Traditional KOL Promotion Model Loses Effectiveness on X as Web3 Marketing Shifts

Web3 projects have traditionally paid key opinion leaders, or KOLs, to repost product launches or partnership announcements on X in a coordinated push to expand reach and visibility. Users are increasingly resistant to formulaic posts labeled as paid promotions, however, making exposure harder to convert into trust and forcing brands to reassess their marketing budgets and community strategies.

A recent analysis cited blockchain network Starknet to advocate a “build buzz first, announce later” approach. Under this model, projects first design topics that spur community discussion, then release product news to build deeper brand awareness. The reports provided no marketing expenditure, performance data or specific publication date, making it impossible at present to quantify the difference in effectiveness between the old and new strategies.