Getting a token listed on a centralized exchange (CEX) such as Binance, Coinbase, or Bybit is generally one of the major long-term goals of any project team. These exchanges are only prepared to list tokens with extremely strong communities and significant trading volumes.
The process of getting listed on these leading exchanges is complicated, requiring many different factors. One of the areas teams can prepare for in advance is crypto marketing. Importantly, teams should understand that the marketing campaign must be designed to generate enough growth to capture the attention of the exchanges, while also having a plan in place to sustain traction post-launch.
This guide explores the key marketing must-haves for projects aiming to secure a CEX listing in 2025, including narrative building, community growth, PR, influencer campaigns, programmatic ads, and SEO.
Why a CEX Listing Matters
Although CEX listings aren’t always bullish, as countless tokens have demonstrated by crashing moments after Binance listing announcements, there are clear advantages to getting listed. One classic example of a CEX listing success story is $PEPE, which exploded in value following its Binance listing and remains one of the leading memecoins on the market years later.
The primary benefit of a CEX listing is liquidity. With millions of active traders, centralized exchanges can instantly provide deep order books that allow tokens to be bought and sold more easily. Liquidity also helps stabilize price action, giving investors more confidence to participate.
Credibility is another major factor. Being listed on a top-tier exchange serves as third-party validation that a project has passed stringent checks on community demand, compliance, and overall legitimacy. This level of recognition is often enough to draw in institutional investors who may otherwise avoid smaller, unlisted projects.
Finally, exposure is critical. CEX platforms offer projects visibility to massive retail audiences worldwide, turning a relatively unknown token into a household name overnight. For projects aiming to scale quickly, a CEX listing is often the single most important growth milestone.
Building the Right Narrative
Everything begins with a narrative. This isn’t only true for memecoins. Even utility-based projects must have a narrative that is clear and unique if there’s any possibility of attracting the attention of leading exchanges. A solid narrative sparks the imagination of the community, whether they are DeFi users or memecoin degens chasing the latest dog-themed moonshot.
A strong narrative rallies the community behind a project. The classic example is $PEPE, which tapped into the long-running “Pepe the Frog” cartoon meme and its cultural references. The token’s website leaned into decentralization and a deliberate lack of utility. Even the supply figure, with the numbers 420 and 69, amplified its meme appeal. This storytelling created a viral identity that people wanted to be part of.
Exchanges care deeply about narrative strength and community adoption. A project with an engaged, excited community demonstrates clear demand, which is critical for sustaining trading volume post-listing.
Consistent messaging across platforms also matters. $PEPE pushed its narrative across X, Telegram, and community groups, reinforcing its brand until it became the leader of its niche. Even as copycats appeared, its coherent story and loyal base kept it ahead of the competition.
Growing Your Community Before the Listing
Building a community on the leading social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Telegram, and Discord is central to getting a project’s narrative noticed. There are several ways to grow communities in the long term:
Consistent posting on X and amplification with KOLs: Daily updates, memes, and progress reports keep the community engaged. Strategic KOL partnerships amplify these posts to reach new audiences.
Setting up Telegram groups with bots and moderators: Telegram remains the center of crypto chatter. Bots provide automated buy/sell alerts and useful project updates, while moderators filter spam, remove FUD, and maintain positive dialogue. Buybots in particular help create excitement and FOMO when new purchases are made.
Creating a Discord server with dedicated channels: Discord allows structured discussion around different project aspects, such as governance, staking, or NFTs. Giving early members meaningful roles in moderation and management creates a sense of ownership, turning them into long-term holders and evangelists.
The community is especially important for memecoins, where the main utility driving token value comes from acceptance of the narrative. A strong, active community creates organic growth by sharing content across its own networks, multiplying the project’s reach.
Leveraging PR to Build Credibility
Crypto press release distribution can play a central role in preparing a project for a CEX listing. Well-written PRs, created by expert crypto copywriting teams and published at the right time on leading outlets, can provide a massive boost to a project. PR gives projects a level of authority and brand awareness that may otherwise not have been possible.
Top-tier media coverage builds legitimacy in ways that social posts or community hype cannot. Articles published on respected outlets like CoinTelegraph, Decrypt, or Bloomberg Crypto signal that the project has passed a certain credibility threshold.
These outlets are extremely selective, and access often comes through marketing agencies with established relationships with editors and journalists. This is why most projects rely on external agencies to execute their PR strategies effectively.
PR also plays a direct role in exchange listing success. Listing teams carefully monitor industry coverage and pay attention to which projects appear in trusted outlets. If a project is being featured consistently, it signals that the marketing is high quality and that industry media sees genuine value in the project.
KOL and Influencer Marketing
Key opinion leaders (KOLs) and crypto influencer marketing can be one of the most potent tools for growth, but it is expensive and difficult to manage. When executed correctly, it can generate awareness, drive trading volume, and build strong community momentum.
Expert KOL managers are essential to running these campaigns. They ensure contracts are watertight, prevent wasted spend, and align influencers whose audiences fit the project’s narrative and goals. Without this alignment, even high-cost campaigns can fail to deliver results.
Some KOLs charge massive sums for simple posts, and in some cases, they have acted nefariously by dumping tokens allocated to them immediately after promoting a project. This is why it is crucial to have an expert marketing team manage allocations, negotiate clear rules, and protect the project’s reputation.
SEO and Long-Term Visibility
Crypto SEO often plays a central role in long-term crypto projects that aim to become listed on leading CEXs. Generally, a solid SEO track record signals that a project is positioned for the long run, as it has succeeded in building steady streams of relevant traffic through search engines.
Expert crypto SEO teams usually begin with a comprehensive audit to identify strengths and weaknesses. From there, they build strategies that can include:
Technical SEO improvements: site speed, UX, mobile optimization.
Keyword research: targeting terms tied to crypto, DeFi, NFTs, or presales.
Content creation: blogs, guides, and updates that answer user queries.
Link building: securing backlinks from high-authority domains.
Search engine visibility helps both investors and exchange listing teams trust a project. For traders, high rankings on Google provide confidence that a project is established and recognized.
Final Thoughts on Preparing Your Project for a CEX Listing
Getting a token listed on the leading exchanges is a big task. Competition for the attention of CEXs is constantly growing with tokens launching every minute across dozens of chains, many with unique narratives and new use cases. One of the best ways to give your project a shot at listing on the CEXs with the most trading volume is by implementing a comprehensive web3 marketing strategy that includes crypto community management, KOL support, and a crypto SEO strategy.
FAQs
Can PR actually influence a CEX listing decision?
Yes. Consistent PR in top-tier crypto outlets boosts legitimacy and visibility. Exchange teams often monitor media coverage, and projects mentioned across reputable publications stand out as more trustworthy, making PR a key supporting factor in the listing process.
How important is community size for a CEX listing?
Community size alone isn’t enough. Exchanges look at engagement, activity, and organic growth. A small but active community is more valuable than inflated numbers filled with bots. Quality, not just quantity, helps convince exchanges that a project has long-term potential.
