Platoon Case Study: Community Management for a Military-Themed Crypto Project

We started by diving deep into the project and all the initial data: the brief, platforms, team roles, and available communication channels. This helped us identify the project’s strengths and weaknesses and get a clear picture of what we were really working with.

The meme coin niche is a loud and crowded space, with dozens of new projects popping up every day. Competition is fierce, and user trust is low because of all the scams and short-lived tokens out there. People jump in easily but leave just as quickly if they don’t see any benefit. A project’s success depends heavily on trends and influencer reactions, and without a constant flow of news, interest fades fast. We knew that in a niche like this, you need a comprehensive system to keep people engaged.

To counter these industry risks, we decided to focus on a distinctive visual style, gamification, and active communication. We also built influencer marketing and a flexible content plan into the strategy to catch trends and avoid relying on just one channel.

To get the project noticed, we went all-in on gorilla marketing — an approach where ideas matter more than budgets. It’s based on creativity, strong community engagement, and organic reach. Our main channels were Telegram and Zealy for communication and gamification, while Twitter served as the project’s main showcase.

We split the content strategy into four key areas: educational posts, engaging formats, meme content, and news updates. About 80% of our efforts went into the first three. These types of content build recognition, keep people interested, and drive engagement. We planned how to use content to explain the token’s mechanics, introduce the team and mission, spark discussions, and create reasons for people to share posts.

At the same time, we revamped the Telegram channel: defining the content structure, posting frequency, and brand voice. To keep the audience engaged, we planned a cycle of activities ranging from AMA sessions and mini-challenges to meme battles. All of this helped create the feeling of a vibrant community.

The client had only one image — a sea lion in military gear. We considered developing the character into a full-fledged mascot, but due to tight deadlines and the priority of launching visuals, we focused on graphic content instead. We used generative imagery, and the mascot remained a concept without a finalized design.

We made Zealy a key tool for onboarding and engagement. To smoothly bring users in, we built a funnel with five categories of tasks:

1. Welcome to $Platoon. Here, users got to know the project: they read the campaign rules, took a survey, and shared their nickname so we could track them. This ensured basic engagement and technical setup.
2. Reconnaissance Module. This block included introductory tasks like visiting the website and following social media accounts. Participants gained a general understanding of the project and its positioning.
3. Operation: Social Storm. These were social media actions — liking, retweeting, commenting on posts, and creating their own tweets about the project. This boosted reach and built media presence.
4. Max Reinforcements. A referral program where users invited friends and brought in new participants. Growth here was organic, as people joined to earn XP and climb the leaderboard.
5. Platoon Army. These were the deepest tasks: joining holder giveaways, buying tokens, and confirming activity within the ecosystem. They required real commitment and trust from users.

We supported every stage: the launch, announcements, regular reminders, technical support, and final results. This structure turned Zealy into a fully functional entry point to the Platoon ecosystem. Thanks to the subscription-based work model, the team stayed connected without pauses or constant re-approvals. All processes ran continuously, which is especially important for fast-paced Web3 projects.

To boost engagement, we introduced a Telegram bot with a task system and XP points. It complemented the Zealy mechanics, worked in sync with them, and motivated users to come back for more tasks. Through the bot, people could invite friends, complete assignments, and track their progress. This had a huge impact — the Telegram group grew from 296 to 6,565 members in less than a month.

At the same time, we managed the Telegram chat: over the month, we prepared 19 posts, including announcements, memes, polls, and discussion threads. The team moderated the chat 24/7, launching mini activities, chatting with users, filtering out spam, and ensuring security. This constant effort kept engagement and trust levels high within the community.

We brought influencers on board once the core campaign in Telegram and Zealy was already up and running. This allowed us to immediately direct their audiences into a ready-made engagement infrastructure.

Due to the limited budget, we focused on bloggers in the crypto and meme coin niche who had active, engaged communities. We partnered with two influencers — and both delivered results above our media plan expectations.

The bloggers’ content directed users straight to the Zealy platform and the project’s Telegram group. We had prepped the entry channels in advance to avoid losing traffic: participants immediately landed in the bot, subscribed, and started completing tasks. Thanks to the coordinated launch of influencers and Zealy, we avoided traffic drop-offs and kept activity growing at its peak.

After the influx of new members, we didn’t let the chat go quiet. We kept activity high with real conversations, quick responses, and a friendly vibe. We posted memes, ran polls, started discussion topics, and replied without delays. Telegram turned into a space where people wanted to stay not for rewards but for the vibe.

We engaged newcomers from their very first minutes: welcoming them, suggesting they check out the website, join Zealy, and share how they found the project. We didn’t wait for questions — we started conversations ourselves. If someone shared a meme or an idea, we picked it up and expanded on it. We made sure every member felt they weren’t just spectators but co-creators.

Gradually, the community came alive. Users started making memes with the mascot, sharing links, and talking about the project on X and in other chats.

At the end of the campaign, we put together a final report breaking down all the key metrics: total number of participants, Telegram engagement, Zealy task stats, and activity on X. We checked which tasks performed best, when users were most active, and how the influencers did. For example, the total number of completed tasks was 32 486 with a completion rate of 91%. That showed the tasks were motivating users effectively.

Based on this data, we suggested next steps for the client: short campaigns lasting 2–3 weeks with a prize pool of around $1000, a focus on retention using cross-channel formats, and additional platforms like TaskOn and QuestN. All of this became part of our recommended strategy going forward. Within their subscription, the client received not just execution but also strategic support — analysis, insights, and a clear next growth point.