Today, anyone can run a crowdfunding campaign thanks to the internet. More specifically, people’s connections on social media allow friends, family, colleagues and associates to support each other’s funding efforts.
Whether you have an invention you’d like to turn into reality or a charity or event you’re raising money for, a good crowdfunding campaign starts with mining your social media gold.
But how can you make the most of your social media contacts in order to achieve your funding goal?
Here are some top tips to successful crowdfunding through social media:
Assess your Social Media Situation
Which platform do you tend to use the most? Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn? Which one are you most comfortable using? Which one is most relevant to the project you’re trying to fund? Which of your contacts do you expect to be most willing to help out? If you have time, begin expanding your contacts base before you start your campaign.
Get Organized
Crowdfunding can involve a lot of unexpected twists and turns and you want to make sure that you have your core strategy set before you get started. Plan and outline your social media posts, videos, and texts and create a posting schedule before you launch your campaign. This will give you more time to focus on responding to followers and donors and analyzing your success as the campaign progresses.
Use a Hashtag
A hashtag has several benefits. They allow you to track the progress and spread of your campaign. Using a hashtag also allows others to share your campaign easily. You can ask or request your followers to use the hashtag when they repost. Make sure your hashtag is relevant to the project or event you’re trying to fund.
Related: Promoting your Events Like a Pro: Use Hashtag!
Consider Starting a Facebook Page for your Project
That way, you can post information that’s specific to your campaign without interfering with your personal page. People who are truly interested in your project can have a place to post, share and comment as the project develops. It also gives you a platform to share information with your supporters about how things are progressing. A great benefit of a Facebook page is its Insights section where you can track how many people you’re reaching and break down the demographics of your followers.
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Don’t Be afraid to Use LinkedIn
Though you may have fewer contacts on LinkedIn than on Facebook, the possibility of drawing the attention of potential funders may be greater on LinkedIn than on other platforms. Just make sure you follow LinkedIn rules or you’ll get busted.
You can reach out to professionals with similar businesses or goals who may be interested in helping with funding.
Related: Update your LinkedIn Profile for a Better Lead Generation
Post frequently
Generating interest in your campaign is just the first step. After you’ve earned yourself some followers, your responsibility is to keep them engaged. With the amount of traffic on Facebook and Twitter today, it’s important to post several times a day. You don’t know who will see your posts or when people check their Newsfeed. So make sure to post periodically throughout the day in order to reach a greater number of people. It’s important to give frequent updates so that people know how things are going.
Have you reached a milestone? Are you halfway to your funding goal? How much more do you need in order to reach your goal? Break down some statistics: If 1,000 people gave $5 each, we’re at our goal. How many people do you know who can spare $5 for this charity event?
Don’t Just Talk About Money
In fact, only about 20% of your campaign should mention finances. The rest should be informative about the project. Give them facts and research to continue generating conversation and interest. If you’re running a charity event, you may want to profile an individual who will benefit from the money for the event. If you’ve created an app or invented something, explain why it’s important and how it will benefit people.
Say Thank You
Be sure to recognize all the support you get. Whether it’s sharing or donating, make sure to say Thank You for your support for everyone who’s involved. Consider all the different events and projects people are presented with on a constant basis. Thank them for going the extra mile to support yours.
Analyze your Progress
If you’ve posted on several different platforms, make sure you track your progress on each of them. Look for shares and reposts on Facebook and mentions and retweets on Twitter. If there are glaring differences between your success on each of them, see what you need to tweak in order to increase your success on the one that’s lagging.
A successful crowdfunding campaign is one that’s well-organized and includes frequent updates and posts on social media. Don’t forget to say Thank You to the donors who helped you meet your goals.
