The Impact of Point Systems on Web3 Projects Growth and Engagement

The adoption of point systems is becoming increasingly prevalent across projects, with some humorously suggesting that "PMF" should stand for "Point Market Fit". Following the widespread use of membership point systems in various Web2 industries, why are point systems now being massively adopted in Web3? What transformative effects can a points-based level system bring to Web3 projects?

Why Are Projects Adopting Points Systems?

Optimizing Token Economics with Flexible Design

The introduction of the dual-token model has revolutionized token economics. This model designates the project's issued tokens as equity tokens, while points serve as utility tokens, providing projects with more flexible design capabilities. This model has widespread adoption in GameFi sectors like StepN and Axie Infinity, driving rapid growth through superior token design.

The dual-token model typically consists of equity tokens tied to holder benefits, while points can be linked to community participation and loyalty. By establishing clear distribution rules and exchange mechanisms, projects can integrate points with utility tokens, incentivizing loyal community participants and revitalizing community and ecosystem dynamics.

For projects yet to issue tokens, points can assist in designing more rational token economic models. By considering total point quantities and user point holdings, projects can cleverly plan token economic models and community airdrop rules. A well-designed token economic model not only aids long-term project operations but also mitigates the decline in community interaction quantity and quality after airdrops, thereby maintaining competitiveness

User Expectation Management

The introduction of points systems provides effective tools for user management, enabling precise management of user expectations regarding airdrop benefits. Defining the value of each behavior and designing corresponding points allows projects to effectively manage user expectations. Transparent rules aid in establishing a fair and sustainable community ecosystem.

Continuously Attracting User Attention

In an environment where attention is scarce, continuously attracting user attention is crucial, particularly during bull markets. Points systems can help sustain user attention over time; as points accumulate, so do user stickiness and expectations for the project.

Compliance Considerations

Tokens are typically used for trading and investment, subjecting their trading and circulation to stricter regulatory and legal restrictions. Additionally, points are largely designed to reward specific activities or behaviors rather than serve as assets or currencies. Therefore, regulatory bodies may lean towards monitoring tokens more closely due to their frequent use in financial transactions and investments, whereas points are often viewed as a more relaxed and non-financial reward form.

Points Alliance

The collaboration networks of Web3 projects are complex, and during TGEs, some projects may even consider users' interaction records with other projects to verify authenticity. While many project assets are merely transactional, points offer greater flexibility and less constraint. Thus, introducing points can increase the likelihood of Web3 projects establishing points alliances, facilitating loyalty interchange between projects.

How to Build a Points Level System

After deciding to introduce a points system, how can one design points to better stimulate community user initiative and improve retention rates?

Defining Value Behaviors

When designing a points system, it's essential to carefully measure the value of each user behavior and clarify which user behaviors the project incentivizes. In Web3, user behaviors can generally be categorized into two types: transactional and non-transactional behaviors.

For projects focusing on-chain transactional behaviors, such as DeFi projects, points allocation can consider factors like transaction frequency, volume, and the time users hold funds on the platform. Encouraging users to keep funds on the platform for extended periods enhances transaction sizes, increases platform liquidity, and signifies higher costs in terms of time and resources invested by users, fostering a more stable and enduring user base for the project.

For projects focusing on non-transactional behaviors, which are predominantly leisure-oriented products, efforts should be made to extend user platform usage time. When designing points, consider users' daily behaviors. For instance, SocialFi projects should emphasize user interaction and engagement; knowledge sharing, platform promotion, etc., can increase community user initiative through user-to-user ties and improve retention rates.

Increasing Behavior Frequency

From the perspective of behavior frequency, user behaviors can be divided into "one-time behaviors" and "repetitive behaviors." One-time behaviors refer to actions that users only perform once or occasionally under specific conditions, such as registering an account, making a first purchase, or completing a survey. Such behaviors usually occur at a specific time or situation and can be awarded higher point values once users complete designated actions.

Repetitive behaviors, on the other hand, are actions users repeatedly engage in over a certain period, such as daily check-ins, using product features, or frequently browsing certain pages. Repetitive behaviors reflect continuous participation and stickiness, crucial indicators of user activity and loyalty.

For more information on setting tasks within the points-based level system, refer to How to Build a Task System.

Points-based Level System

To better incentivize user behavior and frequency, projects can combine points systems with a level mechanism, establishing a points level system to continually provide positive feedback for user actions.

Currently, most project operations lack resources and personnel. Establishing a points-based leveling system and determining the score for each action is not an easy task. With the rapid pace of the market, failing to launch quickly could lead to missing out on opportunities to attract users. In such cases, solutions like TaskOn Community can help quickly implement mature community solutions: providing comprehensive tools to help projects establish a points system. Once the community is created on the platform, projects can quickly design the required points for each level and display the upgrade curve.

These platforms support task classification, making it clear to users upon entering the community whether the behavior is transactional or non-transactional. These tasks can also be set with repeat counts, saving operational personnel from having to recreate tasks each time and avoiding a lot of repetitive work.

• Compared to announcements by the project on Discord and Telegram, rankings calculated by third-party platforms are more advantageous for building user trust.

• Currently, user behavior is clearly utilitarian, and time spent on different projects requires returns and timely feedback. Real-time updated Leaderboards are effective tools for stimulating user enthusiasm.

Import System with One Click

If you've already established your own points-based leveling system within the community but still rely on community managers to manually update rankings in Discord and Telegram groups regularly, you might consider trying TaskOn Community's one-click import points system feature, complete with real-time Leaderboard updates, to reduce the workload of community managers.

Points & Incentives

After attracting users with a points system, projects need to specify the benefits (incentives) of points to retain users long-term and continually encourage users to reuse the product. In the long run, many projects link TGEs with points and make long-term commitments. However, the waiting time for TGE is too long, and there is no way to recover from loss of users who lost patience. Is there any way to recover the lost rate?

Benefit Shop

Just like the Web2 Points Mall, the Web3 points system also provides a Benefit Shop where users can exchange specific benefits after reaching a certain number of points. Benefits are entirely determined by the project: NFTs, white lists, Discord roles, tokens, or even physical rewards. Unlike Web2, where points are consumed when redeemed, in Web3, users' contributions at a certain stage will gain returns, gaining some form of evidence (NFT, whitelist, or more). Points are not lost.

The points system is the trend and is a standard operation for community operations in the world of Web2, Blast, Linea, and other projects that have used and have performed excellent data that prove the advantages of the point system. If you don't have a comparison system built template, and if you don't have an initial system for construction, it will be helpful to the tool.

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