5 Great NFT Roadmap Ideas For A Successful NFT Project Launch

Launching an NFT project is about more than just creating some artwork and hoping for the best. A good project will need to market what it offers aside from the NFT, namely a good roadmap and utilities. Our article lists five NFT roadmap ideas you should consider for your next project. In our article we cover the essentials of creating your roadmap, the benefits, examples, and more.

Editor’s note: While having a great roadmap is of utmost important, we recognize that in the fast-growing NFT space, creating with designers and NFT designing services has become a game-changer. These professional services offer a combination of artistic skill and technical know-how, ensuring that your NFTs stand out in a crowded marketplace. By collaborating with experienced designers, projects can fill their roadmaps with unique and high-quality digital assets that resonate with your target audience 

5 great nft roadmap ideas

Table of Contents

What is an NFT Roadmap?

An NFT roadmap is the developer’s plan which outlines milestones, short-term goals, and long-term goals for the project. Most NFT projects will have a publicly accessible roadmap which lets its investors know where the developer intents to take the project.

So what qualifies as a roadmap? In short, this will be a timeline of what you intend to accomplish with your project and what features or utilities you intend to add in the future. While it is incredibly important to the success of a project, not all NFT projects have a roadmap. As we’ve discussed in our Guide to CC0 NFTs, most of the projects on our list surprisingly lack a roadmap or utilities, yet have achieved great success. We could say that roadmaps are important, but they do not make or break a project.

Also relevant to roadmaps are NFT utilities, which we’ve also discussed in our article, 7 Great NFT Utility Ideas for Developers to Consider. Essentially, your roadmap outlines when and what you will be offering your investors in the future. These include utilities, such as a website, a Discord channel, exclusive merchandise, events, and more as we’ve discussed in our article about NFT utilities. 

In summary, a roadmap is an outline of what investors can expect from your project in the future. It creates trust in your brand and offers transparency about what you are working on at the moment. A roadmap also tells your community what your project’s vision is and paints a clear picture of what your project will be at its fullest potential.

What Makes A Good NFT Roadmap?

When it comes to making good goals, we need to go back to the basics – SMART goals. SMART stands for:

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Achievable
  • Realistic
  • Time-bound

Specific goals

Specific here refers to naming exactly what you want to achieve with your project. Here’s an example:

  • General: Be a successful project by 2024.
  • Specific: Be among the top 100 best-selling projects on OpenSea by 2024.

It is difficult to know when or if you have achieved your goals if they’re left too general. It also leaves the impression that you have not put enough thought into your roadmap if they’re not specific enough.

Measurable goals

This is in a similar vein to making specific goals – measurable here means that there is a measure of success for your goal.

  • Unmeasurable goals: Have a popular Discord server by 2024.
  • Measurable goals: Have at least 1,000 active members on our Discord server by 2024.

Popularity is difficult to quantify – what may be popular to the developer may not be so to its investors. Going by active members on your Discord would be a great way to measure how well your server is doing.

Achievable goals

The next two points are the most important aspects of your roadmap – your roadmap has to be achievable.

  • Unachievable goals: Our project will flip BAYC in 1 month.
  • Achievable goals: We want to mint 10,000 NFTs by Q4 2023.

Setting lofty goals may be part of the fun of starting your own project, but if they’re set too high, you’re simply overpromising without having the ability to deliver. Scale back your goals a bit to fit the size of your project and community.

Realistic goals

Realistic goals inspire confidence in your roadmap, which will, in turn, attract investors and create buzz about what you’re promising to do with your project.

  • Unrealistic goals: Launch marketplace and start a DAO within 2 weeks.
  • Realistic goals: Our first goal is to launch our official website, Twitter, and Discord within 1 month.

Again, be sure to scale your goals to the size of your team. If you’re the lone developer, make sure to give yourself a little extra time on your roadmap milestones so you can have some breathing room.

Time-bound goals

Make sure your goals have a rough deadline. It may not need to be specific down to a date, but depending on the type of goal you’re setting, you could set a rough estimate for when it will be done.

  • Time-bound goals: Website launch – Q3 2022, Airdrop – November-December 2022, P2E Game – Q4 2023

What Are The Benefits Of Having A Solid NFT Roadmap?

1. Adds value to your project

Similar to NFT utilities, a well-drawn roadmap adds value to your project. Your project is more than just your artwork – a good roadmap shows that there is a lot more behind your project. There has been careful thought put into the short- and long-term goals of your project and your investors would be buying into more than just an NFT. They’re buying into your vision, your capabilities as a developer, and they’re paying to be a part of your community.

2. Builds trust with your community

Keeping things transparent with your community is the way to go in the NFT world. With so many rug pulls in this world, investors are understandably nervous and apprehensive about new projects. Launching a roadmap shows your investors that you’re in it for the long haul and that you’re passionate about seeing it become a success.

3. Documents and outline your next move

On the developer’s end, sometimes it can become overwhelming to think about your project as the work piles up. Your roadmap tells you what you have achieved and what your next goal should be! Think of roadmaps as a guide, rather than something set in stone. If something is taking longer than expected, your roadmap outlines what can be pushed to a later date or which items took longer than you anticipated. If you deviate from your roadmap, use it as a learning experience and be sure to keep your community updated.

4. Creates long-term value for your project

The value of your NFT project doesn’t just end when you sell out. A roadmap ensures that you have activities to keep your community engaged and keep them hyped for your future projects, perhaps a second phase or minting of your project. Creating long-term value also draws people from the broader NFT community into your project. Potentially, this could increase the value of your NFTs over time.

5. Easier to market

Having a well-thought roadmap makes it easier for you in the marketing department. If you’re selling just your artwork, that’s great, but competition can be very stiff. If you offered your artwork and along with it, a thriving community, exclusive events, and so on, it might just draw in the right buyer.

NFT Roadmap Examples

Here’s an example of an NFT roadmap with a quarterly timeline that you can consider using for your next project.

Q1

Marketing

Mint date

Airdrop for holders

Discord and website launch

Twitter Spaces

 

Q2

Collaborations

Merchandise

Exclusive collectables

 

Q3

P2E mobile game

Metaverse event

 

Q4

Token

DAO

Physical cafe

NFT Roadmap Template

First, decide how your roadmap will be structured. Some projects go by quarters (ie. Q3, 2024) which gives them some leeway for delays, impromptu work, and such. You can find an example of it above. You could also come up with a timeline or a table detailing your roadmap with the amount of time each item will take to accomplish. Here are some NFT roadmap templates you can use:

Timeline-based NFT Roadmap Template

Phase 1

August 2022

  • Pre-launch marketing
  • Launch Discord

September 2022

  • Minting begins
  • Airdrop

Phase 2

October 2022

  • Merchandise design

December 2022

  • Online store
  • Exclusive collectables

Phase 3

February 2023

  • Marketplace

August 2023

  • P2E mobile game

Timetable NFT Roadmap Template

Phase

Estimated Date

Item

Estimated Time

1

August 2022

Pre-launch marketing

Launch Discord

1 month

1

September 2022

Minting begins

Airdrop

1 month

2

October 2022

Merchandise design

1 month

2

December 2022

Online store

Exclusive collectables

2 months

3

February 2023

Marketplace

2 months

3

August 2023

P2E mobile game

6 months

NFT Roadmap Template PDF Download Link

NFT Roadmap 2022-2023

Download a FREE PDF template of an NFT Roadmap for 2022-2023!

5 Great Successful NFT Roadmap Examples

1. Bored Ape Yacht Club

10% – We pay back our moms.

20% – We release the Caged Apes. 5 Caged Apes (tokens held back from the sale) are airdropped to random Apeholders.

40% – BAYC gets its own YouTube channel, BAYC LoFi Radio – Beats to Ape into Shitcoins To.

60% – Member-Exclusive BAYC Merch Store gets unlocked, featuring Limited Edition tees, hoodies, and other goodies.

80% – The clubhouse image becomes interactive and the Mysterious Note becomes legible, beginning a treasure hunt. The first to solve the mystery will be rewarded 5 ETH and a Bored Ape.

90% – The Bored Ape liquidity pool is initiated.

100% – The Mutant Ape (NFT Breeding) Arcade Machine gets fixed. And we cook up new ways to ape with our friends.

Source: Bored Ape Yacht Club Roadmap

As we can see with BAYC’s (fully achieved) roadmap, they went by the percentage of their target sales. It is not an extremely elaborate roadmap, but the fact that it is fully achieved demonstrates that they have done well in judging their capabilities as developers and successfully delivered on their promise.

2. Azuki

Azuki Mindmap

Source: Azuki Mindmap

Azuki’s “Mindmap” has grouped its goals into seven categories, each with specific targets. It is a simpler and aesthetic roadmap that effectively updates its community about its progress. Their goals are marked as “Complete”, “Exploring”, or “In Progress”, which provides its community with a quick glance at their progress.

3. Karafuru

Karafuru roadmap

Source: Karafuru Roadmap

Here’s another example of simple does it best – Karafuru is a successful NFT project with a community of over 300k followers on Twitter. With its outstanding track record, the developers are able to keep its roadmap document simple, attractive, and straight to the point.

4. World of Women

Let’s deviate a little and look at the roadmap of a successful charity-oriented NFT project, World of Women. The following are the major milestones for Phase 2 of their roadmap, which are explained in further detail in this Medium article.

  1. WoW in galleries and expos around the globe
  2. World of Women Merch
  3. The WoW Team is Growing
  4. WoW and Charity
  5. Metaverse-ready
  6. Worlds of Women
  7. More Airdrops
  8. On a planet far, far away…

Source: World of Women

World of Women has not forgotten its roots in charity in Phase 2 of its project. This is a great example of how you can expand your project without losing touch with your original vision and goals while still effectively engaging with your community.

5. Bao Society

Bao Society Roadmap

Source: Bao Society

This cute bao-inspired project has a clear roadmap that’s been stylised to suit the project’s visual inspiration. This is an example of a simple and clear roadmap. Phase 2 of the project reportedly sold out within 2 minutes.

Conclusion

NFT roadmap offers value to your project, especially in the long term. A well-drawn roadmap can draw in the buyer you’re looking for. Additionally, a good roadmap can add value to your project, potentially increasing its value over time. Buyers are looking to invest in not just your NFTs, but also in you as a developer and in your community. While you may not need roadmaps to be a successful project, it is something you can do to bolster your project’s value.