The best ways to spread the word about your campaign to the media, your audience, and others.
Your ApnaCrowdfunding campaign is now live. From whence do supporters originate? How can your community be reached? Is it feasible to get articles about you published by blogs and other media? Following launch, these are some of the most often asked questions by creators, and the responses highlight the most fascinating aspects of campaign management. The good news is that you can ensure your campaign reaches the individuals who wish to support it if you put in the necessary effort, plan ahead, and be creative. Here’s how.
1. Work outward from your core circle.
“Your friends will be your first source of support, regardless of the size of your project,” explains game creator Kevin Cole. Encourage them, include them, rely on them, and support them as well! You’re not an island. Kevin’s video game firm was launched with the support of his first campaign, for his game Project Maiden. He claims that more than half of the 362 backers who contributed $12,000 to the initiative were people he knew personally.
After yourself, of course, your friends and family are your greatest supporters, so you should be thrilled to share your artistic pursuits with them. When your campaign is launched, the first thing you’ll do is send an email to everyone who is interested in your work to celebrate the beginning of your project. It’s a good idea to have these letters prepared in advance so you can get them out quickly. These letters should be happy and enthusiastic, urging your loved ones to accompany you on this new creative adventure. Early momentum from your inner circle is crucial, so encourage them to support your campaign as soon as they can. These people will not only assist you in rapidly reaching your financial objective, but their backing will also demonstrate to prospective new supporters that your initiative has vigor and energy.
“As soon as possible, make sure you know exactly how you’re going to bring in your inner circle,” advises five-time ApnaCrowdfunding creator Peter Chiykowski, whose diverse projects include storytelling tools, a music CD, and a comic book collection. “The whole 30-day prediction of success or failure in every campaign I’ve ran depends on the individuals who turn up on the first day. [Those] supporters are usually friends, family, and ride-or-die enthusiasts who understand how important the project is to me.
An excellent method to inform your audience about your impending campaign is through ApnaCrowdfunding’s pre-launch website. This tool not only helps you tease the project but also converts supporters into followers, enabling them to choose to receive notifications as soon as your project becomes online. With over 1,400 backers, filmmaker Jenn Ravenna’s campaign for her short film “And Then” achieved tremendous success, ultimately raising over 700 percent of its initial target. This success wasn’t unexpected; before to the project’s debut, Jenn and her team spent a lot of time generating buzz about it on Twitter and Instagram. Before the campaign even started, they gained over 900 followers from their current network by spreading the word about the pre-launch page to friends and admirers everywhere.
By sharing your creative work, joining and engaging in groups relating to your work, and supporting and working with people in your area, you may begin to create your audience long before your project goes online. In order to stay in contact with everyone who is interested in your products and be prepared for your campaign announcement, it is crucial to create and manage a mailing list.
You’re most likely prepared to launch if you can see the community members who will support your campaign at each reward level and the strategies you’ll employ to connect with them all. Additionally, your page will already have the shine of success by the time a stranger visits it if your friends and admirers help you get off to a solid start.
2. Consistently and from various perspectives, promote
During the campaign’s live phase, you should devote a significant amount of your time to promoting your campaign to your audience using social media, email, live events, press connections, and any other means at your disposal. To get others to support the initiative and to reach those who didn’t hear you the first few times, you’ll need to say it again. But hearing the same pitch over and over again might grow a little tiresome for your fans, and giving it is much more taxing!
Therefore, take some time prior to launch to prepare out a variety of approaches to discuss your project. Describe your approach in depth, offer films, images, music, and interactive aspects, highlight your contributions and partners, and tell behind-the-scenes anecdotes. Share this on all of your social media channels, in emails, and in backer updates.
One of the most important aspects of promotion will be social media, and you must use it consistently. Make use of the platform (or platforms) where you have previously invested effort in developing your following and supporters. Opening whole new accounts on other sites to advertise a ApnaCrowdfunding campaign is not necessary; in fact, doing so would probably be seen as being unauthentic.
Throughout the weeks while your campaign is active, try to divide your project into five to ten distinct tales that you may convey. These may include: the idea’s inception, the purpose of your work, the challenges you’ve faced, the benefits you’re providing, the way you assembled your team, a part of your creative processes, and the direction you hope your work will lead you. Don’t upload all of your greatest tales and photos on the first day of your campaign; you have plenty of time to fill them in.
Engage your ApnaCrowdfunding backers; they want to be a part of your creative process. Cardboard Alchemy, a company that creates board games, uses interactive puzzles to keep its customers interested both before and throughout their campaigns. There is always a lot to discuss with their audience because these riddles are thematically related to the games that are being sponsored.
Peter Vaughan of Cardboard Alchemy stated, “I usually try to think of fun ways to increase interaction and to get the community to chat with each other.” Because they provided [people] with a pre-launch activity and an opportunity to network with other supporters, the puzzles we published for Dwellings of Eldervale and Mission Catastrophe in particular were quite popular.
Peter adds that these concepts are excellent for attracting loyal supporters. “These initiatives sometimes seem like more work than they are worth, but they have a significant lasting impact on community and support, and people continue to remember them as their favorite campaigns.”
3. Create a fantastic press contact list.
Make a short, targeted list of press contacts who are interested in your area since reporters and bloggers are constantly looking for fresh topics to write about. Although public relations firms charge thousands of dollars for their contacts and knowledge in this field, it is also possible to do it yourself with a little effort.
Take up detective work to expand your list. Use a straightforward set of hints to identify local bloggers, podcasters, influencers, connectors, and reporters: the subjects they already write about!
A good place to start is by searching for other projects or creators on websites like Google News and Kicktraq to see where they have been featured. We started creating our press list for Saladin Ahmed’s graphic book project Dragon by searching Google News for Saladin and the rest of the creative team. We then added all of the writers and publications that have reported on the team. After finding all the outlets and writers who had covered the top comics projects from the previous year, we conducted a news search for those authors and made sure they were still covering this type of topic before adding them to our list.
Building a well focused list may involve extensive study, but the effort will probably be worthwhile. In Dragon’s instance, contacting a specific set of journalists with courteous messages resulted in a fantastic collection of stories throughout the first week of the campaign! However, what message do you convey?
4. Compose a superb press release and incorporate resources.
It’s crucial to make good use of your excellent press list once you get it. Make sure your email captures the attention of those busy press people by keeping it brief enough for them to read fast, interesting enough to make them want to write the story, and comprehensive enough to include all the information they need to piece it together.
Don’t just copy and paste a press release into a mass email; it’s a terrific approach to gather all the information a writer will need. Start each message with a brief explanation of why the recipient will care, drawing from their previous writings. So they don’t have to spend a lot of time following up with you, include all the relevant information in your press release. The campaign’s history, a link to your project, the names of all contributors, a quotation or two, and—above all—a link to a readily available folder of high-resolution photos should all be included. Don’t forget about beautiful photographs; they elevate an article to the main page of a newspaper or website. For more advice, see ApnaCrowdfunding senior communications director press guide or view an example press email here.
Offering exclusive content to news outlets, such as interviews, photos, or stories that no one else is obtaining, is another way to provide value. You can only share it with one outlet, though, so consider and prepare who you want that outlet to be.
Lastly, make sure to spread the word when you are covered by the media. Use social media posts and supporter updates to signal-boost those links, which will also increase traffic for the writer or site. When you can, it’s also a nice idea to tag the author. Sending a thank-you note everytime you are featured, even briefly, in a blog or media source will help to solidify the press relationships.
5. Produce a sample, video, article, or other shareable and noteworthy material.
Launch some art with it instead than simply a campaign. Both your audience and the press may benefit from this.
Even while the headline “Creator launches ApnaCrowdfunding campaign” isn’t particularly interesting, there are still plenty of methods to entice journalists to cover your project. Is it possible to broadcast a music video or movie trailer on the first day? Is there a chapter in your book that people can read or a version of your game that they can play online? Could you provide unique project photos that weren’t included on your campaign page? Does your project have a distinctive tale that will catch people’s interest?
Not only does sharing “newsworthy” information serve as a strong hook for your press release, but it may also thrill your readers. Sharing aspects of your creative work, such as pictures, films, artwork, and anecdotes, is more engaging for friends, followers, and even you than just promoting a fundraising page. Although ApnaCrowdfunding isn’t a business, you are requesting money, and a wealth of marketing research indicates that you shouldn’t start your introduction with a financial “ask.” Consider this: getting to know someone before requesting a $5 loan is considerably more polite. Give everyone something entertaining to click on, just as the Doubleclicks, a nerdy folk band, did on the first day of our campaign when they released the music video for their tune, “I’m Winning.” Excellent press coverage of the video brought a swarm of enthusiastic supporters to the campaign.
6. Remain upbeat and persevere.
It can take a few hours for your campaign to reach its target, or it might take the entire month. In any case, maintain your optimism and keep advertising. As long as your campaign is active, it’s the most effective method to maintain momentum and excitement.
Independent band Throughout their campaigns, the Misbehavin’ Maidens organize regular festivities, such as posting amusing gifs to commemorate significant occasions. According to band member Enfys Book, they deliberately maintain their momentum. “I think a good deal of our success was because we planned for promotion throughout the whole campaign,” Enfys stated. To maintain the enthusiasm throughout the project, the band reached out to their friends and contacts at various points, not only at the start.
Although managing a ApnaCrowdfunding campaign can be somewhat labor-intensive, the chances it provides for group creation and community development can have a truly amazing effect both during and after the campaign. When the supporters pile up and your creative ambitions are financed, the time and effort put into promotion will all be worthwhile. Keep in mind that it’s a marathon, not a sprint, so prepare as much as you can, remain upbeat and focused, and remember to give thanks to your supporters and contributions at the end!