This article was written by Salvador Briggman. You can follow him on twitter here.
This article is sponsored by PitchFuse.Create a pre-launch page for your crowdfunding campaign and get feedback, gather a following, or do a giveaway!
Thinking of launching a crowdfunding campaign? I’m sure if you’ve read a few articles online, you’ve come across some of the common mistakes that first-time creators make.
Many New Crowdfunders Fail To:
- Build up their online presence months before the campaign’s launch.
- Create a marketing, PR, and promotion plan.
- Create a compelling video pitch, reward tiers, and copywriting.
- Calculate costs correctly.
Of all the preparation that goes into the campaign, building a network of interested followers can be the most difficult and mysterious pillar needed for crowdfunding success. Check out some of the tips below for improving your web presence and building up your audience before the launch of your crowdfunding campaign.
Build a Professional Website and Social Profiles (on a Budget)
1. Free Website Building Tools
If you can’t afford to hire a professional web designer to create you a custom website, you can use free or cheap website building tools like Wix, Webs, and WordPress.com.
There are also many hosting providers like BlueHost and HostGator that support website building tools you can easily install after creating an account. Lastly, domain providers like 1&1 sometimes will offer website building tools, usually for a small fee.
Whatever service you choose, I highly recommend getting a custom domain name, so that people would type http://www.yourwebsite.com into the browser’s address bar, instead of http://yourwebsite.something.com
If you go with the latter and some day decide to get your own domain name, all the links that you worked hard to generate on blogs and publications may not work. In addition, having your own domain name gives legitimacy to your email address (name@website.com vs. name@gmail.com).
If you’d like to consider investing in a professionally designed website, we provide website design services at 2&2 Labs.
2. Social Media Websites
You need to be on all of the social media websites that your potential customers and industry influencers (bloggers/journalists) may be on. This could include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+, and Pinterest. Be sure to create an appropriate cover photo and avatar image that either includes your company logo or your photo.
It’s a good idea to create both a company and personal account on these social networks. Be consistent with your branding. If you use a professional personal photo on LinkedIn, use the same photo on twitter so that people can recognize you more easily.
By getting started on building your social profile now, you will be more effective with marketing strategies like: Using Cover Photos To Market Your Kickstarter Campaign.
Also be sure to check out 4 LinkedIn Tips For Promoting your Kickstarter Campaign and Marketing your Kickstarter Campaign Using Twitter.
3. Social Bookmarking Websites
Social bookmarking websites are a great avenue for content marketing, which is discussed below. I’ve included a list of several social bookmarking websites below:
- Reddit – 16,000,000 – Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors
- StumbleUpon – 15,000,000 – Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors
- HackerNews – Check out How much it’s worth to be #1 on Hacker News for a day
- Digg – 4,100,000 – Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors
- Chime.In –250,000 – Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors
Udemy gives a good overview of the top social bookmarking websites: 5 Social Bookmarking Sites and How to Use Them Effectively
Generate Links To Your Website
1. Content Marketing
When you create a piece of content that solves a problem for an internet user or makes someone want to share a link to the content with their friends, you improve the chance of being linked to on blogs and other publications. This improves your SEO and the chance that people will find your website through your content (articles, blog posts, videos, images) via search engines.
If people find your website through your content on social media networks, social bookmarking websites, other blogs, or search engines, they are likely to follow you on twitter, facebook, or subscribe to your newsletter for new content similar to what they just consumed. In the future, you can tell them about your new product launch.
LegalZoom is a great example of content marketing. When you google “How to form an LLC,” their article pops up, “Forming an LLC Guide.” After providing useful information, their company then has the opportunity to pitch their product, which helps you form an LLC for a fee.
An easy way to get started with content marketing is to create a blog and begin writing for your customers or the audience you would like to connect with. What problems do they have? Can you provide useful tips or aggregate resources? After all, your company is an expert in the area.
2. Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing goes hand in hand with content marketing. Not only should you curate and share content that might be relevant for your customers or other industry experts through your social accounts, but you should also push out your own content at a ratio of 1:5 or 1:10 (depending on how much unique content you have).
Engaging in discussions on social media websites or bookmarking websites like those listed above can improve your clout in the community and establish yourself as an expert doing innovative things. Just be sure not to forget the sales funnel. All this activity is designed to lead to a fraction of customer actions. These could include newsletter signups, purchases, follows or likes.
3. Testimonials, Reviews, and Promotions
Inviting bloggers and previous customers to review your prototype can also generate links to your website. Bloggers often have an established distrubtion network for their articles, giving you added exposure, and customers may be willing to tell their friends about the review they did for your upcoming beta product.
Also, you can create a contest around your new product to increase interest in your up-and-coming crowdfunding project. For example, instead of hiring a professional artist, web designer, copywriter, or video editor, you could create a contest to find these talent individuals and promote it on relevant industry websites. This is one way to bump up your social following and get more people talking about your company.
Final Word
Once you’ve formed the foundations of your web presence in preparation for your crowdfunding campaign, begin reaching out to influencers through social media, LinkedIn groups, emails, and website comments. It’s a good idea to create these connections now before you NEED something of them. This way, later down the road, you will have developed some kind of rapport or at least begun a conversation with the influencer before pitching them.
Leave a comment below if you have any questions!
