There is no one single way to achieve the financial objectives of a crowdfunding campaign, because each project is its own thing. Nevertheless, there are some basic practices that can be seen in most successful cases.
1. Before launching
A long time before launching the crowdfunding campaign, you need to build a community around the project. The quickest and most effective way of doing this is using social media. Creating quality content and addressing specific segments of the public that are particularly interested in the subject of our intiative is essential. Facebook Ads and Google Adwords can be our great allies in finding these targets and niches.
To set up a page for the project that looks interesting and invites people to share it means having a lot of details about the idea, the funding goals, the creators behind the project and the rewards on offer. The ideal thing is to use storytelling, to explain how the initiative came about, the motivations of those behind it, the process of developing the project and what will happen in the future. That way potential patrons can have all their questions answered before even taking part in the campaign and that generates trust.
You have to explain a lot of the details behind the idea, the funding goals, the creators and the rewards on offer
Setting out a system of attractive rewards that provide value is the main reason why donors will contribute to the campaign. They can be products, services or experiencies, but we recommend they always be unique and exclusive.
Another important aspect to keep in mind when it comes to launching a crowdfunding campaign is keeping the financial objective as low as possible. To raise 100% of the funds, we need to keep things as simple as we can, we can divide the objective into stages and clearly explain what we will do as the objective for each stage is met.
2. During the crowdfunding campaign
In a crowdfunding campaign the first three days are key. Once the campaign is launched, the first donations will come from those people who already know about the project and the creator (family, friends, followers), this stage we call “the creator’s immediate circle” and it makes up 30% of the total. To get the remaining 70%, the most important thing is good communication. The best tools for this are social media, marketing emails, live events, news on the project’s page and contact with specialised media outlets.
A campaign normally lasts between 30 and 45 days, the maximum being 90 days. A campaign that is too short makes it very difficult to achieve the objective, while one that is very long runs the risk of interest in it being lost over time. To always keep the campaign alive and keep donations coming every day, it is important to have a communication plan that lays out the messages we will send and the public we will address. The most common messages are the campaign’s achievements (30, 50, 80 and 100% of the funds raised), live or streamed presentations of the project, special lotteries, etc.
It is important to have a communication plan that lays out the messages we will have to send
The campaign’s final straight is when 40% of the total needed is normally collected. At this point it is a good idea to once again contact the immediate circle so that they get their friends and acquaintances involved.
We often use specials hashtags like #LastCall #NowOrNever #ÚltimosDías, and the media outlets that have not taken so much notice of our news may possibly be more open to publishing information about the project. Resend them a press note with the results of the campaign and use real data to show its impact on your community.
3. When the campaign is over
Once the campaign is over and the financial objective has been achieved, the time has come to develop the project and send out the rewards. It is important to keep the campaign patrons informed and to provide them with details on when and how they will receive their rewards, and also on how the project will evolve in the future. In many cases, these people will become ambassadors for your project, which makes it a good idea to keep in touch with them and continue to offer them new exclusive products, discounts or entry to special events or activities.
As we can see, information is the key at all stages of the campaign, whether it is getting the first donations, building trust or expressing gratitude, we must remember that it is a process that totally depends on the creator, on their capacity for communication, motivation and work. There is no one way to ensure the success of a crowdfunding campaign, but all those who have done so agree one thing is essential: a lot of communication and passion for the idea of the project.