Listing on top-level exchanges costs huge fabulous money ... most projects don't have that much money. And many experts agree that listing on the top exchanges for millions of dollars does not justify itself from an economic point of view.
I think so too, that there is no sense to pay big money if the project itself has small scales.
Advertising should be gradual so that people learn about the project, expensive advertising does not mean that it will be of high quality, much depends on the specialists themselves.