I was complaining last week that the marketing was a weak point & I said I would try put together any thoughts and ideas I had that were marketing related, hopefully there will be one or two things in here that could be useful,
Homepage & Branding suggestionsI think people visiting the homepage should say -
'Oh, OK that's what Bitshares are, that sounds exciting!' At the moment I think it's vague and unclear, you have very little idea about what Bitshares is when looking at the homepage.
Slogan: 'Doing for business what Bitcoin is doing for money' -It's actually not bad and kind of enticing, but it's pretty vague, You wouldn't know what Bitshares is from the slogan. (Laymen already link
Bitshares to
Bitcoin and the slogan makes it sound even more like we may be some type of offshoot imo.)
Maybe something like, Bitshares 'Get your stake in all the DAC's we help create!' or even the one I've seen used 'Creating the foundation for profitable DAC's' (Or you can use 'Digital Companies' in place of DAC's.) At least it would be simpler & clearer what Bitshares is.
Visuals: Man on computer, Woman or computer, two people looking at a view? Again incredibly vague, You wouldn't know what Bitshares is from the visuals. As some have suggested it looks more like a dating than a business site.
If you were just going to use a photo, the startjoin mainpage of boy with wings on his back about to take off is the kind of thing that makes a lot more sense...
https://www.startjoin.com/ Their main slogan 'Crowdfunding with crypto currencies' also clearly explains the concept which is then followed by their 'revolutionary ideas powered by revolutionary technology' slogan which has the same feel as our 'Doing for Business what Bitcoin is doing for money' but at least they've explained the concept clearly first.
& if you were going to fade to anything, fade to a group picture of the staff imo.
Personally as the homepage I would have a graphic clearly showing owning Bitshares makes you part of a family of DAC's.
Either the Bitshares logo with the upcoming DAC's creatively grouped around it, or somehow showing completed DAC's as branded buildings on a skyline and future ones under construction. (Even like the image at 0.57 on the Bitshares video but where the Bank has the BitsharesX branding etc.)
Video: The video is actually pretty good in that it gives you more of an idea of what a Bitshare is. But you are still not clear as to the opportunity or reason for buying Bitshares specifically.
This is rough but perhaps it could use something like this on the end of the video -
'We believe that these digital companies will soon rival the largest banks, exchanges, insurance & media companies in the world as we transition into what we believe will be an entirely new age for business. At Bitshares we are developing some of the most promising key digital companies ourselves as well as providing our cutting edge technology & expertise to others in exchange for equity.
As a Bitshares holder you get a stake in every DAC we help create! Why don't you take a look at our countdown page to learn about some of the digital companies that are being launched soon & which buying Bitshares now would make you a part of!'
Other:For the actual individual customer facing companies yes, we will want to go mainstream but Bitshares is an angel investment fund. Your first stage audience is going to be crypto savvy younger investors, 70%+ male 20-38 & then if you get the marketing right and/or have a success perhaps some older higher net worth sophisticated investors/funds - again predominately male. I think that demographic wants to be pitched the opportunity in a clear concise & exciting way.
Other homepage suggestions- A 'Buy Bitshares' link on homepage
- A Tracker showing current Bitshares price on homepage
- A Tracker that shows what $1000 of Bitshares purchased on 1/1/14 would be worth today. (By adding the current Bitshares price to the current value of shares that stake would have got you in Bitshares DAC's.) - Probably better to include after Bitshares X launch.