Excite Your Kickstarter Audience with Facebook Groups
To ace a crowdfunding launch, it’s not enough to just have an email list anymore.
Crushing your campaign requires more effort from you than that. And frankly, those who are most successful with their crowdfunding project, not only builds an email list, but nurtures that list and builds an actual community.
Here, we’ll talk about how to excite your Kickstarter audience with a free tool already at your disposal: Facebook Groups.
An Introduction to Facebook Groups
We as people tend to gravitate towards what we love to do and who we want to be around. Back then, people used to mill about in taverns or coffee shops to chat. With the internet, people started to frequent online forums and message boards to talk about what they care about. Now, it’s all happening within Facebook Groups. They’re topic-based online groups that draw in like-minded people. In a way, think of Facebook Groups as forums hosted within Facebook.
According to AdWeek, Facebook is already hosting 620 million Facebook Groups on its platform. Think about it, millions of people are already excited to put themselves into these groups and talk to other people who are just as excited about something as they are.
When it comes to the technical aspect of things, Facebook Group posts actually algorithmically rank higher than any other type of post. What this means for you is that by using a Facebook Group, your posts are guaranteed to be seen by the members.
Facebook Groups and Your Kickstarter Campaign
Now that we know what Facebook Groups are, you’re probably going to want to know how this relates to your crowdfunding campaign.
The most successful Kickstarter projects usually completely crush their goal on Launch Day. They build up enthusiasm and excitement for their audience. They create an actual relationship with their potential backers, so they can make an ask for pre-order. They make Launch Day a big party that everyone wants to attend. No, I don’t mean a physical party, but rather an online party where everyone can’t wait to pre-order.
That’s what your Facebook Group will do for you: be the platform to get the party started for your launch.
It’s the place to nurture your warm leads, the place to continually engage and build relationships, the place to get feedback and the place for your personality to shine through. You should be there every single day engaging with your potential backers. By doing this, you’re sure to excite your Kickstarter audience.
How to Create a Facebook Group
Head directly to Facebook to learn how to create your Facebook Group.
Pro tip: Be sure to choose the “Private” option when you hit the privacy level. Remember that you’re building up a dedicated group of fans. They’re the people who are enthusiastic and excited about your launch, not just any rando surfing Facebook Groups for a fun thing to join.
What should I name my Facebook Group?
I’d recommend sticking with something simple:
- [Product Name] VIPs
- [Product Name] Insiders
- [Product Name] Launch Group
- [Product Name] [Kickstarter/Indiegogo] Launch Group
Examples of Facebook Groups
Planet Unknown
Move
Graphene-X
How to Get People Into Your Facebook Group
One of the easiest ways to get people into your Facebook group is to directly funnel them into it. By now you probably already have a high-converting landing page as your online storefront. And you’re hopefully already bringing people into your email list. Instead of just a page that says “thank you for signing up”, why not take that relationship a little further and ask for them to join your VIP group?
Here’s what it will look like in practice:
Step 1: Create A Facebook Ad
Step 2: Direct People To A Landing Page
Step 3: Send People To Join Your Facebook Group
Step 4: Get People To Join The Private Group
What to Post in Your Facebook Group
The Facebook Group will be the core connection point between you and your potential backers. While there, you want to be as open, transparent, and authentic as you possibly can..
Oftentimes I talk to creators and they’re afraid to share anything behind the scenes. They hesitate to open up to anything below “perfection” when they see big brands roll out polished images and carefully curated content. While all that polish might be great for big brands, it’s awful for crowdfunding.
With a crowdfunding campaign, always remember that the process is the marketing. Diehard fans of Kickstarter are early adopters at heart; they’re not afraid to see the early drawings, they’re not afraid to see wires and broken PCBs, they’re not afraid to see you struggle getting the seams just right, they’re not afraid to see the struggle. On the contrary, this is the stuff that excites them and draws them to your story, your vision, and your project. Activate your Kickstarter audience by being as transparent as possible.
Here are ideas for you to get started:
Welcome
This is key to every single group. You must offer a warm welcome. Imagine going to someone’s home for an event only to have no one greet you at the front door. Odd huh? Some people choose to drop in a simple 30-second video while others write it out. It really depends on your own personal style.
Survey
This is typically the immediate call-to-action people receive when they enter a Facebook Group. They are asked for their opinions, likes and dislikes about the core project. This not only gets them more mentally invested in your project, but it also offers you a rich treasure trove of feedback for when you launch.
If you’ve always been curious if your audience prefers the maroon or the teal strap, this is the place to get those data points to make those final decisions. If you’re not sure if you should add another chapter to your book, go ahead and ask about it. If you need to understand if meeple color is a large determining factor to someone pre-ordering a board game, it’s time to ask that here.
Daily content
During the other days, aim to always engage and add value to the community.
How? Like, comment, and respond to every single comment or post from others so that your potential backers know you care. The more engaged you are with the community, the more goodwill you will build and the more trust you will foster. This all translates to a wildly successful campaign as you form true relationships with your audience.
Here are some additional ideas for content you can drop in daily with your group:
- Feature sneak peaks
- Questions you’re curious to know more about
- Videos
- AMAs
- Exclusive content
Final Thoughts
Again, it’s really not enough anymore to just have an email list. Go further and deeper with your audience by building a community and forming real relationships. This way, you’ll be able to best excite your Kickstarter audience when Launch Day comes.
The steps above are just an example of how you can approach your group. If you want to learn about this in more detail, I talk about the 3 secrets common to all successful campaigns in the Masterclass.
Originally published at https://crushcrowdfunding.com/
