What do people tell themselves when choosing their tokens?
image: midjourney and amanda from noun project
Brief:
The unconscious mind makes our choices while the conscious mind finds a logical justification.
What motivates the 4 main audience profiles on the Web3 to choose their NFTs.
What made you open this post?
What do you think will happen to you in the end?
Will you be better prepared to sell your NFTs?
Will you feel more secure buying your next NFT?
The answer doesn't matter...
The decision was already made by your subconscious. Your conscious mind just justifies it in a "logical way".
Why do I buy wine?
One of the most valuable exercises in marketing is quietly observing why people do things. To discover what stories they tell themselves deciding to buy something or be part of a group.
It may seem strange at first, but essentially such decisions are made by our unconscious mind. Even in the most logical dilemmas.
In a second, I decide between an expensive or cheaper wine at the supermarket.
I choose the expensive one because I like (deserve) quality. I wouldn't be able to distinguish the two wines by taste in a blind test. But the price, the name, and even the label colors tell me:
"I make you an important person."
Paying $100 to feel more important doesn't hit on Instagram stories. Instead, it shows weakness. That's why our unconscious mind also specializes in creating incredible stories even for simple decisions like this:
"This is not just a wine. It is an instant journey to the cultural roots of Calabria."
Like most people, I don't know where Calabria is. Maybe I'll find out at dinner with my friends, which would make me feel even more important. But the main goal was achieved:
To feel important, I paid three times more for a wine that my palate is not refined for, and made it an act of elegance and sophistication instead of weakness.
Why do we buy NFTs?
Such instant decisions also happen when we decide to buy an NFT. Discovering what lies beneath the rational layer in these purchase habits is quite fun and an excellent exercise in self-awareness.
Over 4 months, I did this exercise in Web3. Not only with myself but also among my friends and the people who spend hours telling their odysseys in Twitter Spaces.
Four interesting profiles were especially relevant in leading the creation of an NFT Art project:
Flippers
This profile analyzes graphs and frantic financial variations in a continuous search for the next asymmetry. Honest with themselves and the world, they don't hide their goals:
"I will get rich without working hard in the shortest possible time."
Extremely bold and dynamic, they love to tell success and disruption stories: "Nobody believed, but I went there, bought for 0.01ETH, and sold for 5ETH." Translating: “Look how amazing I am!”
As being amazing is one essential motto, taking losses is not easy. Even facing constant drops for their NFTs or cryptocurrencies, they support success stories that turn any FTX cataclysm into a light rain:
"I'm sure! Today nobody believes, but this asset will appreciate so much that those who enter now will get rich!"
Silly faith? No.
Naivety is not appreciated among this audience. Deep down, they need to convince the world that their assets have value so as not to lose money.
Creating for this audience implies giving them solid reasons (proven in numbers) to invest in a short-term financial asset. Everything else is secondary.
Art Lovers
It's a fact: NFTs have turned everyday expressions into art, in a move seen only in the Pop Art of the 1970s. Many people are enchanted by this cultural profusion and need to be a part of it.
"We are protagonists of the New Art, of the Renaissance to a new culture."
Art Lovers are commonly enchanted by the philosophical aspects of Web3 and take pleasure in seeing themselves as pioneers of a new era: "Art is eternal, what we are doing today is equivalent to Greek patronage and the Renaissance in Florence."
These people seek to connect their values to the NFT Art movement so that this Web3 movement makes sense.
They seek rarity.
They need to leave a legacy in the world that subverts the materialism and superficiality of the established status quo in the social media era.
Creating for this audience requires a powerful lore. A valuable narrative where, in the long run, each work connects to another, shaping a powerful art movement. The Art Lover needs a chance to enter history as a new patron.
Innovative People
Innovation lovers are those who do not care about the friction of access to Web3. Their eyes light up trying to figure out where their NFTs are in Metamask.
"We are creating a world like never before."
Active in this market, innovators are not satisfied to just buy. These people end up involved in building Web3.
They are constantly reevaluating processes and meanings of things in search of a new way to do everything simpler, cheaper, or more interesting.
Consciously, tell people that they want to solve the world's problems.
Unconsciously, the world is not that important. It is the discovery that motivates them.
Creating for this audience involves giving to the NFTs utilities that resonate with their life goals. Giving the power of achievement. Not exclusive access to communities or while lists (this is no longer innovation). They value philosophy (permissionless + ownership economy) applied in practice and want to transform the way we do things. People that are pleased saying to the world: "Thanks to what we did, now you can."
Important People
Specified among Gustav Jung's 12 archetypes of the unconscious, "Rulers" are a promising profile. We see that in the success of brands that inspire power such as Porsche, Dubai, and JP Morgan.
These people carry a fundamental premise:
"Power is not everything, but it is what matters."
With an insane valuation, many NFTs have become symbols of power, creating a strong niche of rulers around this market. In the Web3 ecosystem, when we display a Bores Ape PFP on Twitter we send a clear message to the world:
“Respect me and listen to what I say.”
This attitude may sound arrogant, so we rarely hear such words in a social context. But stories are plentifully told in images and attitudes as well.
Driven by power agents, important people seek social recognition when buying an NFT. In the rational layer, they pay attention to numbers, business plans, future promises, and execution capabilities.
In the unconscious layer (which matters), they seek social status elevation. Thus, interesting lore is part of the game. But for them, the value of an NFT project is built by prizes, presence at important events, connections with celebrities, and coverage in mainstream media.
Creating for these people is giving them a way to say to the whole world: "Look how important I am!"
Understanding the motives why people invest in their NFTs is valuable.
If we get uninteresting when trying to cater to everyone, we can also be essential by hitting the desires of a specific audience profile.
Creating, first of all, is an exercise of observation.
This post is the 04 of 04, written for the Bankless Academy Writing Cohort with Grant Nissly.
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