Love them or not, meme coins are the new meta. They have skyrocketed network activity on Solana, while some have outperformed Bitcoin and altcoins. In September, Solana’s meme coin launchpad, Pump (dot) Fun, crossed the $100 million revenue mark, demonstrating record retail interest in the speculative asset class.
Retail investors love meme coins due to their potential for massive gains. They have lower entry points and are accessible at lower valuations. Meme coins are suitable for investors with smaller capital, unlike VC-funded projects. With their lower market caps and massive upside, projects can do 1000x within days.
Often based on an internet joke or comic image, most meme coins have no intrinsic utility; they are purely speculative investments driven by trends and hype on social media. Popular dog memes inspired the earliest meme coins, Dogecoins and Shiba Inu and did massive multiples to chase leading altcoins.
Furthermore, some top meme coins were inspired by internet memes, which started as a trend before going viral. The memes were incorporated to design the token and deployed in smart contracts on a blockchain like Solana or Ethereum. Afterwards, they were made available for trading on exchanges by the provision of liquidity.
A lot of strategy goes into meme coins doing massive multiples; not all launches are successful. According to BeinCrypto, 97% of meme coins fail, not to mention the large percentage of tokens on Pump(dot)Fun that fail to launch. As a founder or investor, it is expedient to implement proven strategies to achieve desired results.
This piece discusses the top meme coin marketing strategy to 1000x your project. It also highlights the top 10 meme coins and their marketing strategies.
Let’s begin
Top Meme Coin Marketing Strategies.
The most effective marketing strategies we use at Crowdcreate to help clients hit multiples include influencer marketing, community engagement, ambassador programs, airdrops, bounties, and giveaways.
Community Engagement
Communities are the live wire of most Web3 projects. Meme coin projects are only as strong as the community. A truly engaged community provides a sense of oneness, and support, and collaboratively steers the course of a project. They maintain the needed hype, excitement, and culture.
It all starts with social media like Reddit, Twitter, and Telegram, where users can share, discuss, and promote content. Meme coin projects must actively communicate updates, host events and AMAs, and engage in conversation to boost their engagement and awareness.
To build a strong meme coin community, projects must encourage members to create and share memes or videos about the project, i.e., user-generated content. UGC builds authenticity and trust, and hence a higher engagement rate as users feel more connected to the project.
- Influencer Marketing Strategy
Influencers are a pretty effective strategy for meme coins, ask Dogecoin, whose support from Elon Musk has helped the token become the largest meme coin by market capitalization. Also, the likes of Shiba Inu and Floki Inu benefited from the blessings of influencers.
Influencers can be internet celebrities, crypto influencers, or KOLs; they typically have a large following and can project your meme coin project favorably to their followers. By having influencers post about your project, it gains more visibility, excitement, and hype; it attracts investors, driving up the price temporarily or otherwise.
Influencers can also actively contribute to the growth of the community by creating exclusive content for their community, hosting AMAs and Q&A sessions, as well as asking their followers to join your community.
You must find influencers who match your brand. Their content and audience must be a good fit for yours. Another important factor when choosing influencers is their engagement rate, background, and the trust they command from the public. Once agreement is reached and contracts begin, results must be tracked to gauge their efforts.
- Ambassador Programmes
If influencers are evangelists, then ambassadors are foot soldiers; they permeate social media channels and groups to spread the word and tell people about exciting projects. Ambassadors exist to share memes, threads, videos, and social mentions; essentially, they are there to improve the virality of your project.
Ambassadors are typically members of the community. They collaborate with your project by way of community building, content creation, and hosting IRL events. They are representatives of your project and enhance the project’s organic reach. Ambassadors also enable projects to access new markets and build trust.
- Airdrops, Bounties, and Giveaways
Free distribution of tokens to individual wallets effectively drives up interest in your project. Since airdrops require zero initial investment, they create a sense of trust and loyalty among potential community members. BONK and MEW are typical examples.
Alternatively, an airdrop strategy can involve incentivizing potential users to carry out marketing tasks, create awareness about your project, and increase the number of social mentions, i.e., tags, names, and hashtags. Social mentions are useful for sentiment analysis and increasing brand awareness.
Contests, bounties, and giveaways also come in handy to create hype and promote interaction and discussion about your project. Typical contests can be meme creation, X threads, articles, or even videos.
They could help in community building, especially when participants are required to join the community. Of course, careful planning and execution must be put in place to ensure lasting growth.
Top 10 Meme Coins And Their Marketing Strategies.
Some of the top meme coins include Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Pepe, Floki Inu, BONK, WIF, Popcat, BRETT, MEW, and Neiro. Here are some of their marketing strategies:
1. Pepe: Meme Culture + Solid Community
Much of Dogecoin’s success is owed to the Tesla’s CEO. He played a huge role in the virality of the meme coin. His company Tesla also supports Dogecoin allowing customers to make purchases in Doge
Since Dogecoin launched in 2013, Elon Musk has been equivocal about it. His posts have often impacted the price of Dogecoin, leading to price appreciation. One of his firsts was a reply in 2019, which set up a trend.
Besides Elon Musk, other popular figures like Snoop Dogg, Carole Baskin, and Gene Simmons have also endorsed Dogecoin.
Other catalysts to Dogecoin’s success were the social media utility and exchange listing:
Reddit and DogeTipBot, a third-party tipping service, were instrumental in raising the popularity and adoption of Dogecoin. With DogeTipBot, users can tip/send dogecoin to each other for posting valuable content on Reddit. It also allowed non-crypto natives to be exposed to tokens for the first time.
In 2019, Dogecoin was listed on a major exchange, Binance, driving further interest and adoption. Coinbase listing came in 2021.
Originally described as a joke, Doge was launched by two developers, Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer. It was forked from Litecoin but inspired by the trending meme at that time, Kabosu, a cute Shiba Inu dog. Doge’s whimsical and fun appeal attracted a loyal following that transformed into a strong community.
Once launched, Doge instantly gained traction and popularity on Reddit. In two weeks, it recorded more daily transactions than BTC and over a million website visitors in a month
2. Shib Army; The Power Of The Community
Amongst the various strategies employed by the team, the community was most instrumental to Shiba Inu’s success, i.e., the Shiba army. Cult-like, dedicated, and enthusiastic, they made considerable effort to shill the project on social media, creating hype and interest.
With over 400k members, the Shiba Army is one of the loudest voices in crypto; they were everywhere, from X to Reddit and Discord. The Shiba army educated new members and ensured that the development team remained on course by way of thoughts, feedback, and ideas.
Ecosystem projects and use cases also facilitated the expansion and growth of the Shiba Inu ecosystem. For example, the launch of ShibSwap for trading SHIB in 2021. Shiboshis and Sheboshis (a collection of 10,000 and 20,000 Shiba NFTs), as well as the Shib the Metaverse.
Several use cases also ensured that the Shiba token continued to grow; for example, Shiba’s payment integration with platforms such as Nordstrom, GameStop, and other major retailers. Furthermore, users could stake Shiba to earn Bone tokens, useful for voting on the Shiba ecosystem. Shiba was built on the Ethereum network before switching to Shibarium, a layer 2 scaling solution in 2023.
Represented by a Japanese breed of hunting dog, Shiba was launched in August 2020 by an anonymous individual, Ryoshi. Upon launch, Shiba Inu had half its total supply locked in UniSwap to provide liquidity, while the remainder was sent to Vitalik, who burned 90% and donated about 1 billion Shiba INU to the Indian Covid Relief fund.
3. Pepe: Meme Culture + Solid Community
Pepe’s success came from its association with the popular “Pepe the Frog” and its strong online community. Matt Furie’s Pepe the Frog debuted in 2005 and has since gone viral on Reddit and popular image boards, i.e., 4chan and 8chan. Pepe became an organic viral meme; people used them to express emotions or experiences.
Such was Pepe’s popularity that pro-democracy protesters used Pepe as a symbol of freedom and resistance during the 2019 and 2020 Hong Kong protests. Even activist groups in the 2016 presidential election almost appropriated Pepe as a symbol of hate, but not until Furie intervened.
Taking inspiration from Pepe-the-frog, Pepe was guaranteed to blow up as the groundwork has already been done with sufficient support at the grassroots level. Furthermore, the meme coin frenzy following the Gamezone Saga of 2021 fuelled the support for Pepe.
Pepe was loved universally; it resonated with the followers and had a strong community around it. Forbes reported that Pepe hit 290,000 followers in only a few days.
The community also played a huge part; they engaged on social media and hosted events in major cities around the world; an example is #PEPEFEST23.
Other community initiatives, like the PEPE’s display board advertisement in Times Square, were executed without direct team intervention.
Besides meme culture and community, the Pepe team also implemented a token distribution system, ensuring that a portion of every transaction was distributed to token members. Furthermore, some tokens were burned to increase the value of Pepe.
Exchange listing also paid off; the team got Pepe listed on major exchanges such as Binance in May 2023, leading to a price increase. They also rewarded Binance users with 418 billion PEPE tokens, thereby increasing the adoption and trading of PEPE tokens.
Pepe was launched in April 2023 based on inspiration from “Pepe the Frog”—a Matt Furie meme. Pepe is an internet meme and comic figure depicting a green frog and a human body. A few days after the launch, Pepe gained strong popularity and exceeded the $1 billion market cap in April. Pep’s creators were anonymous and had no connection to Matt Furie.
4. Floki Inu: The People’s Cryptocurrency
The Floki’s team were likely members of the Shiba Inu community. They capitalized on Elon’s influence to create the dog-themed token, Floki Inu. The team also sought out Elon Musk’s brother Kimbal Musk, partnering with his Million Gardens Movement—a community-based non-profit—to inspire a happier and healthier world.
Referred to as “the people cryptocurrency,” the community was key to the success and public interest in the project. Estimated to be over 400,000, they were involved in initiatives, discussions, and decisions. The community was chiefly responsible for raids and memes on social media.
Ecosystem developments and utility offerings also contributed to the Floki Inu project, for example, gaming (the Valhalla NFT Metaverse Game), Floki University (crypto education platform), the Floki DeFi ecosystem, and the NFT marketplace.
Furthermore, the team secured strategic partnerships with Indian-based Kerala Blasters FC and Spanish soccer team Cádiz CF and sponsored India‘s cricket tour to promote Valhalla.
Floki also utilized display boards for advertising in the US, UK, and UAE. It tapped into the premier league’s wide audience to reach gaming and crypto enthusiasts. Floki targeted TV commercials in Turkey. The team also initiated an IRL campaign and activation in Nigeria and Vietnam, aimed at engaging the community and building brand loyalty.
Floki is a hyper-deflationary token designed to run on the Ethereum and BNB networks, respectively. Floki’s core values include community, utility, and charity. The team has built top-notch schools in developing countries like Nigeria.
Floki had implemented a 3% buy and sell tax that is sent to the Floki Inu treasury for the ecosystem but reduced them to 0.3% in 2023 to lower the entry barrier.
5. BONK: The Solana Surprise
No one expected BONK to succeed; in fact, BONK was launched in December 2022, amidst the FTX debacle and the low price of SOL. There was a sense of uncertainty and subdued mood in the community. BONK’s foremost initiative was to offer some facelift by airdropping tokens anonymously to the Solana community.
Airdrops were super important for BONK; about 50% of its total supply (~300,000 wallets) was airdropped anonymously to generate enthusiasm and support, leading to about $20 million in trading volume. The team’s effort paid off, attracting media attention and interest.
The community also made a difference. Firstly, BONK is run as a decentralized autonomous organization, i.e., BONK DAO, which controls 15% of the supply and is responsible for governance and making key decisions. BONK’s strong cult-like community supports the team with hype and social campaigns.
The team also pursued partnerships and integrations as a utility token across several apps and protocols, predominantly exchanges and DeFi. It secured over 500 integrations across 10 chains and is listed in over 30 CEXs and DEXs.
Even outside Web3, BONK partnered up with sports brands like the Paris Musketeers. Other key ecosystem projects and utilities ensured that BONK gained sufficient traction, including the BONK Bot, BONK Swap, and MoonWalk.
6. WIF: Unique Meme Culture Meets Passionate Community
The Dogwifhat meme coin is based on the many existing Dogwifhat memes that were popular on the internet as of 2019. It is essentially a photo of a Shiba Inu dog in a woven beanie. It went viral back then as people made edits, adding logos and images to the original image. Hashtags like #dogwifhat and #dogwifhatgang were popular.
Much of WIF’s success was down to its vibrant community. Members shilled the token and created social media buzz. They raised about $690,000 to showcase WIF at the Las Vegas Sphere, a popular entertainment arena. Another notable mention was the $100k contribution to sponsor a gala by the best friend’s Animal Society in NYC.
WIF was popularized by top influencers, including Ansem. Binance listing came in March and Bybit in April. Once listed on centralized exchanges, WIF saw remarkable growth and gained more visibility.
Dogwifhat was launched in November 2023 by anonymous creators as a meme coin depicting a dog with a dust-pink hat. Upon launch, it recorded instant success among memecoin traders, reaching a $210 million market cap within a week. WIF jumped to become the third-largest meme coin in market capitalization in March, overtaking Pepe.
7. Popcat: From Clicking Sensation to Billions
The first cat coin to reach $1 billion Market Cap; POPCAT’s marketing strategy was built on Internet culture, community, and social media virality. It leveraged the popularity of the Popcat (dot)Click game to generate buzz, draw interest, and build a strong community around the project. The game got over 20 billion clicks and 3.2 million unique users in 30 days.
Popcat demonstrated how popular internet memes and viral trends can find their way into crypto and become successful. Popcat, however, does not have any relationship with the original meme but is built on its popularity.
Early on after the launch, the DEV sold and the community took over. The community was tight-knit even when he wanted to sabotage the project; they kept faith even during the bearish price action.
The people who are responsible for the success of Popcat are the dedicated moderators and Twitter content creators. The people who kept the community alive when there looked like there was little hope.
Source: X
POPCAT was launched in December 2023, originating from an internet meme of two images of a short-haired cat (one with its mouth open and the other with a closed mouth) popping its mouth open and closed. The images were edited as a video and went viral on social media.
In 2020, a group of students from the University of Sheffield launched Popcat(dot) Click, a game website that allows visitors to click on the interface to have the cat meme open its mouth and form a big “O” plus a pop sound.
Participants from several countries, predominantly Asia, competed to beat the global leaderboard. It grew into an online gaming craze, but there weren’t any particular prizes other than a point for the player’s country.
8. Based BRETT: The Power Of The Community
As one of the first meme coins on Base, Brett has enjoyed strong community backing. Its government is entrusted to the Brett DAO, solidifying its community-centeredness.
The community created a buzz on social media by sharing viral memes, videos, campaigns, and challenges such as the “Brett likes to dance” challenge on X. They also organized community gatherings and events such as the Singapore Brett Yacht Party.
The Brett team ensured that the token was listed on major exchanges, including Bybit, Poloniex, and Phemex, among others. Binance listing came in August, causing a temporary upsurge in price.
Brett also utilized TV advertising at the UEFA-organized tournament to garner more interest in the project. Its videos were amplified across its social media channels like YouTube and Instagram. Brett also did sponsorship deals, including the sponsorship of the Gokhshtein team at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference.
Brett was launched in February 2024 on the Base network and nicknamed PEPE’s best friend. It is a meme coin inspired by Matt Furie’s Boys’ Club comic. It has drawn significant interest due to its humor and community.
As the leading meme on the fast-growing Base network. Brette has also benefited from the expanding Base ecosystem, leveraging its resources and know-how.
9. MEW: Unique Cat branding meets a Strong community
MEW was created to challenge the dominance of dog-themed meme coins. Much of its marketing was built around strong community engagement, unique branding, and captivating meme creation on social media. The community was well-engaged using a combination of high-quality shareable and engaging content.
MEW’s branding is unique; they utilized the cat’s narrative to stand out from a meme coin market dominated by doggy cryptos like Shiba and Dogecoin. The MEW brand transitioned from just a digital asset to an entertainment brand via its partnership with LOCUS Studio.
In May, MEW partnered up with LOCUS Studios to create a new 3D animated series and bring to life the story of MEW, a cat in a dog’s world. Also in July, MEW partnered with the Telegram minigame Pixelverse, adding MEW to its game roster.
The MEW team was strategic, burning 90% of LP and airdropping 10% to the Solana community. While the airdrop created interest within the community, the burn enhanced scarcity and the value of the MEW token.
The team secured $MEW listings across major exchanges such as Bybit and OKX and the popular finance app, Revolut, which has over 45 million users. They have also utilized IRL events to showcase MEW and interact with supporters; the team had a stand at the AnimeNYC 2024.
Launched in March 2024 via Raydium DEX by an anonymous creator, MEW, otherwise called Cats in a Dogs World, is a Solana-based meme coin. It went viral on X, recording a surge in trading volume and interest. In October, it became the 4th largest Solana meme coin by market cap and reached a $1 billion market capitalization.
10. NEIRO: The Community For Social Good
NEIRO benefited from having a resolute community behind it as well as being associated with charity and big names such as Dogecoin and Vitalik. The community did stay strong all through the controversies and beyond. They were super active, brewing the hype and sharing updates.
NEIRO’s strategy and reputation is built around several charities and donations to animal projects and education. They have helped millions of puppies globally, with most donations going to dog shelters.
NEIRO’s listing on Binance and other exchanges contributed to it’s growth and massive interest among investors and whales. The team has further expanded its ecosystem and enabled accessibility by bridging the NEIRO token to the Base chain.
First Neiro on Ethereum (NEIRO) is an Ethereum-based meme coin that launched in August 2024, albeit with a little controversy. Another NEIRO had listed on Binance’s Perps first. However, First Neiro on Ethereum came out on top, becoming the first to secure the Binance spot listing. It was the market’s choice and hit millions in a matter of days.
NEIRO reached 200 million Market Cap in a few days after launch; its popularity traces back to its origin as an internet meme and animal coin. The name “NEIRO” was attributed to a freshly adopted dog by the same woman who cared for Doge (Dogecoin).
NEIRO is also associated with Vitalik Buterin, who received NEIRO tokens at launch, later sold them off and donated proceeds to charity, the Dog Charity Foundation.
This piece highlighted the most effective meme coin marketing strategy to 1000X your project. I also discussed the top 10 meme coin projects and their marketing strategies.
Other strategies we deploy to boost our clients include listing on tracking sites, advertising networks, and display campaigns, utilizing launchpads, or running a crypto staking program.
The right combination of strategies makes for a successful project, requiring technical expertise and deliberate implementation to succeed.
At CrowdCreate, we boast an expert team to make a mark and help you achieve your dreams. Whatever your goals, we can help you bring them to life.
