In this article I’m going to show you the number ONE thing you must do in order to have a successful Kickstarter campaign.
The Email Nurturing Sequence
An email nurturing sequence is just a group of emails that you write ahead of time and send out on at certain timed intervals. If you’ve ever signed up for something or made an online payment chances are you’ve experienced a thank you email sequence. Basically the merchant is thanking you for buying.
I’m going to teach you the reverse of this. I’m going to teach you how to write emails that create backers for your Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign.
Step 1. Map out the process
The diagram above shows how it works. Traffic sees an ad for an offer. During a prelaunch (before your Kickstarter campaign is live) I’ll run Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube ads and target them at people I think will buy. Once they click the ad, they are taken to a landing page where we offer them something.
Typically I’ll say “Enter your email address to reserve your ______ at ____% off.
I’ll show pictures of the product and give just a little information to where the customer wants more. Here’s a landing page from a previous campaign that raised six figures. http://numibackpack.pagedemo.co/
Once Subscribed – Magic Begins
Once they subscribe this is your time to shine. You see, people have taken the first step in saying that they are interested and now your job is to take them from passive tire kickers to engaged crowdfunding backers.
It All Comes Down To the Story
There’s not an exact right and wrong way to do this but there is a wrong direction and that’s to info puke. Do not just start sending out emails giving more info about your product. You see, people are bombarded with information, ads, and announcements every single day. In order to breakthrough that noise you have to stand out and be different.
“No kidding….but how?”
Research shows that the average human mind daydreams 30% of the time when their mind is not actively engaged in a task. Unless, that person is caught up in a story. This could be a book, a movie, or in this case an email series. That’s right, we’re going to tell your story over a series of emails. And when I say your story I mean YOUR story. Not your company, not your product, but you. Yes, we’ll cover the company and the product but we’ll do it as we tell your story.
Remember, people back people not products. They’re trusting YOU to deliver by giving you money in advance.
The 9 Part Email Sequence Battle Tested And Proven To Bring Backers
Here are the 9 emails you are going to write and send for your crowdfunding campaign.
1. Welcome and confirmation – Immediately send this one – Thank them for subscribing. Tell them they have locked in their discount or whatever you promised them on their landing page. Tell them that tomorrow you are going to share the backstory of WHY you invented your product.
2. Your Story – Send 24 hours after first email – This is arguably the most important email you are going to send. In it, you want to tell the reader who you are and why you invented your product. Typically this includes
- A little background about yourself
- Your A-HA moment. What circumstances gave you your product idea?
- How your went about getting it built
- And why you are crowdfunding
3. Address Major Objection – Send 2 days after 2nd email – The goal of this email is to answer major objections one BEFORE someone dismisses you. You need to eradicate any negative thoughts about your product and show that you are the real deal. A simple format I use is “A lot of people think _____, but if they only knew ______, then they would experience ______.
For example: A lot of people think these graphite phone cases are heavy but in reality they weigh less than a business card. You’ve never had a more rugged or light case…ever!
You can use this opportunity to show some pics and some lifestyle shots of your product in use.
4. Provide Social Proof – Send 3 days after 3rd email – Now that you have their attention, you need to keep it. A tried and proven way of doing this is with proof. That is, prove to them you are the best, or at least one of the best. Show them what life will be like after they buy. Show the product in different aspects of their life. List any testimonials from testers, even if they are friends and family. One the campaigns I’m working on now is a posture correction device. In this email we’re including a doctor testimonial.
5. Offer Help – Send 3 days after 4th email – The goal of this email is to still overcome objections. In the first email you overcame the most frequent objection. In this email I want you to ask them to reply with the biggest obstacle, pain point, or objection they are facing. This is crucial for a few reasons. First you want to make sure they are engaged and a response will prove that. Second, the feedback will determine the accuracy of email 3. For example, in email 3 you said everyone thinks our cases are heavy. However, what if on email 5 everyone is saying their biggest objection or question is will the graphite rub off on clothes?
If your assumption for email 3 was correct, just take a few minutes a day and respond in person to these questions or assumptions. However, if you were incorrect in assuming the biggest objection take some time and rewrite email 3 now that you have some real life data and feedback.
6. Launch announcement – send 3 days after – This email’s purpose is to make the potential backer aware that you are raising money on Kickstarter, tell them how much, tell them why, and tell them when. In addition to this you have a brief 2-3 sentences telling them what Kickstarter is. Just because you do doesn’t mean everyone else does. If you ask 10 strangers on the street what Kickstarter is chances are 7 are going look at you with blank stares. 😉
7. Launch Day Warm Up – Send 24 hours before launch NOT on autoresponder – The purpose of this email is to let everyone know your campaign is going live at ____ time. Replicate this message on social media, and on any ads that you are running.
8. We Are Live – Send as soon as you hit launch button NOT on autoresponder – Send out an email once you are live and let people know in order to secure their early bird discounts they need to back the campaign and they need to do it now.
9. Update – Send 48 hours after you’ve been live – Most humans like to see some traction before they’ll take action. This email serves to address that. In it, tell them how much you’ve raised so far. Get excited. Tell them how many early bird perks are left. Encourage them to back the campaign now to get the best possible deal.
Consider this in closing
Crowdfunding is like a ship lock. Just like a ship lock and raises and lowers boats to cross a body of land (think Panama Canal), your email series allows you to adjust your messaging BEFORE you start asking for money. It gives you a step-by-step format to test, tweak, and tune your messaging so that you can raise the most amount of money possible.
If people are engaging you’re onto something. If you’re hearing crickets, you need to adjust. If you’re not getting a lot of opens, try adjusting your subject line. If you’re getting opens but no responses in email 5 try changing up the way you are asking for feedback.
What I tell every client and student is “trust the process.” Chances are you won’t get it 100% right the first time but it’s easy to adjust if you don’t.
PS- In addition to sending emails I also run brand awareness FB ads to my leads list. This allows me to hit them on social and their inbox. One thing we are just now testing is chat bots. I’ll provide another post when I have more data.
