Cost Per Wallet (CPW): The New Metric for Crypto Marketers

Acquiring customers within the Web 3.0 space is fiercer than ever. It’s a battle of exposure. Understanding your return on marketing spend is tricky, but necessary, as the substantial investment needs to be proven profitable and scalable.

Standard Web 2.0 benchmarks have fallen short in providing meaningful insights. Metrics like cost per click and cost per customer acquisition fail to represent the nuances of Web 3.0 user behaviour, which is fundamentally different. 

For a start, user anonymity obscures conversion paths. Individuals often manage multiple wallets, which complicates unique user tracking. Web 3.0 users are more likely to make more privacy efforts, such as opting out of tracking, as well as conversion events frequently happening off-site or directly on-chain, disconnected from initial ad interactions. 

Bots, airdrop farmers and low-intent traffic all inflate vanity metrics like clicks, and this distorts performance data. Engagement is fleeting, and innovative Web 3.0-specific solutions are needed because currently, the industry standards are yet to mature. 

One metric that marketing managers are turning to is cost per wallet (CPW), and it’s currently ticking a lot of boxes. That’s why in this article we’re tackling,

• Cost per wallet: the new standard

• From vanity metrics to high-value users

• CPW across the ecosystem

• CPW strategic applications for your business

Let’s dive in.

Cost per wallet: the new standard

CPW is a metric with more intention behind it, meaning that it calculates the marketing cost specifically incurred to attract a website visitor possessing an active cryptocurrency wallet within their browser. 

Web 3.0 marketing firms are beginning to use CPW as a more relevant benchmark. It identifies the presence of a wallet, which is a strong signal that the visitor is already part of the target crypto ecosystem and not just a casual observer. 

The purpose of CPW is transformation. It shifts the focus away from generic website traffic volume and towards qualified visitor acquisition. So instead of just blanketly counting clicks, CPW quantifies the cost of reaching users that are genuinely equipped to interact with decentralised applications, exchanges, and other blockchain-based products. It targets potential participants, differentiating them from the broader Internet audience. It’s ultimately about attracting readiness.

From vanity metrics to high-value users

The value proposition of cost per wallet is quite a radical contrast to traditional metrics, which have been around for decades. CPC, CAC, and CPM count clicks and leads, whereas CPW filters the signal from the noise. 

In fact, it’s not only about screening out casual users, but also browser bots, which can account for a high amount of traffic. Not least Web 3.0 traffic, which has a bot problem. What’s being counted for CPW is simply of more value, meaning those KPIs will initially appear lower. But, because of the heightened accuracy (e.g. a stronger indicator of onboarding a new user), a higher spend is more viable. Not only because the literal cost is higher for higher value visitors, but because of the higher confidence, which leads to a greater marketing investment, because a return can be more accurately expected.

Marketing agency Addressable, which is attributed to be behind this new metric, put forward an analysis that shows evidence of this. Users with a crypto wallet installed were shown to be 18 times more likely to log in via Wallet Connect or a centralised exchange. They are also seven times more likely to complete an initial transaction or convert to crypto products. Plus, wallet owners demonstrated a lot higher engagement, with them staying on site over 30 seconds (7.4 times) more often than bouncing immediately. 

Clearly, greater lead quality is a mandate for more intentional marketing spending. And, if budgets are tight, it’s still a good indicator for marketing efforts, which cost time. Both investments and time are spent more efficiently, with fewer resources wasted on chasing unqualified traffic. And, because CPW is a relatively new phenomenon (and not yet standard practice), there’s a lot to capitalise on.

CPW across the ecosystem

Cost Per Wallet is not a fix-all. Marketers should understand that CPW varies quite a lot based on other contexts, but it’s useful for strategic decisions. Market cycles hold much of the Web 3.0 space hostage, and it’s a given that CPW fluctuates depending on bull and bear market sentiment. 

Competition may well inflate costs during bull runs, and reduced overall activity may decrease CPW during downturns. Understanding these cycles is important, or else you’ll suffer from confounded variables. Regional differences will also be important to consider, with the US potentially having a higher baseline CPW, though highly elastic. Emerging markets may have lower CPW, which may currently only be sought out by high-intent enthusiasts, but can have a lot more volatility to exploit (but also to be wary of).

Audience segmentation also impacts costs, according to reports. With campaigns targeting DeFi or CeFi, users often achieve the lowest median CPW of around $2.79, showing the user base is perhaps more established. Layer 1 and Layer 2 projects follow relatively closely with a median CPW of $3.23, showing broader adoption efforts. Web 3.0 gaming or gambling campaigns tend to see higher costs, with a median CPW averaging around $3.40 (likely due to higher churn and competition).

CPW strategic applications for your business

Understanding cost per wallet data is only really the first step, as you’ll be applying it strategically to unlock real business value. These insights can inform more efficient marketing decisions with higher ROI, but use regional and segment CPW variations to help guide budget allocation. You may target low-cost emerging markets for a broad reach, or focus on higher-cost developed markets with potentially higher value users. The CPW cannot make this decision for you, as it’s simply one data point.

Adopting cost per wallet can fundamentally improve your crypto marketing as it shifts focus towards user quality. While it may not outline your entire strategy, it can form the basis for more careful marketing investment. However, with these efforts, you also need to navigate the constantly changing compliance requirements surrounding promotions. 

For help with this, please contact us at Englebert, as we can help guide you through marketing that stays on the right side of the FCA.