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 activities 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 employs other promotional methods, such as publishing long-form articles and conducting some campaigns in Korean-speaking regions.

Preliminary note: I don’t know who manages this activity, nor whether an agency is involved. I’m simply 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
• More community-generated content
• A stronger ecosystem activation

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 (around 10k views)
• Warhol’s post about the best internship brands in crypto (around 16k views)
• Warhol’s L2 rating list (around 30k views)
• Santiment’s ranking of L2s based on developer activity (around 50k views)
• Mztacat’s post about the “Big Four” companies (around 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 advertising and promotional strategies failing?

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

On X, when the timeline isn’t too crowded, narratives are strong, and most promotions aren’t easily recognized as paid, this classic approach works. But after certain changes, it no longer does.

Paid disclosures kill covert promotion

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

First, users see an announcement, then within 24 hours, 5-10 similar promotional posts appear, all with similar content. Users can immediately 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 engagement; 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 quotes the same announcement with slightly different wording, it’s easy to interpret this as coordinated promotional activity. 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; it’s a narrative space. Unless Web3 project announcements can trigger:

• Debates and arguments
• Meme coins
• Trending opinions
• Competition among KOLs

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

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 moment, not the starting point.

Skipping the narrative phase makes promotion impossible.

How to redesign a promotional campaign for Starknet?

Let’s be realistic: Starknet carries heavy baggage. 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 to address these issues. Different goals require different marketing strategies.

If the goal is to win user minds

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

For example:

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

Then sponsor posts ranking related topics, 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; ignoring the audience is.

If the goal is to dominate the narrative

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

Leading the narrative isn’t about one good article; it’s about dozens of derivative posts—this is how storytelling 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 topic momentum
• Establishing ecosystem reputation
• Showcasing successful developers already there

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

Conclusion

The traditional Web3 promotional model (Announcement → KOL promotion) is gradually fading on X. The new approach is more like: Design a topic → Spark creator interest → Initiate discussion → Continue community engagement.

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