roadmap to their needs;
11. Create long-term value and innovate;
12. Do not give up.

What NFT projects are currently popular?

From the very appearance of NFT projects in 2017 to the present time, original projects that are unlike the others have been gaining popularity.

1. First of all, we are talking about unique images created by digital artists, as well as digitized works of art.
2. Also, the development of the market of non-fungible tokens in 2022 is significantly affected by the growing popularity of the metaverse. Gradually, more and more major brands create representative offices on the most popular sites (for example, The Sandbox, Decentraland, Alien worlds). Therefore, interest in projects related to the virtual universe will only grow.

3. Of the new directions in 2022, non-fungible tokens released by famous artists are becoming popular. Non-fungible tokens can become an additional way for musicians to monetize creativity. For example, Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park) received $10,000 through NFTs. And rapper Tory Lanez sold out a limited NFT collection tied to a new album in less than a minute.
4. NFT games continue to gain popularity. These are video games in which players receive rewards in the form of non-fungible tokens. They can be earned by progressing a character, leveling up, getting playable offspring, or winning matches. This model is called P2E model (Play-to-Earn) and allows you to monetize playing time. At the same time, you can earn not only by completing NFT games, but also by creating them.

How to find an idea for a project?

You should not be limited only to those directions that are popular at the moment. To create a successful NFT project, it is much more important to find your own theme and follow it consistently. People like it when they see non-fungible token as something more than a commercial project. The author’s view will make the proposal unique. And in order for this to happen, the developer must be interested in the topic and understand it well. Thoughtlessly following trends, on the other hand, can turn users off, as they will notice insincerity.

The ideal option is when the author already has assets that can be turned into NFTs. It can be images, audio, videos or just good memes.

In order for users to see how a new project differs from other non-fungible tokens, it must have its own history. For example, the most expensive NFT Everydays: The First 5000 Days is a collage of images created by author Mike Winkelman over the course of 13 years. A token Stay Free by Edward Snowden is a portrait created from lawsuits against the author.

An important step is the choice of basic characteristics and blockchain

At this stage, you need to decide whether the project is designed only to the virtual space or it will also live in the material world, whether it will contain additional value (for example, membership in a private club), whether the owners of the token will receive the right to intellectual property, how much the collection will be limited, etc. You can read more about the technical components of NFT in our article.

Choose a blockchain

It is important to decide on which blockchain tokens will be minted and whether they will be sold on popular marketplaces or on your own platform. Each blockchain has its pros and cons, so choosing one is a matter of personal preference.

Select NFT file format

The choice of format depends on the type of artwork. Non-fungible tokens come in JPG, PNG, GIF, SVG, MP4, MP3, WAV, GLTF, etc. formats. You can also attach unlockable content to the token, which can be downloaded after purchase.

These decisions must be made before the NFT minting, as they will become the basis of the future project and cannot be changed later.

Create a smart contract

If you decide to mint on your own, and not on a ready-made marketplace, you need to write an NFT smart contract, which will formulate an offer for buyers. A smart contract is a piece of code that provides the basic functionality and access control mechanism for an non-fungible token. You can create it with the help of special tools or with the help of hired specialists.

How to promote an NFT project?

For an NFT project to become successful, it is important that as many people as possible learn about it. For promotion, you can use social networks, your own website and thematic communities. We did a detailed review of NFT promotion methods in this article.

Social network

Most often, they are promoted through Twitter, Discord, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Telegram. However, new players join this list every day. For example, the Youtube service is actively developing the NFT direction.

For promote on social networks, you need to tell the story behind the digital work. To do this, you can answer the following questions:

• how was the project created?
• what is the idea behind it?
• what tools were used to create it?

To pay attention to your own project, you can subscribe to other NFT-authors, actively comment and invite to see your work. You also need to accompany the posts with hashtags , by which those who are interested in non-fungible token can find the work. Examples of popular hashtags : #NFT, #NFTCOMMUNITY, #DIGITALART and others.

Web sites

Creating and promoting your own website will take more time than social media activity. However, such a step will allow you to get more tools and not depend on the policy of third-party sites. You can showcase your own work, add a blog to drive organic traffic, and offer value-added services (such as custom digital art creations).

NFT communities

These sites are suitable not only for open advertising of NFT projects, but also for finding your own audience. To benefit from communities, you need to be active in them, communicate, answer questions and leave feedback on other people’s work.

How to create a community around your own project?

The community is fans of the author’s works, critics and advocates of the NFT project. Ideally, it should include authoritative and influential users from the blockchain space.

People are always more willing to buy from people they like. This is especially true for works of art, for which the personality of the author is very important. Therefore, you can start searching for your own audience by creating a personal brand.

To attract interested people, you need:

• to actively promote it on different platforms,
• follow the news,
• participate in general discussions, contests and sweepstakes,
• create promotional and promotional materials,
• make mailing lists and arrange sales.

It is important to remain interesting for the people who were attracted by the NFT project. To do this, you can regularly post fresh content on social networks or on your own website. At the same time, it is desirable to remain consistent and stick to the idea for the NFT collection that initially attracted the audience.

How to create long-term value?

As a rule, the creators of NFT projects are not interested in one-off sales, but in constant interest from fans. In order to maintain the popularity of non-fungible tokens, long-term value must be created.

To do this, the NFT collection must carry something more than the right to a digital asset. This can be participation in a closed community or large-scale charitable projects, the opportunity to become part of a large project or exchange tokens for tangible assets. For example, some musicians release non-fungible tokens to raise funds for a new album. And big brands offer the opportunity to exchange tokens for exclusive items from limited collections.

The process of creating and promoting a successful NFT project can take up to several months. It is important to set yourself up for a long work and not give up, even if it takes longer than you expected to attract the attention of the audience to the collection.