Isn't that why they're doing other stuff like raffles, contest, and so on too. Other forums sells their ad spot and I've seen many business buy them regularly. They clearly know maintaining brand presence requires more than users posting regularly here and there. Backlinks or reviews on other websites also seems to gain prominence now, judging from the fact that some new projects request a review on aggregator websites.
Yes, these campaigns are also a part of marketing because they spread the word. When a person from a community, let’s say the Nigerian community, Russian community, or even my own community, wins a reward, they will naturally share the news within their local circles and that motivates others too. That is one way to look at how this kind of marketing works. The kind of results SageSwap has achieved due to the manager’s efforts are enormous, and they are actively sharing the stats as well, which is also part of the marketing strategy.
Because they are being transparent with us, showing where they are now compared to where they started, it highlights how much they have accomplished in such a short time, and they still are not slowing down.
If we had ad spots here, then maybe every project would also be bidding for visibility. You also shared a very good point about aggregator sites because they help a lot in raising awareness about a project.