The only guide you need to promote your campaign across all the social media platforms that will get you the most engagement, views and supporters!
Behind every great campaign, there’s a great social account….
Now, not everyone has a publicist (or can hire one), or might not even be techno-savvy! However, there are plenty of assets at our disposal, with the help of google at the push of a button that can be extremely effective if used correctly- the most obvious being social media.
Social media is the key to unlocking new and old supporters. Allowing direct access to friends, family and those most likely to be interested in a project, with each target audience likely concentrated on each separate platform.
But let’s break it down a little bit further, shall we;
📱 Personal Facebook pages are about sharing with family and friends. Whereas, public/company Facebook pages are important for targeted advertising and branding,
📱 Twitter is the stream of consciousness talking to like-minded people in your particular industry or community, and Instagram is all about the aesthetic and great branding.
📱 Tiktok and Youtube are great for a quick and easy way to explain your cause or project. As sometimes a post or witty text can be hard to translate the nitty-gritty of the why and how people can support your campaign.
Obviously, we could go on as technology is always updating, however, these are the main ones to focus on for now.
BEFORE LAUNCHING A CAMPAIGN
Consistency, Consistency, Consistency…..
When it comes to the crunch for a successful campaign -it’s all about the preparation before the launch. Not only does this save time in the long run, but also makes keeping your socials consistent and effective (and pleasing to the eye of course!).
We recommend starting to build your local community well before running a campaign. Become a credible member of the community, and build up those audience members! This is key because, really, who wants to give their hard-earned money to someone who’s tweeting from a new account with 10 followers? Make people invested in what you’re doing and build those relationships, then when you ask for monetary support there is more reason for this community to support you and, in turn, your project.
Another important task is collecting/creating your assets. People are visual creatures, so have a supply of brand-aligned videos and images at your disposal so you’re not scrambling for content at the last moment. Obviously, you won’t be able to have absolutely everything in advance- some posts need to be timely and relevant to the ‘right now’ of the project- but having a solid supply to work with will quickly make your campaign and its social marketing far easier.
PLANNING YOUR POSTS
When scheduling becomes your best friend….
Ok, so where do I begin with properly planning my social media calendar, you might ask? Let’s break them down.
Which social media platforms should I use?
Choose the platforms that suit your project and target market best. Are you a visual artist? Instagram will probably serve you best. A musician? Facebook and Twitter might be your go. Find your audience/community, and cultivate your presence on those relevant platforms.
How many platforms should I focus on?
Don’t spread yourself too thin- focus on a maximum three platforms and use them well. More than that and no doubt you’ll unintentionally start to neglect some.
Why schedule posts?
This is where your life is made easier. With your pre-prepared assets, you can schedule the bones of your social media to keep your audience engaged and aware of your campaign throughout its duration. Around these posts, you can then throw in timely shares at relevant times
How do I schedule posts?
There are many tools available for post scheduling (bonus-some are free!). The tool you choose will be based on the platforms you’re focused on. Here are some of our recommendations;
Our three top picks:
Later
Later is perfect whether you are just starting your social media marketing journey, or are a pro-digital marketing wiz! As they provided extensive and customised plans, according to your needs. Their ‘free’ starters pack, provides up to 30 posts monthly, whilst linking up to six social media platforms of your choosing. This one also includes posting not only on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, but TikTok too!
Buffer
Similar to Later, Buffer is one of the most affordable options. The ‘Free plan’ allows three linked accounts and up to 10 scheduled posts per account. Buffer also offers a browser extension (if that’s your thing).
Sendible
Sendible is great if you want to cover not only the basic social platforms previously mentioned but also other emailing and blogging platforms such as WordPress and Medium. This application also schedules your prepared copy/images to post based on customisable analytics of your target audience. Easy!
How often should I post?
The frequency really comes down to which platform you’re using. Facebook should see around a post every day, whereas Twitter is better suited to multiple posts per day. Socialmediatoday.com has broken this down in a handy infographic;
ALRIGHT, WELL WHO’S DONE IT WELL? WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE?
Obviously every project and market is that little bit different, but we’ve had some campaigns with a top-notch social media presence recently. What did they do well? Let’s look at them individually.
Crowbar – ‘Crowfunder’ campaign
These guys pulled out all the cross-promotional stops to keep Crowbar Sydney alive! For their campaign ‘Crowfunder’ they consistently posted daily updates across their Facebook and Instagram pages, revealing all the aspects from start to finish of their campaign. As well as showcasing unique rewards, such as featuring a variety of competition merch packs for their supporters and a benefit show featuring local Indie celebrities.
In celebration of their campaign, Crowbar Sydney hosted a full lineup of performances as part of their ‘ benefit show’, from big-name local musicians: Hockey Dad, Dune Rats and Skeggs. Which further encouraged their community and supporters to share the campaign on their pages and spread the message to further networks, and were quick to share any press they received around the campaign.
Bob Brown Foundation – ‘Koalas Need Native Forests’ campaign
The Bob Brown Foundation are old hats at crowdfunding now and have tested a lot of things when it comes to their social media marketing — which explains why they’re the best we’ve seen at managing and engaging communities across multiple platforms. Heavily focused on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, they don’t fall into the trap of sharing generic posts to all three, but tailoring the content to fit the platform.
Their types of posts are split into a few categories; countdowns, available rewards, topic-related facts & quotes, and photographer/artist work. These are filtered fairly evenly so that supporters aren’t seeing too much of the same thing in succession.
Finders Distillery – Australian Dry Gin campaign
This duo absolutely nailed the visual aspect of their social media- with superb branding. This all began before their campaign where they did professional photoshoots with the product outlining their speciality Australian dry gin and vodka range.
From there, they focused heavily on Instagram with a little bit of Facebook support. The Finders team also made use of a hashtag (#findersdistillery) consistently across their posts. Regularly posting was also heavily utilised with updates on the campaign, what the team was up to, and individual thanks to their supporters and more.
Another thing Finders did exceptionally well was continuing to encourage community support, via, featuring new speciality products across their social handles. Since Kyle and Georgia’s successful campaign, they have since introduced Australian native and Christmas bundles, as well as exclusive gin taste tours at their warehouse.
Want to learn more about how Facebook works, and set up effective (and cheap) ads? Check out our other post with all the nitty-gritty of it.
Feeling confident about promoting your campaign? Put your learnings to the test by launching a crowdfunding campaign on Pozible now! 🚀
Promoting Your Crowdfunding Campaign on Social Media was originally published in The Pozible Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
