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Marketing Strategy

Jacopo Nuti

Overall marketing strategy

The focus of marketing efforts of OWS will be, once again, split into two categories: attraction of potential candidates from the ecosystem and outside of it and potential clients - projects building atop of the NEAR protocol.
Both inbound and outbound methods will be combined; the former will be used primarily for raising awareness and conversion among new clients and targeting potential candidates for a specific position. The latter’s main goal is to build a particular brand image for OWS and to attract/retain skilled users.

Positioning strategy

Positioning statement:

For all projects building on top of the NEAR Protocol, OWS is a NEAR native recruitment agency with a profound knowledge of the ecosystem. Given this knowledge, OWS is able to deliver best fitting candidates both in terms of skills and attitude.
OWS positions itself on the market by means of two differentiating points discovered during the industry and market analysis phases. All marketing efforts of OWS will be built around these points, translating them into competitive advantages compared to other players in the market.

1. Familiarity with the NEAR Ecosystem

As discussed previously, OWS has experience operating within the NEAR ecosystem and has a profound knowledge of its processes, values and members. Seeing as there are no other in-house recruitment agencies on NEAR, this factor makes the perspective of OWS on recruitment for NEAR truly unique and allows our team to better understand and facilitate the staffing needs of clients.

2. Broad network in the NEAR Ecosystem

Given the activities of OWS during the past year, including the onboarding of new members into the ecosystem, matchmaking, educational efforts and various partnerships, our team has built a wide pool of potential candidates and connections that will facilitate the recruitment activities of OWS in the future.

Pricing strategy

Pricing strategies of recruitment agencies vary depending on the way these agencies operate. After conducting a thorough analysis including analysing the competitors’ pricing strategies, OWS opts for a pricing strategy based on the candidate's salary with retainer elements.
This section includes a cost analysis in order to provide a pricing strategy for this document.

/ INSERT HERE PRICING STRATEGY.

Additionally, this payment will be split in 2 installments: first part of the fee to be paid upon the beginning of the project and the last part of the total fee to be paid when the position is successfully filled. First part of the fee is non-refundable. This strategy is chosen for the following reasons:

Shared risk

OWS is a relatively new player on the market, meaning that on one hand the secure pricing strategy is important for the team and that our reputation among the clients is yet to be built. Service fee paid in 2 installments means that the risks will evenly split between the OWS and the client.

Flexibility

such pricing strategy is easily manageable and allows for better balance of the budget.

Scalability

Due to the highly predictable profits it will be easier to scale the business with such a strategy in the future.

Sales process

The sales process of OWS includes contacting various projects from the NEAR Ecosystem and offering to provide the recruitment services. Currently the process includes the following steps: prospecting, initial contact, research, pitch, onboarding session and follow up.

1. Prospecting

Prospecting is done by the team members by means of finding projects building atop of the NEAR Protocol online and determining the need to assist with staffing that could be provided by OWS. Additionally, various job postings in the ecosystem are taken into account as well.

2. Initial contact

After the determination of the potential lead, the following message inviting for an initial call is sent out through e-mail or other available communication channels:
Good morning/afternoon,

My name is Jacopo Nuti, I’m a project manager for the
Open Web Sandbox
⁠
(OWS) — a digital hub, powered by the
NEAR Protocol
⁠
, filled with numerous crypto enthusiasts from all over the world with various creative and technical skills.

OWS offers all kinds of outsourcing solutions for Guilds and DApps building on top of NEAR. In other words, if your team has new projects or tasks to be done but no one in your team to do them OWS will take care of it. Our job is to find the right person/s for the right tasks.

For example, we provide support for the following categories:
- Design work.
- Internal operations, product management.
- External operations, social media, community moderation.
- Developer and IT, front or back-end.

If any of this sounds good to your team, click here to organise a short meeting (approximately 15-20 minutes) where we can explore further how we could be of help to you and your project?

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Best,
Jacopo

In case of interest, an intake call with the potential client is planned.

3. Research

During this stage, team members involved will perform a small-scaled research to discover more information about the potential client. This step helps to be able to gauge a better understanding of the clients’ needs and ways to satisfy them. Besides, project knowledge is extremely helpful for the intake call during which the OWS pitch is given.

4. Pitch

During the intake call, OWS Sales Pitch is given to carefully explain what exactly OWS can deliver to the client. Possible questions and partnership scenarios are discussed during this step as well. Afterwards, potential clients decide if they wish to commence the cooperation.

5. Onboarding session

If a client accepts to use our services, they follow the onboarding instructions. All the necessary details of the cooperation between the client and OWS including the discussion regarding the desired candidate are being carefully considered during this step.

6. Contributor followup sessions

After the successful placement of the candidate, OWS contacts clients once again to hear if everything is happening in accordance with clients’ expectations. Additionally, clients receive a feedback form where they can share their experience with OWS anonymously.

Promotions mix

Brand image of OWS

Seeing as OWS positions itself as the first in-house NEAR native recruitment agency, all marketing efforts will highlight these differentiating points accordingly. Through consistent and coherent communication, OWS will attempt to showcase the features found attractive by its clients and users, such as trustworthiness, reliability, efficiency, and transparency.
Additionally, even though OWS does not hire candidates directly, employer branding will be set as one of the priorities for the strategy to ensure the candidates’ eagerness to join OWS.

Advertising

Advertising, as a mean of mass communication, will be used to increase brand awareness and to manage the brand image of OWS. Through various social media channels and the OWS website, our team will regularly post outbound communications (for example functional messages about open positions or services offered by OWS) and inbound material as well (information about working in Web 3 and so on) for both organic and paid reach to build a remarkable online presence to be attractive for potential candidates and clients. Below, a breakdown of tools to be used by OWS and corresponding goals.

Twitter

Twitter will be the main channel to raise general awareness of OWS among both clients and users, with a slight bias to the side of the users. Content on Twitter will stimulate engagement with other platforms of OWS by inviting followers to apply for open positions and inform them about various internal developments, updates and partnerships, therefore building a particular brand image of OWS. For potential clients, OWS Twitter will serve as a tool to make the first impression which has to be impeccable.

Discord

Discord will be used as a community-driven platform for all members of OWS to communicate with each other and share their experiences. OWS Discord makes an important contribution to the employer branding of OWS because here users will be able to witness experiences of other candidates from the inside out. Therefore it is important to keep the Discord channel structure clear and the atmosphere welcoming and stimulating the engagement.

Medium and YouTube

Both Medium and YouTube will serve as an entirely inbound tool, contributing to the awareness and the brand image too. The exact scope of content is yet to be determined but information on the topic of employment in Web3 and NEAR in particular, important updates of OWS and more will be posted there to attract users from outside the ecosystem and probably even from Web2. Main goal of these channels is to create an image of OWS as a knowledgeable recruitment agency in Web3 and an attractive partner.

Website

Website, including the project dashboard, is another one way communication channel through which updates and important positions will be shared with users. Communication on the website will also be directed at potential clients: a separate tab will provide them with all the necessary information about OWS including the contact information and the testimonials of existing clients too. SEO and SEA techniques will be implemented to maximize the efficiency of this channel.

External channels

Our team will also advertise OWS through external channels in an attempt to raise awareness and recruit candidates, such as various telegram chats about employment opportunities in Web 3, freelance job platforms and so on.

Direct marketing

Direct marketing techniques and tools will be used by OWS to target potential clients from the ecosystem and to recruit candidates for existing positions. This will be mainly done through provided communication channels provided by clients and LinkedIn.

Account acquisition

As mentioned above, OWS will target all projects building atop of the NEAR Ecosystem. To make sure they are aware of the services provided by the OWS, our team will systematically contact the projects’ representatives through the available communication channels (to be found on the
awesomenear.com
⁠
repository) with a predetermined message inviting them to set up an onboarding call. During this onboarding call, a short presentation will be given in the effort to showcase the OWS’ potential for the client.

LinkedIn

While LinkedIn will also be used as an advertising tool, posting content similar to what will be posted on Medium and YouTube, its main purpose is to recruit candidates for available positions. This will be done through direct messages on LinkedIn. It is therefore utmost important for the OWS LinkedIn to make the best impression for the potential candidates because that is what OWS will be initially judged by. Once again, employer branding will be prioritised for communications on LinkedIn.

Feedback opportunities

Both clients and users will be approached with an opportunity to fill in the feedback form and share their experience with OWS by the end of the cooperation flow. Gained information will be used for future improvement of the company and as a mean to build a reputation through testimonials - clients’ feedback will be regularly posted on the website and social media channels. Users feedback will be also used to create content for the employer branding.

Referral programs

OWS users will be rewarded for bringing in candidates for open positions. In case the referred candidate gets employed for the position, the person who referred the candidate will be rewarded with a 10% commission. Same will be valid for the clients: if existing clients bring in projects that place a recruitment request a OWS, the original client will be rewarded with a 10% commission from the total service fee of OWS.

Annual promotions budget

First month right after the launch promotions budget is slightly higher due to the extended costs for the launch. Extra costs will include community building activities such as promotion in groups, giveaways, paid promotion in the ecosystem. Budget for the consequential months is expected to be smaller.

Budget for June (launch):

1
Purpose
Amount
2
SMM executive
1500 USD
3
Social Media Advertising
2000 USD
4
SEO
1000 USD
5
Community Building Activities
2000 USD
6
Total
6500 USD
There are no rows in this table
⁠

Budget for the following months:

1
Purpose
Amount
2
SMM executive
1500 USD
3
Social Media Advertising
2000 USD
4
SEO
1000 USD
5
Total
4500 USD
There are no rows in this table
⁠
Overall marketing strategy
Positioning strategy
Positioning statement:
1. Familiarity with the NEAR Ecosystem
2. Broad network in the NEAR Ecosystem
Pricing strategy
Shared risk
Flexibility
Scalability
Sales process
1. Prospecting
2. Initial contact
3. Research
4. Pitch
5. Onboarding session
6. Contributor followup sessions
Promotions mix
Brand image of OWS
Advertising
Twitter
Discord
Medium and YouTube
Website
External channels
Direct marketing
Account acquisition
LinkedIn
Feedback opportunities
Referral programs
Annual promotions budget
Budget for June (launch):
Budget for the following months:
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