1. Introduction: The Evolution of User Acquisition
User acquisition strategies have undergone significant transformations over the past decade. In Web2, marketing teams relied heavily on pixel-based tracking, email drip sequences, and centralized data platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Pixel. Retargeting was straightforward, if someone visited your site, you could serve them ads across the internet.
But as we enter the era of decentralization, those methods are falling apart. Web3’s foundation is anonymity, ownership, and user sovereignty. Most crypto users don’t sign up with emails or log in via social media. They connect a wallet, interact once, and disappear, unless you know how to find them again.
That’s where wallet-based retargeting comes in. It’s not just a workaround, it’s a revolution.
In this article, we’ll explore how Web3 projects in 2025 are acquiring and retaining users by retargeting based on on-chain wallet behavior, not Web2 cookies. From analytics tools to real campaign strategies, this guide breaks down everything you need to start using wallet-based retargeting like a pro.
2. Why Web2 Retargeting No Longer Works in Crypto
Traditional retargeting relies on Web2 infrastructure: cookies, third-party pixels, and device-level tracking. But this model is increasingly incompatible with Web3 user behavior.
Here’s why:
1. Anonymity by Design
Web3 users don’t provide names or emails. They use self-custody wallets that reveal no identity unless the user chooses to dox themselves. That means no email lists, no account IDs, no CRM syncing.
2. Cross-Chain and DApp Behavior
Users jump between blockchains and decentralized apps (dApps), often in the same session. Tracking them across these environments with Web2 tools is impossible.
3. Regulatory and Technical Challenges
With increased scrutiny around data privacy (GDPR, CCPA), cookie-based tracking is fading out. Apple’s and Google’s changes to third-party tracking have accelerated this trend.
4. Wallets Are the New User Profile
In Web3, a wallet address is the user. Their entire journey—staking, voting, minting, swapping—is public and traceable. This data is rich, real-time, and highly actionable.
If your marketing stack still depends on Web2 retargeting logic, you’re missing the mark in 2025.
3. What Is Wallet-Based Retargeting?
Wallet-based retargeting is a Web3-native marketing technique that allows you to reach users again based on their on-chain wallet activity instead of relying on cookies, email IDs, or device fingerprints. It’s fundamentally about watching what a wallet does across different blockchains and then delivering messages, campaigns, or incentives specifically tailored to that behavior.
Key Features:
- Pseudonymous but personalized: You don’t know who the user is, but you know what they’ve done.
- Multichain awareness: One wallet could interact with multiple chains, and retargeting can span across them.
- Incentive-aligned: Retargeted campaigns often come with token-based rewards, NFT perks, or on-chain quests.
This approach respects Web3's ethos while still giving marketers the ability to re-engage users who show high-value behaviors.
4. Benefits of Wallet-Based Retargeting
Wallet-based retargeting is not a compromise—in many ways, it’s superior to traditional methods. Here are some key advantages:
1. Precision Targeting
Since all wallet activity is on-chain and traceable, you can segment audiences with extreme specificity:
- Wallets that interacted with your dApp but didn’t complete a swap
- Users who hold your token but never staked it
- NFT holders who participated in governance votes but not in Discord
2. Real-Time Behavior Tracking
You’re no longer dependent on delayed CRM syncing or email open rates. On-chain actions are immediate and trackable in real time.
3. Trustless Data
Blockchain data is verifiable and cannot be faked. You don’t have to worry about bots clicking links or duplicate email signups. If a wallet did it, it’s logged forever.
4. Privacy-Respecting Yet Powerful
You don’t need to know a user’s identity to create relevant, effective retargeting campaigns. Wallet activity is enough.
5. Cross-Platform Interoperability
Wallets are universal identifiers across dApps and ecosystems. You can retarget across DeFi, GameFi, DAOs, NFT marketplaces, and beyond.
5. How Wallet-Based Retargeting Works (Step-by-Step)
Implementing wallet-based retargeting may sound complex, but with the right tools and framework, it becomes a powerful marketing engine. Here's a step-by-step breakdown:
Step 1: Identify Behavioral Triggers
Determine what qualifies a wallet for retargeting. Examples:
- Wallet connected but didn’t mint
- Staked a token but hasn’t voted
- Completed onboarding quest but stopped activity
Step 2: Pull On-Chain Data
Use data providers like Dune, Flipside, or Nansen to fetch wallet addresses matching your chosen behavior. These tools allow you to write queries or access pre-built dashboards for behavior-based cohort creation.
Step 3: Segment and Score Wallets
Not all wallets are equal. Assign scores based on engagement, value, frequency, and recency:
- High score: daily active DeFi users with >$1,000 in assets
- Mid score: occasional NFT traders
- Low score: inactive or single-transaction wallets
Step 4: Choose a Delivery Channel
How will you reach these wallets?
- XMTP or Notifi for direct wallet messaging
- Airdrop NFT incentives as reminders
- Galxe or Zealy quests to invite them back
Step 5: Launch Campaign and Track On-Chain Events
Deploy your campaign and monitor:
- Re-engagement rates (wallets returning to dApp)
- Follow-through metrics (staking, governance, usage)
- ROI in terms of on-chain activity and TVL added
Wallet-based retargeting is not just a campaign, it’s a full-funnel, behavioral marketing framework.
6. Key Tools and Platforms Enabling This Shift
Wallet-based retargeting wouldn't be possible without a robust ecosystem of Web3 analytics, messaging, and engagement tools. Here are the platforms leading the charge:
- Nansen: Renowned for wallet labeling and behavioral clustering, Nansen allows marketers to identify high-value users, whales, and airdrop farmers across chains.
- Dune Analytics: With customizable SQL dashboards, Dune lets you track wallet behaviors and create cohort segments based on smart contract interactions, holding patterns, and more.
- Flipside Crypto: Great for funnel analysis and retention tracking, Flipside enables in-depth segmentation and behavioral modeling across ecosystems.
- XMTP & Notifi: These platforms offer direct wallet messaging infrastructure, enabling push-style communication to wallets — the Web3 alternative to email.
- Galxe, Zealy, and Layer3: Campaign-based re-engagement platforms where you can design behavior-triggered quests and reward campaigns for wallets you've segmented.
- TrendX: This AI-powered tool helps identify wallet behavior patterns before they’re obvious to humans. Useful for predicting wallet churn, growth, and cross-chain shifts.
Together, these tools form the backbone of effective wallet-based marketing stacks in 2025.
7. Retargeting Use Cases in Crypto
Wallet-based retargeting isn’t limited to one type of protocol — it’s a versatile strategy. Below are real use cases across verticals:
1. DeFi Platforms
- Retarget users who added liquidity but never staked LP tokens
- Re-engage borrowers who repaid loans but haven’t taken a new one
- Nudge yield farmers before their farming campaign expires
2. NFT Projects
- Reconnect with holders who minted Gen1 but missed Gen2
- Airdrop rewards to secondary market buyers
- Invite past bidders to new auctions
3. GameFi Titles
- Target players who played the tutorial but dropped off before the first mission
- Offer boosters to users who reached a certain level but haven’t logged in recently
- Reward players who referred others but stopped playing
4. DAOs
- Remind voters who haven’t participated in recent proposals
- Activate wallets that claimed governance tokens but never used them
- Promote community campaigns to past contributors
The versatility of this approach ensures it works whether your focus is finance, collectibles, governance, or gameplay.
8. Addressing Privacy Concerns and Ethics
Wallet data is public, but that doesn’t mean it should be misused. Ethical retargeting is crucial to maintaining trust and respecting Web3 values.
Best Practices for Responsible Retargeting:
- Avoid Doxxing or Personal Inference: Don’t try to deanonymize users based on wallet behavior.
- Respect Opt-Outs: If a wallet unsubscribes or burns a token to indicate disinterest, honor that.
- Use On-Chain Consent Mechanisms: Gate campaigns behind opt-in NFT mints or signed messages.
- Don’t Spam Wallets: Just because you can message wallets doesn’t mean you should flood them.
- Be Transparent: Let users know when they’re part of an incentivized retargeting campaign.
Wallet-based marketing gives you power, but it also demands responsibility. The most successful projects in 2025 are those that master the balance.
9. Performance Metrics That Matter
Traditional KPIs like CTR, CPM, or email open rate fall short in Web3. When it comes to wallet-based retargeting, your metrics must reflect on-chain actions and behavioral outcomes.
Key Metrics to Track:
- Wallet Re-Engagement Rate: % of wallets that returned to your dApp or protocol after being retargeted
- On-Chain Conversion Rate: How many retargeted wallets completed the desired action (e.g., stake, vote, trade)
- Cost per On-Chain Action (CPA): Cost per wallet interaction that resulted in a measurable, on-chain result
- Retention and Churn Rate: Behavior of wallets over time post-retargeting (measured by transaction or engagement streaks)
- TVL Impact or Token Volume Growth: Tangible financial impact of your retargeting campaign
The goal is to tie marketing directly to blockchain outcomes, not vanity metrics.
10. Real-World Campaign Examples
Here are some anonymized examples that highlight how crypto brands are already using wallet-based retargeting:
1. L2 DeFi Protocol Revives Dormant LPs
A Layer 2 DeFi protocol used Nansen + Galxe to identify wallets that once provided liquidity but had since withdrawn. They sent a retargeting NFT via Notifi, redeemable for a 3-day APY boost. 27% of wallets returned within a week.
2. NFT Project Converts Missed Minters
An NFT project noticed 3,000 wallets that connected during minting but never completed the purchase. Using Flipside, they issued airdropped reminder NFTs that acted as whitelist passes for the next drop. Conversion rate: 22%.
3. GameFi Retargeting via Layer3
A GameFi project created a Layer3 quest campaign targeting users who reached level 3 but hadn’t logged in for 10 days. The quest gave them a unique badge + leaderboard entry. Re-activation rate jumped 34%.
These examples prove that wallet behavior, when understood and acted upon, becomes a powerful lever for retention and growth.
11. Future-Proofing Your Strategy
Wallet-based retargeting will become more sophisticated as:
- Wallet messaging standards mature (e.g., XMTP)
- Cross-chain wallet identity becomes normalized
- AI models better predict wallet behavior clusters
To stay ahead, Web3 marketers need to:
- Embrace on-chain analytics as a default
- Build composable campaigns across chains and tools
- Create opt-in consent flows with incentives
- Focus on behavioral triggers, not identity tracking
As Web3 UX improves and user bases grow, projects that master wallet-based retargeting will build stronger network effects and deeper loyalty than ever possible in Web2.
12. FAQs
1. What is wallet-based retargeting in crypto marketing?
Wallet-based retargeting is a Web3-native strategy that targets users based on their on-chain activity rather than using Web2 identifiers like email or cookies. Marketers monitor wallet behavior, such as token swaps, staking, governance participation, and then re-engage those wallets using NFTs, wallet messages, or on-chain incentives.
2. How is it different from traditional retargeting?
Traditional retargeting uses third-party cookies and centralized user data. Wallet-based retargeting, on the other hand, works with pseudonymous blockchain addresses. Instead of emails and browser history, it uses verified, timestamped wallet activity to identify and segment users.
3. Is wallet-based retargeting privacy compliant?
Yes, when done ethically. Since blockchain data is public and pseudonymous, it respects user anonymity by default. However, projects should still avoid aggressive messaging or attempts to deanonymize users. On-chain opt-ins, burnable NFTs, or user-initiated quests can provide clear consent mechanisms.
4. What are the best tools to implement wallet retargeting?
Some of the leading platforms include:
- Nansen: Wallet labeling and segmentation
- Dune/Flipside: Behavioral dashboarding
- XMTP/Notifi: Direct wallet messaging
- Galxe/Zealy: Engagement campaigns with incentives
- TrendX: AI-powered wallet prediction tools
5. Can this work across multiple chains?
Absolutely. Wallets often interact with different blockchains. Using tools like TrendX or Flipside, you can aggregate cross-chain behavior and retarget users based on activity across Solana, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, and more.
6. How can you measure the success of a wallet retargeting campaign?
Key performance indicators include:
- Re-engagement rate
- On-chain conversion rate (stake, trade, vote, etc.)
- Time-to-reaction from campaign trigger
- Retention over days/weeks
- TVL or revenue change attributed to the campaign
7. Are there risks or downsides to this approach?
If not done transparently, users may feel surveilled or spammed. Too much reliance on behavioral triggers without value creation (e.g., only sending NFTs without utility) may lead to drop-off. Projects must build trust by aligning incentives and respecting Web3 values.
8. Can small projects use wallet-based retargeting?
Yes. You don’t need a huge budget. Even basic filters on Dune or Flipside combined with community quests via Zealy can produce high ROI. It’s more about being smart with segmentation than having massive reach.
