Launching a crowdfunding campaign is part art and part science. Sometimes, it can feel like a full-time job. Other times, the anxiety and anticipation is enough to make you want to pull your hair out!
Many creators have gone through this process, some multiple times, and the one consensus that I’ve observed is they are happy they did it, even if they failed the first time. Why? Because of what they learned in the process of launching a new product.
The resources below will can help improve the chances of your success. I hope you take a minute to check them out!
1. Analytics
Kicktraq – Kicktraq is a tool that tracks data for Kickstarter campaigns including backers, pledges, and comments per day. It also has predictive analytics based on your campaign’s progress thus far.
I would use Kicktraq to do some competitive analysis. Look at other campaigns in your category, perhaps with similar products, and get an idea of how their fundraising meter changed over time.
Read more: Kicktraq vs Kickspy vs Crowdlogs
2. Social Media
Hootsuite or Buffer– These are two separate free social media scheduling tools that you can use to automate Tweets, Facebook posts, LinkedIn posts, and more.
You can set the time at which messages should go out, attach images, and also use the tools’ analytics to judge how many of your followers clicked on links or reshared your posts. This really helps if you are like me, and have trouble remembering to share important posts daily!
Read more: Kickstarter Social Media Marketing Tips From Guy Kawasaki
3. Learning: Project Post-Mortems
Like most people, when I heard the term ‘Post-Mortem,’ I thought it was quite strange. However, it just refers to a basic breakdown of how a crowdfunding project played out, from sources of backers to what worked and what didn’t.
Some creators have been very generous to share their project dashboard and PR tactics in post-mortems. By searching for “Kickstarter” “Indiegogo” or “crowdfunding” post-mortems, you can get an idea of what it’s like to run a successful campaign.I recommend reading through these Kickstarter post-mortems which detail what creators feel they did right and what they could have improved upon. My ebook, ‘How to succeed on Kickstarter,’ also has a lot of interviews of successful creators, explaining how they worked crowdfunding magic!
4. Email Marketing
Aweber is an excellent email marketing software tool that you can use to send bulk emails to your family, friends, and subscribers.
The tools also give you analytics regarding open rates and click throughs, which can be helpful when determining the best language to use to market your project. I would recommend exporting the email addresses of your Facebook friends and your email and LinkedIn contacts to get started. You should also include a subscribe button on your website so that you can begin collecting email addresses from visitors!
5. PR & Journalist Outreach
BuzzSumo, InkyBee, Google Search, and PRNewsWire/PrWeb/CrowdfundingPR
There are three steps to building an effective PR strategy.
1. First, you must create a media list of journalists and publications that have written about similar products or that cover your niche.
2. Second, you must create a compelling pitch for each segmentation of the list or individual journalist.
3. You must combine individual outreach (emailing, developing relationships, asking for introductions via LinkedIn) with press release blasts (press release distribution service).
4. You must measure the results, improve what is not working, and keep at it.
You can also get PR by posing yourself as an expert in a particular field and use a resource like HARO to field opportunities to appear online as a source.
I recommend using BuzzSumo, InkyBee, and Google Advanced search to begin building a media list. After you have crafted your pitch, you can use direct outreach and the press release services listed above to get the word out.
Read more: 10 Facts to Remember When Pitching a Reporter about your Kickstarter Campaign
6. Post-Kickstarter
BackerKit, Fulfillrite, and Shopify – BackerKit is a pledge manager that helps you manage reward fulfillment and surveys. We’ve done a google+ interview with them here. Fulfillrite is a trusted ecommerce order fulfillment company that has sponsored CrowdCrux in the past. They have incredible customer service and lots of experience with reward fulfillment and shipping.
Shopify is an easy tool that you can use to set up a website to collect pre-orders during or after your campaign. They also integrate with Fulfillrite. Other website builders include SquareSpace or Wix.
Read more: 22 Websites to help post-kickstarter with reward fulfillment and product sales
Conclusion
Hope some of these tools and resources are helpful for your campaign! For more tips, I recommend checking out my ebook, ‘How to Succeed on Kickstarter.’
