Are you considering launching a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to bring your eCommerce dreams to life?
If so, your ad strategy will be a key element to a successful fundraiser. A great plan will allow you to generate qualified leads that are primed to back your campaign, as well as attract new backers once your campaign goes live.
In this article, we’re giving you 7 expert insights that have proven effective. You’ll come away with a better understanding as to how you can build some major momentum for your campaign to eventually smash your funding goal!
Let’s dive right in.
Expert Tip 1: Put Your Money in the Right Place
In 2021, there are seemingly infinite platforms that offer the opportunity to advertise. From Twitter to TikTok to Youtube, there are plenty of ways to get eyeballs on your upcoming product launch.
But here’s the deal: one platform still reigns supreme in actually converting eyeballs into qualified leads, and that is Facebook.
Keep in mind that Facebook also includes Instagram — which you can choose to include or exclude depending on your goals.
Make sure to build out your target audiences and include folks that are interested in backing Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns. When you target those people, there is less education required to see a conversion once you launch your campaign.
Expert Tip 2: Focus on Pre-Launch
Many creators think that running a Kickstarter campaign starts the day you ‘Go Live.’ Don’t make this critical mistake!
Lead generation starts long before your campaign is public on Kickstarter with pre-launch. In fact, we recommend beginning to collect leads 8-10 weeks in advance.
With this in mind, we advise allocating most of your ad budget to this pre-launch phase. This will allow you to build a core network of dedicated backers who are primed for a conversion, as you can educate them and create excitement through engagement (we’ll get into that more later in the article).
Of course, you can run ads while you are live — and you probably should. But if you neglect pre-launch, you won’t build any social proof, and you’re unlikely to see any conversions.
Expert Tip 3: Use a Lead Generator
Unlike many traditional eCommerce marketing strategies, you aren’t trying to cultivate an immediate conversion with your ads during pre-launch. Instead, you’re trying to get them in what we call the marketing funnel.
And that is done through collecting an email.
Your social ads should link to a landing page that is optimized for lead generation. That means:
- A prominent headline that makes a promise, along with subheadings and support copy that provoke an emotional response.
- An initial image that shows what the product is and how a consumer can use it.
- Large CTA buttons that allow for email opt-in.
- An offering of some sort in exchange for the email — the most powerful is usually a % off early bird discount.
Keep in mind that you will likely want to test several variations of your landing page to see what converts best. Luckily, these landing pages are super easy to build with almost no technical experience, especially if you use Leadpages.
Expert Tip 4: Develop Professional Creatives
Everyday, consumers are bombarded by advertising on social media. You have to develop meaningful creatives that will stop the scroll.
Usually, this means implementing one of the following creatives:
- A punchy 15-30 second video with a strong emotional hook in the first 3-5 seconds.
- A compelling image or set of images (usually bright colors work best).
- Graphic design that showcases the personality of your brand.
If you aren’t much of a video editor, photographer, or graphic designer, we highly recommend outsourcing this element of your ad strategy to a professional. Without beautiful, high-resolution creatives, no one is going to give you the time of day!
Expert Tip 5: Construct Compelling Copy
Within every advertisement, there is a typical hierarchical sequence of what the consumer will notice:
- The creative
- The headline
- The supporting copy
With this, you should also create your own hierarchy with the creative as the primary focus. But, that doesn’t mean you should neglect the copy.
The best ad copy always delivers a promise and provokes an emotional response. You want people to feel something when they read your headline, whether that is excitement, humor, curiosity, etc.
Then, you want to construct your copy with the supporting benefits of the product. Remember: you’re not trying to get them to buy yet, you’re just trying to ignite interest and produce a click.
We recommend including a % off in your ad copy as well. For example:
Don’t wait. Get 30% of X PRODUCT today.
Expert Tip 6: Watch Your KPIs
KPIs — also known as Key Performance Indicators — are important gauges for how well your ads are performing. Here’s what you should be looking at:
- Click Through Rate (CTR): This number tells you how many people are clicking on your ads. The equation: CLICKS ÷ IMPRESSIONS = CTR.
- Cost Per Click (CPC): The actual price you pay for each click. The equation: COST OF CLICKS ÷ TOTAL NUMBER OF CLICKS = CPC.
- Cost Per Lead (CTL): The most important of the bunch. This is the price you pay for each email. Equation: TOTAL AD SPEND ÷ TOTAL NEW LEADS = CPL.
Ideally, you’d like your CPL to fall somewhere between $1 and $2. To pull this off, your best bet is to hire a proven crowdfunding marketing agency.
For more expensive products, your CPL might be a little bit more expensive. This is where you need to bust out the spreadsheet and calculate your ROI (Return on Investment).
Expert Tip 7: Increase Engagement
Once you’ve collected an email lead, you can’t just leave them in the dark. You have to consistently work to increase their engagement and get them hyped about your upcoming launch. Here’s how to do it:
- Send an auto-responder upon opt-in congratulating them on locking in their discount and encouraging them to respond to the email (this will help with spam filters).
- Create a VIP Facebook Group that people can join upon opt-in. You can redirect people to another simple landing page that encourages this. Once people have joined, post consistently and ask people to comment, like, and take action.
- Send weekly or twice-weekly engagement emails that talk about the project. Again, encourage responses and direct people to the Facebook Group.
Key Conclusions
We hope that these expert tips have been helpful for you as you begin to imagine your Kickstarter ad strategy.
Wanna work directly with the experts that put together this post and smash your KPIs to ensure a successful fundraise? Book a coaching call with the founder of CrowdCrux Salvador Briggman — our dedicated team is ready to go to work for you!
If you’re not quite ready for personalized coaching, no problem. We have some great educational resources for you in the meantime:
- Book: The Kickstarter Launch Formula
- Founder of CrowdCrux Salvador Briggman’s Youtube Channel
- The Crowdfunding Demystified Podcast
- Bookmark the CrowdCrux blog (you’re here right now!)
- The CrowdCrux weekly newsletter
Good luck with your Kickstarter ads and your campaign as a whole! Use CrowdCrux as your trusted resource going forward.
