MKBD Workstream Proposal

Abstract/Summary

The MKBD workstream proposal outlines a one-year plan to enhance the ShapeShift ecosystem through targeted marketing, business development, and community engagement initiatives. This proposal details the motivation, specifications, expected benefits, potential drawbacks, and voting options to formalize community consensus. It seeks to renew and expand the ShapeShift DAO's MKBD Workstream for the next twelve months, starting February 1, 2025, and ending February 1, 2026.

Motivation

The motivation behind this proposal stems from the need to:

• Increase ShapeShift’s user base, market share, and brand relevance.
• Foster new strategic partnerships to expand platform utility and marketing awareness.
• Strengthen community engagement and brand presence.
• Drive adoption of key ShapeShift features and products.
• (Re)Establish ShapeShift as a leading platform in decentralized finance.
• Build compelling customer funnels and journeys while tracking and refining our understanding of customer paths, actions, value, and intent at each step of the funnel.

Specification

Foreword

Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results over and over again.
The spirit of this proposal is to continue what has yielded consistent results while executing limited-scoped, dynamic acquisition experiments aiming to boost user acquisition, awareness, and conversion.

Northstar Goals

Campaigns

Develop and execute comprehensive campaigns focused on increasing platform/product usage, awareness, and community engagement (e.g., holding FOX tokens, interacting with the core team).

• Goal: Grow daily session starts by 10x (~13k unique session starts per day).

Funnels

Maintain and improve product conversion rates and own marketing funnels.

• Goal: Holistically own, build, and optimize the .com, SEO, paid media, and organic traffic funnels.
• Flow:
  • Session Start → Connect Wallet → Receive quote → Execute Onchain Action
  • .com Landing Page → Session Start → Etc.

Partner Management

Find more reliable/accessible on/off-ramping partners to improve current user flows.

• Manage and monitor existing integration partners (e.g., Chainflip, THORChain) to steward ShapeShift usage and awareness in their communities.

Contributor Awareness

Build individual contributor external awareness and profiles by:

• Connecting contributors to blogs, podcasts, and Twitter Spaces.
• Driving internal enthusiasm to encourage DAO participation.

Key Budget Allocations

Budget details are outlined in the Budget Distribution sheet.

[link] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OB0W3YvtXFd2tG9HXyiYpPETt1i9Sau3l_VbhHq4S3Q/edit?usp=sharing

Summary:

• The budget is a ceiling for spending, with actual spend dependent on campaign success and results.
• Proposed increases:
  • USDC: +3.9% ($1,287 monthly, $15,440 yearly).
  • FOX: +62.5% ($5,111 monthly, $61,328 yearly).
• Total ask for 1 year: $569,200
  • $34,142 USDC, $13,292 FOX for a monthly ask of $47,433.
• Contributors:
  Workstream Lead (@Hpayne)
  Onchain Growth and Content Lead (@Twells)
  Webmaster & Web2 Marketing Specialist (@TheSmith)
  Lead Designer (@Atlan)
  Sapote (Data Management)
  International UX & Translations lead (@Firebomb)
  Intern (@Vodka)

Links to Plans

• Paid Media Plan (Work in progress as we evaluate ROI + audience) => https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mcyemnsoKv6w2HvRkNGNa0ulsoJcdtcIQVfwe5mqKsY/edit?usp=sharing

• Onchain + Content Marketing Plan => https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dldpJ7BSY83gn9X-CMeUEbiFq0K_pVzumFnaUaFk0BY/edit?usp=sharing

Performance Metrics

Success metrics are outlined in the respective plans linked above.
Mixpanel and onchain data will serve as the source of truth for tracking marketing actions, retention, and other KPIs.
Monthly performance reports will be shared on the forum and during office hours.

Reporting

The workstream will:

• Host bi-weekly office hours for the community.
• Provide dashboards and reports for all spending and acquisition campaigns.
• Respond to additional reporting requests to ensure visibility and transparency.

Drawbacks

• Budget Risks: Misallocation of resources could lead to suboptimal results.
• Market Volatility: Unpredictable market changes could impact outcomes.
• Limited Visibility: Approximately 48.5% visibility into marketing funnels due to private browsing and blockers.

Benefits

• Retaining core talent and reallocating the existing budget toward limited experiments.
• Trying new approaches to address urgent challenges.
• Efficiently utilizing limited time and runway to make meaningful impact.
• Maintaining translations and global accessibility in app and marketing materials

Vote

• For: Formalizes the community is for the details outlined in this proposal.
• Against: Formalizes the community is against the proposal.