Email marketing is one of the top sources of pledges for successful crowdfunding campaigns.
Many entrepreneurs and creative types will build up a relevant email list prior to launching their project on Kickstarter or Indiegogo.
This way, when they go live, they have thousands of individuals who will get the announcement and have the chance to pledge on the first day!
In the past I put together a comprehensive guide on how to grow your email list. With this post, I want to give you a few actionable tips that are easy to implement and that will get you results!
1. Leadpages: Create a landing page that is optimized to collect email addresses using an easy-to-use builder like Leadpages.
2. AWeber: Use an email newsletter service like AWeber (free up until 500 subscribers) to store the email addresses. You can then send out a blast email and get data on click through rates and open rates
3. Come up with a lead magnet: A lead magnet is something that will entice a website visitor to become an email subscriber. My free course on Kickstarter is an example of a lead magnet.
4. Segment your email list: Every email software provider includes the ability to segment your email list based on user actions. You can segment people based on their activity like opens, clicks, or purchases.
5. Nurture your subscribers: You can improve the relationship that you have with your email subscribers by sending them free content and teasing the product. Your goal should be to increase demand and/or anticipation.
6. Write in a conversational tone: The “tone” of your words is the main way that you can convey personality with an email. Most of us are easily turned off by an email that just sounds like an advertisement. By writing in a conversational tone, you’ll connect more with the reader.
7. Write to ONE person: It’s very tempting to send out a “blast email” and just write as though this person is one of many. Instead, pretend that you’re writing an email to one person. You’ll come off as more human.
8. Track and segment by email opens: If 20% of your email list is consistently failing to open your emails, then you need to alter your strategy for this segment. Rather than sending them updates, your goal should be to create subject lines to simply get them to open the email and begin the relationship.
9. Personally reach out to inactive or nonactive subscribers: Let’s say that you have 1 week left in your Kickstarter campaign and there is a good 5% of people who have NEVER opened your email. Reach out to them personally! There is a limited time before your campaign ends. You can also reach out to people who opened your emails but never clicked through to your campaign.
10. Optimize your landing page: If you’re using Leadpages or a similar piece of software to host your landing page, then you’ll gain access to conversion data. You’ll see how well your landing page converts. You can increase conversions by including more attractive wording/images on your page to convey the value of the lead magnet. You could also play with adding a video or sharing your story.
11. Trash the fancy marketing templates: Other marketers might disagree with me, but I believe it’s best to quite simply not use any kind of email marketing template. While at one time, these fancy templates made your email look “professional,” they now just scream advertisement. It can easily tune people out and put them in the mindset of “okay, I’m being sold to.”
12. Tell stories… with cliffhangers. Great headlines and emails typically make use of a “curiosity gap” where you’re left wondering the answer to something. According to scientific research, our brains can’t help wondering about the end of the story or the cause of something that’s peaked our interest. This is why many TV programs say “and when we come back from the break, we’ll go into the shocking reason why many more people are ____.”
You can get people to open up your future emails or click through to a link when you engage their curiosity.
13. Use the subscriber’s name: If you gave the option for people to enter their name and email when they signed up to your email list, then you can use this name in your email. With AWeber and many other software tools out there, you can “insert” the name of the person into your email. If you’re using AWeber, you’d use the code: “Dear {{ subscriber.first_name }},”
14. Every email should have ONE call to action: Including multiple call-to-action messages in your email will typically just confuse subscribers. You’ll have some people checking out your campaign and others maybe hitting you up on Twitter. If your email is entirely text-based, you could always make that an “engagement” email where people reply and answer a question you’ve asked.
15. Vanity metrics don’t matter. Engagement does: It’s great if you have thousands and thousands of email subscribers, but how engaged are they? How many people are actually following through and clicking links or responding to an “ask?” These numbers will give you a really good idea of what percentage of your list will back your Kickstarter campaign.
16. Customize your “from” address: You can always upload a photo of yourself if you’re using gmail to make your email come off as more personal. You should also stay consistent and use a from email and name that people can begin to become familiar with.
17. Create expectations: People like it when they have an idea of the future. If you just abruptly try to sell someone something, they’ll usually be a little startled and take longer to make the buying decision. However, if you’ve warmed them up to the product, who you are, your story, and when things are going to happen, they’ll be far more comfortable with the message. Warm them up a bit and seed the idea that you’re trying to get them to buy into. You gotta hold their hands a bit throughout the process.
Conclusion
These are just a few ways that you can get Kickstarter or Indiegogo backers from your email list. There are many more ways to get pledges this way. Of course, there are also other channels like Facebook and Instagram.
