Hello everyone. Call me Jan. and before I start, pardon me for my english. its not my native language.
You can check my profile, and as you can see, I am a registered user since August 2015. If you have time to spare, go through my post list. You'll learn that I am just like most of you, looking for the best way to promote our crowdfunding campaign.
Its all started when I was hired by a company with a promising product
(tech product - i cannot disclose the information here as they were very clear about the terms of confidentiality)... so I wonder, I am good with fb ads, google ads, graphic design etc but I am not very familiar with how marketing works for this whole crowdfunding thing.
I did my research. I went through lots and lots of forums, bought some useless ebook, studied the behaviour of most pledgers/customers who previously supported any tech based project. Then I came across multiple third party marketing company who promised me that sky is the limit. You can guess, but I rather speak out loud.
(i) Fundedtoday (FT) Funded Today
(ii) CommandPartner
(iii) Agency 2.0.
Well they are the most respectable company in their field. Remember sondors electric bike? or maybe Flow Hive? 13 millions and counting? Each of these 3 have their own success stories or should I say portfolio to promote to their respective clients. Thats normal right? YES, it is. No sane company will not try to brag with what they achieve!
The question is,
is it all true..?Yes, and no. Some company claimed that they were the only reason behind the success of these million dollars campaign. Which is obviously a lie. Some, never denied that the campaign went viral itself because the strength of the product and the presentation BUT, still, they never admit that. They dint claim to be the reason behind the success, but they
dint tell the true story either.By now, you should know that doing a crowdfunding campaign is not as easy as to design a compelling product and hire a marketing company to promote it. It requires a lot of hardwork, mainly market AND crowd research to obtain leads to your true potential customers. From there, when you finally understand your own potential, then only you should spend money on it.
Not before. Never before. Never, ever, ever, before.What does it mean? It means paying the marketing company to find the crowd for you and do the research for you. Why are you here in the first place? Because you need more money for your project. Why do you let them decide is your project interesting or not? You have a bike, a pink bike. You dont know which crowd to aim, and you pay them to promote it for you. Heck, do this guy, the agent, the one managing your account on behalf, does he share the same sentiment for your product like you do? You were not aiming for some hot chick with bare boobs showing off the street but you were aiming for gay guys! They dont know that. But you do.
So you pay them. with no good results. what next?
"I am sorry, but your project do not have the right material for it to went viral"...Do you know what they did? Funded Today for example. They went to their facebook fan page, create an ads, and boost them. You paid..lets say 3,500 - 4,000 dollars. A lot of money right? How much do they spend on your ads? The ads, which about to be your great breakthrough, how much...? You dont know. I dont know. Nobody knows.
BUT, I do know how much 3,000 dollars can reach on fb ads with proper crowd target. Almost 10,000 - 15,000 of a very specific crowd. You dont believe me? Lets do it your way. Facts and figures.
1. Go to your facebook.
2. Create ads (Target for website clicks)
3. Your audience must be interested in Paypal because whats the point targeting those who dont know about Paypal right? duh. What else? They must be interested in cool material, uncrate, engadget and other techies sites. Oh, and make sure they are those who age between 22-55..I hope I dont need to explain why. Do you think those under 22 have the buying power to help you?
4. Now, enter your lifetime budget. Say, 1,000 dollars.
What does the estimate numbers shows? Lets say, less than 10,000. How bout 7,500?
Now, as you can see, the target audience for this specific ads (its not that specific in this context, i am just trying to make a point, i have my own setting for fb ads) was aiming for tech enthusiast. From 7,500 audience, you have a conversion for lets say 1%. Yes, its low, but yes, 1% is the standard conversion rate from fb ads to your site, and then to directly purchase your product.
You have 75 people joining in! Hooooray!
1,000 dollars / 75 = thats $13.00 spent for each and every one of them.
What you should do next? Communicate. Encourage them, to encourage their friends. Why do they pledge your project? Find out why they support you. Then finally you will have your real target audience. These guys, their specific interest and people around them. How big can you expand? Thats yours to find out.
So lets make a recap.
Research your audience > Create your ads > Connect with your early supporters > Finalise your crowd.
These are the step by step guide to success. The good thing about the marketing companies is they already have their own database which most likely will be suitable for your product. BUT you can never be sure. AND you should save your money. They wont tell you which is which, they'll just convince you they have one prepared. If you dont mind the hassle, go for the long way. It will be worth it, I promise you. If you want them to decide for you, be my guess.
BONUS : Refer the screenshots below.
http://imgur.com/dvfZ0YGThis is a sponsored post (fb ads) made by My Top Kickstarter Project (Funded Today)..so now, what did I do? I clicked the far top right corner and choose "Create similar Ads"...what happen next? You will know what is the best objective for your fb ads. Good trick right?
I have more up my sleeve. If you enjoy reading this, please pm me. I might help you if I am not too busy.
p/s : i love u.
sorry, i cant control myself. laugh dammit or it will be awkward! You can reach me directly by email to :
Juzokeith@gmail.com