On improving pool's visuals, marketing tips & enhancing yield with gauges.

Alright, you've created your first pool on Spectra. What can you do next?

Head over to this article if you are yet to create your first pool.

Article breakdown:

1. Post-Setup Visual Enhancements

2. Marketing Tips

3. Drawing Liquidity Providers via Gauges

4. Engaging Project Treasuries

After setting up your pool, it might look raw, with minimal TVL and no token icons. Let’s first fix that to make your pool more visually inviting.

If the Spectra App didn’t detect any icons for your pool’s assets, you can request their addition in two ways.

#1 Open a Discord ticket and use the following template:

Spectra App Pool URL: https://app.spectra.finance/pools#base/0xdc2b69aa3c13cab8010b8cc3c4e838b2b005089f
IBT icon: icon.svg / png [attachment]
Underlying icon: icon.svg / png [attachment]
Underlying platform's name: {Harvest} (Optional, but highly recommended)

#2 Create a pull request for inclusion in Spectra's Token List. Follow this GitHub guide on this: https://github.com/perspectivefi/token-list

No official icons? No problem. Create them yourself and submit them.

Here’s a preview of your pool's appearance with icons and the iBT-issuing platform name.

Icons and platform names improve your pool’s appearance and help users identify where the iBTs originate, boosting engagement and trust.

Note: the Spectra App will apply colorful rings around submitted token icons.

Legend: PT - flashy green YT - flashy yellow LP - flashy pink

Now that your pool looks good, it’s time to get the word out.

Here are some effective marketing tips:

#1 Share the news on Spectra's main discord channel

The Spectra community loves new pools. Share the news on the main channel. Keep it organic, personal and let everyone know its purpose.

Below is a template that you can steal:

Hi all! I am [name] from [introduce your project briefly here] and just launched a pool for [asset], [link]. Following that, you can add more background, e.g., if your plan is to implement the technology into your product, create yield markets on top of your yield strategies, or else.

Tip: create a combo of #1 and #2, just keep on reading⬇️

#2 Tweet about it

Share the news about the newly created pool on your personal or project's Twitter account:

The content of such a tweet can be identical or similar to your Discord message from tip #1, or it can tell the story in a different way while using tickers and tagging @ respective projects.

Attaching a good crop of Spectra's App with your pool presented on it will help it get more exposure/real estate on the Twitter timeline👍

You can reverse the process and post the tweet first. Shortly after, say hi in Spectra's main channel as per the #1 tip and include the link to your tweet in the message. That way, you can get initial engagements on Twitter/X for your newly published post.

#3 Inform respective project members about the pool

Engaging the respective project's community members is another way to put your pool in the spotlight. Each interest-bearing token has its own issuing platform, and it's worth informing their respective communities about the pool via Discord or Twitter.

Each new financial use case unlocked by your Spectra pool is worth highlighting: fixed rates, yield trading, or a new liquidity venue for that project.

Below are examples of organic community voices, which can then be amplified by the main Spectra Twitter account:

Ask for Feedback: If you plan a detailed Twitter thread, ask for feedback on Spectra's Discord. You can open a ticket for proofreading or simply ask in the main channel. Spectra mods and contributors are quick to help. Spectra’s main Twitter account can amplify your content only if the content is accurate.

#4 Quote-replying to community member's Tweets

Another low-hanging fruit for putting your pool in the spotlight is engaging with Spectra or your community members' tweets in public. Replying to them with merit and sparking genuine discussions can create another reason for Spectra to put it in the spotlight by retweeting tiered quote replies.

The TVL of your newly created does not matter to Spectra Twitter account operators.

#5 Commenting on the usage of your pool

You can find your pool's smart contract address in the Spectra App, which points to an Etherscan explorer.

Previewing the latest transactions under the Token Transfers (ERC-20) tab can give you more legitimate reasons to talk about your pool:

Above, we can observe how a user added liquidity to the pool a few hours ago. Such interactions can be highlighted on Twitter in the following manner:

Tip: Even if it’s just the first $1 deposited into your pool, it’s the first sign of interest to be excited and shared about.

Share these real interactions on Twitter to demonstrate actual use and encourage further participation. You can also re-share it in Spectra's Discord for the community's initial engagement.

Once your pool is set up and you’ve given it visibility, the next step is attracting liquidity.

Spectra’s native Gauges allow you to get more value for your incentive spending.

For example, spending $500 on incentives could attract enough veAPW holders' votes to result in protocol APW incentives worth significantly more, such as $1000 in APW incentives. This effectively boosts the APY of your pool, making it more attractive to liquidity providers.

First, a word on veTokenomics

veTokenomics is a model that encourages long-term participation by having users lock their tokens for a certain period. In return, they receive veTokens, which, for example, grant them governance rights.

In the Spectra ecosystem, APW holders can lock their tokens for up to 4 years and receive veAPW tokens in return.

One of the utilities of veAPW tokens is the ability to control how APW protocol incentives are distributed to pools via Gauges.

By voting on this distribution, veAPW holders earn incentives provided by 3rd parties.

The Gauges section is accessible via the Spectra App.

It's where veAPW holders decide which pools shall receive APW incentives that enhance their APY, potentially drawing more liquidity providers.

Anyone can create a Spectra pool, but getting it listed in the Gauges section requires community approval.

Why Gauges Matter

Gauges determine which pools can be eligible for APW incentives, enhancing the pool’s APY and attracting more liquidity providers. This can be crucial for the growth and visibility of your pool.

Prepare Your Spectra Gauges Request (SGR)

Use the Spectra Gauges Request Template to create your proposal. This includes details like the targeted pair, contract addresses, current TVL, and community links.

Provide a brief description of your project and the benefits of integrating the gauge for your protocol and Spectra.

Preview previous SGRs at https://gov.spectra.finance/c/spectra-gauge-request-sgr/23

Submit Your SGR

Create a free account at gov.spectra.finance and post an SGR with a poll in this section at no cost, anytime.

Engage with the community on the forum, explaining your proposal and addressing any questions or concerns.

After 3 days, if the community supports your proposal, it can be submitted for voting on Spectra’s Snapshot with 3 voting options: Yes, No, and Abstain.

Spectra community members with veAPW tokens will vote on whether to approve your gauge request.

The vote can last 48 hours to 7 days. After this period, if the total number of votes is below the quorum threshold of 5% of the veAPW supply or if “No” votes exceed “Yes" votes, the proposal fails. If the total number of votes exceeds 5% and “Yes” votes outnumber “No” votes, the proposal will be passed, resulting in the addition of a Gauge for your pool.

After your Spectra Gauges Request (SGR) is approved, your pool becomes eligible for Gauges voting and APW incentives within 14 days.

If your SGR is rejected, you can resubmit it at any time. Ideally, you should address the community's concerns mentioned in the initial feedback.

The next step is to use the Incentivize page effectively.

Here's how it works:

1. Select Your Pool: Use the dropdown menu to select your pool or any other you want to incentivize.

2. Choose the Incentive token: Pick a token to offer as an incentive to veAPW holders. Spectra App has a bunch of whitelisted tokens like USDC, ARB, DAI, or stETH.

3. Add Incentives: On the right panel, approve the token and provide incentives.

Once you deposit tokens as incentives, you won't be able to withdraw them.

After confirming the transaction, the Gauges page should instantly reflect your incentives. See the following example:

Tip: If you want to incentivize with a token that’s not listed, contact the Spectra team on Discord. Open a ticket and provide token details and reasoning for getting it added.

Spectra's Gauge voting epochs run from Wednesday to Wednesday, UTC midnight. It is generally recommended to post incentives early on during the epoch, as veAPW voters cannot undo their selection.

At Wednesday UTC midnight, the Gauges system allocates APW incentives according to the number of votes received from veAPW holders.

The incentives you provide for a specific pool gauge are distributed among all veAPW holders who vote for that gauge.

When your pool receives veAPW votes, the amount of APW incentives is directly proportional to the number of votes. The general rule is: the more votes, the more APW incentives.

At the end of the voting epoch, the final vote count and the corresponding APW incentives for a pool are determined. These details can be viewed shortly after Wednesday, midnight UTC, on the Gauges page under Votes and in the LP incentives column, shown in USD.

Lastly, on the Pools page, by hovering over the APY%, the tooltip breakdown displays how much the APW incentives, referred to as rewards, contribute to the overall APY of your pool. Example below:

The APW incentives from gauges increase the pool's APY, potentially attracting more liquidity providers to your pool.

Another way to attract liquidity to your pool is by leveraging the treasury of the project from which your pool's interest-bearing token originates.

A Spectra pool unlocks a yield marketplace on top of existing yield strategies, and each strategy has its original platform with a community and treasury.

Most DeFi projects with yield strategies have a governance framework that allows anyone to start a discussion on new initiatives. This means you can open a free governance account and propose ideas, such as engaging the project's treasury with Spectra.

For example, on Lodestar, a community initiative began with a governance proposal outlining what Spectra offers and the importance of seeding the pool on top of Lodestar's yield strategy. This proposal was then put to a vote on the project's Snapshot and approved by the community.

Initiating a discussion on governance forums or public Discord channels presents another occasion to tweet about (people on X love raw alpha in the form of Discord screenshots!) and let other community members know about your initiative, and have them join the discussion.

Start by tweeting about the discussion from your personal account, tagging relevant community members, and then resharing it across respective Discord channels. This approach can help bring initial attention to your initiative.

Below is an example of how community accounts can create buzz at any proposal stage and put your account in the spotlight.

This is the end of the Part II.

Spectra is a permissionless protocol for interest rate derivatives. Anyone can create new markets at will, swap yield derivatives, or become a liquidity provider.

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