A special thank you to 
At the end of last year we asked the community for input on the 2025 marketing strategy. We thank everyone who took the time to participate and fill out the questionnaire.
The key input takeaways are:
This approach leverages the DMAIC quality control methodology to support continuous improvement and resource optimization.
DMAIC: Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, and Control.
We are aiming to prioritize digital activities and online promotions as much as possible this year.
Geographical areas which require unique approaches (predominantly LATAM and India) have their own marketing strategies.
Physical activities will be coupled with side-events where possible.
Increasing cross-use of Hive dapps and projects to amplify promotions and showcase technology built on Hive.
| Group | Reason | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Content creators [CC] | Content producers and consumers make up the majority of Hive | Onboarding, user journey, mentorship, guides, workshops |
| Builders and developers [BD] | The Hive ecosystem thrives and expands through innovation | Conferences, tech events, hackathons, podcasts, workshops |
| Investors [I] | Investors support liquidity and training while helping all aspects of the ecosystem scale | Conferences, specialized events, podcasts and digital programs, flashy sporting events |
| Businesses [B2B] | Businesses amplify Hive through use of HIVE and HBD to make purchases, showing the utility of Hive | Workshops, tool/dapp-specific marketing, targeted messages |
| Partners [P] | Current and potential partners add value through scaling, integrations, and cross-promotion | Conferences, joint events, joint promotional campaigns, resource-sharing |
| Exchanges [E] | Exchanges and trading services amplify the flexibility and utility of HIVE and HBD and support growth | Targeted messages, relationship-building, joint promotional campaigns |
We have covered much analysis and reflection in previous posts and will continue doing so on an ongoing basis.
Successful activities:
This analysis version incorporates the feedback provided by Hive community members, which can also be found here: https://gitlab.syncad.com/hive/marketing/-/blob/master/strategy/Value%20Plan/strategy%20feedback/swot.md?ref_type=heads
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Opportunities:
Threats:
SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely goals. All SMART goals are quantitative.
General social media:
hiveblocks X account to 50k followers by 2026hiveblocks Instagram account to 10k followers by 2026hiveio blog account 1-2 posts per month (starting February)Community engagement:
Also available: https://gitlab.syncad.com/hive/marketing/-/blob/master/strategy/Value%20Plan/projectgoals.md
| Project | Deliverable | 2024 Goal | 2025 Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water and social impact projects | Efficient service delivery | Publicity in research papers, recognition of NGOs, publicity through joint partnerships and events | Completion of outstanding projects, no change to goals |
| Rally and motorcycle racing | Professional performance and representation of Hive | Increase in media exposure, including across socials, interviews | Successful coupling with side-events and crypto/tech-specific activities |
| Bike racing | Professional performance and representation of Hive | Partnerships with industry brands to encourage business use of Hive | Partnerships with industry brands and a focus on social media exposure |
| SWC | High-quality events representing Hive | Promotion of Hive in Colombia, focusing on investors and potential builders, social media representation, reducing costs through partnerships | Partnerships with non-crypto sporting brands, self-sustainability beyond as a marketing project |
| Education projects | Inspiring youth to explore STEM through Hive | Local publicity, recognition of academia | Onboarding and retention of talented young people |
| B2B | Onboarding businesses to transact in HBD | Exploring remote onboarding, reducing costs, focusing on sustainability | Shift from Sucre to global, focus on Distriator and VSC |
| Conferences | Visibility, partnerships and listings | Secure invites to speak at conferences | Secure high-value partnerships and invitations |
| Hackathons and niche promotions | Outstanding, professional events | Showcase Hive technology, expand utility of Hive, encourage building on Hive | Long-term engagement and retention of created projects and applications |
| Vibes | Onboarding music professionals | N/A | Gain visibility for Hive among musicians and fans |
| Arts intellectual programs, films, sponsorships | Promoting Hive as a viable solution for the arts scene, onboarding | N/A | Secure lasting partnerships with professional arts entities, promote Hive as a blockchain for the arts |
| Krolestwo and static focal points | Creation of physical Hive gathering spaces | N/A | Onboarding and retention, serve as gathering space to offset costs |
| HiveFest and community events | Professional and memorable events | Inclusion of non-Hive partners, partnerships and investment | Strengthening of the Hive community as a whole |
Over the years we have established relationship with a number of conference organizers whom we know are capable of delivering good quality events and understand that working with Hive means creating opportunities suitable for a decentralized community. They understand what Hive has to offer, what our priorities are when we attend or sponsor, and how we process payments. We will be prioritizing those conferences for larger sponsorships while considering others, particularly those in areas where we had little exposure.
More:
Less:
We also learned a lot of hard lessons through trial and error over the years and shared many successes. While no event is ever perfect, we do better with each one.
Hive physical events including sporting activities, creative community activities, social-impact related events and physical get togethers. Physical events are far more expensive now than when we started promoting Hive in this manner. The cost of materials, assets, parts, and logistics has gone up exponentially due to global economic and geopolitical reasons far beyond our control. Food and transportation costs are on the rise and its plainly evident that the entire supply chain for every single item or service is affected. Not only ourselves but also our partners had costs rise mid-engagement, agreement or no agreement, sometimes exponentially.
At the same time, many of our Hive community members are having a harder time contributing to physical events. They are working multiple jobs, taking care of aging parents, and doing more with less. The impact is felt across our ecosystem.
All physical events this year will prioritize simplifying to reduce more than we already are used to reducing. We will not sacrifice quality for quantity. Hive is always presented with professionally-designed and printed material. We also do not compromise with safety.
More:
Less:
While mass-onboarding was originally out of scope for Value Plan activities and only targeted onboarding events were conducted, based on community feedback and the results of our SWAT analysis and other reflective processes, we will pivot to focus on onboarding. To do this effectively, not only does onboarding need to take center stage but also a quality user experience. New Hive community members must have an interesting, clear and engaging journey when they join Hive, irrespective of what method of joining or dapp they focus on.
Empowering the Hive community digitally and physically is a priority this year. This includes our content creators, our dapps, our builders and generally everyone who is part of Hive. Our aim is to make activities accessible, particularly in digital form, wherever possible.
A strong emphasis on onboarding support/mentorship for new users was identified as a priority for this year. It is a clear-cut need as while the Hive ecosystem grows so does its complexity. Mentorship is an evident need. This focus further supports community building and dapp inclusion.
More:
Less:
Several ongoing projects will be either paused or changed this year while we consider new initiatives and improve on the current ones.
Physical Bitcoin Pizza Days: Due to various logistical, cost and general conduct reasons, Bitcoin Pizza Day will be a digital get together this year. We hope for a more positive and inclusive celebratory experience. [Paused]
Handball sponsorship: We greatly appreciate the cooperation and promotional help of the club but we recognize that our digital identity is not where it needs to be to capitalize on arena branding. We are forced to miss a season. [Paused]
Social Impact projects: We are finishing off the existing projects in Q1 and possibly Q2. No new projects will be undertaken thereafter unless explicitly warranted due to new information. We will focus on documentation and publication of the current ones. [Changed]
Rallies: We are limiting the rallies to ensure that we select locations with the most suitable impact. We also need them to have ample time between events to allow for repairs. A total of three rallies are scheduled: Monaco (completed), Italy (may be substituted), and CER. The rallies will have side-events where possible. [Changed]
SWC: SWC started out as a pure Hive marketing initiative but it became an entity. Since last year it has been actively seeking sports-related sponsors to create further opportunities for Hive and the participating athletes and will continue doing so, pivoting towards a B2B trajectory. [Changed]
Hive has the unique position of harvesting a diverse and engaged community that is used to continual optimization and perseverance to readily identify missed opportunities.
The Metrics Portal aka the Value Plan website is still in the works and is going through not only development but also an ongoing discussion regarding metrics and information analysis. Feedback, contributions and issues should be raised on Gitlab.
The website is created not only for Value Plan but also to be a functional and replicatable frontend for any DHF-based initiatives. Once launched, dapps are encouraged to clone it and customize it to their needs.
The website in progress can be seen at: https://value-plan-project.vercel.app
The website repository can be accessed from: https://gitlab.syncad.com/hive/metrics-portal
The site is currently planned to also include onboarding data. That data and its associated queries are currently being scrutinized by a small group of Hive community members with expertise in respect to metrics.
The site does include a focus on Plug-In proposals but these present a challenging aspect of organization and we are still testing them out.
Logos: A collection of Hive-themed logos can be found here free to use for any dapp or project that may need one: https://gitlab.syncad.com/hive/marketing/-/tree/master/logos?ref_type=heads (Adobe Illustrator format)
Account creator: The conference onboarding system is available here for integration and customization: https://gitlab.syncad.com/hive/hive-account-creator
Value Plan conducts all of its financial transactions explicitly on chain and strives to outline their uses within the memos. In doing that it enables anyone to look back over the transactions without the need to uncover anything.
There are a few facts to consider while doing so. Value Plan does not "award" funds to anyone. What Value Plan does is enable Hive to make purchases of merchandise, pay for sponsorships or secure supplies for events by passing funds to individuals to pay the vendors. We do not pay ambassadors or organizers like other chains do. No one "got paid to do" anything and never will under Value Plan. It is insulting to refer as such to Hive community members who volunteer their time and act as a go in-between Hive and vendors.
The wallets that process payments are always encouraged to be cold wallets, particularly those belonging to doxxed individuals. This is for the safety of the individuals and the funds. They are not meant to be posting accounts. The use of cold wallets is a general best practice for anyone in relation to any crypto. We hope this note helps develop more understanding.
With this we conclude this general strategy document. LATAM and India strategies are ready but are in different formats, with LATAM being a spreadsheet. We will push these out independently.
Thank you, The Value Plan Team