Effective Online Marketing Tips for Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns

EFFECTIVEMANKETING FOR A SUCCESSFUL ONLINE CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN It's no coincidence that some of the most funded projects have founders with impressive experience. A reputation gives you social proof, which you can present in your video and on your crowdfunding page. If you personally don't have much experience in your product or project category, partner with someone who does. 1. BUILD A REPUTATION Business Day The Neu erk Eimes Technology WORLD ES KERIGON K TCOLOY PORTS oros AS YLE TRA Os Searsh Technelegy Persenal Tec es Cem Tools of Entry, No Need for a Key Chain w lamie is stegherldem i acaped nmat Pm an 4 Ing Cern Aain Quih Lockitron: New York Times, Popular Science, Reader's Digest covered a first version of their smartphone enabled door lock. Tile: "Hi l'm Nick. I'm Mike. We've both been working in the hardware industry for years when we had the revolutionary idea for Tile." Allan R. 6:45 P Did you hear that inPulse is shipping? Better get your order in quickly WIRED The New Jork Eimes engadge Pebble: Wired, New York Times, Engadget, The Verge covered a first version of their product. 3Doodler: "I brought to market such products as Rovio and RS Media. And at MIT I worked on a number of fun projects including a walking dinosaur robot." Spirit (landed 2004) Scanadu Scout: "We have a relationship with NASA." ARKYD: "Members on our engineering team have built every US lander sent to Mars over the past 15 years." Tut ONew Emal 4:25 . Re Topics be doing somethin gret for he geon emay be EMANUEL JONES STECHJECT INc DR JAYANT RATTI Robot Dragonfly: "I got my PhD in robotics and artificial intelligence from Georgia Tech.. began with a $1 million grant from the US Airforce. Kreyos: "Our team has more than 15 years of experience developing electronic and tech products." A reputation, just like in the real world, is necessary to gain trust from your project backers in the online world. 2. MAKE YOUR PROJECT WORTH SHARING Your entire project has to revolve around an exciting idea. It should be explained in one sentence and read like a newspaper headline. Keyless entry using your phone. Tile, the world's largest lost and found. Pebble: E-Paper Watch for iPhone and Android by Pebble Technology Robot Dragonfly - Micro Aerial Vehicle Palm-sized robot that flies like a bird and hovers like an insect The only way you'll meet your crowdfunding goals is if you're making something truly special. Otherwise, few (maybe just your friends and family) will want to share it on Facebook and Twitter. https://onlycoin.com/ Coin onlycoin.com Coin is a new device that can hold and be used like the cards you already carry. coin Like - Comment - Share OnlyCoin.com was shared on Facebook many times because of its exciting idea: turning all of your credit, debit, gift, and membership cards into 1 card. 3. HOW DO YOU MAKE YOUR CAMPAIGN GO *“VIRAL"? "Viral" is a very ambigious word. But for your purposes, viral means making sure that your crowdfunding project is shared within a community of people on Facebook and Twitter. In order to do that, you have to define exactly what community you'll target. PROJECT NAME COMMUNITIES TARGETED AMOUNT RAISED Lockitron DIY, tech enthusiasts, smartphone owners $2,278,891 Tile smartphone owners $2,681,297 Pebble smartphone owners $10,266,845 Form 1 designers $2,945,885 3Doodler arts and crafts enthusiasts $2,344,134 Scanadu Scout healthy living community $1,664,574 ARKYD science and space community $1,505,366 Robot Dragonfly tech enthusiasts, smartphone owners $1,140,975 THE MOST FUNDED CROWDFUNDING PROJECTS EACH HAD TARGET MARKETS WHICH THEY APPEALED TO. IF YOU FOCUS ON MAKING AN AWESOME IDEA FOR YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE, THEY WILL SHARE YOUR PROJECT. AND TO REACH THIS COMMUNITY, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO REACH OUT TO JOURNALISTS WITHIN IT. LET'S SAY YOUR PRODUCT IS A SMARTPHONE HUFFPOST TECH ENABLED TOOTHBRUSH GIZMODO The most efficient way of reaching your market, smartphone target interested in gadgets, is to reach out to each of the key players in the online users Cnet tech-loving community, which consists of about 5 major websites: Yahoo Tech, HuffPost Tech, TechCrunch, PandoDaily, CNET, and Gizmodo. And to reach these key players, you're going to have to grab the attention of a journalist from each site. MEN'S FASHION COOKING BEAUTY New York Times Style Lifehacker Allure HuffPost Style Cosmopolitan Men's Wear News HuffPost Food Esquire GQ Complex HuffPost Style Cooking Light Elle Marieclaire Style Ledger Each community has their own set of websites which you should target. Finding these sites is as simple as searching for your niche in Google. BEGIN YOUR EMAIL CAMPAIGN MONTHS BEFORE YOU LAUNCH GIZMODO ANDREW TARANTOLA on GIZMODO HOME MOD - 5/17/11 8:00pm Unlock Your Door with Your Phone If you want your product to be featured on a site like Gizmodo, see which journalists have written about similar projects in the past. Here, we see that Andrew Tarantola wrote about a smartphone enabled doorbell in the past. Andrew may very well be interested in writing about your smartphone enabled toothbrush. Find Andrew's email by Googling "Andrew Tarantola email" Google Andrew Tarantola email About Gizmodo gizmodo.com/5732042/about-gizmodo-for-beta Gizmodo Jan 12, 2011 - (For tech support, please email [email protected]). Andrew Tarantola Email | Twitter |. Image Curator: About Gizmodo. Attila Nagy Email 1,015 contacts found for "The New York Times Company" Revise search» Get Contacts V Save this Search Show : 50 |1- 50 of 1,0154 O 2 Š Name Company Title City State A Asimov, Eric The New York Times Chief Wine Critic/Blogger New York NY Company Abelson, Reed The New York Times Healthcare Industry Reporter New York NY Company Abrams, Mike The New York Times Editor New York NY Company 2 Adaya, Ms. The New York Times Staff Accountant New York NY Loida Company Using Google to find email addresses usually works well. If you aren't finding enough email addresses using this method, use data.com, which has $250 for 350 contacts as its lowest priced plan. Hi Andrew, I'm developing a smartphone enabled toothbrush which will allow you to instantly and effortlessly monitor your oral hygiene on your smartphone. I'm launching my Kickstarter campaign in 4 months and was wondering whether you'd be interested in writing a story about it once the campaign is released. Your wrote about Lockitron in the past so I figured you may find my product interesting as well. Best regards, Joey smartbrushing.com idealabs.com KEEP YOUR EMAIL VERY SHORT AND MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE A REFERENCE TO YOUR PAST EXPERIENCE "THAT SOUNDS LIKE A REALLY COOL PROJECT! PLEASE KEEP ME UPDATED." "THANK YOU FOR THE HEADS UP!" "SURE, LET ME KNOW." Don't expect long replies. Keep journalists updated progress, but make sure not to waste their time. Remember, they NEED YOU because you have an Repeat this process enough times so that you have at least 5 interested journalists, each from a different site. If one journalist from one site doesn't respond, contact another journalist from on your awesome idea. the same site. 5. TELL PEOPLE WHY THEY SHOULD SHARE YOUR PROJECT ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER “People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it." WHY HOW Simon Sinek WHAT The golden circle is a model developed by Simon Sinek which suggests that the most inspiring leaders and organizations explain the "why" in their marketing, not the "how" or "what." LOCKITRON TILE ARKYD SCANADU SCOUT 10-YEAR HOODIE Give you power to explore the universe Raise expectations of how clothes should To make life To make you healthier To save you WHY easier time be made Bluetooth 4.0 NASA Technoogy High quality materials & special stiches 32-bit RTOS ATMega microprocessor HOW Bluetooth 4.0 Micrium platform Smartphone enabled door Publicly accessible WHAT FOB Medical Tricorder Hoodie with 10 lock space telescope year warranty If you want people to share your crowdfunding project, they have to feel as if they're contributing to something great, not just your own product sales. Explain your "why" in your crowdfunding video. 6. PRICE YOUR REWARDS Pledge $1 or more Pledge $1 or more Pledge $1 or more 141 backers O 2615 backers 1053 backers SCARY GODMOTHER #0 Didn't get a chance to HALL OF FAME: Thanks for your contribution! Even if you aren't ready for a 3Doodler you can DIGITAL COMIC STORY back Pebble before it Not familiar with Scary Godmother? Here's your sold out? Pledge $1 and keep up-to-date on all things Pebble with exclusive updates, Pebble availability or chance to get still drink the kool-aid acquainted with them! A digital download of Scary Godmother with us, get updates, and make the Hall of Fame on our website. more. Include a $1 reward. It won't make or break your project, but it gets people invested in your project who are initially on the fence. They may see your updates and contribute more before the project ends. Pledge $75 or more 2000 backers All gone! Limit available quantity on purpose. By limiting your quantity you make your rewards scarce, which makes the rewards more desirable. Pledge $99 or more Pledge $199 or more 200 backers All gone! 500 backers All gone! EARLY BIRDS Help us get started! One Jet Black Pebble watch. This watch will retail for more than $150. Free shipping to USA. EARLY BIRD SPECIAL. GET AN EMOTIV INSIGHT. Plus a limited edition KickStarter Badge to proudly display that you backed us and made this happen. This is for early birds -- we can only offer a limited number at this price. Offer discounted pricing to early birds. If you make an eniticing early bird incentive, your project will get backers quickly, which gives you social proof for future backers. $301 $1,005 50% FUNDED PLEDGED 3% 23 FUNDED PLEDGED HOURS TO GO HOURS TO GO If you just landed on someone's crowdfunding page, would you rather hop on the bandwagon of a project which already has backers, or would you take the chance on the project with almost no backers? Price all of your rewards for less than the retail price. Or add something which the retail version will not have. You don't want potential backers to hold off because they want to wait for the retail version. Pledge $99 or more 200 backers All gone! EARLY BIRDS Help us get started! One Jet Black Pebble watch. This watch will retail for more than $150. Free shipping to USA. 26% 17% 13% 11% 9% 5% 5% 5% 4% 3% $25 $50 $10 $100 $20 $5 $1 $30 $15 $25 PLEDGE AMOUNT Lower priced rewards not only are the most popular, but give you more backers who spread the word about your project. 7. DECIDE WHAT PLATFORM YOU'LL USE TO LAUNCH YOUR CROWDFUNDING 5% Fee On Funded KICKSTARTER 43.61% Success Specific Requirements to be accepted Amount Rate * indiegogo 4% Fee On Funded Amount Loose Restrictions 10% Success Rate Kickstarter has a halo effect in the crowdfunding world. Between the two, Kickstarter is the better option. But if you can't be accepted into Kickstarter, indiegogo is still a good option. Don't let indiegogo's low success rate discourage you. Because indiegogo doesn't have strict rules, it hosts many projects which should have never seen the light of day. Lockitron tile coin Lockitron.com, onlycoin.com, and thetileapp.com prove that you can successfully self-host your crowdfunding and save the 4-5% you'd otherwise give to Kickstarter or indiegogo. Selfstarter selfstarter.us, created by the makers of lockitron.com, allows you to roll your own crowdfunding. It will cost about $3k to design a custom site using selfstarter.us crowdhoster.com allows you to take advantage of selfstarter.us without the costs of designing a custom site. 8. DESIGN YOUR LANDING PAGE SO THAT VISITORS CONVERT TO BACKERS FAILURE Documentary on the li your face and thought How much money is too much more Vancouver Island is the wes know as islanders, we live in We ars acerchirg for friahing fundirg to complete indapandant fastre im tykeen youth. time. www.showupfims com Show Up Fins ia a talertied and ully funaforing f Stuvvesant Dreoklyn dedicatad to producing inno television shows that reflect every aspect of the urt fon reen ege Chow Up Film aa lroady begun YOUTH TODAY is a documer see the world through their e The Story Vancouver Island is a world of it's own Victoria and upwards of 3700mm arou bear, elk and a few grizzly on the top e but they swam back. very madoet indepenciart fim budget Tyccor: Ais 2012 met tremendous raves for s gitty uban st quelity which vas comparable te mera epererce halp eompieting the tim projant. 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In pers intervention no one truly under so intense in fact that tragically As winter and storm season approach immerse ourselves in the icy pacific wa You are invited o on the Show Up Films and Ente invtaion to your network nith he hops thet you a and tests but both are wet. cortriste to not oniy te a draam hut te the ta tra Landing page for Landing page for Landing page for "Tykoon", a failed Kickstarter project for an independent feature film "Islanders - The "YOUTH ΤODAY", a Vancouver Island failed Kickstarter project for a documentary Experience", a failed Kickstarter project for a documentary SUCCESS TH BOU BA Vahs VGHS TEAM PENNANT -$100 VIDIO GAME $700K RLIE NEED YOUR HELP!!! / VGHS ID CARD-$125 M WORK MAKES O ACTION Landing page for "The Landing page for Landing page for "Thunder Road", a Bounce Back", a "Thunder Road", a successful indiegogo film project successful indiegogo film project successful indiegogo film project Don't make your video your last attempt at visually comunicating with your backers. Some may not even see the video and will, instead, browse your landing page. Make sure to include lots of images to capture the attention of the internet browsing public. 9. SET REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS OR YOUR FUTURE ONLINE MARKETING WILL SUFFER Uklyo-e Heroes Amanda Palmer Kings of Cloud FTP War Zombicide Makey Makey Lumi CineSkates ON TIME Camera Sliders Alpha Digispark Rhino Slider Pathfinder Online Brydge Hand Laser Cutter/ Engraver SLIGHTLY B9Creator TARDY Stylus Demo Order of the Stick Reprint TakTik Cookoo Watch Pocket TV MetaWatch Apollo Dress Shirt HuMn Wallet Elevation Dock Strata LunaTik Touch Pen Video Printrbot Game High School Geode from iCache Flint and Tinder Window- farms Solid Hidden Radio ZBoard Remee Mask Twine PRETTY LATE.. Titanium & Bluetooth Pen + Stylus Speaker Oculus Double The Banner Saga Touch Time The Porthole WHERE THE Castle Lelsure Ogre Rift Designer's Edition n%S* IS IT!? Fine Story Suit Larry Adventure Pebble Watch Digital Bolex Galileo BronyCon: The Docu- mentary gTar Genie ZPM Espresso Machine According to CNN, most successful Kickstarter projects missed their scheduled deadline. So, when estimating your shipping date, add in some extra time for unexpected delays. A project that is way too late will result in frustrated backers and your hard earned reputation will take a hit the next time you try to market something online. SOURCES INFOGRAPHIC BROUGHT TO YOU BY http://www.verticalresponse.com/blog/market-crowd- funded-product-launch/ https://www.kickstarter.com/blog/trends-in-pric- ing-and-duration http://blog.echen.me/2011/04/25/kickstarter-data-analy- sis-success-and-pricing/ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/- Golden_circle.png http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/7/4594824/- less-than-10-per- cent-of-projects-on-indiegogo-get-fully-funded https://www.kickstarter.com/help/stats http://money.cnn.com/interactive/technology/kickstart- er-projects-shipping/ IMFMRZA The Internet Marketing Agency www.imFORZA.com PERCENT OF TOTAL PLEDGES