Web3 teams, stop wasting marketing budgets on the X platform.

Original Title: How Web3 Teams Burn Marketing Budgets on X

Original Author: Stacy Muur

Original Compilation: Golem, Odaily Planet Daily

Every month, Green Dots studies KOL promotional activities on the X platform to understand the strategies of other Web3 marketing teams and track which tactics and post styles are truly effective. However, due to X’s new paid collaboration policies changing the marketing landscape on the platform_ (see: Elon Musk casually upended the crypto KOL scene),_ most promotional strategies for Web3 projects are no longer suitable. Stacy Muur reveals common issues found in many recent Web3 promotional campaigns and uses Starknet as a case study.

Author’s note: This is not a critique of Starknet; their technical strength remains solid. Despite external doubts and skepticism after their airdrop and TGE, the team continues to release and develop products, which is commendable. But in this article, I focus on one aspect: marketing strategies. Starknet’s recent product promotions are just a typical example.

How does Starknet handle advertising and promotion?

Recently, Starknet launched strkBTC [₿], inviting some content creators on X to promote the event. They used a very classic promotional approach:

2. First, release an announcement with a promotional video;
3. Within 12-48 hours of the announcement, KOLs post collaborative promotional content;
4. Follow up with articles explaining the product’s advantages in detail.

Although this promotion took place in late February, to comply with X’s paid collaboration policies, some creators included paid partnership disclosures when posting related content. But the focus of this article isn’t on paid disclosures; it’s on the effectiveness of this promotional strategy itself.

On February 10, another announcement about Starknet prompted a KOL promotional push. The same routine: release a video announcement, then promote through KOLs.

Of course, Starknet also used other promotional methods, such as publishing long-form articles and conducting some campaigns in Korean-speaking regions.

To be clear, I don’t know who manages these activities, nor whether an agency is involved. I’m just an outsider offering some thoughts from a marketing perspective.

One obvious issue throughout the promotional process is the weak filtering of participating creators.

X is fundamentally a perception layer. Ideally, promotion by creators on X should generate:

• More discussions about the brand
• More independent creators voluntarily posting
• Increased community content production
• A more active ecosystem

But is that what we see? Not really.

If you use simple filters on X to look at popular posts mentioning Starknet in February, the results are clear.

The most mentioned post is actually by Warhol. Overall, in February, only about 100 independent posts mentioning Starknet received more than 10 likes. For a well-known L2 ecosystem, that’s not a lot.

Some popular organic posts mentioning Starknet include:

• Mookie’s post about token unlocks (~10k views)
• Warhol’s post about the best internship brands in crypto (~16k views)
• Warhol’s L2 rating list (~30k views)
• Santiment’s ranking of L2s based on developer activity (~50k views)
• Mztacat’s post about the “Big Four” companies (~82k views)

These roughly represent Starknet’s mention volume on X in February. This raises a more important question—not just about Starknet, but about the decline of traditional Web3 marketing strategies on X.

Why are classic Web3 promotional strategies failing?

For years, the default Web3 marketing pattern has been: Announce — KOL promotion — Community discussion.

In a timeline where the platform isn’t overly crowded, narratives are strong, and most promotions aren’t easily recognized as paid, this pattern works. But after certain changes, it no longer does.

Paid disclosures kill covert promotion

Once creators start adding paid disclosure labels, the promotion becomes obvious to followers.

First, users see an announcement, then within 24 hours, 5-10 similar promotional posts appear, all with similar content. Users quickly recognize this pattern. It doesn’t spark community discussion; instead, it signals “this is an ad campaign.”

In the crypto Twitter environment, ads rarely generate community debate; users tend to scroll past them.

KOL behavior is now easily recognizable

Crypto Twitter has matured; people understand how KOL marketing works.

When the same group of creators quote the same announcement with slightly different wording, it’s easy to interpret as coordinated promotion. Once KOL content is clearly identified as promotional, user engagement drops because audiences shift from curiosity to ad filtering.

X rewards topic engagement, not announcements

X isn’t a distribution channel but a narrative space. Unless Web3 project announcements can trigger:

• Debates and arguments
• Meme coins
• Hot takes
• Competition among KOLs

Without these dynamic factors, dissemination only reaches users briefly and doesn’t truly win their minds. To gain real buzz, Web3 projects need to change their marketing sequence.

The old process: Announcement → KOL promotion → Community discussion.
The new process: Build a topic → Spark creator debate → Generate community content → Final announcement.
In this way, the announcement becomes the last confirmation, not the starting point.

Skipping the narrative phase makes promotion impossible.

How to redesign a promotion campaign for Starknet?

Let’s be realistic: Starknet carries a heavy burden. The panic, uncertainty, and skepticism triggered during the previous airdrop phase can’t be solved just by explanations and promotional videos; the project needs to control the conversation. Different goals require different marketing strategies.

If the goal is to win user minds

Engage actively in controversies. Don’t try to suppress critics; design topics that provoke debate.

For example:

• “Which L2 is better for BTCFi?”
• “Ethereum L2 vs Bitcoin L2”
• “Top 5 ecosystems for BTCFi developers”

Then sponsor posts listing rankings, compare Starknet with other projects, and spark debates. Half the timeline might support Starknet, the other half attack it, but both increase exposure. Creating drama isn’t bad marketing; ignored marketing is.

If the goal is to dominate public opinion

Stop publishing lengthy PR articles; few read them. Instead, release visual infographics, ecosystem maps, competitor comparisons, and reusable frameworks for KOLs. Give creators space to remix content—repackaging is more powerful than mere quoting.

The goal isn’t a single good article but dozens of derivative pieces—this is how narrative spreads.

If the goal is to attract developers

Remember, developer acquisition is B2B. Announcements on X alone won’t effectively attract developers. The project should focus on:

• Building momentum around topics
• Establishing ecosystem reputation
• Showcasing successful developers already there

Once this trend is established, guiding developers becomes much easier, as they chase hot topics too.

Conclusion

The traditional Web3 promotional model (announce → KOL promotion) is gradually dying on X. The new approach is more like: craft a topic → spark creator interest → generate discussion → continue community engagement.

Announcements remain important, but they should no longer be the starting point—they should be the final confirmation.