Web3 Marketing Exposed: Is Kaito More Effective Than Traditional KOLs?
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Web3 Marketing Exposed: Is Kaito More Effective Than Traditional KOLs?
KOL marketing won't disappear, but it requires authentic voices rather than accounts that constantly shout out paid promotions 24/7.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Stacy Muur
Translation: Luffy, Foresight News
I recently conducted an in-depth study on KOL marketing, speaking with some of the most prominent Web3 marketing agencies that run campaigns for major crypto protocols such as Mantle, Sonic Labs, Aptos, and Solv Protocol.
What's the goal?
The aim of my research was to uncover how these agencies operate and understand their core KOL rosters.
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What are the criteria for selecting KOLs?
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How large is their user base?
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How do they assess audience quality?
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How are tools like Kaito and Cookie DAO reshaping the KOL game in Web3?
Whether you're a KOL aiming to join top-tier agency networks or a Web3 team preparing your next campaign, this is essential reading.
First, let’s look at some data
KOL Network Size
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42.9% of agencies have access to over 1,000 KOL accounts
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35.7% of agencies manage between 500–1,000 KOL accounts
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Nearly 50% of agencies rely on only 50–100 core active KOLs for most campaigns
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Only 10% of agencies actively collaborate with more than 250 KOLs
What are the key criteria when selecting KOLs?
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Follower count? Moderately important → 2.93/5
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Impressions per post and “smart followers”? More valued → 4.1/5
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Content quality, research ability, and track record? Critical metrics → 4.7/5
All agencies check for fake engagement, and over half use tools like Kaito and Cookie3 to screen and evaluate KOLs.
What Web3 teams should know when working with KOLs
In reality, Web3 marketing is severely limited in terms of available tools.
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X ads don’t work well. Many users have Premium (ad-free), and those without subscriptions are often not your ideal customers.
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Google Ads face regulatory hurdles—many projects can't legally advertise in key regions.
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Media coverage? Good for trust/reputation, but ineffective for actual user acquisition.
So what’s left?
KOLs—and Kaito- and Cookie-driven campaigns.
Take Spark’s campaign on Cookie, for example: 13,400 X accounts participated, most being micro-KOLs with fewer than 1,000 followers. That’s where the real innovation lies—these accounts are too small for traditional paid promotion.
But… is this model better than traditional KOL marketing? That’s debatable.
Micro-KOLs come with their own issues:
They often form echo chambers of attention, following and resharing each other—resulting in significant audience overlap. In niche verticals, this helps spread high-quality content. But in high-frequency farming campaigns (e.g., yaps/snaps), it leads to oversaturation and user disengagement.
Still, Kaito and Cookie do open doors for smaller accounts, making ambassador programs more decentralized and easier to manage.
Is decentralized marketing more important than efficiency? Another point of debate.
We mustn’t forget the recent case of Loud!: Noise ≠ strategy. Mindshare ≠ influence.
Traditional KOL marketing has flaws too
The harsh truth is: if your product lacks appeal, you’ll need to pay more. KOLs are just megaphones—they may be loud, funny, or technical, but they’re never miracle workers.
Now, if your product *is* genuinely compelling, a new problem emerges:
There’s a severe shortage of KOLs who:
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Have organically grown audiences
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Understand the technology
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Create resonant content
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Are open to sponsored collaborations
Many top-tier KOLs don’t take paid posts. They either invest privately or charge five-figure sums per tweet. This explains why nearly 50% of agencies deeply collaborate with only 50–100 KOLs out of 1,000+, and why 85% of paid KOL promotions yield zero meaningful results.
So how does KOL marketing actually work?
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Repeated, long-term posting → builds more trust, recognition, and better conversion
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KOL cross-engagement → ask them to reference each other’s insights, not just retweet brand announcements
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Organic reach > hard promotion → communities can detect ads; give KOLs freedom to express genuine opinions
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Buy commentary, not ads → authentic comments beat banner ads
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Go beyond X → Telegram, Substack = lower noise, higher retention
My view on the future of Web3 marketing
Kaito and Cookie are enabling micro-KOLs to compete for mindshare, offering marketers new experimental mechanisms. Will this become an effective lever, or just more noise? It remains to be seen.
KOL marketing isn’t going away—but it needs authentic voices, not 24/7 paid shills.
One final thought: Why is everyone still obsessed with X? If you truly want growth, stop ignoring Telegram and Substack.
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@stacy_muur
