So WRT data, I’m going to share some stats, challenges, some of my previous strategic focus, and some opinions. The opinions are mine, but did have influence on some strategy here.
Stats
So overall, there was a lot of channel growth with Zcash. This is largely because it was untouched until this year. Here are the main growth numbers:
Total net audience growth: +216.4%
Impressions: +1,267.6%
Engagements: +1,240.8%
Clicks: +670.3%
How it compared to competitors:
Compared to competitors, we saw a higher % of growth, but they had a higher numbers across other metrics, likely due to the fact that they have a bigger follower/reach number. When you look at individual posts, the top 20 individual posts were mostly competitors, but, when you look at the overall picture, Zcash content (individually) seems to compare well against theirs.
Challenges
A big challenge we have had with Zcash is determining what content best lives there. To solve that, we’ve decided to include a context mix that includes:
-Community spotlights
-Twitter Spaces highlighting community projects
-Amplifying community project announcements, posting if necessary
-Evergreen content (i.e. Privacy is Normal)
-Cross-community marketing initiatives: i.e. We should include the Zcash channel as a host on twitter spaces that other programs host.
-Community updates
-Educational content (blogs, live streams, etc)
To make this happen, I’d need some support with community members and I’ve started to reach out to some community members to make this happen.
Strategic Approach
When we did the Privacy is Normal campaign, we specifically used personal accounts because the data shows that those accounts perform better than branded accounts. For example, when Argent (a large ethereum brand with 240k followers) posted “Privacy is Normal”, their post did not perform as well as Josh’s (4k followers) or Zooko’s (80k followers). We have seen consistent data around this to justify the strategy.
Sidebar: The reason Privacy is Normal took off is because Vitalik amplified Josh two months prior and Argent (who know Vitalik, not us) kept the poster in their back pocket. I don’t think Argent gets that poster if ECC tweeted it out, and not Josh.
But, all of this comes with a tradeoff. While Zcash as an ecosystem gets broader reach, it does effect audience retention to branded accounts. That’s why we decided against continuing with this strategy for 2023. We tested this for 2-3 months.
Opinions
I think the best path forward is amplifying our branded accounts, and having consistent content mixes that they can rely on. Standardizing content is the easiest way to retain engagement, while planning more specific content that can be a part of campaigns can lead to growth.
I think the reason the account follows four people is because some protocol brands do that. For example, Ethereum follows 0. Other brands follow accounts. Solana follows 1500. I’d be open to changing this pending community support for the latter option.
I think follower count isn’t the most valuable metric to keep as your north star. Engagement and impressions for me are the sweet spot. Follower counts can be gamed really easy and have less impact as the account gets bigger. But, it is a good metric that legitimizes the account, so agree growth here is super important up until 50, 75 or 100k followers.
