This week’s guest blog post is contributed by Chris Puga, VP Sales and Agency Development at Taptica.

I’m no cryptocurrency guru, but I did download the Coinbase app a few weeks ago and made a small investment in Ether. Nothing life-changing but just enough to hold a decent conversation with a few friends who are heavily invested in a number of cryptocurrencies.

Now that I’m opening my Coinbase app multiple times a day, seeing insane fluctuations on a minute-by-minute basis, I’ve started to think… Is this a true disruption in our financial institution that will be with us for years to come? Or is it a short-lived hype like what we saw with Pokémon Go back in the summer of 2016?

Either way, you can’t open up Twitter without seeing a Tweet about cryptocurrency and at this level of awareness and engagement, we should all be taking note. So, with that in mind, here are 6 key factors from the recent rise of cryptocurrency that we can apply to our strategies in the mobile ad tech industry.

1. Big Brands Make the Most Noise

Did you know that there are over 1,000 different types of cryptocurrencies? Yet you mostly only hear about Bitcoin, Ether, and maybe Litecoin. That’s because the biggest players typically make the most noise.

In mobile advertising, the logic is the same. So, if you’re not a Top 100 app, you need to find alternative ways to get noticed.

The key here is testing more than you think is necessary. Consider putting aside a certain percentage of your user acquisition funds on a quarterly basis for new experimental opportunities. And, when vetting partners, ask what they can do better than anyone else and use that as a testing point for your assigned budget.

2. Word of Mouth is the Best Form of Advertising

Richard Branson once said, “Free publicity and word of mouth is probably the best and cheapest form of advertising.”

If your friend turns a $100 investment into several thousand dollars – trust me, they’ll tell you about it. The same thing goes for mobile apps.

People love to talk about their favorite apps and they love claiming to be one of the original pioneers to download the app and become a user. If you can build a great experience within your app, your customers will talk about it.

Of course, you can also help accelerate this opportunity by featuring social sharing buttons and rewarding people when they share within their network(s).

3. Cast a Wide Net

As mentioned earlier, there are over 1,000 different cryptocurrencies. Yes, even Bananacoin is now available. In mobile advertising, casting a wide net in your targeting approach can also be one of the smartest (and most cost-effective) ways to deliver a campaign.

By starting general and working to identify new pockets of success from your initial launch, you can safely manage to stay within your CPI goals while exploring new audiences.

4. Test & Learn, Test & Learn, Test & Learn

Not every cryptocurrency is going to be a success – just like your UA campaigns.

When working with a mobile ad network, challenge your vendors to explore new publisher sources and different audiences.

In the present mobile landscape, nothing is set in stone. Advertisers must continue to push their partners for increased transparency, better analytics, and deeper data if they want to see their efforts culminating in stronger overall results.

5. Find Your Influencer

Supposedly 50 Cent forgot he owned 700 Bitcoins after agreeing to accept digital currency as an alternative form of payment for his 2014 album “Animal Ambition.” Say what you will, but 50 Cent is going to party like it’s his birthday from now on with that kind of cash in the bank.

His story also became a trending topic on Twitter for several days. Whether it’s planned or accidental, having a celebrity or a small-scale influencer align with your brand can launch powerful new growth lines you may have never anticipated. When marketing your mobile app, the effect can be the same.

6. Know Your Audience and Expand

Intentional or not, the Blockchain phenomenon started with a core target of engineers. Then came high-risk Silicon Valley techies, then the curious day trader. Now, in just past weeks Robinhood announced that they’ll begin selling cryptocurrencies via their app for the global market.

The key to building strong momentum is really knowing your core target audience. Building an audience of loyalists that will be with you for the long run can help to establish and maintain your business’s profit line from the get-go. The same can be said for launching a new UA campaign.

Recognizing and understanding the intricacies of your core audience will help your mobile advertising partner know exactly where to start with your campaigns. The more you know about who to engage, the more you can control the early stages of your new initiative.

Once you can establish success with this group, then you can start to expand to your own “Silicon Valley techies.” Keep your eye on both scale and efficiencies in search of the sweet spot for every ad campaign.

For now, the question remains, will this level of awareness and engagement continue to rise for cyrpto? No one knows, but we’ll all enjoy watching it unfold. As for Mobile Advertising? App Annie predicts a 30% growth in mobile app stores this year, ultimately exceeding $110 billion dollars in 2018.

Safe to say, the mobile ad industry shows no sign of slowing down now.