How to Build Effective Onchain Audience Targeting
Onchain audience targeting segments users by blockchain activity like trading frequency and asset holdings, boosting engagement up to 4x and conversions by 50%. Unify onchain and offchain data, analyse wallet behaviours such as cross-sector usage, and activate segments via token-gated access or ad networks. Formo's playbook outlines steps including real-time profiling and privacy compliance to drive precise crypto growth.
Crypto growth teams struggle to pinpoint high-value users amid anonymous wallet addresses and fragmented data sources. Traditional targeting methods deliver poor ROI in onchain environments. This playbook provides a step-by-step framework to unify onchain and offchain data, analyse wallet behaviours, and activate segments that boost engagement by up to 4x for leading protocols.
Introduction
Marketing in the crypto industry often suffers from a lack of precision. Traditional Web2 methods rely on cookies and email addresses, but these identifiers fail to capture the financial intent and behavioral history stored on the blockchain. Builders and growth teams face a unique challenge: users are anonymous, yet their transaction histories are public.
Effective growth strategies now depend on bridging this gap. By leveraging onchain data, teams can move beyond generic demographics and target users based on proven actions, such as asset ownership, protocol interactions, and trading frequency. This approach transforms anonymous wallet addresses into rich, actionable user profiles. It allows for highly specific campaigns that reach the right users at the right time, reducing wasted ad spend and improving acquisition efficiency.
What Is Onchain Audience Targeting?
Onchain audience targeting is the practice of segmenting and reaching users based on their blockchain activity rather than self-reported interests or browsing history. It involves analyzing public ledger data to identify wallets that match specific criteria, such as high-volume traders, NFT collectors, or governance participants.
This method relies on behavioral signals verifiable on the blockchain. For example, a decentralized exchange might target users who have interacted with competitor protocols or those who hold specific liquidity provider tokens. Unlike traditional targeting, which guesses intent, onchain targeting utilizes concrete financial actions. It enables teams to construct dynamic audience lists that update in real-time as users transact, ensuring that marketing efforts focus on active and relevant participants in the ecosystem.
Why Onchain Audience Targeting Is Essential for Crypto Growth
The primary advantage of onchain targeting is the ability to filter out noise and focus on high-intent users. In a crowded market, distinguishing between a bot and a valuable user is difficult using only offchain metrics. Onchain data provides a source of truth regarding a user's capital efficiency and engagement level.
By focusing on wallet behaviors, projects can significantly improve their return on investment. Research indicates that precise wallet targeting can lead to a potential 50% increase in conversion rates (Formo Blog). This efficiency stems from relevance; users receive offers that align with their actual portfolio and transaction history. Furthermore, it allows for the exclusion of low-quality traffic, ensuring that incentives and rewards go to genuine participants who contribute to the network's health.
How Onchain Audience Targeting Works
The process begins with data ingestion and indexing. Analytics platforms scan blockchains to collect raw transaction data, which is then parsed into readable events. This data reveals patterns such as token swaps, contract interactions, and asset transfers.
Once the data is indexed, it is organized into user profiles. This step often involves resolving multiple wallet addresses to a single entity or clustering behaviors to define a persona. Growth teams then apply filters to this dataset to isolate specific segments. Finally, these segments are activated through various channels. This might involve exporting wallet lists for token-gated access, direct wallet messaging, or integration with ad networks that support crypto-native targeting parameters.
Step-by-Step Guide to Building Effective Onchain Audience Targeting
Building a targeting engine requires a systematic approach to data collection and segmentation. The following steps outline how to transform raw blockchain data into a growth engine.
Step 1: Unify Onchain and Offchain Data Sources
The first step is connecting anonymous onchain activity with offchain engagement. Isolated blockchain data tells only half the story; it shows what happened but not necessarily where the user came from or how they engaged with the frontend.
Platforms like Formo bridge this gap by linking wallet addresses to web events and attribution data. This unification allows teams to see the full user journey, from a Twitter click to a smart contract execution. It turns disjointed data points into a cohesive view of user acquisition and retention.
Step 2: Analyse Wallet Behaviours and Signals
Once data is unified, teams must identify the signals that indicate high value. This involves looking beyond simple token balances to understand the context of user actions.
Key behavioral indicators include:
Cross-sector usage: Engaging with different apps across sectors like DeFi, gaming, and social media.
Wallet utility: Using crypto wallets for different purposes and cryptocurrencies.
Platform loyalty: Interaction with various blockchain platforms based on interests and supported projects.
Analyzing these factors helps distinguish between a casual holder and a power user.
Step 3: Create, Test, and Activate Audience Segments
The final phase involves building distinct segments and deploying them in campaigns. This moves the strategy from analysis to execution.
Effective segmentation strategies include:
Activity-based grouping: Segmenting users based on wallet activity such as transaction frequency or asset holdings.
Data interpretation: Utilizing data analytics to interpret onchain data for precise targeting.
Community focus: Engaging with NFT communities relevant to the project.
Performance tracking: Monitoring campaign performance to refine segments over time.
Best Practices for Onchain Audience Targeting
Success in onchain targeting requires more than just access to data; it demands a strategic application of insights. Builders should prioritize precision over volume to maximize campaign efficiency.
Consider the following best practices:
Identify your target audience: Define the ideal user profile based on past onchain actions.
Find the right platforms: Choose channels where crypto-native users congregate.
Geo-targeting: Filter audiences by region where regulations permit specific crypto activities.
Retargeting campaigns: Re-engage users who have interacted with the protocol but dropped off.
Native Advertising: Use formats that blend with the user experience.
Contextual Advertising: Place ads in relevant onchain environments (e.g., explorers, dashboards).
Custom Audience Lists: Upload curated wallet lists to ad platforms.
Compliance and Privacy: Ensure all data handling respects user privacy and local laws.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Even with rich data, errors in execution can lead to poor results. One common mistake is relying solely on snapshot data. A user who held a token six months ago may no longer be active. Teams must use real-time or recent data to ensure relevance.
Another pitfall is neglecting the privacy-first nature of Web3. While transaction data is public, aggressively linking it to personally identifiable information (PII) without consent can damage trust. Additionally, avoid over-segmentation. Creating audiences that are too small can limit reach and make statistical significance impossible to achieve. Finally, failing to exclude bot activity can skew analytics, leading to inflated acquisition costs and misleading performance metrics.
Conclusion
Onchain audience targeting represents a fundamental shift in how crypto projects acquire and retain users. It moves the industry away from speculative, broad-reach marketing toward data-driven precision. By unifying onchain and offchain data, analyzing wallet behaviors, and activating specific segments, teams can unlock sustainable growth.
The future of crypto marketing lies in understanding the user behind the wallet. As tools for data unification and analysis improve, the ability to deliver personalized experiences while respecting user anonymity will become the standard. Builders who master these techniques will secure a competitive advantage in an increasingly crowded ecosystem.
Frequently Asked Questions
What tools index onchain data for audience targeting?
Platforms like Dune Analytics, Nansen, and Arkham Intelligence index blockchain transactions into queryable datasets. They enable SQL-based filtering for wallet segments based on activity, with free tiers for basic use and paid plans starting at $99/month.
How much does onchain targeting reduce ad spend?
Studies show onchain targeting cuts wasted ad spend by 30-60% compared to broad campaigns. This comes from excluding inactive wallets and bots, focusing budgets on high-intent users with verified transaction histories.
What privacy laws apply to onchain audience data?
Onchain data complies with GDPR and CCPA as public information, but linking to PII requires consent. Projects use pseudonymized wallet lists and avoid offchain identifiers to maintain compliance.
Can onchain targeting work across multiple blockchains?
Yes, multi-chain platforms like Formo and Chainalysis aggregate data from Ethereum, Solana, and others. They normalize transactions for cross-chain segments, such as users bridging assets between networks.
How do you exclude bots from onchain audience segments?
Filter for human-like patterns: transaction gas fees above minimums, diverse contract interactions, and offchain signals like social logins.
Check out our related articles
Wallet Intelligence Explained: How it Works, Benefits, and Use Cases
Wallet Messaging: How to Reach and Activate High-Value Users Across Multiple Channels
Related Articles
Check out these related articles for more information:
target and segment audiences - Directly complements the article's core topic by providing detailed methods for Web3 audience segmentation and targeting strategies.
wallet profiling - Expands on the user profiling concept mentioned in the article by explaining how to create detailed wallet profiles for enhanced targeting.
unify onchain and offchain data - Provides in-depth guidance on Step 1 of the framework, helping readers understand data unification strategies in detail.
Wallet Intelligence - Offers comprehensive coverage of wallet intelligence benefits and use cases that support the behavioral analysis discussed in the article.
wallet messaging - Extends the activation strategy by showing readers how to reach segmented audiences through direct wallet communication channels.
