How to leverage PR to launch your DAO

In the Web3 space, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are becoming a fundamental aspect of many projects. Although DAOs are communities based on distributed governance and built on a blockchain, there is typically a core team that handles the day-to-day functions of the organization, including any public relations activities to promote the DAO and attract the interest of investors. Since a good launch is crucial to the success of a DAO, here are PR tips to ensure your launch receives the coverage it deserves.

Clarify your launch messaging: What can the community expect to achieve?

Putting together a PR strategy for a successful DAO launch requires that you have a set of well-defined key messages from the start. This means that you need more than a niche brand or an innovative theme. You must identify the types of audiences you want to reach and what they  have to gain from becoming a part of your project.

First, you should clearly define your project’s goal. Maybe your DAO will buy an NFL team or an original draft of the US Constitution. You need to explain these goals and deliverables so that participants know what they’re buying into, and so that reporters understand where you fit into the ecosystem. 

Next, make sure you tell a good story in the press materials you’re using to launch your DAO startup. If you’ve been building your project for years, take a step back and try to tell the story from the beginning. What is your mission? What are your big goals? These are the messages that will resonate with not only your potential supporters, but also the reporters who are looking for a good story to tell their publications’ readers. 

As with any business, your DAO startup should have a clear roadmap since a DAO, like any organization, can get off track if the goals aren’t clear from the beginning. This roadmap can become part of the launch materials and helps journalists better understand your project when they write about it. 

Identify the outlets your target audiences read

A strong PR strategy is built on leveraging the DAO’s specific characteristics, and you’ll want to target the publications that your future supporters and potential investors are reading – meaning, not just aiming at coverage on tech sites. If your DAO is looking to focus on esports, you should make sure publications within that vertical are on your radar. Or maybe your DAO is music-focused, and you want to pitch publications that serve musicians and audiophiles.

Don’t be afraid to explore the media space outside of crypto publications. Keep in mind that many future members of a DAO will not be in the Web3 space until they find a DAO that excites them. It’s important to look beyond crypto-centered publications when pitching press for your project. To attract investors, your PR efforts should include reaching out to major business and finance outlets, and the journalists that cover DAO-related topics.

Emphasize the track record of your community and core team

Part of your DAO’s PR launch strategy should be to acknowledge and celebrate your community and team! It’s likely that your DAO is based on a token offering or protocol and already has an active community. You should lean on this as exemplary justification for the enduring success of your DAO. Your press release should talk about past projects that organizers have worked on, building up the credibility of the core DAO team and, especially, its founders.

It’s also important to highlight any big-name supporters or advisors among your community and integrate them into your launch’s PR strategy. Celebrities, known investors, or notable business advisors will put weight behind your claims of legitimacy. The more specific you can be about your support base, the more likely journalists will be inclined to trust it. 

An active community keeps the good news spreading

Every member of a DAO rightly becomes an evangelist for the future of the project, both within the community and beyond it. And people chatter! Journalists notice when a topic or brand picks up steam on Twitter or is trending in Google searches. When your community speaks, your capacity for good PR goes up, so it’s great to keep them activated. Encourage your community to share any media coverage your DAO gets.

DAOs, like most blockchain projects, live and die by how excited the community is about the project. Leveraging a solid PR strategy to gain a jump-start at your project launch is a great way to activate your existing community. The more specific you can be about your purpose, goals, and structure, the more attractive it is to reporters who cover Web3 news. Good press coverage leads to more interaction overall. This is why PR is an essential part of strategizing the launch of your DAO.