Top Email Marketing Strategies to Crowdfund your Startup

Startups are in fashion, and there are several enterprising individuals willing to tread the path less traveled – seeking adventure rather than monotonous jobs, and wishing to be their own boss. However, initializing a startup business is not an easy job; as setting up a new venture calls for procurement of the right amount of funds.

According to a survey, around 30% of the initial funding for your business comes from the people you already know. Besides thinking how to approach the known individuals for 30% funding with your business idea, the communication strategy to reach the audience outside your circle is equally essential.

As per one of the largest crowdfunding website Indiegogo, the best medium of communication for crowd funding is email marketing, as it helps fetch around 20% more funding than other online mediums like social media platforms, blogging, and so on. But, why emails? Well, the divine knowledge and expertise of Uplers will pronounce how emails can help you gather the funds for your business.

Before we switch on to the email strategy, let‘s discover the importance of an email campaign for crowdfunding.

1) Email is the best medium to share a convincing copy that can influence potential donors to click on a CTA and go ahead with their plans.

2) The fundraising process is a lengthy activity. Emails can help you inform your supporters about the progress of your fundraising campaign;, and if need be, can make additional donations.

3) You can request your supporters to forward the email amongst their circle so as to receive more support from a bigger audience.

Now that you know the importance of emails for crowd funding, seek the blessings from Uplers to understand the ideal email strategy.

Stick to the Basics of Email Marketing

The first and the foremost thing that you need to take care of while sending an email campaign is to see that you follow the best practices of email design. To mention some,

• Optimize your subject line and preview text,
• Maintain the right balance between text and image,
• Include an unsubscribe link,
• Select the best ESP,
• Strong CTA

Design your Landing Page for Maximum Effectiveness

Landing page plays a big role for marketers when it comes to generating leads. Create a pre-launch landing page in order to collect genuine email addresses to send your crowdfunding emails. You can provide an incentive for the supporters who sign up. Also, consider creating a buzz on social media and direct the followers to your landing page, requesting them to opt-in to the mailing list.

Harness the Importance of Email Automation

Optimizing emails through traditional email tools is a tedious and tiresome process which can lead to human error. While shooting crowd funding emails, you might want to thank the audience who have donated you some funds, but due to incorrect segmentation, you end up shooting the emails to your entire database. Well, to avoid such human errors and improve the effectiveness of communication, adopt Email Automation. With Automation tool, you can

• Send triggered emails to the right person.
• Send the right amount of information to your audience at the right time. You may send the progress of your startup to the audience you want to.
• Personalize your crowdfunding emails to make your email campaigns more effective.
• Keep the potential donors in loop and send follow up emails after they have opened and clicked your emails.

Brief about your team in the email

It’s never a one man show when it comes to managing a startup. Without a team, it is going to be difficult for you to prove your genuineness in order to fetch funding. According to Indiegogo, a startup with team of more than two people can attain 94% more funding than campaigns run by solo campaigners.

Add a video in one of your emails

Campaigns with a video are 115% more effective than the ones that don’t have one. Well, it clearly means that once you have introduced your idea as well as your team to the potential donors, try adding a video in one of your succeeding emails. It certainly makes an impact.

But remember, videos in emails work only for email clients that support HTML5. In case you don’t want to take a chance with the renderability of the video, put a screenshot of the video and add a play button to it. Place the video on the landing page and let your subscribers navigate to that page.

Update your progress & don’t forget to thank

Tough times don’t last, but tough people do! Thank everyone who supported you during your tough times of fund raising. Tell them about your progress and make them feel special about it. You can even go further and offer them goodies, discounts or other incentives as a goodwill gesture.

Motivate people to share and promote the emails

As mentioned above, emails can be forwarded or shared with your friends unlike any paid promotion, where ads cannot be shared. Send a mail to your supporters requesting them to forward the fund raising email to their connection. This can really be an effective way to raise more funds outside your connection.

Points to consider

• Consider email marketing as a part of your promotional activity apart from fund raising activity.
• Try to personalize your emails, it works well.
• Go for interactivity in emails like a countdown to make your emails STAND OUT in the crowded inbox.
• Apart from Emails, try reaching some less predictable places like Quora, LinkedIn groups, and various other forums.
• While launching your product/service, a press release can come handy.