How an Ambassador Program Drove $150M+ in Volume for KiloEx

A Web3 project has many ways to promote its product.

We believe in systemic, end-to-end solutions, where the most effective channel is scaled and every dollar spent delivers maximum ROI.

Let’s revisit KiloEx, a project we contributed to by building a highly efficient ambassador program.

By the end of this article, you’ll understand how to replicate this approach — and apply these insights to increase profitability in your own project.

Spoiler:

• The project spent only a few thousand dollars on the campaign

• 50+ influencers from the CIS joined through the ambassador program

• Total trading volume exceeded $150,000,000

• Influencers themselves invested $100,000+ of their own funds into project allocations

• Duration: 3 months

Real gratitude from the project followed:

Step One: Packaging and Attracting Influencers

Let’s break this down in a DIY guide format.

What you need:

• Direct access to influencers and their trust

• A well-structured and compelling ambassador program

The first requires time, negotiation experience, and deep immersion in the market.
The second requires a clear understanding of what value you offer influencers — so their interest doesn’t fade, but grows throughout the campaign.

The KiloEx model was simple:

Each influencer earned $100 for every $2M in trading volume.

In other words, payouts came from revenue already generated by the project.
Add to that a fee for structuring the ambassador program and onboarding influencers.

The risk–reward ratio was ideal: low upfront costs, transparent incentives and enhanced internal referral mechanics.

The program became self-sustaining.

Trust

Since this is a guide, let’s go deeper.

As Niklas Luhmann wrote:

“Trust is a mechanism for reducing social complexity.”

When we trust, we accept risk — and create room for action.

Translated into our domain:

An ambassador program must be packaged in a way that makes an influencer willing to take risk — to step away from fixed USDT deals and instead invest their time, reputation, and effort into belief in the project, in exchange for potentially higher upside.

Everything matters here:

• how the project’s social media looks

• how the team is presented

• how communication is handled

Over the past two years, many influencers have been burned. Today, it takes more effort to earn trust and sustain it throughout a campaign.

The role of intermediaries

A trusted intermediary with an existing influencer pool simplifies the process.
Their reputation becomes a guarantee. They’ve consistently delivered value to these people — and by packaging your ambassador program, they put their own reputation on the line.

If you decide to go fully lean and without intermediaries, you must plan how you’ll reach influencers — outreach, alternative attention hooks, or networking.

We’re talking about minimal budgets, so scenarios involving mass fixed-fee KOL buys combined with shilling are intentionally excluded.

The key is avoiding the impression that you’ll disappear after posts go live.

Influencers must see that:

• you’re real

• actions back up words

• commitments are honored

Continuing in Luhmann’s framework: trust is built through experience, meaning, and will.

• Experience: show previous ambassador campaigns or project-building results

• Meaning: strong missions attract belief

• Will: staying responsive, keeping promises, reinforcing trust through action

Non-anonymous teams naturally receive more trust.
When real people stand behind a project — names, faces, stories — uncertainty decreases.

That said, crypto history reminds us that even highly public “face sellers” can rug.
SBF and others are proof. Transparency alone doesn’t guarantee trust — but it creates the initial space where trust cangrow.

Packaging

Simplicity in an offer is a form of respect.

If everything is clear at first glance, there’s no sense of a trap.
An influencer must immediately understand:

• what’s expected

• what they receive

Uncertainty kills motivation faster than a low payout.

This principle — combined with trust — makes your offer more serious than the Salamanca brothers.

Step Two: Briefing & Coordination

If everyone posts from a rigid template, campaign effectiveness collapses.

The goal is coordinated timing, not cloned content.
Influencers should publish updates and promos freely, in their own voice.

When content looks copy-pasted, audiences instantly detect advertising.
Trust drops. The influencer stops being perceived as “in the same boat” — as a user, investor, or participant.

If you’re a builder with limited funds but sufficient time and energy, you can coordinate campaigns yourself.

Just remember:
Interest fades quickly if there’s no momentum and no communication.

[By the way — I’m Nikita, nice to meet you!]

I observed one ambassador campaign on TON (name omitted to avoid reputational damage) that looked perfect at launch:

• 100+ micro and nano influencers

• solid structure

• strong kickoff

Two weeks later, everything died — simply because the team stopped communicating and stopped energizing participants.

The token never launched.
Different story — but a clear lesson.

Key takeaways: 30% of success = continuous presence and communication, 40% = a transparent, understandable incentive system.

And yes — presentation matters.
A messy Excel sheet might work in emergencies, but clean visualization and structured reporting make the system more convincing and alive.

Step Three: Harvesting the Results

If everything is done correctly — and the product is genuinely needed
(or you successfully convinced people that it is) — then after the campaign, everyone involved collects the upside.

The main rule: don’t rug along the way.

Even if the first attempt doesn’t fully succeed, maintaining reputation and relationships almost guarantees future opportunities — whether with the same project or a new one.

Some results:

Conclusion

This article turned out to be quite comprehensive.
I hope it’s useful both for newcomers and for experienced builders.

In the KiloEx case, all the principles described above were followed — which is why the campaign became one of the most effective ambassador programs we’ve seen.

Special thanks to [Leonardo Bruni], who coordinated the entire process for the project. Without his involvement, this article wouldn’t exist.

About Us

We are Octopus Labs — a Web3 growth lab with over three years of experience in Web3 marketing, specializing in guerrilla strategies on X (Twitter), where we push projects into trends by influencing platform algorithms.

15,000,000+ organic views generated on Twitter

3,000,000+ users acquired through guerrilla marketing

$150M+ in project turnover and live investments generated

$1M+ in ad budgets entrusted to us

[Contact us]