If we want Bitcoin to go mainstream, we'd better start doing stuff like this.

[commandrix]

So I know a lot of us have Bitcoin-related websites and we're used to advertising those sites to other people who already use Bitcoin. But if we're really serious about getting Bitcoin to go mainstream, we'd better start advertising our sites outside of the Bitcoin community. So maybe we'd better take a hint from Dogecoin and their racecar and start doing inexpensive sponsorships. (And I know Dogecoin is kinda tanking right now but that racecar is part of the reason people know about it.) I just recently wrote an article about Mars One for Bitcoin Users to basically provide information on how you can become an official Bitcoin sponsor for US$1250-$6250. Does anybody know any other clever strategies to market our Bitcoin sites?

[TheLittleDuke]

We're doing our part by socializing it as a micro-crowdfunding system for Non-Profits and Pro-Social causes on our

https://doabitofgood.com

Crypto Screen-Saver system.

Saving Puppies & Kitties by helping find adoptable homes!

David V Duccini
Executive Director
doabitofgood.com

[Ron~Popeil]

This would be a perfect scenario for some sort of guerrilla marketing strategy. A physical faucet in a high foot traffic area would be a fun way to do it.

[thepenmen22]

Yeah something more needs to be done. I feel like not enough people know about it considering how amazing bitcoins really are.

When some popular company states that they will now take bitcoins, that does give bitcoin some more popularity, but that's not enough. Not enough companies/organizations do that, and even if some do, it might not make it into the news. What needs to happen is the community to start posting in other places other than this. Obviously don't stop posting here, but posting on other forums explaining to people what bitcoins are and why you should invest in them. But obviously much bigger things that that could be done.

[commandrix]

Yeah something more needs to be done. I feel like not enough people know about it considering how amazing bitcoins really are.

When some popular company states that they will now take bitcoins, that does give bitcoin some more popularity, but that's not enough. Not enough companies/organizations do that, and even if some do, it might not make it into the news. What needs to happen is the community to start posting in other places other than this. Obviously don't stop posting here, but posting on other forums explaining to people what bitcoins are and why you should invest in them. But obviously much bigger things that that could be done.

That forum thing is a good idea, but we'll have to do it in a way that won't make it look like we're just dropping links. Then it'll look like we're just spamming. I would say just participate in the forums you find in a way that looks normal and, if economics comes up in the subject at hand, point out that Bitcoin could solve this problem and that problem if only more people would use it. You ARE going to get the skeptics, so be sure to have some answers ready for the inevitable questions from people who don't know much about how cryptocurrencies work and/or have heard a lot of the bad news.

[IIOII]

I think doing marketing for bitcoin is largely a waste of resources. You can talk with people and explain bitcoin to them if they seem interested, but sponsoring a racecar is like throwing away funds that could better be donated to individual bitcoin developers.

Bitcoin is an incredibly useful invention. Therefore it does not need a marketing team. It will spread by word of mouth and by increasing business adoption, because people will realize that it improves their lives.

[Xch4ng3]

I think doing marketing for bitcoin is largely a waste of resources. You can talk with people and explain bitcoin to them if they seem interested, but sponsoring a racecar is like throwing away funds that could better be donated to individual bitcoin developers.

Bitcoin is an incredibly useful invention. Therefore it does not need a marketing team. It will spread by word of mouth and by increasing business adoption, because people will realize that it improves their lives.

A little promotion never hurt anyone. I personally think sponsoring is a great way to get Bitcoin noticed but it shouldn't be a priority.

[franky1]

to go mainstream

1. getting merchants onboard for stuff like food, utilities, etc (not gimicky watches or breast implants) basically day to day living stuff, to hep show that people can live on a bitcoin income.

2. getting the suppliers of these merchants on board, so the merchants hoard the coins and even employe people who want to be paid in bitcoins, rather then the gimmick of taking something thy do not really need and instantly convert it to fiat.

3. once there is a stable infrastructure of true bitcoin use and availability, then get average joe.

bitcoin is still too early for average joe, it seems people want to pus grandad and little pete into bitcoin purely for a price ramp so those holding bitcoin can cash out. these people have no clue of bitcoins true uniqueness, true usefulness, they just want quick profits and only measure bitcoins in fiat profits, not a bitcoin retirement. and no one should be taking advice from them. instead lets concentrate on building the proper bitcoin ecosystem and get a firm base for which we can expand on.

so get grocery stores accepting bitcoin, get DIY stores accepting bitcoin. get landlords, realters/estate agents, get electric/gas companies, get the 'daily essentials' covered before throwing grandpa and little cousins into the bitcoin ecosystem by wasting money on advertising. its still too early for average joe.

the only reason dogecoin done advertising is not because they want to grow an economy, they know doge is dead but they needed just oe more push of doge buyers so that the ones that were holding the bag of crap could sell out. now those left holding the bag of doge have to deal with the fact that thy cant buy daily lifestyle stuff with it..

dogecoin was a pump and dump. bitcoin is totally different

[Xch4ng3]

bitcoin is still too early for average joe, it seems people want to pus grandad and little pete into bitcoin purely for a price ramp so those holding bitcoin can cash out. these people have no clue of bitcoins true uniqueness, true usefulness, they just want quick profits and only measure bitcoins in fiat profits, not a bitcoin retirement. and no one should be taking advice from them. instead lets concentrate on building the proper bitcoin ecosystem and get a firm base for which we can expand on.

A lot of people forget this. We have a system that's capable of transmitting something of value across the globe for almost no fee, instead people want to focus on profit and profit only.

Once people see that Bitcoin has other benefits and actually holds value the rest is just easy.

[minerpumpkin]

This is really something where we can learn a lot from the Dogecoin community! They just do. Sometimes I can't wrap my head around why thing like the racecar driver and all the simple 'just having fun' things don't happen in the realms of bitcoin... Are people really to greedy? It can't be just that...

[franky1]

This is really something where we can learn a lot from the Dogecoin community! They just do. Sometimes I can't wrap my head around why thing like the racecar driver and all the simple 'just having fun' things don't happen in the realms of bitcoin... Are people really to greedy? It can't be just that...

the racecar thing was more of a friend who knew  friend that simply put a sticker onto a car. the sponsorship wasnt as big and the main person behind it had a big tonne bag of crap he wanted to offload so it was in his benefit to do something.

bitcoin is not a pump and dump, its not a crap coin that people want to offload. so why sell to noobs that will just complain later.

those that want to sell now by doing publicity stunts, are not bitcoin advocates, they are fiat lovers trying to fill up their fiat bank accounts with more then they had last year. its those that want to do these advertising campaigns without fully understanding bitcoins that are the greedy ones. all they care about is a quick pump to sell.. no care at all about building the industry

[Kuranshi]

Sponsoring targets the public. But building Bitcoin acceptance into payments also has to come from the supplier.  With companies like Expedia now accepting Bitcoin the the Travel Industry should be taking note. Certainly an industry that moves a lot of money around internationally.

[Kayex]

Since Bitcoin can be used as a universal currency with no exchange fees, I think sponsoring BTC with a racecar wouldn't be a good idea.
However I do think that targetting suppliers and telling them
'Hey. Start accepting BTC'
Or something along those lines will push BTC forward.
Right now, I feel as if BTC is used EXCLUSIVELY for internet use.

However I think people are skeptic of BTC since it fluctuates, compared to a USD or EUR bill.

[ljudotina]

Yeah, i should go from bottom up, not the other way around (bottom being producers / suppliers) and top being Random Joe that spends / uses. When those at very start of the chain start accepting BTC, those that are up the chain will have ability not to auto convert but to hold and pay in BTC directly. That would rise price, and there is no better PR than price going up 

[Soros Shorts]

Sponsoring targets the public. But building Bitcoin acceptance into payments also has to come from the supplier.  With companies like Expedia now accepting Bitcoin the the Travel Industry should be taking note. Certainly an industry that moves a lot of money around internationally.

I try to go out of my way to spend bitcoins on suppliers that accept them. I will try to spend around $10K worth of BTC on Expedia this year on a well earned vacation. I've spent thousands on Tiger Direct and Overstock on stuff that I don't really need (but that I nevertheless like). I think that this is the best way to reward and encourage companies to take the plunge. I don't think we are ready for big ticket sponsoring yet at this stage.

[ChesterTheTester]

New to the forums and btc, but interested in joining the cause.  I would echo what franky1 said:

1. getting merchants onboard for stuff like food, utilities, etc (not gimicky watches or breast implants) basically day to day living stuff, to hep show that people can live on a bitcoin income.

2. getting the suppliers of these merchants on board, so the merchants hoard the coins and even employe people who want to be paid in bitcoins, rather then the gimmick of taking something thy do not really need and instantly convert it to fiat.

3. once there is a stable infrastructure of true bitcoin use and availability, then get average joe.

In other words... to go mainstream bitcoin MUST be accessible to the mainstream.  I've only recently started looking closer at wallets, acquiring coins, spending coins, etc - all the typical, most basic use cases - and so far I don't see that this is at all the case.  Maybe I've been looking in the wrong places, but I don't see much in the way of "bitcoin for dummies".

Let's face it... mainstream = dummies

Without tool support/accessibility to the mainstream technical understanding, how can any amount or type of marketing will ultimately achieve the desired outcome?

Are there services out there that help small businesses get set up to accept bitcoin (which also necessarily sets the small business owners up to spend bitcoin)?  If so, that's where the marketing effort makes sense imo.  Tools to help make their job easier will increase the effectiveness of their efforts and the widespread adoption of the technology.

[franky1]

New to the forums and btc, but interested in joining the cause.  I would echo what franky1 said:

In other words... to go mainstream bitcoin MUST be accessible to the mainstream.  I've only recently started looking closer at wallets, acquiring coins, spending coins, etc - all the typical, most basic use cases - and so far I don't see that this is at all the case.  Maybe I've been looking in the wrong places, but I don't see much in the way of "bitcoin for dummies".

Let's face it... mainstream = dummies

Without tool support/accessibility to the mainstream technical understanding, how can any amount or type of marketing will ultimately achieve the desired outcome?

Are there services out there that help small businesses get set up to accept bitcoin (which also necessarily sets the small business owners up to spend bitcoin)?  If so, that's where the marketing effort makes sense imo.  Tools to help make their job easier will increase the effectiveness of their efforts and the widespread adoption of the technology.

lots of 'for dummies' video's lots of resources on bitcoin.org. many services, EG coinbase, bitpay. but what most are not doing, is doing it..

what i mean by this is people are waiting around for others to do the work for them. so instead of waiting for others to make bitcoin friendlier in YOUR town, realise its YOUR town. so if you want YOUR friends and YOUR family to always love bitcoins YOU have to do YOUR part.

so pick a shop in YOUR town that does groceries or something else that is essential to YOUR friends and families lifestyle, then YOU should speak to that merchant and get them to adopt bitcoin

[commandrix]

I think doing marketing for bitcoin is largely a waste of resources. You can talk with people and explain bitcoin to them if they seem interested, but sponsoring a racecar is like throwing away funds that could better be donated to individual bitcoin developers.

Bitcoin is an incredibly useful invention. Therefore it does not need a marketing team. It will spread by word of mouth and by increasing business adoption, because people will realize that it improves their lives.

So maybe you don't have to do marketing for Bitcoin itself. Just do marketing for your own website that accepts Bitcoin. People will figure it out when they want to find out what payment options you have and see "Bitcoin accepted here" on your page.

[minerpumpkin]

This is really something where we can learn a lot from the Dogecoin community! They just do. Sometimes I can't wrap my head around why thing like the racecar driver and all the simple 'just having fun' things don't happen in the realms of bitcoin... Are people really to greedy? It can't be just that...

the racecar thing was more of a friend who knew  friend that simply put a sticker onto a car. the sponsorship wasnt as big and the main person behind it had a big tonne bag of crap he wanted to offload so it was in his benefit to do something.

bitcoin is not a pump and dump, its not a crap coin that people want to offload. so why sell to noobs that will just complain later.

those that want to sell now by doing publicity stunts, are not bitcoin advocates, they are fiat lovers trying to fill up their fiat bank accounts with more then they had last year. its those that want to do these advertising campaigns without fully understanding bitcoins that are the greedy ones. all they care about is a quick pump to sell.. no care at all about building the industry

Dogecoins price may have suffered some pumps and dumps, but the interesting thing is, that the community (esp. /r/dogecoin) is having a hell of a lot fun! They've got fun doing awesome drawings and hey, they've brought the freaking Jamaican bobsled team to the 1Sochi Olympics 

[Skele]

to go mainstream

the only reason dogecoin done advertising is not because they want to grow an economy, they know doge is dead but they needed just oe more push of doge buyers so that the ones that were holding the bag of crap could sell out. now those left holding the bag of doge have to deal with the fact that thy cant buy daily lifestyle stuff with it..

I do not agree, it is true indeed how people are just being greed and try to make a profit with everything but that happens once or several times in every cryptocurrency life, even with Bitcoin, just Bitcoin got serious now, and so altcoins will get serious in a near future...

Buying lifestyle stuff with Altcoins not only Bitcoins is just about time and who knows if those Doges live a little longer than we all thought