In-Real-Life (IRL) community events have proven a major influence factor in the web3 ecosystem, gradually becoming essential for driving user onboarding by building trust, sparking curiosity, and offering real-on exposure. Token 2049, one of the world’s largest Web3 conferences, is a prime example of this impact, fostering personal connections and immersive learning for attendees.
In today's article, we shall be discussing the importance of web3 events as a driving factor bridging the gap between user interest and community onboarding.
In-person Web3 events like Token 2049 have emerged as some of the most effective onboarding tools in the space, helping to break down technical barriers, demystifying the technology, and building user confidence in product tech.
For instance, some of the biggest hurdles for newcomers in web3 is understanding and setting up wallets, interacting with digital assets, and understanding other crypto related concepts. At such events, attendees can be onboarded to create live wallets, go to setup booths to know how to use these wallets, attend workshops on dev related issues, and join sessions to understand crypto concepts like custodial solutions that demystify the process. By receiving NFT tickets, POAP badges, or event tokens, they experience firsthand the utility and value of these digital assets and concepts, transforming what often feels abstract online into something tangible, rewarding, and useful.
Beyond the technical aspects, these events also uniquely humanizes the onboarding experience. Instead of navigating scattered online tutorials, attendees can engage in beginner-friendly peer-to-peer learning opportunities. By meeting founders, builders, and reputable ecosystem players in person, community members are able to connect and build trust in the credibility of their founders, which helps to eliminate engagement skepticism due to fear of scams.
Perhaps most importantly, these events extend the onboarding journey far beyond the conference itself. By distributing NFTs, POAPs, and tokens that unlock post-event priorities for individual communities, DAOs, etc for reward programs. This creates a foundation for long-term engagement as attendees leave not only with new skills and tools but also become contributors to these networks, bounties, and other opportunities that keep them active in the space.
Ultimately, Token 2049, and other similar IRL events, are key players for turning onboarding from a one-time technical exercise, into a lasting journey of community, learning, and participation.
From the project's perspective, an often overlooked but critical element of successful onboarding at these IRL events lies in the training of booth staff to become effective onboarding ambassadors. It’s not enough to simply pitch a product; they must be prepared to guide first-time users through the entire utilization process from start to finish. Therefore, projects that train staff to be able to provide simplified explanations, demonstrate live walkthroughs, and answer common beginner questions create a far more welcoming experience to reduce friction and build trust with new users.
In parallel, the use of engaging technologies like QR code scanning at in-person events offers a highly practical strategy to streamline onboarding. Projects can place QR codes at booths, on merch, etc, to a setup guide for users on product tutorials, to sign-up pages. This creates a self-engaging approach that gets users to engage on their own, reducing pressure associated with one on one interactive onboarding experience with human agents.
Together, these strategies help turn physical events into powerful user acquisition engines. Well-prepared booth staff provide the human touch that builds confidence, while integrated tech tools like QR codes scale the onboarding process and create immediate value for participants. Combined with incentives such as POAPs, airdrops, or exclusive access, these approaches help ensure that newcomers leave the event not only as educated prospects but as activated users significantly improving the long-term growth potential for Web3 projects.
Post-event user retention is a critical factor in sustaining the momentum generated during these IRL community events in web3. While these events are effective for onboarding new users, statistics reveal a concerning trend. Over 67% of users disengage from these communities within the first month when onboarding engagements end at the event. This highlights the necessity for a robust post-event strategy to maintain user engagement, and capitalize on the initial interest.
A pivotal component of these strategies is email marketing. Personalized email campaigns have been shown to significantly enhance user retention. Statistics show that brands utilizing blockchain-based loyalty programs experience an ~22% increase in customer retention rates. Concepts like implementing automated drip campaigns can guide users through their journey, providing them with valuable resources and updates that keep them informed and engaged.
Equally important is the development of this vibrant community on social media. Platforms like Discord or Telegram serve as hubs for users to interact, share experiences, and participate in governance discussions. By actively involving their communities in decision-making processes, projects are able to harness their community impact via social media trends and conversations to promote the community/organization, while driving social engagement and loyalty.
Lastly, the intuitive design of platforms play a crucial role in user retention. A seamless user experience, complemented by clear onboarding tutorials and accessible support, ensures that users can easily navigate and derive value from the platform. This approach not only reduces friction but also fosters a sense of ownership and satisfaction among users, encouraging long-term engagement.
In conclusion, to transform initial interest from IRL events into sustained user engagement, Web3 projects must implement comprehensive post-event strategies. By focusing on personalized email campaigns, fostering active communities, and ensuring intuitive platform design, projects can significantly improve user retention and build lasting relationships with their audiences.
When Web3 projects effectively combine IRL community events with strong post-event retention strategies, they unlock a range of powerful benefits that can accelerate both project and ecosystem growth. Fostering trust, personal connections and product marketing, such community events like Token 2049 not only onboard new users but also create a foundation for deeper engagement. And with post-event follow-ups through email campaigns, tutorials, community building, and intuitive product design, the initial excitement associated with such events can be cultivated into long-term participation.
This approach has proven to strengthen user loyalty, boost product adoption, and transform attendees into advocates who amplify the project through word of mouth and active participation. On a broader level, it contributes to ecosystem health by educating users, reducing friction, and fostering cross-project collaboration. Ultimately, this drives innovation and expands the entire Web3 landscape for projects, as this helps with gaining users, and building a resilient, active community to fuel sustainable growth.
