Getting people’s attention is one of the most important factors in a crowdfunding campaign’s success. Even if you have an amazing project that is set up perfectly, if no one sees it then all the work you put in won’t get you very far. Having a unique and exciting angle is always a bonus and might get you noticed in the press, but having a proactive marketing plan is a good first step to making sure the word about your dream project spreads. Following are three marketing strategies based on “The NEW Marketing Trifecta” infographic shown below:
Mobile Devices
As the infographic explains, 91% of Americans own mobile devices, and 23% of those are smart phones. Citing a survey published by EROI.com, a digital marketing agency, the image shows that 67.6% of companies said that they offered mobile versions of their websites. Focusing your marketing campaign to include mobile devices can be a strong tactic for exposing your project not only to more people, but they will probably also come across it more often. Research mentioned in a Daily Mail Online article showed:
“According to data compiled by New York-based app Locket, the average user checks their phone around nine times an hour at peak times. On average, users unlock their phone 110 times a day and a quarter of people actively use their handsets during the hours of 3am and 5am” – Source.
The fact that so many people can access the Internet from their phones, laptops, and tablets now means that you have the chance to engage them even when they are out and about – and showing that you are willing to accommodate your audience’s hectic lifestyle and offer more easily accessed information can help give your startup an edge over others who aren’t embracing this technology.
Social Media
Further, according to the diagram above, 75% of US homes that are connected to the Internet use social media. The survey of companies mentioned previously also showed that their primary goal in relation to social media in 2010 was for brand awareness. Melinda Emerson, a business expert, shares some important advice on using social media to market your crowdfunding campaign (see her post here for more techniques):
“In order to attract people to your campaign, you need to be using social media at least 6 to 12 months before the launch of your campaign. You must be a part of the community, otherwise you could come off as disingenuous. Social media success is all about give to get. Remember that you want to promote your campaign, but you still need to share other relevant content at a 4:1 ratio of your own, particularly on Twitter.”
Social media also allows you to track a lot of data about the traffic to and from your pages, the people who follow you or mention you, etc. which can be a useful tool to see what things are working and what is not. For a helpful tutorial on how to use Google Analytics to track activity on your website, see this CrowdCrux post here.
Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn can be great because they allow you to share your messages with so many people at once (after you’ve built a big enough fan base), what you share can be spread even further, and you can interact with fans one-on-one (either privately or as a public shout-out). All of these elements allow you to increase your presence to potential backers and come across as engaging and trustworthy.
Last but not least, 97% of US households use email. Compiling and communicating with an emailing list from early on in your campaign can help you to keep in contact with important potential backers and along with some of your biggest fans.
The trick with email especially (although this applies to other things like social media too) is to always present your audience with relevant information that is interesting, and not to bombard them with too many poorly designed messages. Even though email is a great tool that allows you to keep in touch with large amounts of people, you don’t want people blocking your emails because they got too annoying.
Another thing to note is that many of the companies surveyed are integrating their email marketing campaigns with social media (the three most common were 91% for Facebook, 83.9% for Twitter, and 48% for LinkedIn):
“Not only are [mobile, social media, and email tactics] being widely used, but many are using a combination of all three – emails on mobile devices, email within social networks and social networks on mobile devices” – Infographic.
Conclusion
Building a genuine and engaging online presence is a key step to any successful crowdfunding campaign. Getting the mainstream media’s attention is one way to grow your reputation and get eyes on your project, but having a strong presence on mobile platforms, social media, and email will allow you to reach large groups of people. The wide array of tools and social media sites out there allows you to create a large variety of content that you can focus on communicating to the specific niche or community that your project is tailored to. Keeping up to date with popular technology and trends can help a lot in staying ahead of competitors; it is important to know where your audience is spending their time. The next step is to provide them with the best content and up-to-date information that you can.
About the author
Krystine Therriault is the community manager for CrowdCrux and has helped creators with their crowdfunding projects on KickstarterForum.org. She loves learning about new trending projects and dissecting them to bring new tips and information to creators. You can find her on LinkedIn here or Twitter here.
