I think that one of the biggest failures is the lack of press-kit/releases. If people do not know you exist then it is easy to pass you by.
One thing that the people at Steem.io should do is take a look at the Press releases from IBM. Perhaps a shift in thinking is needed at the top. While it is nice they did the experiment for a "Social" block chain that does not preclude them from selling space on their block chain the same way that IBM does.
IBM even though it is thought of as old Hat are still relevant in today's market. Why? Because they let people know what they are up to. How many people using steem even realize that IBM has a Blockchain. That they have tools and people set up to help you create you own blockchain environment on top of theirs?
Marketing needs to start somewhere, and a simple monthly progress report press release would go a long way in getting eyes on the steem blockchain.
Yep, it sure does. Though press releases cost money and there simply hasn't been much of it apparently these past few months. However, if they are able to start generating some nice revenue via ads, they certainly need to start going this route for sure.