How to Promote Meme Tokens in Summer 2024

Let’s explore the promotion strategy for the meme token CATDOG, which was launched in July 2024. This token, symbolized as $CATDOG, is built on the Solana blockchain and was first mentioned on July 22, 2024.

The Concept Behind the Meme Token

CATDOG Meme Token Illustration.

The CATDOG token draws inspiration from the American animated series CatDog. Although the creators clarify that they are “Not affiliated with the CatDog cartoon; rights belong to Nickelodeon,” the reference is clear and the idea resonates well. The character is easily recognizable, albeit with a unique illustration style. This familiar yet distinct visual identity is maintained across social media and the project’s website.

Many popular meme tokens are inspired by or reference well-known ideas or entities, which enhances their marketing appeal and recognizability:

  • NEIRO: Named after a new Akita Inu called Neiro, adopted by Atsuko Sato, the owner of the original Doge meme dog, Kabosu. The token garnered significant interest in the crypto community, leading to its rapid rise across multiple blockchains, including Ethereum and Solana.
  • MEME: A satirical response to the growing interest in decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens, highlighting the absurdity of speculative investments without intrinsic value. Initially launched with the tagline “Don’t buy $MEME,” it gained popularity by embracing meme culture and building an exclusive community around it.
  • MAGA: Inspired by Donald Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again,” this meme coin was launched in the context of the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign. It serves as part meme, part political statement, and part prediction market, leveraging Trump’s media presence and polarizing personality.

Timeline

DateAction
03.06.2024Purchase of a Twitter account with followers, rebranding
21.07.2024Token minting
22.07.2024First tweet and project mention
22.07.2024Geckoterminal filing (preliminary listing on Coingecko)
22.07.2024Burning of LP tokens
22.07.2024$15mio Market Cap reached
23.07.2024Twitter Shilling start, examples:
tweet1 – https://x.com/nobrainflip/status/1815661356013568087
tweet2 – https://x.com/ardizor/status/1815502039545225359
tweet3 – https://x.com/0xPepesso/status/1815493470166942011
23.07.2024Application submission to CoinMarketCap
23.07.2024Addition of the token to Bitget Wallet
24.07.2024Token listing on http://xt.com/
26.07.2024Token listing on http://mecx.com/
01.08.2024$55mio Market Cap reached

Marketing Strategy

The core of the promotion strategy involves extensive shilling on x.com (formerly Twitter), with a consistent narrative and messaging.

Numerous Twitter influencers (50-200k followers) were involved in the initial days of shilling, driving other users to join the wave.

The promotional effort was supported by active posting in the project’s unique style:

Market Making Strategy

Here’s a step-by-step outline of the market-making strategy for the meme token:

  1. With LP tokens burned, profit-taking followed an early-buy scheme.
  2. Several clusters of wallets were created, funded prior to the token launch, and tokens were purchased when the market cap was below $100k.
  3. Gradual selling of tokens from these wallets ensued. By August 1, the cash out amounted to over $3 million.

Summary

The foundation of promoting a meme token involves active shilling on Twitter (utilizing numerous influencers in the early days post-launch) and market making. The token itself must have a unique concept, visual identity, and distinctive feature for virality and recognizability. In many cases, the involvement of celebrities significantly boosts attention and confidence in the token’s growth.