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US-based campaign with a MASSIVE overseas audience
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 4:20 am
by BenEnke
Hi all,
This was a concern of mine going into this campaign, and I wish I would've voiced my concerns prior to, but I'd like to seek your advice/wisdom/expertise/awesomeness on this particular subject.
I'm managing for a martial arts film, whose star is supposedly the Brad Pitt of Laos, and has the entire Laotian community in his pocket. On their FB page, which has nearly 5,000 fans, all of the engagement and views come from Laos or the Phillippines, which is why I was so worried about this campaign and how to manage it.
Any advice here? What should I be doing to try and engage these people whose language I don't even speak, while trying to build a US audience as well?
I'll take ANY feedback on the page, videos, etc as well.
Thank you!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/21 ... ature-film
Re: US-based campaign with a MASSIVE overseas audience
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 9:20 pm
by sbriggman
If I were in your position, I'd focus on education to make sure that his fans know what Kickstarter is and how it works. Once you get them behind the project and it gets a bit more traction, I think it would make for an interesting news story for a journalist or it might gather some interest outside of his fanbase.
Re: US-based campaign with a MASSIVE overseas audience
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 9:28 pm
by BenEnke
Yeah, I feel like that's where we're falling a little bit.
We already have 1,000 views on the landing video in less than a day of being online. So tons of people are definitely seeing this project.
On FB, of the 5,000 fans on the page, roughly 85% are from Laos or the Phillipines.
If it were you guys, how would you go about educating them? Infographics? A video?
Re: US-based campaign with a MASSIVE overseas audience
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 10:50 pm
by BenEnke
Alright, so since most of our audience is in Laos, and the film's star is very popular in Laos, we're thinking of doing an instructional video on how Kickstarter works, in Laotian.
Does anyone have ANY experience with working on Kickstarter with countries that don't speak English as a primary language? Does this sound like a good idea?
Curious what y'all thoughts are on this unique subject.
Re: US-based campaign with a MASSIVE overseas audience
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 5:12 am
by loveyourlingo
Hi, I'm sorry I dont have much to offer only support as I will be in a similar situation with my campaign (currently preparing it). My customers will be scattered worldwide with a large chunk in Europe (also USA). I considered using a European crowdfunding site but could not settle on one particular country so I have come back to Kickstarter (although it seems it is not so well known in all European countries...) I would be very interested in any thoughts/advice on this as some education may be necessary for me too. Thank you for bringing up this topic and good luck!
Re: US-based campaign with a MASSIVE overseas audience
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 6:57 am
by BenEnke
Thanks. You mentioned something that caught my eye, mainly that it's possible Kickstarter just isn't as well known outside of North America, and probably the UK.
Anyone know anything about how popular crowdfunding is outside of the US?
Re: US-based campaign with a MASSIVE overseas audience
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:02 am
by BenEnke
We don't even have $1K of our $50K goal raised, but somehow, I feel strangely confident still because I know there's still this one big potential hurdle to clear. I feel like this is going to be one of those strange campaigns that doesn't go "according to plan."
Or at least, I hope so. Because we sure didn't do great in our opening days, that's for sure.
Re: US-based campaign with a MASSIVE overseas audience
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:33 am
by loveyourlingo
Re: how popular crowdfunding is outside of US-am worried about that too...
I am based in Australia and I am originally from Europe...from my circle of friends/family/acquaintances, I get a blank when I mention kickstarter and a vague look of intrigue when I mention crowdfunding in general. Unless I'm talking to someone who is involved with business/has done an MBA or equiv there does not seem to be much knowledge generally.
My thoughts on this were that when I eventually launch I will ensure that any link that is circulated is clear that the project needs backing in order for the project to happen. As an experiement I recently circulated a kickstarter campaign (just the link with no message added) that I was sure some of my circle would be interested in. From the comments I received, it was clear that not many grasped that the project was not going to happen unless it was backed. People just thought-O that's nice-I'll check that out later when it's on the market...
I suggest, as a very basic step, that any link is accompanied with a comment something equivalent to 'Please help us make this happen by pledging your support!'
I have not looked for an explainer video for kickstarter but I'm sure it must exist...that could be good too...
hope these comments help!
Re: US-based campaign with a MASSIVE overseas audience
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:56 am
by Andy_Sinclair
Hi,
I am from the UK where knowledge of crowd-funding is patchy to say the least - I produced this for pre-publicity.
![TPO_Kickstarter_Guide.jpg](./download/file.php?id=369)
- TPO_Kickstarter_Guide.jpg (247.51 KiB) Viewed 2870 times
We emailed that to all potential pledgers so that they had a better understanding of what we are trying to achieve - when we launch - we will send the Kickstarter link with a more 'pledge now' type message,
Cheers
Andy
![5.JPG](./download/file.php?id=370)
- 5.JPG (26.51 KiB) Viewed 2870 times
Re: US-based campaign with a MASSIVE overseas audience
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 10:37 am
by loveyourlingo
Andy that is so great! Nice and concise! Thank you so much for sharing! I guess that works well when you have a large email list/fb followers already established for potential backers...food for thought!