Layer 1 and Layer 2 marketing for developer ecosystems

What does Layer 1 and Layer 2 marketing cover?

Layer 1 and Layer 2 marketing connects a network’s technical proposition with the people who can build, fund, use, and support its ecosystem. The work is not just token promotion: it gives developers a reason to evaluate the network and a clear next step when they are interested.

The service is a fit for a foundation, protocol team, or ecosystem lead that needs one coordinated plan across developer and ecosystem marketing. It can support a network preparing to attract builders, an established ecosystem organizing its message, or a team aligning grants and hackathons with broader priorities.

The starting point is a practical map of audiences and actions:

• Developers: what they can build, where to find technical information, and how to get involved.
• Projects and founders: what ecosystem support is available and how to explore it.
• Community and partners: what is happening, why it matters, and how to take part.

We turn that map into messaging, campaigns, and an operating plan. If the project also needs a broader growth program, compare this work with growth marketing support. For the full range of project types, see solutions by project type.

How do we turn developer interest into ecosystem participation?

A useful ecosystem plan makes the path from first awareness to meaningful participation easy to understand. We organize the story around the network’s actual developer proposition, then connect each audience to an appropriate action rather than using one general message for everyone.

The plan can include developer-facing content, ecosystem announcements, grant communications, and hackathon promotion. The specific mix follows your priorities and existing resources. For example, if builders need clearer entry points, the plan can prioritize explaining where to start and how to find support. If a hackathon is a key milestone, communications can prepare participants to understand the theme, eligibility, and next steps using information your team approves.

Before work begins, provide the current network overview, developer resources, ecosystem priorities, grant or hackathon details, brand guidance, and the people responsible for technical review. That lets us identify missing information early and avoid publishing claims that are not supported by the project.

We also establish what the team will review and what will be reported. Depending on scope, reporting can track completed deliverables, campaign activity, audience questions, and follow-up actions. For a community layer alongside this work, explore community growth and engagement.

How should grants and hackathons fit the marketing plan?

Grants and hackathons work best as connected ecosystem programs, not isolated announcements. Marketing should explain who can participate, what support is available, how to take the next step, and where applicants or builders can get accurate information.

For grants, we can help shape the public-facing narrative, organize communications around the application journey, and coordinate announcements with the team’s review process. Your team supplies the program rules, eligibility criteria, decision process, and any application materials that must remain authoritative. We can then make the information easier to navigate and prepare campaign content for the agreed channels.

For hackathons, planning starts with the event goal and participant journey. We align the message, promotional assets, key announcements, and community touchpoints with the event schedule you provide. The operational checklist should cover:

• The audience and project types the event is intended to attract.
• Confirmed dates, requirements, submission instructions, and support contacts.
• Which materials need approval from technical or program owners.
• How participants will hear about follow-up opportunities after the event.

If your main need is a broader developer-relations program, review developer relations support. If the initiative also requires a formal grant-funding workflow, grant program support can be considered as a related service.

What happens after a Layer 1 or Layer 2 engagement starts?

The engagement begins by agreeing on the network’s priorities, audience, workstreams, owners, and review process. From there, we build a schedule around your milestones and deliver the agreed marketing work in manageable stages.

A typical working sequence is:

• Discovery: share the network overview, current materials, priorities, and constraints.
• Planning: agree on audiences, messages, channels, deliverables, and approval owners.
• Preparation: develop the campaign materials and confirm program details with your team.
• Activation: publish or coordinate approved activity around grants, hackathons, and ecosystem milestones.
• Review: report completed work, questions raised, and practical next actions.

You should expect a clear owner for feedback and a defined route for technical approval. Before kickoff, decide who can verify protocol details, who can confirm program rules, and who signs off on public communications. This prevents marketing work from waiting on unresolved facts.

The plan is not fixed regardless of what the project learns. We use feedback from builders and campaign review to identify where explanations, participation steps, or follow-up need attention. If your team wants to compare this scope with other project needs, browse DeFi marketing or DAO marketing.

What can a Layer 1 or Layer 2 marketing team control?

A marketing team can control the quality, clarity, and delivery of the agreed work; it cannot control independent decisions by grant reviewers, hackathon judges, developers, or network participants. Grant awards depend on program criteria and review decisions. Hackathon attendance, submissions, and outcomes depend on participant choices and the event’s rules. Communications should describe those processes accurately rather than imply a particular result.

Network-specific claims also need care. Have technical owners verify statements about performance, compatibility, security, fees, and developer tooling before publication. Keep grant eligibility, application steps, hackathon requirements, and important dates consistent with the authoritative information supplied by your team. When those details change, update the public materials and tell the people responsible for campaign coordination.

The scope should promise work that can be delivered: agreed strategy, approved content, campaign coordination, and reporting. It should not promise that an independent ecosystem fund will approve an application, that a builder will deploy, or that a particular event outcome will follow. This distinction protects trust with developers and gives your team a useful way to judge the engagement: check whether each deliverable was completed, reviewed, and connected to a clear next step.

Prices

Starting prices in USD. Custom bundles and volume discounts on request. Payment in USDT, USDC, BTC, ETH, SOL, TON or your project token.

How it works

1. Share the network contextProvide the ecosystem overview, developer resources, existing materials, and current priorities. Identify technical and program owners for review.
2. Set goals and scopeChoose the audiences, grant or hackathon workstreams, deliverables, channels, and reporting expectations for the engagement.
3. Prepare approved materialsDevelop the messages and campaign assets, then confirm technical details and program rules with your team.
4. Coordinate activityDeliver the agreed communications around ecosystem milestones and keep owners aligned on approvals and follow-up.
5. Review and refineReview completed work and audience questions, then agree on practical next actions for the ongoing plan.