Combining storytelling and strategy for your NFT drops

Good morning!

We're back with another edition of our weekly newsletter. This time we have quite a few things in store for you.

Topics:

• Storytelling and NFT release strategy

• NFT Photography 2022 Market Review

• The NFT market is improving again

Storytelling And NFT Release Strategy

We have previously covered the importance of storytelling and tactics/strategy. In case you missed it, you can read an in-depth article piece about this topic here.

The idea of owning and minting art has been layered with more levels of game theory as creators and artists have grown more accustomed to the idea of art on the blockchain.

It is clearly illustrated through Manifold, a free creator platform for Ethereum that provides access to easy minting, customization, utility implementation, and holder insights.

Here are some recent NFT drops/use cases outlined by Thomas Pan: 

Drunk Santa

On Christmas, cryptopainter released a free claim piece, Drunk Santa. Each wallet was eligible to claim 3 mints with a future opportunity to burn their minted NFTs in exchange for something special.

25,627+ editions of this piece were minted in ~16 hours.

In the following days, cryptopainter revealed more details about claiming additional art and burning mechanics:

• The free mint holders were given the opportunity to claim 1 of 3 presents in the second snapshot: PFP, Pin Drop, or Two Words

• To mint Monkey King, Punk, Cool Cat, etc, holders had to burn 2 PFP pieces

• If holders had the new art piece in the same wallet as their Bored Ape, Cryptopunk, Cool Cat, etc, cryptopainter would include them in his future artwork moving forward

Takeaway:

When you combine the ingredients of a free claim, open edition, burning mechanic, and great art, you have a recipe for something that could potentially bring you success.

The creator and the holders can benefit from this in multiple ways:

• Co-creation: holders have the opportunity to have their other NFT art featured in cryptopainter's future work.

• Finding inspiration: the project enables holders to burn pieces and submit stories and words from which the artist can create new pieces. This benefits not only the holders but also the artist who won't have to worry about sourcing inspiration.

The Final Chapter by Hiroji Kotegawa

Kotegawa held an Open Edition mint at 0.05 ETH (~$60) for The Final Chapter, with 190 NFTs minted at the end of the claim period.

Later, the artist released ‘The New Beginning’, with 3 versions of the piece. Holders had to burn 2 of ‘The Final Chapter’ tokens in order to mint.

Each version had a 24-hour mint window and was not shown simultaneously. This tactic adds a level of gamification, especially if you only minted 2 Final Chapter pieces.

Burn Adventures by Logik

On New Year’s Day, Logik launched Burn Adventures, an interactive art series. Burna Phone: Act I was minted 4,565 times.

Conclusion

These ideas are certainly not new, but they can - if used correctly - help artists build a solid presence and stronger relationship with the collectors.

NFT Photography 2022 Review

A prominent digital art writer, Tim Salikhov, has published a report which breaks down the 2022 NFT photography market.

Here are the main takeaways:

• Photography volumes grew 33% in 2022

• 50+ photographers rose to stardom in 2022

• 90% of collections lost value

• 2022 laid a strong foundation for future growth of photography on blockchain

What needs to be done next?

We need to make it appealing, interesting, and secure for millions of people who are not yet involved to enter the NFT photography space in order to establish a truly global digital art market that is fair and equitable, and 100X larger than it is today.

Everyone can make a difference by educating their friends and coworkers about web3 and the next generation of art, sharing about artists they enjoy, taking them to exhibitions (both in person and online), assisting them in purchasing their first piece of art on the blockchain, and more.

If you want to read the full report, click here

The NFT market is improving again

Some of the top NFT marketplaces, such as OpenSea and LooksRare, have been showing a significant increase in their sales volume over the past 30 days. 

At this stage, it's still too early to say whether this could be a positive sign for the NFT digital art space, including photography. However, seeing green makes us hope for better days.

Thank you for reading and make sure to follow us on Twitter @FocusMarketNFT

If you're interested in more NFT photography content, check out our blog