Indiegogo: “Here Are Four Things Every Campaigner Should Do a Month Before Campaign Launch”

Continuing its new crowdfunding series “Campaign Prep Calendar,” Indiegogo shared the four things that every organizer should do a month before a campaign launch.

The global platform shared:

“Creating a compelling, informative and engaging campaign will help your potential backers learn more about your idea and decide whether or not they want to contribute. Based on user research and feedback from real campaigners, we’ve put together a detailed, interactive calendar and checklist for you to create the perfect crowdfunding campaign.”

Check out the four items below.

1. Tell Your Story: This consists of three elements that are the following.

•  Pitch Video“Not only do campaigns with pitch videos raise 4 times more funds than those without, but videos are an extremely effective and engaging way to communicate with your target audience while offering you full creative control. Last month you storyboarded your video and possibly hired a professional to help you convey your message. Now, it’s time to start filming your video. Make sure you use the first 30 seconds to grab your audience’s attention, and keep your pitch video under 3 minutes. Check out these 6 helpful tips for a good pitch video. Once you complete your first draft, solicit feedback from your teammates, friends, family – anyone with an opinion you trust. Make edits based on feedback and finalize your pitch video. Flic does a great job explaining their value in the first 30 seconds.”
• Images and Infographics“In addition to your video, high-quality visuals help to quickly paint a picture of who you are and what you want to achieve. Visuals, such as infographics and product shots, are much more digestible, shareable and engaging than blocks of text. You may have chosen to hire a professional designer or photographer to help you create these visuals; regardless of whether you chose to go pro or DIY, it’s time to finalize these images for your pitch text, campaign gallery, perks, social media and press releases. Infographics are a great way to visualize data and facts and are highly shareable on social media. Add any infographics you have to your pitch text, pitch video (if applicable), your social media calendar and press releases. Social media posts with images receive higher engagement than those without on both Facebook and Twitter, so be sure to include visuals wherever you can. Some excellent examples of campaigns that maximize their visuals include The Core and What Lola Wants.”
• Pitch Text“We’ve spent a lot of time focusing on visuals, like your video and images, but it’s equally as important to have strong pitch text on your campaign page. We recommend breaking it up into sections with headers so that it’s easy for people to quickly skim your entire campaign and still retain information. Feel free to draft sections day-by-day or all at once – whatever workflow works best for you!”

2. Become an Online Community Superstar: “Building an online community is crucial to your campaign’s success, and two of the strongest tactics to use are social media and email.”

3. Create Your Campaign: “You’ve finalized your pitch video, pitch text and visuals for the campaign page. Collaborate with your team members to finalize perk descriptions, images and price points and input everything into your campaign draft. If you’ve chosen to receive funds via PayPal, let them know you’re running a campaign. Did you design stretch goals last month? Time to design visuals to go along with them. When filling out your campaign draft, you have the option to opt into InDemand, our service that allows you to continue raising funds, accept pre-orders and build community even after your crowdfunding campaign ends. Ask your teammates and friends for feedback on your completed campaign draft and make edits as needed. You’re almost there!”

4. Plan Your Soft Launch: “While your official launch date includes email outreach to your network and social media posts, a soft launch is a more intimate launch before the official launch that involves getting your host committee and early supporter network to be the first contributors to your campaign. A soft launch with this group of people will help you reach at least 30% of your goal before the public sees the campaign, giving others a sense of comfort and trust when considering contributing.

“First, create an invite list of those who you know will support you and contribute to your campaign. Plan the logistics for your event, such as sending invites, booking a venue, ordering supplies (food, drinks, tablets for contributions), drafting emails for folks to share with their networks and so forth. Your soft launch event can be as informal or as elaborate as you’d like. In your invitations and pre-launch emails, mention how much you appreciate their support, whether they choose to contribute funds or help spread the word about your project. By setting a hard deadline for them to contribute by, you can ensure that your campaign page is at the percentage of funds raised you want to be at for the official launch.”