Crowdfunding is all about preparation
The first week of your campaign is absolutely vital. Getting 10% – or preferably 30% – of your total in that time is a huge turning point, and has a massive influence as to whether or not you succeed.
The only way you can reach those milestones fast enough is to know exactly where your first backers are coming from before you launch.
Your first backers are the ones who really buy into your vision
More often than not, they are people you personally know – your parents, your siblings, friends, acquaintances and that boy you used to pash behind the bike sheds in third form.
They are also, usually, people who knew you were working on your Kickstarter/Indiegogo/PledgeMe project well in advance of you actually launching it.
People who manage to reach massive success often have one thing in common
They’ve talked to dozens (if not hundreds, or thousands) of people about their campaign before it has launched.
They know who their crowd is, and where to find them.
They recognise the importance of reaching their early milestones to provide social proof that the project is legit.
No matter what your project is for, your strategy should always include telling as many people as you can about it and, incidentally, that you’re crowdfunding.
They talk to people
This is going to mean writing blogs, sending emails, posting to Twitter and Facebook, creating videos, and most importantly: talking to people.
Once a person is interested, however, you’ve got to keep them interested. AND you’ve got to be able to find them again.
That can be a little difficult when it could be anything up to a year between your first conversation and the launch of your project, so here are some steps for finding and engaging your first backers.
1. Start a Mailchimp list
Yes, email. Your Facebook page is subject to the Facebook algorithm – meaning you won’t necessarily reach your audience when you post. Start a Mailchimp list – you can even embed the sign up form on your Facebook page.
Ask people to sign up (there’s a great app called “Mailchimp Subscribe” which makes this super-easy) if they want to be first in line for news and earlybirds for your project.
2. Talk to people
Lots of people. As many as possible for as long as possible ahead of your launch.
You should have started this yesterday.
Sell your vision and your dream. Infect people with your passion. Convince them that you’re going to change the world in your own way – and that they can help you do it.
3. Get your first backers on that mailing list
This is how you’re going to keep them in the loop, and find them later.
This is how you start drumming up interest, and how those people will remember you – and tell other people about you.
Start a nurture sequence to introduce yourself to everyone who joins the list.
4. Share content with your first backers well in advance of your campaign
If you’re still anything longer than 3 months away from your launch, then monthly updates are enough to remind people that you exist.
As you get closer to your launch, increase the frequency of your updates. Have them vote on their favourite rewards. Give them sneak peaks at your prototype. Share your journey.
5. Tell your first backers the honest truth
It’s important your first backers know they need to be your first backers.
People will put things off to the last minute whenever possible. That isn’t helpful when it comes to reaching that 30% mark, so it’s a good idea to tell people it’s important, and incentivise early backing through earlybirds (a limited number of rewards at discounted rates).
Your crowd is your key to success in crowdfunding. It is absolutely worth spending a substantial amount of time building it before you launch. For more tips on pre-campaign strategy, make sure you check out my post on landing pages!
