Smallbrooks blog
Promoting your crowdfunding campaign
By Mathias Foged
Du står med den perfekte ide til et crowdfundingprojekt. Men hvis ingen hører om det, kan det være lige meget. project, nevertheless, if nobody hears about it, it doesn’t matter. Derfor er det vigtigt, at du har en plan for plan to promote your crowdfunding campaign.
This promotion process demands thorough preparation og hårdt arbejde både før, under og efter kampagnen går i luften.
Med med en velforberedt og koordineret indsats bliver din kampagne både nemmere og mere effektiv. Denne guide er en trin-for-trin-vejledning til, hvordan du bedst markedsfører dit projekt.
Før kampagnen
De vigtigste elementer af din kampagne starter lang tid før, den rent faktisk går i luften.
The crucial foundation of your campaign begins with the early supporters who can spread the word and skabe momentum. Jo mere struktureret du arbejder, og jo mere omtale og interesse du kan skabe inden lanceringsdatoen, desto nemmere vil det være at nå i mål.
1. Organiser dig
Som så meget andet i livet er crowdfunding nemmere, hvis du har nogenlunde styr på, hvad du skal lave, og hvornår du skal lave det. Therefore, before you get started, make sure for at få lagt en plan og få struktureret din indsats. En times planlægning kan snildt ende med at spare dig 10 timers arbejde.
Start med at have en dedikeret mappe eller online arbejdsrum som f.eks. Google Drive eller OneDrive, hvor du og dine projektpartnere kan organisere jer. Lav en detaljeret projektplan, der indeholder en beskrivelse af alle de opgaver, der skal udføres, sammen med status og tilhørende deadlines i en kalender. Sørg for at samle dit markedsføringmateriale (videoer, pressemeddelelser, opslag til sociale medier osv.) ét sted, så du nemt kan finde det frem, når det skal bruges.
Furthermore, it is also a good idea to have lists or excel sheets with everything you’ll need, from finances to key persons and media contacts.
Sørg for løbende at opdatere alle informationer, så du ikke glemmer noget og dermed misser en god mulighed.
Various methods can be employed to structure your work, and you probably know which works best for you. The most important thing is that you set a solid framework for your work throughout the campaign.
2. Netværk, netværk, netværk
Your network is where it all begins. Additionally, they are your first supporters and your best advocates. They know you and – hopefully – want to see you succeed with your project. Therefore, it is essential that you activate and engage them from the start. To begin with, get friends and family to support and promote your campaign. Moreover, think about whether you know someone who could play a role in your campaign. Ask your acquaintances or, alternatively, if they know someone who knows someone.
Kortlæg dit netværk og beskriv hilken rolle, du tænker, de kan spille i din kampagne.. Maybe you went to school with a local journalist? Or do you know a friend with 3,000 followers on Instagram? Maybe you know someone who knows someone who knows someone…you get the point. All tricks apply.
Make sure to mobilize your closest network and get them to help you with well-defined tasks, such as contacting a specific person or posting on social media on specific days.
Gå systematisk til værks. Når du har kortlagt dit netværk, så sørg for at dokumentere alle med rolle, kontaktoplysninger og anden relevant information.
If you take care in good time to build and educate a relevant network of supporters, advocates and other relevant people, you have a much greater chance of getting a good part of your goal financed right from the start of the campaign. Furthermore, at the same time, you manage to show potential supporters who are not part of your network that there are people who believe in you and your idea. This is what we call ‘social proof’, and it is one of the strongest ways to market your project. Additionally, we are more likely to support an idea if others have already done so.
3. Historien
Der var engang...
Din historie er ofte der, hvor din kampagne står eller falder. Når alt kommer til alt, støtter folk sjældent en kampagne ud af deres hjertes godhed. De gør det, fordi de gerne vil være en del af en god fortælling. Så det er op til dig at skabe den fortælling..
“Hej, vi skal bruge penge til nye net”, efterlader ikke det samme indtryk som: “Vi er en ny klub, der gerne vil stable et stærkt hold på benene. Med gode faciliteter tror vi på, at vi kan få de unge væk fra gaden eller computeren og ind og opleve suset, fællesskabet og adrenalinet ved at dyrke sport i den lokale forening."
Explain who you are, what you want to achieve, and especially why. Show that you are passionate about the project and give people a reason to want to hear more. Moreover, people must be able to put the project in a context and you – and your story – are that context.
Men hvordan gør man det?
Start med fundamentet for enhver god historie: problemet.
All heroes need a “monster” to defeat. For instance, it could be loneliness among young people, the absence of green areas in the city, or unemployment
When considering your own project, ask yourself: What would you like to solve through your project? Who is affected? What will you do to solve the problem? What stands in your way? Furthermore, how can people help make a difference?
Vis folk, hvad det er, de hjælper med at løse, og hvorfor det er vigtigt. På den måde giver du en rolle - en plads i historien - til dem, der vælger at støtte.
Also, remember not only to speak to people’s hearts. It is also important to speak to their brains. I other words, the story must be rooted in reality.
Clearly explain how their contribution will be used and how it will concretely help. Are you buying equipment for a local vegetable garden? or perhaps, you’re planning to pay for the premises of a new chess club for vulnerable young people? or will my DKK 50 go to a seed that will be planted in a new park?
Hvis du har en medrivende fortælling, der samtidig forklarer præcis, hvordan udfordringerne i den kan løses, er du ret godt på vej til at komme i mål med din kampagne.
4. Kanaler
You are now completely organized, all your friends and your entire family are involved in the fight, and the story is razor-sharp. Now, it’s time to get it all out. However, where do you start, and which channels are best?
It all depends on who you are, what your project is about and what resources you have. For instance, do you have a big budget? Are you active in local associations? Or, alternatively, do you already have an army of Instagram followers?
The crucial aspect here is to play to your strengths and prioritize correctly. Feel free to choose 3-4 primary channels to focus on. Instead of attempting to be present everywhere, it’s all about being precisely where it works best.
Moreover, make sure you have a plan for which channels you want to use before you launch your campaign.
For at få et overblik gennemgår vi her de mest almindelige kanaler :
Projektsiden
Your project page is the most important tool in your campaign. Consequently, this is where you want to guide people, grab their attention and make sure they choose to support you. Therefore, make sure it works seamlessly.
Your description and pitch should be neat: images and video should be in place, and any rewards should be attractive. It’s not worth getting 1,000 people to hear about your project if they all choose not to click through because your project page is a mess.
Lanceringsevent
Sæt en dato, og inviter klubben, venner og familie til et crowdfunding kick-off arrangement!!
As previously stated, your network consists of those who start it all. Therefore, if you can’t engage them, it will be difficult to engage strangers.
Så køb et par serpentiner, og invitér folk indenfor i varmen til en hyggelig eftermiddag eller aften, hvor I kan fejre lanceringen af din brandgode ide.
Be sure to send out invitations early in order to get people on board, and feel free to present a timeline of your campaign and maybe a little guide on how to support or help.
Sociale medier
Det kommer nok ikke som en overraskelse, at social media plays a big role in the promotion of your campaign. Furthermore, it is primarily here that you can continuously tell your story, dele updates og opbygge et fællesskab omkring dit projekt. Tik-tok, Instagram, Facebook og Linkedin er de mest almindelige platforme. Du behøver ikke vælge dem alle sammen -bare dem, der passer til dit projekt.
Additionally, a good idea might be to have some posts ready in advance and then schedule them. You formål kan du bruge værktøjer som Hootsuite eller Buffer. In case you aren’t a master of graphic design, you can fordel lave dine opslag i et gratis værktøj som Canva.
Sørg for at være konserkvent i dine opdateringer, vær gerne personlig, og opdater ofte, gerne en gang om dagen, hvis det kan lade sig gøre.
Presse
Journalists are always looking for a good story. Therefore, if you’ve done your homework, that’s exactly the kind of story you’ve got. To begin with, make a list of media that you think would be a scoop – and realistic – to be mentioned in.
Next, identify the journalists who may have written about something similar before. Then, send them a press release, or alternatively, pick up the phone and share the details of your project with them. If you’re new to writing press releases, you can find a helpful guide for it right here:
Offline
Nothing beats the internet when it comes to the number of people you can reach with your campaign. However, don’t underestimate how effective it can be to meet your supporters face to face.
Do you have a local project? Stand in front of the local supermarket, and spread the word with home-printed flyers. Alternatively, go door to door with the local business community with your pitch, or even hang up a notice in the local handball club.
Du kan nå langt med godt,gammeldags benarbejde..
Folk har mere lyst til at støtte dig, hvis de har set dig i øjnene og trykket din hånd.
Betalt annoncering
You can easily reach the goal of your project without having to pay for advertising. Nonetheless, if it’s a big project, and you happen to have a solid budget for marketing, it might be an idea to try out betalt annoncering..
The easiest thing for beginners is to try social media ads. This way, you can target your ads to those you think will find it interesting, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.
Det kræver lidt tålmodighed at sætte sig ind i annonceringsværktøjer på f.eks. Facebook eller google ads, men det kan betale sig i sidste ende.
Influencers
Der er sommetider en vis skepsis om såkaldteinfluencers- og ofte med god grund. Men begrebet dækker over mere end bare Instagram-linselus.
Det er ofte folk, der har stor interesse eller viden inden for et bestemt område, og som gennem hårdt arbejde og kvalitetsindhold har opbygget en skare af tilhængere, som du - hvis du spiller dine kort rigtigt- kan benytte dig af.
Det er svært at ignorere den betydning, det kan have for dinkampagne at blive nævnt af den rigtige person på det rigtige tidspunkt.
For instance, if you spot someone with a big social media presence or a podcast host with a lot of listeners who is a perfect fit for your project, then it might be a good idea to try reaching out to them.
Partnerskaber
Before you start your campaign, it can be a really good idea to have one or more partners in place. These potential collaborators could include local organizations or businesses that have a vested interest in supporting your initiative, either through financial contributions or by boosting your campaign’s visibility, in return for having their name associated with your campaign.
For example, if you are crowdfunding a local vegetable garden, you might explore the possibility of partnering with a nearby supermarket. Likewise, if your goal is to build a new basketball court, consider enlisting with the local basketball team to participate in a supporting game.
Engaging with partners who are already established can prove to be an invaluable asset.
Lancering
Den store dag er kommet, og du er gået live! Det hårdeste arbejde er allerede overstået. The hardest work is already over.
However, even though the success of your campaign depends primarily on your initial efforts, it is important to maintain the momentum that you have created.
From the moment of launch, there are two things you need to focus on:
1. Nå 30 % af dit mål i løbet af den første uge.
2. Holde folk engagerede gennem hele kampagnens forløb.
If you have read the previous chapter, point 1 should be a no-brainer. Your family, friends and closest network are the ones who must give your campaign a good start by making sure you reach a good portion of your goal. This early progress creates credibility around your project.
However, you also have to do something yourself. Assuming you’ve done your homework, you now have a list of relevant channels and content prepared for them. Now is the time to put it into action.
Hold your launch event, activate your network, send a press release, hand out your flyers, update your social media– and then update it again. Keep sharing your story and showcasing your progress.
Sørg for at være konsekvent og aktiv i dit arbejde for at oplyse og opdatere dine støttere. Hvis folk pludselig ikke hører fra dig, så glemmer de dig hurtigt, og din kampagne vil tabe pusten.
Therefore, it can be a good idea to distribute your marketing on a timeline, ensuring that there are no dead periods.
In essence, it is about building a snowball effect.
If you’ve built enough excitement around your project before the campaign and can then trigger that excitement through ongoing updates and presence, consequently, then you have a really good chance of getting people on board who hadn’t heard of you before.
Husk ikke at tabe modet eller skrue ned for indsatsen, hvis der pludselig går dødvande i din kampagne. Undersøgelser viser, at størstedelen af dine støttere ofte vil bidrage mest i starten og i slutningen af din kampagne.
The key is to just keep going!
Efter kampagnen
You did it! Hopefully. You have now reached the end of the road, and no matter what the result was, there are certain steps that are always good to go through.
To begin with, start by forming an overview of what went well and what der gik mindre godt. Regardless of whether you reach the goal or not, give , så klap dig selv på skulderen for at have haft modet til at lancere en crowdfundingkampagne.
Crowdfunding is an excellent way to test an idea. In the event that it wasn’t a success, you are now enriched with the experience and can rethink our idea for the next time.
On the other hand, if you reached the goal, there is now some work you have to do.
Hvis du har et belønningsprojekt, skal belønningerne selvfølgelig leveres. Men uanset hvilken type crowdfunding du har kastet dig ud i, er det en rigtig god ide at vise dine støttere resultatet af deres støtte.
Du har nu fået de midler, du skal bruge, ogsandsynligvis fået opbygget en skare af følgere, der gerne vil se, hvad det hele ender med.
So, make sure to deliver a satisfying ending to the story. Let people follow the development and make regular updates with the results of the project.
Lad være med at være en af dem, der glemmer sine støttere, så snart pengene er i hus. Ikke nok med at det er dårlig stil, det kan også skabe en skurrende efterklang af dårlig omtale.
Furthermore, often a project needs marketing for more than just funding. You still need positive publicity and attention long after the actual funding goal is reached. So take advantage of the momentum your campaign has built up.
This is precisely one of the many advantages of crowdfunding.
Introduktion til crowdfunding
Ny i crowdfunding? Udforsk vores guide om crowdfunding og crowdfundingplatforme. Alt du skal vide samlet ét sted.
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