How to Build a Multichannel Fundraising Strategy for Crowdfunding Campaigns

Multichannel marketing is one of those flashy buzzwords you hear thrown around in marketing conversations — but is it really that important?

Absolutely.

The importance of multichannel marketing is that it allows you to engage your audience in the way that’s most convenient to them. From TikTok, to Discord, to everything in between, it’s vital to understand that every customer is different and may only engage when called to action on their preferred platform.

It doesn’t matter if you have the most clever marketing video, use all the best copywriting hacks, or are offering a deal that’s too good to be true; if you’re limiting yourself to only one or two marketing channels, you’re missing out on a lot of potential fundraising.

And this is equally true for your crowdfunding campaign. Having a multichannel strategy mapped out before you launch can mean the difference between failure and success.

What is a multichannel fundraising campaign?

The goal of a crowdfunding campaign is to convince people to back a potentially unknown product which might not even exist yet. Needless to say, it’s a bit of an uphill battle that will put your digital marketing strategy to the test. As a result, you’ll need to apply as many multichannel marketing best practices as you can into your fundraising efforts.

So what does that look like? What is a multichannel fundraising campaign?

Multichannel marketing for your crowdfunding campaign involves leveraging multiple communication tools to ultimately drive traffic to your Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign page. These tools can include direct emails, social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, etc., as well as messaging tools like SMS or Discord.

Using all these tools to communicate with your backers, you’ll be able to not only keep them engaged and up-to-date leading up to the product launch, but you’ll also be able to foster a community between you and your potential backers. The latter is crucial for building your brand, as well as keeping your backers engaged once the campaign is over and beyond.

How to craft a multichannel strategy for your crowdfunding project?

Crafting your multichannel strategy isn’t about throwing a bunch of paint at the wall and seeing what sticks; you have to be thoughtful and deliberate with your approach. The keys lie in knowing your objective and having a thorough understanding of your potential audience.

Your goals are to direct traffic to your crowdfunding campaign and to keep those who put down a reservation for your launch engaged enough so that they ultimately commit to backing you. As for your audience, use what you’ve learned about them when crafting your reservation funnel and paid ads as part of the LaunchBoom prelaunch strategy.

Once you’ve chosen the channels you want to focus on by using these guiding principles, you can start hashing out your strategy for creating consistent messaging across all platforms.

Another key to an effective multichannel fundraising strategy is how refined you can make your qualified email list. We have seen that those who put down a monetary deposit to be the first to back your product are 30 times more likely to convert when your campaign launches. We call those that put down this deposit “VIPs.”

In essence, you’re solidifying one of the first rules of multichannel marketing: identifying your ideal customer. When you can build an email list comprising these leads who we refer to as VIPs, you have an ideal audience to get your multichannel marketing engagement off the ground.

Up to the point of becoming VIPs, you’ll mostly be using automated emails designed to methodically move them through the funnel. Once they’ve reserved, though, you can start leveraging their VIP status to direct them toward exclusive groups on different social media platforms.

Social media as a cornerstone of multichannel engagement

Social media will be your biggest weapon for multichannel engagement and a key part of your total marketing plan. Not only will the bulk of your ad spend be dedicated to the Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram), but much of how you build your community and boost overall engagement will be done on social media.

Here are just a few of the other benefits you can expect from multichannel social media marketing:

1. Creating trust in your brand: Having an official presence on multiple platforms helps in making your brand look official. Think of it like having the classic checkmark on your Instagram account. People will be more likely to trust in your company if you’re posting across many social media accounts.
2. Better targeting: Different social media platforms offer more opportunities to find the right audience. This allows you to tweak your content depending on which platforms perform the best.
3. Bigger reach: More channels means more people are potentially seeing your content.
4. Improved relationships: Just as you create trust in your brand, you create better relationships with potential backers as well. This is vital for growth well after your crowdfunding campaign has finished.

It’s not enough to just be present on these platforms, though. You need to have a strategy in place.

The first thing you should do is establish clear goals for your marketing efforts. Ask yourself some key questions. Are you looking to generate more leads? Are you trying to make content that can go viral? Why are you posting on specific platforms?

Moreover, you’ll want to track certain key performance indicators (KPIs) to make sure you can continue to optimize your content for better engagement. Keep track of KPIs like:

• Sessions
• Sign ups
• Views
• Engagement rate
• Audience demographics

Once you’re starting to build up your prelaunch email list and you start creating your VIP backer group, you can also leverage social media to create exclusive content just for them.

Here’s an example of the VIP Facebook page for Top Shelf Camera Bag, which went on to raise $1,014,422 on Kickstarter:

The group only had 839 members, but these were the people who had already pledged money to back the campaign upon its launch. These were high-value leads who the creators wanted to nurture a special relationship with by giving them access to sneak previews and exclusive updates.

Perhaps most importantly, though, is to remember not to stretch yourself too thin. Managing a comprehensive social media campaign can be time-consuming. Keep your efforts focused, and try to produce quality over quantity. Like in the case with Top Shelf Camera Bag, quality posts that potential VIP backers would find valuable are a worthwhile way to spend your time on social media.

Leveraging influencer marketing in your campaign

Influencer marketing is a powerful way to get your product seen by established audiences. If you’re unsure about the role influencer marketing can play in your crowdfunding campaign, consider that 49% of consumers today use influencer opinion to make purchasing decisions. That doesn’t mean your campaign is doomed to fail without it, but your potential for higher raises goes up dramatically when you can get influencers on your side.

Some additional benefits you could get when leveraging influencer marketing include:

• User-generated content (UGC): Influencers are masters of UGC, and can make marketing your product feel organic to their audiences.

• Motivation to help you sell: Especially if you offer them a portion of your campaign raise or future sales, they’ll be financially incentivized to help you sell more.
• More authentic advertising: Online ads are great for introducing people to your product, but influencers will help build resonance with buyers.

So what types of influencers are most effective for your crowdfunding campaign?

There are different levels of influencers, ranging from mega celebrities to small-scale influencers with followers no higher than 10,000. We’ve found that the latter are best for crowdfunding purposes because they tend to be experts in their niche with followers who are very enthusiastic about that specific industry. These hyper-focused audiences are often very engaged, making them more likely to convert if your product aligns with their interests.

When trying to find the influencers that fit your product best, the easiest first step is to Google the competition. Look at how other products in the space are being shared by influencers or influential entities like blogs and news sources. For example, here are some product categories and influencers that are common in their spaces:

• Outdoor products: Try searching for travel bloggers and vloggers who could show your product in action.
• eBikes: Look for eBike review channels on YouTube with dedicated followings.
• Health and wellness: Search hashtags related to your product and reach out to people on Instagram making posts or shorts about similar products.

When you find an influencer you want to reach out to, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, you should engage with their content first. Start commenting on their videos and social media posts so they can see your name there before randomly popping up in their direct messages.

Second, it’s important to be transparent. You’re establishing a working relationship with people you may never get a chance to meet in person and build a comfortable rapport. When reaching out, let them know why the partnership is a good fit and ask if they’re open to collaboration.

Keep in mind that most influencers want to have something in hand before agreeing to share any true opinions with their followers. Not many want to seem disingenuous to their fans by reviewing a product that only exists in digital renderings.

Reaching influencer audiences is great, but make sure they include where their followers can start keeping up with your brand. The ultimate goal is to direct traffic to your campaign, so get started early, and make sure you have your multichannel marketing infrastructure in place to start receiving any boosts in traffic you may receive.

Integrating email marketing and direct outreach

Email marketing and direct outreach can also be a major part of your multichannel fundraising strategy. 99% of email users check their inboxes every day, with some viewing their inboxes up to 20 times a day. That’s a lot of eyeballs.

A major part of our prelaunch strategy is collecting email addresses through paid ads. A direct outreach approach involves sending emails to cold leads and building prospect lists that way. By now you should have a good idea of who your target audience is, which will better help you understand their expectations and how to deliver information to them.

Here are a few useful tactics to keep in mind when integrating email marketing and direct outreach into your multichannel fundraising strategy:

1. Write stellar subject lines: You’re introducing your product and crowdfunding campaign to cold leads, so you better give them a reason to open your email. It needs to entice readers to want to learn more and want to take action.
2. Engage readers from the start: The viewer should understand what they’re looking at without having to scroll. Leverage imagery and clear headlines at the top of the email so that they don’t immediately lose interest
3. Keep copy short and concise: It’s okay to be proud of your story and want to share it with everyone, but the details of that story can come later. Try to aim for a range of 100 to 200 words per email.
4. Have a clear call-to-action (CTA): A good CTA should lead them to your landing page, where they should then be able to learn more about the product, the upcoming campaign, and how to place a reservation for your crowdfunding launch. Make this a big, clear button in the email.
5. Be persistent: You’re not going to hook everyone after the first email, so include follow-up emails a week or two after not getting any interaction. This is a good opportunity to try different headlines and incorporate some FOMO to generate interest in your email.

Utilizing content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO)

Content marketing and SEO go hand-in-hand, and both can be used in tandem to build credibility in your brand. Content marketing comes in many forms including blog posts, newsletters, YouTube videos, podcasts, and even case studies. It may sound like a lot of work to create pieces of media like this, but the effect it can have on your brand is extremely positive.

How does it synergize with SEO?

Good content marketing increases the visibility of your company on Google by generating backlinks, driving potential media attention, and providing a quality experience for your audience. The more chances you give people to engage with your content, the more Google will recognize you as something worth sharing.

Studies show that 86% of online shoppers will try to access a second channel after coming across the first one. In other words, if someone learns about your product and campaign on social media, there’s a very high likelihood that they will Google search for more information. This is where you can catch people with good content marketing like an informative blog post or an engaging YouTube video.

But if you want to make use of this strategy, it’s important to choose a content format that can deliver maximum value to your audience with the least amount of effort. You have a lot of other priorities during the prelaunch phase, and won’t have too much time to dedicate to a comprehensive content marketing campaign.

Whatever you decide to make, though, be sure to share it across all of your marketing channels. If you make good content with clear CTAs for your audience to share with others, you can leverage the organic growth that social media brings.

Unifying your message across multiple channels

It should go without saying, but delivering a unified message across all channels in your multichannel campaign is paramount.

That isn’t to say you can’t change up the wording to optimize your message to fit different platforms, like making content that’s more shareable on social media versus concise, actionable messaging for SMS. Tone, style, and promotions are what need to be the common threads across your multichannel system.

You wouldn’t want your audience on Instagram getting exclusive promotions while those who only follow on X get the occasional update on the status of your crowdfunding campaign. Consistency in your brand voice is king.

But if you are a small operation without a dedicated person who can keep that consistency across all platforms while still being able to cater to each audience, we recommend using a social media management tool to help unify your messaging. These tools are designed to centralize all of your social media accounts into one management tool, which allows you to focus on being more efficient with your content creation.

There are plenty of options out there, but not all social media management tools are created equal. Here are some of the most important features you want to prioritize when choosing which one to use:

• Support for the social networks you’ll be using: The Meta platforms are non-negotiables, but you’ll likely want tools that have X integrated as well.
• Easy-to-use scheduling: If the scheduling tools for an app are too cumbersome to use, it can make the process much less efficient. You’ll want to take advantage of tools that let you get posts out in a timely and consistent manner in the build-up to your campaign.
• Detailed analytics: The more you know about how your marketing tactics are performing, the more you’ll be able to dial them in to get the most engagement from your followers.
• Affordability: At the end of the day, make sure the features that you’re getting justify what you’ll be paying. You need something that’s functional but still makes sense financially.

Some management tools for you to consider include Loomly, SocialPilot, and Sendible. Be sure to take advantage of any free trials that are offered by these companies to help you find the one that’s best for your campaign.

Tracking and analyzing results across marketing channels

There are many sources of data to track when conducting multichannel marketing. You can pull data from email marketing software, social media tools, and web analytics to guide your strategy.

As you track all of the valuable data across your multichannel marketing efforts, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Synthesizing all of your learnings into actionable insights can be an intimidating process.

Focus your attention on specific metrics that are most valuable to helping you create better content. Look at things like reach, impressions, clicks, and most importantly cost per reservation.

A good crowdfunding strategy needs to take cost per reservation into account because reservations are still one of the best indicators for how your campaign is going to perform. If it’s costing too much to generate reservations, it might be time to step back from your multichannel marketing efforts and evaluate your product positioning.

Delaying the launch of your product instead of doubling down when faced with unfavorable prelaunch metrics will save you money in the long run. In the meantime, you can continue to nurture the audience you already have by continuing to update them on upcoming changes.

Final thoughts on building a multichannel fundraising strategy

By now, you understand the benefits that come with building a multichannel fundraising strategy. We’ve focused largely on how to use these tactics leading up to your campaign, but don’t forget to take full advantage of the foundation you’ve set up and maintain constant engagement throughout the duration of your campaign and beyond.

You’re not going to get 100% of the people who follow you across multiple channels to fund your product, but you greatly increase your chance of bringing people back into your funnel by having a sound multichannel strategy and presence.

And even if you don’t have the time and resources to incorporate all of these channels into your strategy, make the most of the ones you can use by delivering quality over quantity to nurture the community you’re building.

At this point, you may have a few lingering questions about multichannel fundraising and how best to get started. Let’s look at some of the most frequently asked questions we get on the subject.

Multichannel fundraising strategy for crowdfunding campaigns: frequently asked questions

What makes a multichannel fundraising campaign successful?

Successful multichannel fundraising campaigns boil down to careful planning and consistent activity in service of your goals. The crucial goals before launch are to generate as big of a money-down reservation list as possible and nurture those VIPs so that they show up to back you when your campaign goes live. Keep these objectives top-of-mind.

How can I ensure effective multichannel engagement?

Effective multichannel engagement comes from knowing what your audience wants and delivering that content across all channels in a uniform way.

What are the key components of a multichannel strategy?

Remember to stick to these multichannel fundraising best practices to be most effective:

• Make social media the cornerstone of multichannel engagement
• Leverage influencer marketing in your campaign
• Integrate email marketing and direct outreach
• Utilize content marketing and SEO
• Unify your message across multiple channels

Where can I get help setting up my multichannel marketing for my crowdfunding campaign?

For additional guidance and clarification on all things multichannel marketing for your crowdfunding campaign, LaunchBoom is here to help. If you’d like to speak to one of our product launch experts for this, or anything related to your crowdfunding journey, fill out a form below and we’ll get back to you soon!