#1 Web3 User Acquisition Strategy 2024

You’re in Web3, so you know what the biggest problem is for every project, company, startup. User acquisition. Getting real, engaged users. Not bots. Not one-time clicks. But real users who come back, give feedback, spend money, and share it with friends.

Not to mention that if you want to raise funds, launch a token, or get an exchange listing, this will be the #1 most important metric.

Most projects though, hit a wall right here. They launch, but nobody’s using it. Or worse, they’re flooded with bots, inflating numbers but bringing zero value. Why? It all comes down to three things:

1. Weak Value Prop. With thousands of Web3 projects competing for attention, why should anyone care about yours? If you’re not giving them a no-brainer reason to check out your project, they’re gone. You need instant, real value.
2. No Engagement. Even if they sign up, they don’t stick. There’s no pull, no reason to come back, it’s not engaging enough.
3. Friction. Even if they are interested in exploring your project, once they have to create an account, do 3 different downloads, and jump through all the hoops you have, they’ll quit, it’s not worth it to them. Users are lost before they even start because they haven’t gotten the chance to see how great your project is.

The solution? Telegram Mini-Apps. One tool that solves all three problems at once.

You probably have already read about all of the hype and craziness going on with Telegram but let me breakdown exactly how it works.

Why Telegram Mini-Apps Are Crushing User Acquisition

1. Quest & Reward System. Inside your mini-app, you create a questing and rewards dashboard that actually rewards users for being active. Logging in daily, completing social tasks (following, liking, commenting on twitter), referring friends, advancing in the game — they earn points that later translate to airdrops of your token. You don’t pay anything upfront to acquire users (since you’re simply giving points now), and your users are hyped to engage because of the future financial gain. This creates a snowball effect of hype and traction that makes your project grow exponentially and therefore allowing you to airdrop tokens to your loyal first users without a problem. With all these users on the Telegram mini-app, this becomes your chance to show them how great your full core product is and try to drive them that way.
2. Gamified, Lightweight Experience. Show them a simplified, gamified version of your platform. Something to get them initially hooked and possibly interested in the full version. Make it fun, make it addictive, and build curiosity. We basically want them to take baby steps instead of directly going into the full product. If you’re a gaming studio with a full-featured shooter game, offer a quick, one-player version in Telegram. Once they’re hooked, you direct them to the full version. This concept doesn’t just work for games — it’s adaptable for any type of Web3 app. Whether it’s DeFi, Social, DAOs, or others you build that initial interest, and then push users to your full product.
3. Frictionless Access. With over 300 million users, Telegram is already on your users’ phones. They’re using it daily — they live on it. And it takes just five seconds for them to hop into your mini-app. No downloads, no tedious sign-ups, just instant access. Plus, you get a direct line to your users with push notifications straight to their phones. Ping them anytime. Right where they’re most active.

Let’s go through some quick examples:

Notcoin - 40.1M users - $728.20M market cap

They have a simple tapper game, have a referral program, have a rewards and questing dashboard, and have a token airdrop.

Blum - 62M users

They have daily check-in rewards, social tasks and on-chain tasks dashboard, and an invite friends campaign.

Hamster Kombat - 239M users - $185.30M market cap

Zenrock (We created it) - 35k users in 29 days

They have a simple yet engaging and addictive game coupled with the rewards + questing platform, and a referral program, means going viral in under 1 month.

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WTF Do You Do Now?

This is how you can start building your Telegram mini-app today:

1. Brainstorm & Plan: Map out your mini-app. Structure the rewards system, design the gamified experience, and outline your core strategy. Need help?
2. Design & Develop: Bring the concept to life. Design & code. Need help?
3. Marketing Push: Kickstart your growth. Get those first users in, set the stage, and let the snowball effect take over. Users start referring friends, completing quests, playing every day — building momentum for you. Need help?

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