Q: You always talk about
“building the crowd” and I thought that I did that. I have over 2,000 likes on
my Facebook page, 1,700 Twitter followers, and circled by over 5,000 on
Google+.
But when I posted my crowdfunding campaign, I only got a few likes,
re-tweets and pluses. Only my family and close friends made comments. I tried
to post it to groups and communities but the posts got removed as spam.
My campaign is live
with only 10 days left. I need help now. I am praying that you answer this! So
here is my million dollar question: Where can I post my crowdfunding campaign
and not be perceived as spam?
-Frustrated
Campaigner, Not Spammer
Thank you for your question and for allowing me to share
this with my audience. I responded in more depth via email, but here I am going
to separate my response because you touch upon two separate yet integrated
segments of the crowdfunding marketing plan.
What
does building the crowd really mean?
It doesn’t mean to acquire as many followers as possible.
This is a common misconception. When you initially plan your crowdfunding
marketing plan, take an inventory of your current social media followers. Who
follows you and why?
For your campaign, you want people to follow you who are
interested in (and want to support) what you are doing (idea/dream/business).
This is your target market. Find ways to cultivate those folks organically. By
creating natural connections, you are cultivating a network of individuals
(followers) who are interested in hearing about the launch. These folks will
share your campaign, look forward to hearing updates, and overall be engaged
with you.
A lot of clients tell me the world is their market because
everyone can/should/would benefit from the product/idea/business. This is never
the case. The planet is too broad of a target market. Take the time to truly
understand business concepts before you plan, not during the campaign.
With
10 days left on the campaign, let’s focus on where you can post:
ü
Look for blogs, influencers, and traditional
media outlets that are natural partners and submit a thoughtful article about
the product/idea/business and include a link to the campaign. Specifically ask
them to post the article and/or share your campaign. This is an example of
leveraging other peoples/businesses networks.
ü
Contact the local news. Many news stations have
segments about the community; contact them to see if your campaign fits.
Prepare enough information but don’t overdo it, be authentic and transparent.
ü
Don’t link drop. Link dropping agitates
followers just as much as push marketing tactics and trolls.
ü
Wherever you post, post with intention. There
are hundreds of crowdfunding platforms, hosting thousands of campaigns.
Followers are not piggy banks and many suffer from fundraising request fatigue.
ü
Don’t limit your marketing to social media. Pick
up the phone, send emails, write letters, host a demo, create hybrid events-
get creative!
Another big misconception is that one receives enormous
amounts of traffic from the crowdfunding platform itself. Unfortunately, most crowdfunding platforms
only highlight the most popular campaigns, so don’t rely on them for publicity.
If you have a live
crowdfunding campaign and would like me to give you specific insights to
improve the campaign, please schedule a crowdfunding consult here.
Mailbag Mondays is a
biweekly blog series, so if you have a question regarding fundraising,
entrepreneurship, or meetings and events; submit your questions here. Due to the volume of
questions received, your question is not guaranteed to be answered and featured
here on the blog.
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