Introduction

Web3 presents new opportunities that were not feasible in the Web2 era, making it essential to bring the successful elements of Web2 into this advanced digital landscape. Influencer and Affiliate marketing, significant growth areas in Web2, have expanded rapidly in the last five years. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, influencer marketing alone could grow to an estimated $16.4 billion industry in 2022 Influencer Marketing Hub 2022.

However, the adoption of influencer and affiliate marketing strategies in Web3 has been minimal, and when these methods are used, they typically lack transparency. This approach does not align with the ethos of decentralization and transparency that defines Web3

To address this gap, we are developing the BlockAffiliate platform. This initiative aims to enable projects to create on-chain affiliate and referral programs that align with the transparent, trust-based nature of Web3. The platform will not only adopt the proven effectiveness of these marketing techniques but also enhance them by integrating blockchain technology's innovative features, ensuring that all parties benefit fairly from their contributions.

Problem Statement

Today, many Web3 projects face a big challenge in finding effective ways to market themselves and get new customers. Even though Web2 methods like influencer marketing and referral programs have worked well for many companies, most Web3 projects haven't yet used these strategies. 

In Web3, projects can create their own tokens, which help build local economies where everyone's interests are connected and aimed at the same goals. Despite this advantage, Web3 projects still haven't fully used these proven methods to gain customers. Currently, they mostly rely on airdrops to attract new users. While airdrops can be successful at first, they often attract bots and don't lead to long-term growth because the people who join for airdrops may not stay interested in the project.

This shows a clear need for Web3 projects to explore better and more sustainable ways to attract and keep customers using strategies that have already been successful in the Web2 space.

How Soroban BlockAffiliate works?

Soroban BlockAffiliate will help track and manage referral information directly on the blockchain and at the transaction level. Here’s a simple explanation of how it will operate:

• Creating a Standard for Referrals: Soroban BlockAffiliate will publish a standard, akin to Token or NFT standards, that any project can follow. By using this standard, any project can start their own referral or affiliate program smoothly and easily without needing to build everything from scratch.

• Capturing Information on the Blockchain: Whenever a transaction occurs, Soroban BlockAffiliate will capture all the details about who referred whom and how. This means every bit of referral data is recorded securely on-chain.

• Listening to Transactions and Events: Soroban BlockAffiliate will monitor any transactions and events related to referrals. When it spots something relevant, it will extract the referral information directly from these transactions and events.

• Dashboard for Insights and Management: After collecting the referral data, Soroban BlockAffiliate will display it on a dashboard. This dashboard will allow project administrators to find out which influencers or referrers are performing well and deserve rewards for their efforts.

• Enabling Transparent and Trustworthy Programs: The entire system is permissionless and transparent, meaning anyone can join or see how things work without needing special access. This makes the program trustworthy because everything is open and clear about how referrers are performing and being compensated.

Benefits of Soroban BlockAffiliate

1. Increase Outreach and End User Adoption: The BlockAffiliate platform will expand the reach of Web3 projects, significantly enhancing user adoption by leveraging on-chain referral and affiliate marketing strategies proven successful in Web2.

2. Help Create Sustained Growth: By adopting and adapting effective Web2 marketing techniques, the platform will drive more sustainable growth for Web3 projects, moving beyond the temporary boost of strategies like airdrops.

3. Align Interests of Influencers and Referrers: BlockAffiliate will ensure that influencers and referrers are adequately rewarded for their contributions, aligning their interests with the overall success of the projects they promote, thereby motivating continued and effective promotion.

4. Establish a Trustable, Permissionless, and Efficient System: By implementing a transparent, on-chain system, BlockAffiliate will establish a trustworthy and efficient platform where anyone can participate or verify transactions without requiring special access, enhancing credibility and ease of use.

Pitch Deck

https://www.canva.com/design/DAGG0i769bU/99VfQcKwC76tHNm3Vuwdvg/edit

Robin Nagpal(founder), is submitting the application for DoDAO(https://dodao.io)

We are a team of 7 (5 devs, 1 UX,  1 Marketing).

DoDAO has been working on many educational and governance tooling initiatives with some of the top projects.
 

Educational Initiatives:

• https://uniswap.university
• https://arbitrum.education
• https://compound.education
• https://optimism.university/

& many more

 

Tooling Initiatives:

• Compound Proposal Security Alerts
• Compound Governance Command Line Interface

While the grant from SCF is vital for kickstarting the project, we understand that SCF Awards are not meant to sustain projects indefinitely.

As such, our funding strategy includes several key components:

Partnerships and Collaborations: After the MVP is completed, we plan to engage with some of the larger projects in the Stellar ecosystem to help them set up referral programs. We will charge for both the product use and the associated services, generating a steady revenue stream.

Proven Track Record and Bootstrapping: Our team has a proven track record as a bootstrapped company. Our educational products are already utilized by top blockchain companies, demonstrating our capability to deliver valuable and reliable solutions without relying solely on external funding.

Revenue Sharing Models: By implementing a revenue sharing model within the BlockAffiliate system, we will generate ongoing income from transactions and referrals facilitated by our platform. This will help sustain the project financially beyond the initial grant period.