A year ago, a prospective client called me one week into his Kickstarter campaign. He was an investor helping a founder with an incredible film project. Together, they had a heartwarming story told through a high-quality video and beautiful graphics. But they didn’t have a community of people rallying around them. The investor came to me hoping I could help them build a community by identifying potential ambassadors and advocates, reach out to them and create a huge groundswell of support (and backers) in time to fund the campaign. It was a tall order and they realized it was too little too late to make the investment worthwhile. There’s no magic bullet for building a community. It takes time to cultivate, build trust and support.
Start building your crowdfunding community in advance
You can’t wait to build your online community once your crowdfunding campaign is launched. You have to start building this community at least three months before launch.
Why? Your community needs to be big. It must extend beyond friends, family and colleagues. You need to start bringing in the curious lurkers, the commenters, the creators and the collaborators—ultimately, these are people (aside from your mom) who will back and advocate for your campaign.
So if you are leading into a crowdfunding campaign, be prepared to become a community manager…now! In that role, you will need to:
- Create a culture of trust between your brand and your customers.
- Turn negative interactions into positive ones.
- Advocate for your brand.
- Use a combination of PR, social media, writing and communications to get your message out.
- Incorporate online tools and in-person networking to create relationships and, ultimately, build the company’s brand, both online and off.
- Build the place where your community will continue to live once your project is funded and on the market.
Of course this is only the beginning. After working on a successful Kickstarter campaign and consulting with several founders or investors about their Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Tilt campaigns, I’ve learned a tonne of information to help build a successful crowdfunding campaign… and I want to share it with you.
Join my FREE Webinar so I can tell you so much more. In the series of three webinars, you will discover…
- Why you need to pay attention to crowdfunding, how it works, and the unexpected opportunities it brings to almost every niche—from small businesses, to artists, authors, screenwriters, educators and more.
- A recipe for success based on proven results from other campaigns, with ideas and concepts you can use for your own campaign + learn the common mistakes that prevent many campaigns from being funded.
- What your future could look like after a successfully funded crowdfunding campaign, with testimonials and commentary from people just like you who’ve been through it and are now reaping the rewards for their business.
This webinar series is coming up on October 5, 6 and 7, 2016. Get on the list now!
For the A to Z Blueprint for Planning, Building and Launching a
CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN
that Will Flood Your Project with Fans and Backers
