I just failed at procrastinating. I went to Facebook instead of writing this article and started answering crowdfunding questions for an old day job friend who just launched her own Kickstarter for eco friendly basic infant clothing made in the US. Little did I know I was actually writing this article all the time.
My Kickstarter for Diani And Devine Meet The Apocalypse was successful on Nov 22 and it was the hardest campaign ever. We raised $101,145 with 1,041 beautiful backers. It’s now Dec 2 and we’ve almost caught up on sleep as we dive headfirst into preproduction.
My friend asked what worked most for our campaign. A year ago I would have said Facebook. That ship has sailed. I wrote a little about that here with charts and numbers and it’s still true. I think it has a lot to do with Facebook going public. They are trading their functionality and everything people like about them (the social sharability of cool stuff and personal information) for a quick buck. It may change when they adjust their algorithm again but right now it is really hard for small businesses, podcasts, theaters, indie films and anyone else who relies on Facebook for audience building. They simply aren’t showing the things you share to very many people. This makes it really hard for things to build organic momentum. Pooh.
So what did work? Our #1 source for pledges for our last campaign was Facebook. For the one we just did it was a distant third to OUR OWN EMAILS and Kickstarter itself. Basically you need to use your personal network to help you get the word out. Give them sample tweets and Facebook posts. People are lazy and will copy and paste those rather than meaning to write something and never doing it.
Here is an example of an email we sent.
“For the past six months I’ve been pouring my life into a new movie project called DIANI & DEVINE MEET THE APOCALYPSE. I’m proud of the work we’ve done on the campaign and would be grateful if you took a look:
We’ve released a new funny video every day of the campaign and it would mean a lot to me if you watched them. If they make you laugh please consider spending some of your entertainment budget to get yourself a copy of the movie before I make it (so that I can make it).
If not, I get it. Times are tough. Any help getting the word out is appreciated.
Thanks,
Etta
P.S. We’ve got actors from Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and the cartoon Legend of Korra in our cast. If any of your friends or family are fans of these shows please share the project with them (or with anyone who might like the movie in general). There are lots of fun rewards from those actors that would make great holiday gifts!”
Include sample tweets/Facebook posts for people to copy and paste. Sharing isn’t totally dead; you still want people to do it. We got the ddmta.com URL to make sharing easy. It redirected to the Kickstarter when it was running but now goes to our website.
▪ I’ve just backed www.ddmta.com on Kickstarter. Won’t you help make this funny apocalypse possible?
▪ Like Cormac Mcarthy’s “The Road”…but funnier! www.ddmta.com
▪ There’s a new funny @Kickstarter video every day on www.ddmta.com
▪ #LegendofKorra star @JanetVarney is in for the Apocalypse! #KorraNation www.ddmta.com
▪ #StarTrek’s Quark and #Buffy’s Mayor Wilkins are in for the Apocalypse. Are you? www.ddmta.com
▪ Apocatip 3 with @Janet Varney is out! www.ddmta.com #APOCATIPS
▪ Tweet your own #apocatips Tips for a better end of the world!
The number two referrer was Kickstarter (we were included in some emails and were project of the day because they’re amazing), third was Facebook, fourth was Twitter and the rest… Well all the rest are a lot of relatively small numbers of people and money. This includes blog mentions.
So now more than ever our own networks and our network’s ability to do outreach is what funds our campaigns. I’d love to hear from others with recent campaigns about what worked for them the best.