Email outreach is a powerful way to build early momentum for your Indiegogo campaign. We find that it plays a critical role in raising the first 30% of your funding goal from your Host Committee (see below) before you officially launch your campaign. This way, when a wider audience visits your page, they’ll see your project already has a strong base of support and will feel more comfortable contributing to it themselves.
If you don't have an email list, be sure you take the time to work on building one before you launch your campaign.
To help ensure your early email outreach is a success, follow these four steps:
Assemble A Team
Our data shows that Indiegogo campaigns run by two or more people raise 94% more than those run by individuals.Aside from helping lessen the workload, having multiple people on your campaign team also gives you access to more personal networks – and those networks include more contacts!
If you can’t assemble a permanent team, even asking friends to help temporarily can make a huge difference to your campaign’s launch.
Build Your Outreach List
Establish a network of supporters. Once you’ve assembled your campaign team, each member should identify a network of early supporters they can reach out to. Leveraging contacts from Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, and other social channels is a great first step toward building these lists.
Divide the network into two groups.The first is your Host Committee, and the second is your Early Supporter Network. A Host Committee is a group of people who are passionate about your project and are committed to contributing and/or emailing their networks on your behalf (they’re also the ones you can count on to raise your first 30%). An Early Supporter Network is a much larger group that includes anyone who might be interested in your project.
Compile a media list. Explore Indiegogo campaigns similar to yours to see which sources they leveraged for press; then, use our Marketing Workbook to record contact information for relevant blogs, publications, and websites. From there, source your networks for personal connections to the outlets you’d like to reach.
Design Your Templates
You should create at least three different templates for three different mailing lists: your Host Committee, your Early Supporter Network, and the media. Each template should include:
- An inviting introduction. Include the person’s name, an individualized greeting, and one sentence explaining why they have a personal stake in your project. Set the stage with a genuine tone.
- Your story. This is your chance to get personal and explain why your project matters to you. Including events or major turning points that led you to your campaign are great details for further investing your audience in your journey.
- An invitation. Point out the values you share with your audience, and then show how those values relate to your project. Make your audience unable to deny its investment in your project’s success.
- A call to action. Clearly state one thing your audience can do to help your campaign, and provide them with the single necessary link, template, or information to do so.
- A graphic. While not necessary, graphics go a long way toward conveying the more complicated information your campaign might entail.
Create An Outreach Schedule
Once you have your templates in place, create an outreach schedule and put them to use!
- Host Committee: Reach out to your Host Committee a few weeks in advance and ask them to contribute and email their networks the day your campaign goes live.
- A launch party is a great way to stoke excitement about your project.
- Early Supporter Network: Reach out to your Early Supporters a few days before your launch, then again right after you go live. Securing funding early from this group is another great way to build early momentum.
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Media: We recommend that campaigners hold off on media outreach until they’ve gained substantial early momentum. Reporters are more likely to cover your story if they see it’s already successful.
Finally, email marketing services such as MailChimp and scheduling plugins like Boomerang can help enhance your outreach — though it’s again worth noting that a direct, personalized email is always the most appreciated approach.