Promoting your crowdfunding campaign

The launch

• The first 48 hours of your crowdfunding campaign are critical. In fact, the launch is the most important thing you will do. Getting off to a good start will help you to build momentum and hold you in very good stead for the entire campaign.
• Build your networks before the launch via Facebook, Twitter, your email list, Instagram, Pinterest, Google + and whatever else. The bigger your network before you launch, the more people you will have to draw on for pledges.
• Encourage the people you know will pledge to do so in the first couple of days. That is, your family and close friends.
• Create hype around the launch. Offer certain rewards for a limited time or at a discounted price for the first couple of days. Do a countdown. Release teaser videos. You want as many people as possible in a state of anticipation when you go live.

Social media

• A picture is worth a thousand words, particularly on social media. So remember – less text, more images.
• Don’t be shy to post every day. People have liked your page or are following you because they are interested in what you are doing. Not everyone will see every post you put up. You are not spamming by posting every day.
• Only 20% of your posts should directly ask people to pledge to your campaign. 80% should look at more meaningful things such as exciting project news or relevant developments globally – with your crowdfunding link at the end. If you continually ask people to pledge they will lose interest.
• Plan your social media posts before beginning your campaign. You will save time and the posts will be better thought out.

PR campaign

• Write a media release for your campaign. Crowdfunding is popular in the media and there is every chance you will receive coverage.
• It’s really important to target relevant publications and journalists and tailor your media release for each one. You will see more success if you spend more time on fewer journalists than if you send your media release to everyone under the sun.
• Make sure your media release is newsworthy. Create a hook and start with it so journalists will read on.
• Include high-resolution images (300dpi) with your media release. Your story will have a better chance of being picked up if you offer a great image to go with it.

Get creative

• Be creative in everything you do. Your videos, your social media posts, your descriptions, your rewards, your publicity… everything. Your whole crowdfunding campaign is a marketing endeavor. Entertain!
• Recruit as many team members as you can to get right behind your campaign. Remember, many people will pledge to support a person rather than an idea. The more people you have promoting your project, the more pledges you’ll get.
• It can be tricky to keep people engaged throughout the middle of your campaign. Don’t get disheartened; it happens to everyone. Try releasing new rewards, posting new videos or writing thanks on the Facebook pages of your supporters. What’s important is to keep communicating with your potential supporters during this period. There are many ways to do it; you just need to use your imagination.
• If you can manage to keep people engaged throughout, you’ll see a big upswing in pledges in the last few days of your campaign and right before deadline.

Fact: For some projects, 80% of pledges are made on the first and last few days of the campaign.

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