IEO PR - Everything You Need to Know [2026]

IEO PR arrived at the end of 2018 after ICOs had forged a bad reputation among investors and the crypto community.

The blockchain industry has come a long way over the last few years. From the creation of Bitcoin to the ICO boom at the end of 2017, the industry has been flooded with hundreds of new ICOs each month.

However, most of them failed to deliver what they had promised to their investors and community.

But when one door closes, another one opens. The lack of trust for ICOs made it possible for STOs (Security Token Offerings) and IEOs (Initial Exchange Offerings) to show up.

Each one of these fundraising methods has a different marketing approach. 
This guide covers everything you need to know about IEO PR.

After working with hundreds of different projects in our marketing agency over the last few years, I feel confident that this article can help you and your company.

IEO PR is an expensive business. Trial and error in this field can cost you a fortune. Still, by better understanding how the PR world works, especially in the blockchain industry and specifically for IEO companies, you will increase your company’s chances of running a successful IEO PR campaign.

So let’s get started!

What Is an IEO?#

In late 2017, China decided to ban all ICO fundraising, leaving hundreds of different ICOs without the ability to raise funds to sustain their existence. Combine that with the ban on ICO ads imposed by several social media channels, and suddenly the burst of the ICO bubble makes more sense. 

According to Binance:

An Initial Exchange Offering, commonly referred to as an IEO, is a fundraising event that is administered by an exchange. In contrast to an Initial Coin Offering(ICO) where the project team themselves conduct the fundraising, an Initial Exchange Offering means that the fundraising will be conducted on a well-known exchange’s fundraising platform, such as Binance Launchpad, where users can purchase tokens with funds directly from their own exchange wallet.

The way I see it, IEO first started due to the lack of trust investors, companies, and governments had in ICOs. IEO makes it possible to use a specific exchange’s reputation as a kind of guarantee for the company that runs the IEO is legit.

What is IEO PR?#

Initial Exchange Offering Public Relations (IEO PR) involves strategically promoting an IEO project within the cryptocurrency landscape through various channels, such as news sites, publications, conferences, AMAs, webinars, and other PR-focused marketing activities. IEO PR presents unique challenges, as it requires projects to emphasize building trust and authority in their messaging.

This is primarily due to the skepticism and apprehension generated by numerous exit scams and failed ventures during the ICO boom.

What is the difference between ICO and IEO PR?#

As someone who has run hundreds of different ICO marketing campaigns, our biggest challenge has always been building trust with the community and investors.

It seems like a challenge that every company faces outside the blockchain ecosystem, but that’s not exactly correct.
Since many ICOs betrayed their community and investors, the industry as a whole put a red stamp over those fundraising processes.

When it comes to trust, the starting point of an ICO is probably way worse than an IEO or a startup that’s not related to crypto. That’s why one of the most important elements of any ICO PR campaign is building trust.

This great research paper dives into why people don’t trust ICOs. In a nutshell, the low barrier for entry made it possible for unqualified companies to run ICOs, attracting investments of millions of dollars only in ideas.

Are ICOs and IEOs trustworthy?#

When it comes to trust, the difference between ICO and IEO is clear. For an IEO, I need to trust the exchange (in this case, Binance Launchpad) and believe that their team runs high-quality IEO due diligence. Considering the exchange’s reputation, I’m much more likely to trust an IEO as an investor.

Therefore the PR campaign for an IEO can focus more on the product itself and that the company passed the exchange’s due diligence practices.

For example, in an ICO, I recommend our clients run a PR campaign that focuses on building the team members’ authority, the advisors, and the company as a whole.

Another major difference between ICO and IEO PR is where you lead your potential investors. In an IEO, you can run ads that lead to your landing page on the exchange (in this example, Binance). By doing this, you will leverage the authority of the exchange you’re launching your IEO on.

For example, I have never heard about CARTESI, but I know Binance is trustworthy; therefore, CARTESI seems much more attractive to me as an investor.

IEO PR Costs#

When I write my guides, the costs are always the easiest part to write. That’s because it doesn’t matter if you run an ICO, STO, or IEO in the blockchain industry.

The PR costs are going to be high, and there is no limit to how much you can spend per month. 

On the other hand, there is a limit to how much you can benefit from a PR campaign.

When it comes to IEO PR, the cost can go from $3,000 per month to more than $100,000.

In my opinion, as someone who has dealt with large Blockchain PR campaigns over the years, PR is good, but it’s not the key to your IEO’s marketing success. 

PR campaigns should be diverse and keep SEO strategy in mind. That’s especially the case when working on crypto SEO. A PR campaign that costs your company $7000 per month can be as effective as a $30,000 per month campaign if done properly.

You should also define certain KPIs for your IEO PR campaign. Most companies think that PR leads to high traffic, but that’s not correct. Let’s look at this article on CoinTelegraph about the launch of a new platform trading platform.

Out of the 4191 people who visit this article, how many visits CryptoAltum should expect to get to their site? Unfortunately, based on our experience, not a lot.

If they get a CTR of 3%, they should expect 125 visitors, which is an optimistic scenario.

You should also consider that people don’t like sponsored content (no one likes to be sold things). Most of those visitors would leave CryptoAltum within the first minute.

Why am I showing you this? Well, you should know what to expect from your IEO PR campaign. It leads me to the next chapter.

How to Measure Brand Awareness in Your IEO PR campaign #

When a company launches an IEO PR campaign, in most cases, they imagine their site is getting exploded with insane traffic. In reality, it’s far from the truth. From the thousands of people who will read the articles in your PR campaign, only a few will actually visit your site.

But does it means you spent money for nothing?

Not at all.

Brand Awareness is an essential aspect of any PR campaign. When a story about your company on a news site goes viral, the company gains a valuable aura.

It becomes more respected within the ecosystem (and sometimes it cross the boundaries of the crypto market and gets mainstream).

How can you measure your brand awareness and generate solid KPIs?#

Social Listening

Once a story in your IEO PR campaign goes viral, there is a high chance people will talk about your company on different forums and social media.
Make sure you are using a social listening tool.

Company Name Search Volume

Brand awareness and PR campaigns will directly impact how many people are searching for your company name per month. 

A successful PR campaign should result in an increase in search volume over time. You can use a free tool like Ubersuggest to find this information.

Direct Traffic

When people see your company name repeatedly, they are more likely to directly write your company name in their browser, which counts as direct on Google Analytics. 
Also, traffic from sites like Reddit usually counts as direct traffic.

Tips for a successful IEO PR campaign:#

Launching a great IEO PR campaign is hard!

There are tons of competitors, many social media channels don’t allow blockchain companies to run ads, and there’s the pressure of time to hit your goal.

Combining all of these has caused many ICOs over the last few years to cut corners and find unethical shortcuts.
In this section, I will provide you with a few tips for a successful IEO PR campaign that are probably relevant for any blockchain marketing campaign:

• Don’t fake your community. Companies like to buy fake Telegram members and Twitter followers. This does not help grow your brand.

• Besides the fact that it looks strange that you have thousands of followers but barely any Twitter or Telegram engagement, expert investors can recognize fake followers and be less likely to invest in your IEO.

• You’re a new company. No one expects you to be something else. Blockchain companies try to create an image of something they are yet to achieve. There’s a difference between your future goals and the current situation. 

• By showing misleading information to your community and investors (for example, an office with hundreds of employees and a technology breakthrough that’s about to happen when, in fact, you have only two employees). 

• It’s better to show your community your reality and share your roadmap and milestones with them. People appreciate honesty, and by getting your community and investors involved, you will start to see that some of them really care about your progress.

How can I create a strong PR strategy for my IEO?#

To create a robust PR strategy for your IEO, consider adopting the Crypto PR Strategy Pyramid developed by GuerrillaBuzz. The pyramid presents a comprehensive framework for successfully executing your public relations campaign. It consists of five essential stages, each designed to optimize your campaign’s effectiveness.

To create a strong PR strategy for your IEO, consider the following steps:

• Brainstorm: Generate innovative ideas and explore various story angles for your campaign to identify potential viral content.
  
  
• Research: Gather insights about your target audience, the market landscape, and competitors’ strategies to discover unique opportunities.
  
  
• Plan: Strategize key components, establish clear objectives aligned with your goals, and develop a content calendar for your campaign.
  
  
• Execute: Launch the campaign with compelling content, build community relationships, and leverage PR buzz to elevate your brand.
  
  
• Measure & Optimize: Analyze campaign results, identify areas for improvement, and use data-driven insights to refine future campaigns. By following these steps, you can create a concise and effective PR strategy for your IEO that resonates with your target audience.

Conclusion:#

Launching an IEO PR campaign is hard, time-consuming, and expensive, but there’s another way.

By doing your homework, reading this guide and other guides we publish in our blog, and creating a great strategy for your PR campaign, you can increase the chance your campaign will be successful.

Feel free to check out our home page for more info. If you need professional help, you can jump on a call with an IEO PR expert.