Summary:
This proposal continues the funding of the Marketing workstream from February 1, 2023 to August 1, 2023. The Marketing Workstream will continue to focus on the creation, implementation, and optimization of marketing and growth initiatives for the ShapeShift DAO. This workstream proposal includes the explicit designation of 3 full-time and 2 part-time contributors in the following manner with one unfilled part-time support role for multimedia creation:
- Hpayne; Marketing Workstream Leader
- Arina; Head of Product Marketing
- Twells; Social Media Manager & Video Communications Lead
- (Part-time) Sh0x; Graphic Design Coordinator
- (Part-time) Sapote; Marketing <> Global liaison & Streaming Services Coordinator
- (Part-time) TBD <> Content Specialist
The proposal will additionally fund the essential paid services and additional tools this workstream requires to effectively market the DAO and its associated product suite while being mindful of lean practices to preserve DAO runway.
Our new proposed budget for the next 6 months is $236,670 with only $172,860 being requested in USDC (a 4.1% net decrease in ask). The average monthly cost in USDC would be $28,810, and the average cost in FOX would be $10,635.
These paid services and tools include:
- (Service). The workstream uses this tool routinely to manage all social channels
- (Service). For acquiring brand-building opportunities allowing ShapeShift to comment and engage with media on current topics
Monthly Press Releases (Service). Through EIN Presswire (paid from prior workstream for all of 2023) and PR Newswire
- (paid as needed, expected frequency 1-2x per month)
- Discord Nitro (costs amortized over a 12-month period). Marketing contributors are expected to be stewards of the ShapeShift community. Nitro allows us to engage with minimal friction and maximum efficacy.
- (Service). Continuing to develop a FOX reward and onboarding program for ShapeShift.
- (Bounty)
Opportunity Fund (Service). This is to help secure timely partial funding for events or larger external marketing initiatives. Allowing the workstream to work more nimbly when pursuing opportunities一such as ETH Denver
- (SCP 109) or F3ST--helping us to be a first mover on discounts and limited-time marketing initiatives and provide support funding for events.
- Promotional Giveaways
Abstract
As a product- and community-centric DAO, the Marketing Workstream is vital to our visibility and continued growth as a community, economy, and platform. This workstream is accountable for a number of activities that are critical to the DAO’s ability to acquire and retain users, and grow the ShapeShift DAO and FOX ecosystem while maintaining and growing the DAO’s mindshare with crypto users. This proposal continues to fund the Marketing Workstream’s anticipated budget from February 1 - August 1, 2023.
Motivation
Continuing to fund this workstream will ensure that the ShapeShift DAO can retain the talent that the Marketing Workstream has developed and trained as we move into the next strategy phase post-migration.
Since the implementation of analytics on app.shapeshift.com一as well as the revised tracking of external media platforms一we have seen steady growth in engagement, activation, and market penetration even through the down macro market conditions. The next 6 months are critical to nail from a marketing, partnerships, and branding perspective for ShapeShift and the steps the current team has taken this past term have set us up to succeed and take massive strides in the adoption of the ShapeShift ecosystem.
By supporting the Marketing Workstream, the DAO can continue rolling out new features and be assured they won’t fall on deaf ears. Rather, new features will be rolled out to excited new users eager to experience the decentralized ecosystem that ShapeShift is curating.
Specification
In the original Marketing Workstream proposal, as well as the proposals since SCP-75 (SCP-91), there were some broad, unfocused, and unclear goals. These were not created by observing historical data patterns and projections both internally and across the industry nor were they targeting appropriate metrics that were conducive to reflecting our direct success as a marketing team. Here is a breakdown of my interpretation of those original goals (and pivoted goals) and our benchmarks against them:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GjNP37LN0Unnegw6YSFj08YxYgwlTIEjN3-Nr-w4ueo/edit?usp=sharing
Now that we have a way to measure and qualify data and use that to drive direction and decisions in place, this proposal has identified high-level measurable goals and KPI’s outlined.
We will accomplish the goals listed below as a workstream by:
- Continuing to market app features that drive user acquisition from competing ecosystems and DApps by placing ShapeShift in the larger crypto narrative as the premiere decentralized solution through supporting the narrative of self-custody and migration from CeFi
- Having a focus on increasing consumer retention and engagement through improving the internal user loop experience of our app (increasing stickiness and encouraging additional feature use based via targeted CTA’s)
- Executing on strategic branding and marketing partnerships to bring more value to the broader crypto community as well as ShapeShift DAO
KPI’s and Activities
Activities
We will continue to:
Support shapeshift.com and app.shapeshift.com through funnel design, metrics monitoring, and copy support in addition to creating bespoke marketing materials and initiatives to support product launches and feature updates.
Dig into new revenue streams via partnerships and co-marketing initiatives
Represent the ShapeShift DAO’s product and partner suite by developing bespoke and creative marketing and messaging campaigns.
Monitor user flows and identify areas of improvement to increase conversions alongside the product workstream.
Ensure the marketing of prioritized features in a timely and relevant manner.
Create engaging content that is aligned with the brand of ShapeShift DAO while tying in relevant macro events.
Communicate ideas and create materials to educate current and future ShapeShift users and spearhead creative design and strategy to develop and launch marketing campaigns while expanding the mindshare of ShapeShift to the broader Web3 space.
Budget
Since SCP 116’s recent re-adjustments of Marketing contributor’s salaries and job descriptions due to the departure of Tyler as interim leader, there are some minor adjustments and optimizations to the budget from the amended proposal.
Here are links to the contributor’s current job descriptions:
With the recent rebalancing of work that’s been occurring due to the settling of marketing after a year of leadership turbulence, we have realized the need for additional hands to assist with the creative lifts required to continue to produce timely, pertinent, and high-quality content.
All said and done, the Marketing Workstream under this proposal currently consists of 5 members: 3 full-time and 2 part-time. In the event we bring another person onto the team to assist with content creation, the Marketing Worksteam will consist of 6 members: 3 full-time and 3 part-time.
Retro budgets were hard to pin down due to the pivots in our spending from our original proposal. If I extrapolate the monthly spend under Tyler to a 6-month spend, our “budget” for the last round of 6 months was: $246,600 (with $174,000 of that in USDC).
Our new proposed budget for the next 6 months is $236,670 with only $172,860 being requested in USDC (a 4.1% decrease). All workstream members have agreed to continue taking portions of their salaries in FOX (ranging from 10%-50% with the average FOX-opt-in being 32% across the workstream一WOOHOO!). The average monthly cost in USDC would be $28,810, and the average cost in FOX would be $10,635.
Here is the breakdown of stables and FOX allocation for this round:
*This covers salaries, software, bounties, etc.
View the detailed budget here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1R5JIYRVbLuKH7pEePxrVwUVVnFXuczZokdKtiwN2khU/edit?usp=sharing
It is important to note that the line items for “Monthly Press Releases” as well as the “Opportunity Fund” are at the high end of what we estimate costs to be. Given the dynamic nature of the crypto markets and opportunities, we want to make sure we have funding available to jump on marketing opportunities in a timely manner. We assessed that the allocated budget for both line items is the most we would be comfortable incurring in costs in one given month (being mindful of the runway and available human capital). More likely than not, a large portion of the USDC and FOX requested for these two line items will stay in the Workstream balance by the end of this marketing term or be returned to the DAO.
If this proposal passes, this budget will be distributed in USDC and FOX as outlined above. The equivalent amount of USDC & FOX will be transferred from the DAO’s treasury to the Marketing Workstream on Colony monthly. All unused funds will be returned to the DAO or rolled over to the next budget cycle.
During this proposed sprint, the marketing workstream will likely be in the position to sell promotional and sponsorship space on the different ShapeShift platforms or through marketing initiatives on behalf of ShapeShift through leveraging co-marketing initiatives. Any funds that are accumulated from those activations will be transparently accounted for and used to roll back into marketing spend to help stretch our ShapeShift marketing dollars. Additionally, all savings and cashflows will be reported at the end of the term and either rolled into the next marketing term or given back into the DAO treasury.
Benefits
If this proposal passes, the DAO will continue to receive the following services which are integral to its success:
• The design and execution of bespoke marketing roadmaps and campaigns spanning all products of the DAO including the ShapeShift Mobile app, web app, shapeshift.com, and any other products the ShapeShift DAO launches.
• Feature specs for marketing rollouts including goals, success metrics, and acceptance criteria.
• Provide integrated partner marketing support and marketing onboarding support for new partners.
• Front-end copywriting and SEO optimization
• Reporting on Marketing KPIs and feature success metrics (Analytics!).
• Design-oriented and brand-focused creatives and written content一both advocating through thought leadership and product-motivated messaging for the DAO’s bespoke products and values.
Drawbacks
With an attempt to really dig into the drawbacks here to spur healthy conversation and engagement in the governance process, the main potential risk is whether the ShapeShift community believes that the KPI’s and marketing strategy outlined above and its associated costs + benefits will be worth it AND achievable in the 6-month timeline. There is an elephant in the room that is important to address regarding the prior volatility of the marketing workstream and its ability to deliver and communicate effectively across the DAO. As the Web3 industry grows, so does the competition and density of other platforms in the space. It is important that you can trust the skills and abilities this team has and independently evaluate whether you think it is the right blend for what the DAO needs right now. To mitigate exposure risk, only 6 months of funding are being requested. The funds will be managed on Colony and can be revoked by the DAO via another governance motion.
Vote:
FOR: A vote “FOR” indicates support for funding the Marketing Workstream and the anticipated budget for the next 6 months
FOR (with Revisions): A vote “FOR (with Revisions)” indicates that you support funding the Marketing Workstream and the anticipated budget for the next 6 months IF revisions (noted below) are applied
AGAINST: A vote “AGAINST” indicates that you do not support funding the proposed Marketing Workstream