Meet Anthony Zhang, Director of Growth & Marketing at Blockfolio. In 2016, Anthony received the Thiel Fellowship @thielfellowship to grow his first company, EnvoyNow. Since then he’s run marketing budgets of $10MM+ per year, built a company from 0 to 1500 employees, and scaled three venture backed startups.

On Saturday February 3rd, 2019 Anthony hosted on AMA at telegram.blockfolio.com here is a transcription of the event.

Q: Anthony, can you tell us a little bit about how you got into crypto and landed a position at Blockfolio?

A: Absolutely! I first heard about crypto in late 2016 from a friend, and became fascinated after seeing how active and passionate the crypto community was especially on Twitter. I knew I needed to get involved in the space. Regarding the position at Blockfolio, I saw the job opening on LinkedIn and also knew a friend who worked as a software engineer there. After weeks of getting to know the founders and team, I knew this was the perfect place to dip my feet in the crypto world.

Q: What are some unique aspects to marketing in crypto that is distinct from traditional B2C or B2B marketing?

A: Great question. I think something really unique about the crypto space is how easy it is for companies to directly engage with their community. Channels that land to this really well are Reddit, Twitter, Discord, and Telegram and have become the most active channels for us. In traditional marketing it would usually be Google or Facebook.

Q: How will BTC perform during the upcoming recession we’re expecting?

A: Another really good question. FYI these are just my thoughts and I could be totally wrong, but if the recession hits while we’re still in the bear market in crypto, it may be rough. it’s hard to imagine people rushing to put money into an asset that is down 80% from it’s highs. if we’re back in a bull trend it could be dramatically different📈

Q: Have you ever bought something (besides other crypto) using crypto? If so what? What would you like to see that you could buy using crypto?

A: I do own a few crypto kitties 🐱. When the time is right, I would love to be able to buy items that typically have very high transaction fees/mark ups like concert or sporting tickets with crypto. Buyers and sellers could directly interact with each other and have authenticated tickets without giving platforms like StubHub or ticket master a big chunk of the profit

Q: What are the primary methods that you use to attract new users? Also interested in whether you use PPC?

A: Our main focus is on organic and grassroots strategies like building relationships with other token projects and being responsive and accessible to all users. With the over 5.5 million downloads we have today, I can proudly say that we have spent less than $5000 total on paid marketing. I have never experimented with PPC with Blockfolio but that definitely is an option for us in the future!

Q: How to attract people to check out a legitimate blockchain project that doesn’t have a lot of funds for advertising spend?

A: I think a big key is building an early community that you really take the time to cultivate and grow. This way, they will become your biggest supporters and will tell their friends. As an early project I think it is really important to be very transparent with your followers and deliver on your promises.

Q: What are some marketing pitfalls that you often see other projects fall into?

A: In the crypto space, I frequently see a lot of projects make big announcements or promises, and when things are delayed or do not go right, they are radio silent. Especially in a new space like this, it is common and totally OK for development or other milestones to be delayed, but I believe in those times it is extremely important to communicate and be honest with your community.

Q: Hi Anthony👋🏼 What is your previous growth/ marketing experience? And how did that shape your approach to Blockfolio’s growth strategy?

A: I got my first start during my freshman year of college, what I found at my first company. Over the next four years, I was able to learn firsthand what it takes to grow a company from 0 to 1500+ employees. In the beginning, we did not have much money so I had to think of scrappy ways to market to our users for the lowest possible cost. I think that mentality really helped shape my strategy here at Blockfolio

Q: Are there any companies, not necessarily blockchain, whose marketing efforts you particularly like?

A: Oooohh that’s a good one. Let me think. I really like the Wendy’s social media marketing efforts. Hilarious and really connects with her target demographic well.

Q: What’s your thoughts on content strategy?

A: I think creating good content for your users as a good part of any overall marketing strategy. Whether it be product updates, personnel updates, or engineering updates written from the company blog or covered by an outside publication.

Q: How do you evaluate a particular token project and decide whether to invest?

A: Before investing I would encourage you to take a look at:

Who are the team members involved, and what have they accomplished before?

What is the problem they are trying to solve, and how big is that potential market?

When were they founded and how much progress have they made so far?

Who are the other players/competitors they are up against?

How active is their Github?

Have more questions for Anthony? Be sure to follow him at @anthonyjz17 .

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