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General vs Degen Web3 Marketing and When to Use Each
General Web3 marketing is the structured playbook: content, contests, social campaigns and airdrops. Degen marketing is culture-first: mascots, creative gm's, memes and a community that enjoys showing up. Neither is enough alone. Use general marketing to explain and distribute, degen marketing to make people care, and put community ahead of shilling in both.
What is the difference between general and degen Web3 marketing?
In December 2024 I posted a short comparison that became my most-liked marketing post.
General web3 marketing: content blogs, contest + social campaigns, airdrops + galaxy campaigns. Degen web3 marketing: mascots, creative gm's, memes + shitposting, focusing on community v/s shilling. Shilika Jain on X, 10 Dec 2024
Laid out side by side, with my read on what each is for:
| General Web3 marketing | Degen Web3 marketing | |
|---|---|---|
| Tactics | Content blogs, contests, social campaigns, airdrops, quest campaigns | Mascots, creative gm's, memes, shitposting |
| Core idea | Explain the product and reward participation | Build a culture people want to be part of |
| Voice | Brand voice, planned and approved | Human voice, fast and informal |
| Works best for | Education, credibility, structured launches | Attention, belonging, daily presence |
| Main risk | Reads like every other project | Entertains without explaining anything |
The last line of my post carries the most weight. The dividing line is less about memes versus blogs and more about whether you are talking with a community or shilling at an audience.
When does general Web3 marketing fit?
General marketing fits whenever someone needs to understand you before they can trust you. Content, structured campaigns and press are how a serious buyer, partner or investor checks that there is substance behind the brand.
It also changes with stage. In August 2023 I wrote out how I would split the work. Early-stage startups should growth hack through quality partnerships, brand building initiatives, community building, strategic paid press and content, and influencer marketing. Mature startups should move to viral campaigns, growth funnels that run from ads to analytics, a comprehensive PR strategy through earned coverage, and strategic partnerships.
So lean on the general playbook when:
- your product is technical and needs explaining, such as infrastructure, DeFi or anything sold to other teams
- your buyers are institutions, enterprises or developers who will read before they act
- you have a launch with dates, partners and announcements that need coordination
- you are mature enough to need measurable funnels and earned coverage
One caution from my own experience: general marketing fails when it hides behind vocabulary.
If you stop using technical jargons, half of your user onboarding problem is solved! Shilika Jain on X, 31 Oct 2023
If you are choosing partners for this side of the work, my Web3 marketing agency guide covers what to look for.
When does degen marketing fit?
Degen marketing fits when attention and belonging are the scarce resources. That is true for consumer apps, memecoins, gaming, NFT communities and any project whose users live on X and in group chats all day.
It suits teams that are willing to be present. A meme account run by committee, with three rounds of approval, is not degen marketing. You have to be in the replies yourself.
you need to get dirty in the web3 marketing trenches to make your product work! Shilika Jain on X, 29 Jan 2025
Be honest about the limits too. Humour gets you noticed, and it does not tell anyone what your product does. If your audience is a compliance team or a fund, shitposting from the main account can cost you credibility that took months to earn. In those cases keep the culture work on founder and community accounts and keep the brand account clear. For projects where culture is the product, I cover the approach on the memecoin marketing page.
How do I pick a mascot that works?
Mascots are the most durable degen asset because they outlive any single meme format.
Mascots are one of the most quirkiest and fun things that you can use as part of your marketing + community building strategy! Shilika Jain on X, 6 Mar 2025
In that post I listed four things to consider. A good mascot:
- resonates with the community
- sends good vibes
- depicts your brand
- is something you can create cool merch with
I would add one practical test based on those four. Hand the mascot to your community and see whether they start making their own versions. If they do, it resonates. If only your designer ever draws it, it is a logo with a face.
What does community over shilling look like in practice?
Shilling is asking people to care about your token or product. Community is giving them a reason to care about each other and about the project. I have believed this for a long time.
the biggest brands in future will have a loyal community as opposed to just buyers. Shilika Jain on X, 27 Dec 2022
your tech isn't your asset, it's the people believing in it Shilika Jain on X, 31 Dec 2024
In day-to-day terms, community-first marketing means:
- Replying and joining conversations more than you broadcast.
- Celebrating what members make, not only what the team ships.
- Explaining decisions in plain words, including the unpopular ones.
- Treating every group as an audience for your communication. In June 2025 I wrote that how you communicate with your community, stakeholders, customers, retail users, airdrop hunters and journalists is everything, and that it can make or break your brand.
It is slow work. Back in 2023 I described community building as gut-wrenching work, and I meant it. That is also why it is hard for a competitor to copy. More on how I approach it is on the community growth page.
How do I combine general and degen marketing in one plan?
Treat them as two layers of the same plan. One layer carries the message and the other gives it personality.
- Set the narrative first. Decide the one thing you want repeated about you. Then get people saying it.
- Let general marketing carry the proof. Blogs, docs, press and partner announcements give the narrative something solid to point at.
- Let degen marketing carry the personality. The mascot, the gm's and the memes keep you in the feed between announcements.
- Split voices by account. Brand account for clarity, founder and community accounts for culture.
- Shift the mix with stage. Early on, community and brand building do most of the work. As you mature, add funnels and earned PR on top without dropping the culture.
On the first point, this is the simplest narrative tactic I know:
the easiest way to create a narrative is to have your inner and outer circle repeat the same thing on X. Shilika Jain on X, 2 Dec 2025
Your team and close supporters are the inner circle, and your community is the outer one. General marketing writes the line. Degen marketing makes people want to repeat it. For the positioning work that comes before any of this, see my Web3 narrative and positioning strategy playbook, and for sequencing it into a launch, the crypto go-to-market strategy playbook.
## Posts this piece is built on - 10 Dec 2024: General web3 marketing: content blogs - 28 Aug 2023: Early stage startups should growth hack in following ways - 31 Oct 2023: If you stop using technical jargons - 29 Jan 2025: you need to get dirty in the web3 marketing trenches - 6 Mar 2025: mascots are one of the most quirkiest and fun things - 27 Dec 2022: the biggest brands in future will have a loyal community - 31 Dec 2024: your tech isn't your asset - 3 Jun 2025: comms is so underrated in web3 - 16 Jan 2023: community building is a gut-trenching task - 2 Dec 2025: the easiest way to create a narrative
Not sure how much of your plan should be structured campaigns and how much should be culture? Tell me about your project and I will suggest a mix that fits your stage and audience.